#Where she has the potential to change and care about others like the actual Mabel

[astro-b-o-y-d]

Thinks about how Anti-Mabel was kicked out of her dimension for being 'so evil'. Thinks about how desperate she was to take over the life of the original Mabel. Thinks about how there's a Dipper out there who was created as a means of replacing the original and just thinks Mabel is the coolest ever, and would probably adore and support any version of his sister, even the most evil version of her.

Thinks about how they're both. Like. Thirteen-year-old kids. Sure, one's apparently the most evil Mabel in existence and the other's just hated for his cool guy swag, but they're kids. Do you think either of them thinks about their twin in passing, and realizes how much they miss them and will probably never see them again? Or if they do, they won't be the specific version of themselves that the twin actually cares about?

Is anyone listening to me??

[funnylittlefella]

My problem with the fashion in miraculous.

Part 1 Marinette.

This is going to be a long rant on why I don’t like the fashion in miraculous, which seems very negative but it’s probably just me over analyzing everything.

In 2015 Miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir was released, at the time there were already other rivaling cartoons (such as Star vs the forces of evil, Steven Universe and Gravity falls being the most popular ones) What made Miraculous stand out from other cartoons that were aimed for kids/preteens was the 3D animation, this made the show quite popular, especially since Disney's new 3D animated films such as Frozen, Tangled and Big Hero Six was quite popular especially on tumblr (because of the re-colours and redesigns of Rapunzel/Elsa and whoever else into a hipster or some other god awful fashion trend from 2010-2016)

Miraculous is STILL airing today meaning that when I was in grade 6 I was watching it, now I'm in my last year of highschool and we are finally seeing development in the show (sorry) however we have not seen any character changes in clothing which I know we don't see much but I feel as if Marinette wears the same 4 outfits and I WOULD LOVE to see a storyline where Marinette is maturing and decides to change her hairstyle and her clothing choices.

Lets analyse Marinette's everyday outfit.

Marinette wears a white singlet top(tank top?) with a black outline/trim, on the singlet top we see a flower design that appears to be a cherry blossom or lotus. Over the top of the shirt she wears a dark grey blazer jacket with a white inside with pink polka dots, she sports this same material but inverted so it is pink with white dots on her purse. For the bottoms she wears hot pink jeans which appear to have the same polka dot pattern on the cuffs as the jacket she wears, the jeans also have some weird ripped/line structure too them which has been added with a white stitching. She wears baby pink ballet flats with a slight heel and black lining and a bow.

I don’t really like this outfit, it’s very boring and I think that Marinette being an aspiring fashion designer would wear something bold that shows off her skills and her own personal style. I also believe that Marinette would be on trend, while being ladybug could potentially leave her with not enough time to come up with new designs, I think it would be a good concept for Marinette to be wearing a new design once in a while. (Even though I know it will be the same polka dot,baby pink, flower fabric that marinette seems to have 10000 yards of.)

For example, in Gravity Falls Mable would wear a different sweater each episode (don’t quote me on that I could be wrong)

Mabel wore the same structure of outfit each episode yes, but it was new each time. And while I wouldn’t consider this the height of fashion, it suits Mabels personality and shows that she is different from the other characters who wear the same outfit every episode.

SPOILERS FOR GRAVITY FALLS

Mabels constant changing of sweaters shows the chaos of her character, you never know what to expect with her, which is why she played a vital role in Bills plan, she was unpredictable and let her ego and own happiness succumb to her chaotic actions.

This would be an easy concept to implement into miraculous and would fit with the context, perhaps Marinette would make a new piece of clothing to wear each episode, it could start off with smaller accessories that slowly develop into larger pieces. If Marinette is sad, it could reflect in the item she chooses to make.

However that isn’t the main problem of the outfits, my problem is that I hate them, I’m not judging you if you like them in any way,shape or form, but personally I cannot see a normal teenager wearing these outfits, there is only few characters whose outfits actually make sense.

For example, Marinettes outfit feels more mature, as if she is working in an office, this does not fit her character at all, and while the colours are bright, the structure and presentation of the pieces gives off the boring dull feeling of working in an office and makes her look much older.

Now here is what I would’ve liked Marinette to wear each season. (considering the dates of releases)

Season 1 2015

In season one we are introduced to Marinette, considering Marinettes age 13. Bare with me, I understand these years are arguably the worst for fashion.

The reason why I picked this outfit is because it reminds me of Marinette, Taking inspiration from 2015 trends, we see Marinette following basic trends such as off the shoulder and denim materials, however, I believe she would add her own style by adding the polka dot pattern to the inside of the jacket (like her original blazer) and the skirt. This look is generally what I would consider to be basic Marinette, she could wear this throughout each season since it is a outfit that could fit into any time frame (2000s-2020) with a few alterations.

Season 2 2016.

2016 was also not a good year for fashion but oh well I digress. This season we get to meet new characters, including new miraculous wielders and love interest. This is also when we get a Marinette birthday episode shower her growth symbolically or whatever.

I decided to add ‘edge’ to this outfit, since we do see Marinette get hurt in a few episodes and struggle with having to choose the right people to wield a miraculous. on the left, I chose a bomber jacket since they were incredibly popular at the time, and dark heels to show Marinettes change, however underneath she wears bright pink jeans and a white turtleneck, this is to show that she is still soft and caring.

Season 3 2019.

this is where it gets much better since the trends and fashion were actually really good this year. We see a lot of important points in this season, we get backstory about characters, learn more about the Miraculous lore, AND we see Marinette be very mature and put Adrien and Kagamis happiness over her own.

This is how I think Marinette would dress and yes they are 4 very different styles, but I think that she would want to show variety not only in her work as a designer, but also as a person, Marinette wants to grow.

Anyways that’s all for now, yes this post is very much all over the place and I start point and leave them without conclusion, but it was fun for me.

EDIT: in my research I decided to change my idea lol, Marinette doesn’t wear the item she makes because it’s too expensive to have a character wear a new outfit each episode, but instead we just see her making a new item.

[elven-ariaera]

Read the New Leaf Diaries first here!

Start from NH Diaries part 1: Permanent Island Getaway

Day 7

Kitt moved in this morning. It felt so good to have her back in my life. I did not realize how nostalgic I would get already, but no matter what, I am sticking with my plan to move forward. Citytown is behind me, and Islandtown is my future.

I got a free tee-shirt in the mail from Dodo Airlines. Audie didn’t seem to care much about it and gave me a lecture on fashion. I guess she does know what she’s talking about. Maybe I should pawn it off on some poor unsuspecting fool…

Until then, all I can do is think about my life choices while wearing this dumb dodo shirt…

That night a terrifying thing happened. A tarantula appeared and tried to get Audie! Luckily for her, I had a bug net in hand. I crept up next to the little sucker and swiped my net! …Only to miss and get bitten by the arachnid. Luckily she dragged me back to my house and all was well again. 

You know, that’s a reoccurrence that I could never quite figure out. Whenever I am bitten by a spider or stung by bees to the point of passing out, I always wind up back in my home. Who is taking me there? Is that you, Antonio? 

Day 8

I caught a Whale Shark! I thought about doing a little more fishing after my excellent finds two nights ago and my word I’ve done it again! Sure it was the most ridiculously heavy thing I’ve ever had to reel in — I’m surprised the line didn’t snap — but I did it!

I brought it to Blathers to give it a nice new home in the museum. Let me tell you, finding a plastic baggie big enough to bring it in was its own challenge. He told me some interesting tidbits about the gentle giant. Learning can be fun sometimes!

Is that an actual option?

I had also been working on a garden for a while now and I must say it is really coming along! I’m so pleased… That’s it. There’s no punchline. Not everything in life is a joke! Can’t I just have a moment of serenity for once in my life?

Oh, I had nearly forgotten! Stitches finally moved in! I’m not sure why he was the last one to move in when I asked him first, but I guess he had a lot of things to unpack. I visited him to welcome him to the neighborhood as he unpacked and he was very persistent about cleaning the back left corner of his home… Even though the entire floor was coated in dirt.

In other news, Audie and I have continued to bond and I’ve learned some things about her. She might not be as innocent as I initially thought…

I didn’t realize you played Smash Bros too!

But then we got to chatting about movies and it turns out she’s writing one. A rock-opera to be exact. While I was genuinely interested, its plot was a little hard to follow…

Really, all the neighbors and I have been getting along rather well. I jumped in on a conversation between Bud and Kitt, though, and it seems they have rather opposite tastes. Literally.

All these wacky shenanigans that go on in this town, I swear, it’d make for some kind of sitcom. I actually just received a cartoonist set from Kitt earlier, perhaps I’ll try my hand at it sometime. For now, these journals will have to suffice.

Day 9

I had gotten a new room expansion for my house the other day and it seems that word spread quickly! Audie has been dying to come over and see the place since the first day, but now she has sort of been inviting herself over. 

It’s not that I don’t want her over, she’s easily become my best friend of all the island’s residents that live here. I simply want to gussy up the place before she comes. Still, she remains persistent… Is this what Antonio felt like about my persistence? 

…Man, what a great feeling to be loved and admired so much.

I headed over to check in on Stitches today seeing as he was still new to island life. He seems to be progressing rather quickly and is already doing stuff.

On another note, he keeps insisting that he has bug friends who live inside the floor and whisper things to him while he sleeps. Should I be concerned? 

Mabel dropped by today to set up shop in the town plaza. I always enjoy her selection of clothing to pick from. She’s also quite the trooper — It rained practically all day today, and still, she stood outside waiting for potential customers. I do think I was the only one though…

She just stands there… Menacingly!

Later that night Audie insisted on coming over again. I did explain to her that I was waiting for the renovations on my new room aka extension walk-in closet to be finished before anyone saw, and she seemed to understand, so we went back to her place to chat for a while. I found it a little ironic that she didn’t want me to snoop around her house yet she kept trying to persuade me to invite her over to my house… Does she have a secret shrine of me? 

…That would be so sweet! She’s the best friend I ever had!

We later went on a late-night stroll and things got real. I told her about my previous fishing escapades and she kept freaking out. It seems she has a severe case of ichthyophobia. 

Day 10

The resident’s hall was under construction and they have now finished and revealed the new and improved plaza. It looks magnificent! Nook had even gotten new help from off-island. He hired Isabelle, my assistant from back home. I guess Citytown isn’t doing so hot without me… 

Now I have no quarrel with Isabelle under normal circumstances, but I can’t help but feel that Nook is trying to replace me. I am your island representative, not her! Don’t you dare get any ideas…

Ugh, Isabelle, you make it so hard to hate you when you act so precious!

Anyway, it’s clear that I’m still the favorite of the residents. Stitches came by and gave me a house-warming gift even though he was the one who just moved in… Still, it was much appreciated.

I dropped by the town hall today to carry on business as usual, but of course, Tom Nook just had to rave about what a great help Isabelle would be. I mean, sure, she did let me change the flag because of my magnificent artistic potential, but that doesn’t change anything! I’ve got my eye on you, Isabelle…

Btw, the flag looks fabulous. 

Other business included the construction of a suspension bridge. Of course, most of that money was coming out of my pocket, but still, if it could save me from a pole-vaulting accident, I’d gladly pay the majority.

I decided to look for more resources to sell off-island and the dodo’s brought me to a wonderful place. They brought me to an island filled with rare hybrid colored cosmos growing all over! It was truly a sight to behold! My garden would look absolutely stunning with some of these added in the variety! Why haven’t these dodo-brains ever brought me here before? Oh…

In addition, I think my talk with Audie yesterday night helped her overcome her fear of fish. But I still don’t think she understands how fishing works…

Day 11

I still needed to make some money for that suspension bridge, so I thought a little bug catching and tree shaking would do the trick. Kitt called out to me, asking if I was having a fun time bug catching. She then apologized for assuming, and though she did assume correctly, I appreciate her earnest apology. 

We also opened a campsite today! To think, the future resident of my town would soon be here! Nook was very persistent about persuading people to settle down here, and I couldn’t agree more. I wonder what kind of animal they would be? I wonder if maybe… No. Certainly he wouldn’t be there…

Enough stressing myself out over the thought of my future resident. I also took another mystery flight from Dodo Airlines to see what magnificent isle they might bring me to today. Yesterdays “Hybrid Island,” as I am thoughtfully dubbing it, was a sight to behold. How could they ever top that?

In short, they didn’t. They brought me to an island where every fish in the river was a black bass. Every. Single. One.

I hate you all…

As awful as that experience was, I had to be grateful that the ocean fish were not all sea basses. Ugh. I shudder at the very thought of such a place even existing. Still, I complained to their manager. I had already booked a Nook Miles Ticket in advance, so their flight tomorrow had better be good!

All the neighbors today kept stressing out about the Happy Home Designers committee and I just couldn’t understand why. They give you nice presents if you do a good job decorating your home, right? Well, when speaking to Audie, she presented it to me in a whole different way. I’ll never look at the Happy Home community the same way again…

A friend of mine had invited me and another chum over to his island later that evening. It was a delightful night filled with picnics and hide-and-go-seek.

I also met someone. Roald. His eyes were so striking, I could not look away. With that and his chiseled features, one could easily… No. Stop it. You are a one-anteater kind of woman! Someday he’ll come back. I know he will. Until then, I must resist the sweet temptations of this gorgeous hunk of penguin. 

Oh, you lift? I can tell…

Day 12

Today’s the day~

We have a guest at the campsite! Oh, I can’t wait to meet them! I’m so excited that I had to write about it the first minute I got up today! This lucky fellow isn’t even aware that they’re going to be our future resident! Ooo, I’m so excited! I have to go! I’ll write more when I get back tonight!

I don’t want to talk about it. Ugh, but I have to vent somewhere, don’t I?

Our guest today was Graham, the hamster. Ugh. I do not like Graham. Why? He’s such a wannabe poser! He claims he’s a celebrity and uses corny terms all the time. He greeted me by saying “Bonjourno!” and later exclaimed his excitement by shouting “Guten Tag!” First — that’s not even the same language as you were faking before, second, you’re not using that phrase properly! Don’t think I’m not onto you, hamster.

To make matters worse, he doesn’t even refer to me by my name. He just calls me “Hey, you!” Do you even know who I am, pal? I’m more a celebrity than you’ll ever be!

Ugh, after that nightmare finally ended (for now,) I needed a bit of joy in my life. Stitches was the perfect friend to brighten my day. But then I screwed that up too — I thought it would be cute to give him a stuffed Panda Bear, and then I remembered he is a stuffed bear. Oh, my dear sweet Stitches, I am so very sorry.

Then Gulliver washed up on my shore again. Even he is aware of my excess loads of free time so, of course, I had to help him…

I decided it was time to just take a breather and use that Nook Miles Ticket I had. I looked the pilot dead in the eyes before we took off and said, “I swear, if you bring me to black bass island one more time, it will be the last thing you ever do.” Needless to say, he brought me to Bell Rock island today. I went to the island with 5,000 bells and came home with 87,000. I am one satisfied customer.

By the way, how does that work? I understand when I chip away at a rock and things like stone or clay fall from it, but bells? Perhaps bells are actually a type of stone valued so much by the animal people it’s used as currency? You see, I could accept that, but the fact that sometimes it flies out of the rock wrapped in little bags, it just baffles me!

Well, with all my profits from that trip I managed to pay for another bridge. Audie and I were discussing how this would benefit us by not having to use the vaulting poles anymore.

Also, Kitt hurt my feelings today too. She said that my style was basic. She could see I was a bit upset by this, so she covered it up by saying she meant I wore basics well, but I knew what she really meant. I’m starting to remember why I let her move from Citytown…

Yeah, well, your hat doesn’t match your jacket!

Though this day was full of ups and downs, the final part of my story ends with the highest high one could feel. Later in the evening, I thought I should attempt to find the rumored Tarantula Island. I haven’t had any luck finding a specimen for the museum, so certainly I would be able to find one in a place literally named after the creature. But I did not find the island. However, what I found was even better. Love.

I got off the plane, and lo and behold, there he was. My precious, my darling — Antonio was there! I ran to his side, thrilled to see him, nearly jumping into his arms — but I controlled myself.

We talked and talked, catching up on life since we last saw each other. It turned out he was doing a survival training challenge, which is why he was out on the island. Typical Antonio. Still, his training was doing him wonders, ooh, those muscles!

He also noticed how much I have been toning myself as well, what with all this island hopping and hard labor Nook tasks me with.

He off-hand mentioned that he’d love to his island training full time, so I took the opportunity and asked him to move in with me— I mean, to Islandtown. After everything that had happened between us, I thought perhaps I came on a bit too strong, but he answered in the affirmative. Antonio, sweet, sweet, Antonio, is going to be part of my village once again!

Despite all the bad things that happened today, I can rest easy knowing my favorite animal is going to be with me.

Day 13

Graham was the first one to move in today, but Antonio will be here tomorrow! I’m so excited! Audie and I got together and talked about it all morning. It was funny because she was watching a romance movie the day before and had an inkling something special might happen!

But sadly, poor little Stitches was sick today! I immediately ran over when Kitt told me the news and brought him some medicine. He was feeling a lot better afterward, but I told him he should still rest inside for the day.

I proceeded from there to go to the Town Hall as Tom Nook had requested for my assistance — MY assistance, not Isabelle’s… Okay, Isabelle’s too. Ugh.

If you think for one second that I’m your task force you’ve got another thing coming…

Anyway, the two of them asked me to keep inviting new residents to live in our town. Easy enough! I knew plenty of people from back home who would love to live here! I called up my girl Whitney from back home and invited her to camp out with us here on the island. I figured we’d hang out a bit and then I’d ask her about moving in.

She was thrilled when I called her and came over immediately. We had such a good time catching up, it’s been so long! These past few days have been overwhelming me with emotion with so many familiar faces.

However, when I mentioned that Whitney should move to Islandtown, she didn’t say no, but she didn’t quite feel ready yet. I get it. Citytown is a great place. I mean, it’s less great now that I’m not mayor anymore, but it’s still pretty cool. I’ll invite her over again after she’s thought it over a bit.

Oh! With my garden doing so well, I decided to set up my own little flower shop right outside my house. I stood there for three hours today and not a single customer. Mabel, I applaud your patience and durability.

I was hoping to raise a bit of money through this stand to set up a bridge. You see, when I picked a spot for Antonio’s house to be, I didn’t realize he had no connection to the other parts of the island. It was imperative that I got this bridge funded and finished by tonight. Luckily I had some help from friends to donate enough bells for the project to be completed. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of fishing…

But it will all be worth it. Tomorrow, my prince charming moves to town. 

A Residents Representatives work is never done! With so many tasks to complete and more residents moving in, how will our solo human villager handle the heat? Read the New Leaf Diaries first here! Start from NH Diaries part 1: Permanent Island Getaway…

[violetlunette]

Tropes/Cliches I Hate

So there are a lot of lists stating cliches people hate and this is another one. If you like these, that’s fine, I just get irked when I see them myself and want to rant a little. This isn’t a top ten list, just a list of things I dislike. There won’t be any romance tropes here as they deserve and have their own list. Also, most of these are story telling tropes, so just a heads up. Anyway, let me know what you personally think and tropes you hate and why. Oh, and SPOILERS! Before warned.

Tropes/Cliches I Hate

Too Much Drama/Unearned Drama: My most HATED trope. Don’t get me wrong; I like drama okay, but if it’s over loaded or feels like it was just thrown in for by the writers I get frustrated. Yes I know that writers do that to keep people interested, but can’t they make it feel natural or earned?

I liked “Finding Carter’s” drama; This is a story about a girl who discovers she was kidnapped as a toddler by the woman she called mother all her life and being reunited with her birth family. The drama makes sense and is earned by the whole family; (SPOILERS)

Carter’s whole world is turned upside down so her attitude, while mean at times is understandable.

Taylor has spent her whole life terrified of disappearing like her sister and has had her fear fed by her parents, so has lived a sheltered life.

Their mom lost a kid which has affected her marriage so she started to sleep with her partner and was even planning to leave, however when she found Carter she didn’t want to break her family again. Hell, even the drama with the villain is understandable as Carter and Taylor came from her eggs/she was a surrogate mom who was sleeping with the father at the time. You can see why she might think the twins were hers and that she had a right to take one. This is great drama and I would have loved it, but then they had to give the side characters the angstiest backstories they could which distracts from the family at times and felt unneeded.

And I know; that what drama are about. Angst central, I know, but that’s why I don’t watch a lot of drama. At the very least I want it to be earned an in character or story.

The fifth book of Harry Potter did this fairly well as all the drama came from the characters and their actions. Sirius died due to Harry’s impulsive actions and Dumbledore want to keep Harry in the dark to “protect him.” And the drama hits all the harder because it’s something that could happen in real life (minus the magic stuff.).

A bad example is Gilmore Girls where they force the character April in with a bunch of random drama just to keep Luke and Lorelei apart. There was a legitimate way to put off the wedding; have Luke be afraid of rushing things and feeling like he’s the one who has to make all the compromises and give up things and he runs away for awhile. Hell, they could have kept the plot line of her jumping into bed with Christopher because as terrible as that was it was still a very Lorelei thing to do. But the plot with April and everything after? UNNEEDED AND UNWANTED.

We’re not together, but I’m Pregnant/The Baby Plot: Okay, I love babies—when I don’t have to change them or be woken up at 3:00 in the morning. They’re soft, cute, adorable, and squishy! However in TV the baby is usually born to a “will they won’t they” couple as a way to force them together when the writers made the audience believe they were separating them or for drama. News flash writers; if the only way you can keep a couple together is to throw a baby in the mix, then just give up on the pair!

Babies are used for like one arc to cause drama, then are tossed to the side with maybe a passing mention so it’s like what’s the point?

It’s a cheap way to keep a couple together. A child should NOT be a plot deceive to keep a couple together or create drama. Ross and Rachel were the worse along with Belle and Rumple; Ross and Rachel had fallen into a slump and the audience were starting to move on and look at other options for them so the writers thought they could yank us back by revealing they had sex and Rachel was pregnant. All this led to was the same slapstick they went through when they were together before and they never worked through the issues they had before, mainly that they were jealous, possessive, and vindictive except now they had a BABY.

With the Rumbelle the writers couldn’t decide what the hell they wanted with Rumple (did they want him to be evil or a hero), but knew his actions were pushing Belle (and the fans) away. So what did they do? Threw a baby into the mix with a whole contrived plot that was just—what? I mean, it COULD have worked, but not the way the writers did it.

Writers, people; IT IS NEVER A CHILD’S JOB TO FIX A COUPLE. A baby is not a plot device they are people and deserve more respect than they get. If a couple can’t stay together by themselves, then a baby is not going to help. All it does is trap two people and why would want a couple that’s forced together that way?

“We’re trying to protect ya so we ain’t telling ya shit” and Bad communication skills: How many problems in stories could be solved if two people just sat down and talked instead of keeping secrets. Like “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” If Dumbledore had told Harry that Voldemort could get into his head and could hurt people Sirius might be alive. And in a couple? I don’t need to list an example. You’re already thinking of a moment where a couple got into a fight because they didn’t just sit down and talk.

That being said I do like this trope as a potential reason for a hero being ignorant of their past at the beginning of a series as I like the hero from a muggle world. At the very least I want the person keeping the secrets to be called out on it.

Insane maniac pixie girl: This a low one as there are some I like, however I feel this character is over done lately and honestly I can only take so much of the personality. They’re always so loud, screaming all the time, squeaky, and have no sense of personal space. I mean, I like Webby and Mabel, but even then I can only take so much squealing. (I dunno, maybe I have sensitive ears.)

I’m not dead!: Disney gets away with this because the brought backs happen towards the end of the film and isn’t done time and again in the same movie. Compare to the Dragon Ball series were death is like a mosquito bite. Why should I care if they get hurt or the world dies? Just wish them back and everything is fine! Seriously, is anyone who watches DBZ concerned when a character gets hurt or dies still? It’s a cheap trick that feels like a “ha! Fooled you!” moment.

High school drama / Skewd Priorities: Okay when I say high school drama I mean focusing on a school dance when the world is at stake or worrying about whether or not a boy likes you when a murder is on the loose, or focusing on school junk when we as the readers want tto focus on the fantasy elements. This is mostly in YA dealing with kids, so some of this is understandable, but even so it’s not fun to read and even teenagers hate being portrayed like this (at least the one or two I know). When I  was teenager I liked the prom and stuff for quiet moments in stories, but NOT when there was a villain loose or danger was coming. Whenever that popped up I was like, ‘bitch wtf is wrong with you! Who cares about a zit when you have super magical powers.’ When I read a fantasy I want to focus on the fantasy elements, not school! School is boring.

Too Easily Forgiven: Forgiveness is wonderful thing, however it should be earned and you know some things can’t and shouldn’t be forgiven. For me it’s murder. Now if it’s between two warriors in a fight that’s one thing, but hurting or killing innocent civilians? No. No, no. Or hey, what if a person has been horribly bullying you or making your life miserable? Do you have to forgive, fuck no. Now I’m not saying you should seek revenge, but I’d rather they just choose that they don’t want to be angry and anymore and decide to move on.

Forgiveness should be earned when they’ve truly hurt someone and even if they feel remorseful, characters still have the right to be angry when they’ve been hurt or had someone they love taken from them.

All humans /muggles are bastards / idiots: Yeah, humans are assholes. We get it. No one knows how bad humans are than other humans, but you know what? Humans have done amazing things to conquer natural selection and the fact that other humans is humanity’s greatest enemy shows just how powerful the human race is. And not everyone wants to blow up shit, some of us work VERY hard to help and save everything we can and the rest are just trying to live our lives without hurting anyone. We may not be top dog, but we’re not bottom of the barrel either. And why should other races get put on pedestal as the woobie race or holier than thou? That doesn’t make them more interesting it just makes them annoying. I see this trope in almost every fantasy, can’t we switch it up a little?

magical speciesism / the blood must remain pure: Ignoring the real life implications this trope’s just been over done. Can’t we turn this around and have it that cross breeding between a magical and a human is considered the norm or a good thing? Switch it up a bit?

Ron the death Eater and Draco in Leather pants: This annoying enough in the fandom where we like to exaggerate and things we like and dislike, but in the actual show it’s insulting to the character AND the fans. If there’s something wrong with the character then the writers should make an arc to improve them, not drag the character through the mud.

On the other end if a character is an asshole you can’t just make them a hero suddenly and expect the audience to buy it. The characters have to earn their redemption.

And those are ten tropes I hate. How about you guys? What’s your thoughts? Do you hate them or am I alone? And what do guys hate to see in stories?

[a-million-stories-for-you-blog]

Stanford Pines Application: Accepted

Name/Alias: Rosenthorne (Or Jess or Thorne)

Preferred Pronouns: She/her/They/Them

Age: 29

Time Zone: Central

Discord name: *Private* (since you already know who it is 8U)

Triggers: Not much. Bit of a crime buff so I’ve seen/read a few morbid things. Or a lot. Don’t like feet.

Personal/About Yourself: I can be nice and squeaky clean or I can be downright morbid and not so clean. Depends on the situation. I’m a stickler for canon when it comes down to it. Not much for romance but I can write for it when the mood allows. I have written a LOT of smut in my day though. I love the strange, the unique, dark humor, dark stuff in general.

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Character Name: Stanford Filbrick Pines

Headcanon Age: Young to Adult (But like 15 minutes older than Stan XD)

Headcanons About Character:

-Asexual, aromantic. This is mainly for the fact that in Journal 3 he wrote that he found ‘romance more baffling to him than the greatest mysteries of the universe’.  If that doesn’t scream asexual, I don’t know what does.

-Despite being asexual, he is very touch starved. He wants people to talk to him. He doesn’t mind hugs, holding hands, platonic cuddles, laying side by side while talking about anything really (it doesn’t have to be science based), etc, from those who are very close to him. He will always do what he can for those who mean a lot to him.  Any unsolicited touching without his acknowledgement of who it is will usually end with someone’s arm twisted behind their back and on their stomach on the floor out of reflex.

-Has a hard time opening up to people and is still learning on how to do so. This is the result of being viciously bullied growing up with Stan as his only friend. This makes being touch starved even worse.

-He did love DDMD in middle school on up and tried to join the local clubs full of other nerds who adored the game, however he was shunned and avoided like the plague due to his extra fingers. Undeterred, Ford continued to make OCs and strategies in hopes that one day he’d have friends to play it with.

-He would quickly finish his tests in school and, instead of turning it in, ‘accidentally’ leave it somewhere that Stan could cheat off him. While Stan did this, Ford would use this time to draw or read paranormal books.

-Terrified of swimming in open water at a young age, opposite of Stan’s fear of heights. He slowly grew accustomed to the idea of sailing when Stan started to weave the idea of adventures on the high seas. He did have a fascination with boats despite his fear and he had tried learning to swim in a community pool, making him a mediocre swimmer.  After he arrived in Gravity Falls, he included swimming in the lake as part of his exercise regimen. He had hoped to swim the areas Nessie or Ogopogo had been rumored to be.

-After Ford closed the curtains on Stan when he was kicked out, Ford sunk to his knees and cried while hugging a pillow. Time was lost to him (he spent two weeks in his room, barely eating what his mother brought to him or going anywhere). His heart and trust had been shattered by the only person he had ever trusted. During that time, his father started to beat ideas into his head, building him up to a more egotistical persona, one that re-sparked his interest in inventing and school. He made Ford believe he was better than everyone, that he was special and only people like him were destined for something greater. However, the motives to get Ford moving again was not without want of personal gain. Filbrick still wanted those potential millions. These motives have severely harmed Ford’s ability to forgive Stanley. Ford is slowly unlearning what his father had instilled in him.

-To Filbrick’s dismay, Ford did not go down the path of ‘potential millions’ right away. The father had tried to make Ford change his mind about going out west to pursue his interests in favor of being hired on as a scientist somewhere. However, the flattery had made Ford a bit more cynical to the world around him. He did not share his grant money like his father expected him to. He pretty much cut ties with the rest of his family minus the occasional phone call to his mother.

-If it weren’t for his mother and later Fiddleford and Bill in his early years, Ford would have been worse off. When he throws himself into his work, he forgets to take care of himself. He wouldn’t shower for weeks on end, forget to eat or sleep to the point of passing out and would often forget what day or year it was.

-Loves horror movies and has somewhat identified with the monsters but greatly criticizes them. He has never showed any fear toward ‘old school’ horror movies. However, he hates jump scares and will react violently to them out of reflex.

-Ford’s trench coats have been modified to be ‘bags of holding’ through a technique he learned while traversing the universe. When you look into one of the many pockets, you find nothing but a void of stars and nebulae which pretty much are ‘pocket dimensions’. **BU-DUM-TISS** He could pull more than a live rabbit out of any one of them at any moment. Probably an extinct Dodo bird or a mini noodle dragon.

-Ford has doodles all throughout Journal 1 and 2 of characters he created for DDMD. He also has a strategy journal floating around the shack somewhere that contains some of his best material that has been lost for years.

-He buys ALL of his clothes in bulk, sometimes the boots already have their own mud stains or have them printed on them at all times. It’s a look Ford loves. Speaking of looks, not all of his black pants are actual pants. Some of them are spandex or yoga pants in case he’s afraid he may rip normal pants when having to do something athletic.

-Yes, he does have 12 PHDs. He earned one on earth but the rest were earned during the 30 years he was away. None of them are in the medical field. That’s what spells are for. One has to wonder if the other eleven are even valid in our dimension. Even he ponders that but will probably aggressively state that they are.

-Everyone expects him to like classical music. While, yes, this is true, he actually took a liking to rock and alternative music. However, he somehow knows all the lyrics to songs that were not made in his time, possibly from a parallel timeline where he got his PHDs.

-He has commissioned Mabel to make him a knitted Plaidipus plush that he shamelessly sleeps with every night. Its name is ‘Theory’.

-Ford keeps up an exercise regimen that he doesn’t force on anyone. He couldn’t care less about anyone’s physical prowess unless they wanted to adventure with him. He doesn’t want them hurt. He only comments on his brother to rile him up from time to time. Sibling rivalry and all.

-Ford has killed before and he will kill again if he has to. He doesn’t like talking about it but most of his kills were the result of either protecting himself or someone or getting something he desperately needs.

-He has a lot of scarring all across his body. While he will admit half of them were from his years in the multiverse, a good chunk of them were from Bill after he found out that Bill was plotting against him.

-After Stan’s memory recovery and his adrenaline came down, Ford had to be taken to the hospital as a result of Bill’s torture on top of the ride in the alien shuttle that would have taken him to an intergalactic prison. He didn’t stay there long. In fact, after he was bandaged up, he declared himself healed and walked right out the front door. Remember, none of his PHDs were in medical. He probably memorized a healing spell.

-Ford may be looking into changing his name after seeing the list of charges Stan put on his legal name. Yeah.

-He and Fiddleford keep a close connection. When he isn’t skyping the kids on his adventures with Stan or spending time with Stan, he is talking with Fiddleford. They pretty much rekindled their bromance. He somewhat owes his life to Fiddleford for all the times the man had saved him from his own stubbornness.

-With Dipper turning down Ford’s offer of apprenticeship, Ford has turned his sights to another adventure loving child who was more local and could probably keep up with him like, if not better than, Dipper had. Wendy. However, during their first adventure out, instead of voicing her opinion on a matter, she ended up knocking sense into him with the back side of her axe. The clanging of it against the metal plate in his head echoed throughout the woods.

.

Example Writing Piece:

There he was. Lying flat on his back on the kitchen floor of his cabin with a bewildered look on his face as a pair of long, twiggy legs draped over his chest and hugged around his arm that was outstretched and held fast against a thin chest. Never in his life did he think he could have been taken down so easily by a man who claimed to be a complete pacifist.

“Say it!” Fiddleford panted, tightening his grip on the arm some while lying on his own back, perpendicular to Ford’s body.

“Never!” Ford snapped out of his bewilderment and started to try to struggle against the hold. “They’re nothing but a stupid fashion trend!”

“Facts are facts! Leg warmers are a practical piece of clothin’!”

“What warmth could you possibly get from leg warmers?!”

“Not all of us have paddin’ in the winter, Stanferd!” the assistant growled and twisted the arm. A yelp echoed off the walls as Ford tried to manage to get the upper hand. He should have been able to dominate this… whatever it was. He was a good bit stronger than his friend. When Ford found that he was not going to get out of the hold without resorting to dirty tactics that would hurt Fiddleford, he sighed and smacked his open palm on the floor next to him to tap out. “Ah ah! Ya gotta say it!”

“No!”

“Say it’s practical! I ain’t lettin’ go until you do!”

“Fine! Leg warmers are practical! Now get off!” Ford tried to remain irritated but then started laughing at the whole situation. All this over leg warmers? Well, now he had a topic to get under his friend’s skin other than his cubic’s cube. Maybe next time he’d get a running start.

[fereality-indy]

Wendip Week Day Two - Typical Pines Luck

I went a different direction with this story. 

Gravity Falls High School

Friday October 10th, 2014

 Man, the first couple of weeks here at Gravity Falls High have been fun. I’ve been able to spend a good amount of time with Wendy and the gang. I’ve got homeroom (English Lit) and lunch with Mabel, Biology with Wendy and Candy,  Creative Writing with Pacifica, Lee, and Tambry, French with Wendy and Grenda, Calc 2 with Wendy and Tambry, and Cooking with Grenda. Wendy, Nate, and Pacifica are in the same lunch as Mabel and I. That leaves me with one class where I really don’t know anyone, Conditioning. Being on the track team I felt I needed to take a athletics class to keep my stamina up during the off season.

The only down side is I seem to have attracted to attention of Allan Weems, one of the muscle heads who plays tackle for the Gravity Falls Grizzlies. At six foot two and approximately three hundred pounds of muscle, his size really is all he has going for him. The nose ring he wears outside of football games only adds to the reason he’s nicknamed Bull, mostly he has it cause he’s about as bright as one. He’s not an actual Gravity Falls resident, he comes from one of the little towns that are still in the county but lay just outside the valley. Hirschburg or Ritterton maybe.

 “Alright guys, you have ten minutes till the bell. Get in there and get clean. I don’t want any complaints from the other teachers.” Coach Doherty said after he blew his whistle to signal the end of the class.

 I stayed back as the rest of the guys headed into the locker. After I was certain that everyone should be mostly in the showers I head in and quickly get out of my gym clothes. Wrapping my self in my towel I head to the shower stalls and grab the first empty one. When I was done I dried off and rushed out to get dressed. Unfortunately Allan was waiting on me. Even worse, we were the last ones in the locker room.

 “So Dipwad, how’s my favorite tackling dummy?” he asked as he held something behind his back, as I got closer I realized it was my gym shirt and he had wrapped it tightly around his fist, “You know what, I really don’t care.”

 Before I knew what was happening he stepped close and punched me twice in the stomach. As I gasped for air he dropped my shirt over my head and started walking away.

When he got to the door he looked back and said “Well this was fun, let’s do it again tomorrow.”

 After catching my breath, I got dressed just as the bell sounded. Walking out of the locker I found Coach Doherty waiting on me.

 “You ok, Pines? Mr. Weems told me as he left that he thought he heard you trip on something as he left the locker room.” He asked as h saw me exit.

 Just my luck, Allan gave the Coach an explanation for why I took so long. Not really wanting to press the issue I said, “Eh, I just stubbed my toe is all Coach.”

 “Well I hope you didn’t break it. From everything I’ve seen so for I‘m looking forward to seeing you on the track this year.” He said as I headed towards the door.

 I stopped at my locker and traded out my morning books for the ones I’ll need after lunch.

 “Hey broseph, ready for the Friday meatloaf?” Mabel asks as she opened her locker. She had art the period before and still had some paint on the back of her hand.

 “I guess, it can’t be any worse than Stan’s mystery meat surprise.” I replied still holding my sore stomach.  

 We got our food and headed towards the table that Nate had grabbed. We were the last ones there as Wendy and Pacifica were already eating.

 As Mabel sat down she turned to Pacifica and said, “Oh man, Paz.  Did you hear what happened today in the Candy’s gym class? Apparently there was a big fight between two of her classmates.”

 “Yeah, I heard. Apparently Jimmy Holman found out that Marion Albert, his girlfriend, was seeing Aaron Holtz on the side. He just walked up to Aaron and punched him, ended up taking half the class to separate them. Someone said it looked like Aaron’s nose looked broken.” Pacifica said as she sort of picked through the food on her tray. She’s told me that she no longer cared about her food meeting a four star rating but she still was leery of school cafeteria food. Welcome to the club princess.

 “That’s what Candy said too. Though she said it looked like Aaron actually threw the first punch.” Mabel said around a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

 “Eh, either way they both got suspended.” Pacifica said just before it seems like hunger won out and she took a bite of the meatloaf.

 That there was one of the reasons I just took the punches earlier and didn’t fight back. Heck. He didn’t hit anywhere near as bad as Rumble, so there’s that also. But there is a reason that is even more important to me.

 “God, I hate it when guys fight like that.” Wendy said after she swallowed her bite of meatloaf. “This could have easily been handled by talking. And they’re fighting each other and are either wondering what her opinion of the situation is, I mean maybe she didn’t think they were exclusive.”

 And there is the most important reason I didn’t fight back. Wendy dislikes guys fighting.  And after we lost Robbie, I realized  just how short life can be and I decided I would follow my own advice from a couple of years ago and strive to be someone worthy of her love. That doesn’t mean I’m changing anything about me, it just means that I’m gonna improve the me that I already am. Oh shoot, Mabel is talking to me.

 “Huh?” was all I was able to get out as a response.

 “I asked if you were gonna finish that?” Mabel said pointing towards my less than half eaten tray and more specifically the chocolate pudding.

 “Oh, yeah. Here you go, take what you want.” I say as I slide the tray over to her.

 “Hey  Dip, you still coming over to work on Calc and Biology homework?” Wendy asked after Mabel snagged the last half of my meatloaf and the pudding.

 “Sure, I’ve even got The Monster Of The Cape to bring over to watch if we have time afterwards.” I say with a smile.

 "Sweet. We’ll have to rush through the homework then.” Wendy says with a smirk.

 The rest of the day went by like normal and soon Mabel and I were back at the house dad found on the outskirts of downtown.  I took a moment to look over Mabel’s homework while she got ready for a night with the gals. Pacifica, Candy, Grenda, and surprisingly Tambry are all gonna be there. I think Mabel is wanting to plan the baby shower.

 After I was done, her work was on par for her which means she’ll get a b plus at least, I grabbed my bag, the DVD, and a microwave burrito. I was just heading to the front door when my phone went off.

 “Hey there.” I said as I heard Wendy’s voice on the other end, “Yeah, I was just heading out. You’re where?”  

 I heard a knock echo through the phone and from the front door. When I opened the door there she stood.

 “Well since you’re ready I may as well come pick you up.” She said as a greeting.

 "I was gonna walk, but a ride with my best friend does sound great.” I said as I walked out the door. Once I was out I noticed something, her truck wasn’t there. Turning to her I asked, “Ok, if you’re giving me a ride where’s your truck.”

 “It never really was mine, Dad was just letting me use it. Marcus just got his license so dad is letting him use it now.” Wendy said as she shut the door and started heading towards the street.

 “Ok, if you don’t have the truck how are we getting to your house?” I asked looking around as I followed her, thinking that maybe she had borrowed the Mystery cart from Soos or something.

 “Well you see, when I got home Uncle Randy and his son Seth were there. At first I was afraid they were there cause dad was making plans to send me up to the logging camp next summer. But no, they were there to give me an early birthday and graduation present.” She said as we got to the sidewalk. We headed past our driveway when we stopped in front of a charcoal grey van. “Here she is, a seventy-nine WV Uberkreuzung Microbus. It was my Grandpa’s, then Randy’s, and now its mine.”

 “Cool,” I said as she unlocked the door. I hopped in as she ran around to the driver’s side. I unlocked her door for her and she climbed on in.

 “We need to stop and grab some snacks but then back to my place to study.” Wendy said as she turned the key.    

 We sopped at the store and picked up a couple bags of chips, a bag of puffed corn, and a case of Pitt. After that it was a quick drive and we made it back to her place. The homework was done in less than ten minutes and that was with me going over the definitions of an infinite series and partial sums twice to make sure she got them. But really the homework is just an excuse we use to hang out anyways. We then cracked open the snacks and tossed the DVD into her player. She then plopped down on her stomach while I leaned back on a backrest pillow I had bought and left here last year just for movie nights. Grabbing a handful of puffcorn settled in for a marathon of jokes about the quality (or lack of it) of the special effects.

 “Ok, that suit doesn’t even have matching seams. I meant look you can see the actors neck right there.” she called out as the ‘monster’ chase a hapless co-ed through a dock of fishing boats.

 “Ok, there are several potential weapons on those boats. I mean I see a spear gun laying on the deck of that one.  Why don’t she go for one. Or maybe even just get on one of the boats and hide in it’s cabin.” I added after I had taken a swig of Pitt.

 “They probably didn’t get permission from any of the boat owners. Hell I would be surprised that they permission to even film on the dock.” She said as she playfully swatted my stomach. Unfortunately I was still tender and I winced at the contact. Now Wendy is definitely no dummy and noticed something was wrong. “You ok, Dip? I barely touched you there.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” I said as I tried to play it off. I did not want her worrying about me getting into a fight or worse her getting in trouble fighting him in my place.

 “Dip. We’ve been friends for a couple of years now, I know when you’re lying man.” She said as propped herself up with her right arm before sitting to look at me better. “And if it’s something that you feel like you have to lie to me, then I know it’s gotta be something big. You don’t lie to me. So what is it?”

 “It’s nothing.” I said as I tried to withdraw from her gaze.

 Not buying it she said, “Nope, something is wrong. Luckily for me I have learned of a weakness in your armor from Mabel for just this occasion.”

 Before I knew what was happening she was on me and began tickling me. She started under my arms but quickly worked down my sides. I started laughing and as my diaphragm contracted during a particularly loud laugh I again grimaced.        

 Seeing that she grabbed the edge of my shirt and lifted it. I hadn’t seen it myself yet, it looked like him wrapping his hand didn’t do much towards preventing a bruise from forming.

 “Dude, what the hell?” She yelled as she got a good look at it. “Who did this? Tell me and I’ll beat the crap out of them!”

 “That’s why I was hiding it, I don’t want you getting in trouble on account of me. Principal Reeves has been doing nothing but praising the turnaround you have made in the last couple of years and I don’t want to ruin that on my account.” I said as I tried to pull my shirt back down to cover it back up.

 She let go of my shirt and sat back up,  pulled her legs under her, and then leaned against the wall behind her. When was done she asked, “Please tell me you at least gave it to them as good as you got?”

 “No,” I said not looking her in the face.

 “Wait a minute.” Was her response. She followed up with, “What? Why?”

 “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine” I said almost feeling like I was twelve again.

 “Nope, I’m gonna worry about you man.” She said with a look of genuine concern, “Now why didn’t you fight back? Whoever did this couldn’t be worse than those two gnomes that found the growth crystals back in June. We kicked their tails.”

 I mumbled something barely audible.

 “What was that?” she asked as she leaned closer to me.

 “You don’t like guys fighting.” I repeated at a volume that she could hear.

 I started to get up before I felt her hand on my shoulder. She pulled me back down and turned me so I was facing her in one turn. “Yeah, I hate guys fighting for stupid reasons. Defending yourself is never a stupid reason.”

 She pulled me into a hug, “Dude, I want you to be safe. But next time this guy does something, defend yourself. I mean why else was Stan giving you and Mabel boxing lessons.”

 As I pulled back I got lost in her eyes again, they were so full of worry for me. A part of me wondered if there was something else there too.

 “I will.” I finally said as I realized how long I had been staring turning my head I saw that the movie was over. Looking down at my watch I said, “Man, I gotta get going. Mom and Dad want me home for dinner. Tell you what, keep the DVD here and we can watch it next time.”      

 I leaned forward and gave her another hug.

 When I let go Wendy said, “Do you really have to go. I was hoping we could get in another movie at least.”

 “Yeah, unfortunately the rents aren’t as forgiving as Stan is for coming home late.” I said as I gathered up my school books.

 “You want a ride back?” she asked as she slid off the front of her bed and turned off her tv.

 “Yeah, thanks.” I replied as I zipped up my backpack. “You’re working tomorrow, right?”

 “Sure, maybe we can hang after work tomorrow.” She said as we headed out of room.

 Mystery Shack

Saturday October 11th, 2014

 Well today has mostly been about organizing displays and placing some in mothballs till next spring. Soos did take one group out on a tour and should be back sometime soon, but really the season is over. I mean we may get some to come through for Halloween, but this is Oregon tourist season is over.

 I was dusting some souvenirs when I felt a large hand on my shoulder and heard a voice I was not wanting to hear, “Why Dipwad, what a pleasant surprise.”  

 He roughly turned me around and pushed me up against the shelves. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Wendy look like she was about to jump the counter. I waved her off just as he continued, "Well I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. I mean a freak like you must fit right in with all of this junk.”  

 “Now you can call me names, but you best not insult the Shack.” I said as I for once push him back.

 It doesn’t move him much but it does seem to phase him. It seemed to crack his veneer of superiority, but he seemed to recover his bravado quickly. Glaring down at me he said, “Whatchu gonna do about it. The only good things in this pig sty is red over there and that cute lil sister of yours. Where did she go anyways, she was here when I got here. “

 “That’s it. Step outside.” I say as I once again pushed him. This time it moved him enough that I was able to start heading towards the door. Wendy was staring daggers at him as I neared. In a whisper I ask, “Is he coming?”

“On your six, but he just started moving.” she responded her gaze softening as she turned it towards me. “Is he the one?”

 “Yeah. There’s gonna be a fight, I’m not sure you’re gonna want to see this.” I said as I reached the door.

 She pulled a ‘closed for break’ sign out from under the counter and set it in front of the register. “I’m not gonna miss this.”  

 I found out later that she had pulled out her phone and sent a group text to Mabel, Soos, and the rest of the gang that read ‘Dipper about to confront a bully outside of Shack, fight probable’.

 As I made it outside I headed towards the grassy area south of the parking lot. Mabel was running out from behind the Shack carrying a stack of signs, the visible one read ‘Round One’. She made it over to where I was about the time Bull got out of the front door. He was followed shortly by Wendy.

 “So you’re fighting Bull. Man, what an idiot.” Mabel said as she saw who I was looking at. Realizing that what she said could have sounded like she was calling me the idiot, she clarified “Not you, him. It takes him forever to get something through his thick skull. He most have asked me out at least twice a week since school started and I’ve turned him down every time.”

 “Oh there she is.” Bull said as he realized Mabel had joined me, “Hey there cutie. How about after I beat the snot out of your brother, you n me go to Hermanos Brothers for a tray of tacos?”

 “Kick him where the sun don’t shine, broseph.” Mabel said as she backed away and headed towards Wendy.

About that time Soos showed up with his tour group. I recognized three other members of the football team and a guy that looked like he could be Bull’s dad.

 “This him?” I heard the older guy ask.

 “Yep, he’s my project this year. He’s got all the basics; weird name, class geek, smaller than me, crush on a girl out of his league, you know the works.” Bull said as he looked at his dad. And with that what hope I had that his dad would help out faded. At least it looked like he had shocked and maybe disgusted his fellow team members, “He's a push over. He hasn’t even complained yet.”

 “Then why is he fighting you now?” I heard his dad ask.

 “Oh, he’s just trying to show off for Red there.” Bull said throwing his thumb in Wendy’s direction. It was a good thing that Mabel was there to hold Wendy back or I may not even got a chance to have this fight.

 “Well he at least has some good taste.” Bull’s dad said as he took a look at Wendy, “And if looks could kill, you’d be dead son. I wonder if he isn’t reaching to far there. You ever try for her?”

 "Oh hell no dad, she’s a Corduroy. The whole family plays with axes like they were toys. That’s a crazy I’m not touching. She’s the one that dislocated Lorenzo's shoulder last year when he tried to cop a feel.” Bull said as he grimaced remembering the incident, “Now Dipwad here won’t last five minutes. He’s a wuss.”

 “You’re right, he isn’t much to look at. We’ll see how he is doing after this fight, maybe we can use him as a janitor at the farm.” His dad said almost pushing bull towards me. “Enough talking, go get him.”

 As he got closer I held my hands up and said, “Before we start I have to warn you I have a purple belt…”

 Before I could finish he rushed at me yelling, “I don’t care, we’re here to fight not talk fashion.”

 I side stepped him and brought my hand down across the back of his head, smacking him. This did nothing more than anger him, good an angry opponent is a sloppy opponent.

 We threw punches back and forth for a moment. I did my best to remember what my teachers’ taught me and kept my guard up to deflect most of his blows, all the while ensuring I landed mine. He still got me a couple times and I am gonna be sore tomorrow. Finally I got an opening. He threw a wild punch that I deflected, as soon as I did I brought my right knee up straight into his gut. After that connected, as he went backwards I snapped my right foot out and connected to his jaw. He fell flat.    

 “Do you give?” I asked as he went to get up.

 There was still fire in his eyes as he stood. He rushed towards me with murderous intent. I reached out and grabbed his collar, put my left foot into his stomach, and rolled backwards flipping him in the process. I gained my footing first and as he tried to rise I brought my left foot down on the back of his head knocking him flat. When he didn’t try to rise again I reached down and felt for a breath and checked his pulse.

 "You lil son of a…” His dad yelled as he tried to get to me, only to be stopped by the other members of his sons football team.

 “Just grab Allan and go Mr. Weems,” said the one I now remember is named Frank, I think he's in French with me. “And tell Allan not to bother showing up at the game tomorrow. We’re gonna report that he admitted to the bullying to Coach. He has a zero tolerance policy.”  

 “And we’ll just deny it, it’ll be your word against ours.” Mr. Weems said as he started towards his son.

 “Probably not dood, I’ve got like the whole thing recorded on my phone. Including everything you and sleeping beauty said.” Soos called from where he was standing with his phone aimed at Mr. Weems.  

 Wendy and Mabel rushed over to me as Mr. Weems gathered his son as he came to and got him to their truck.

 “That was great man, I knew you had it in you.” Wendy said as they both hugged me.

 “Way to go bro, glad to see the classes finally are paying off.” Mabel added.

 “Alright, not so tight you two.” I said as I winced from how sore I was now that the fight was over.

 Wendy remembered my bruised midsection and released quickly before asking Mabel, “Classes? I wouldn’t really call those boxing lessons Stan gave you and Dipper classes.”

 “Not those, but Dip did use some of those techniques today. I’m talking our kickboxing classes. We’ve been going since we were ten, but Dip here didn’t take them serious until we got back from that first summer. That’s why he only has his purple belt, I’ve got my brown belt.” Mabel replied as she backed off and got into a fighting stance.

 “Oh, so that's what you were trying to tell him.” Wendy said as she brought her arm up and settled it down on my shoulder. “I thought you were just trying to confuse him.”

 “It wasn’t my intention but it did seem to work out that way.” I said as I try to head towards the Shack, the next thing he knows he is being hoisted up on a uneven pair of shoulders as Wendy and Soos carry him towards the Shack. It seemed Mabel was already sharing the video Soos had taken with the rest of the gang who hadn’t made it to the fight. I wouldn’t be surprised if I hear from the Stans before the Weekend is over about it, too.  

 “Thanks guys but really, I’m good. I just want to get some ice on my lip and jaw and, if it’s alright with you Soos, find somewhere to collapse. The adrenaline is wearing off and I am sore.” I said as we got to the porch.

 As they sat me down on my feet Soos said, “Oh, sure dood. Go ahead and take the rest of the day off. You’ve earned it.”

 After a look from Melody, which carried some sort of mental message that married people seem able to do (I’ll have to investigate that later), Soos added “Hey Wendy, you have the most knowledge out of us when it comes to first aid, why don’t you take the rest of the day off too and take care of the Dipster.”  

“Oh yeah, Wends. I’ll cover for you if needed.” I heard come back from wherever Mabel was at.  

 “You don’t have to tell me twice. Sit right here and rest Dip, I’ll go grab the ice and then we can go back to my place and try to watch that movie again.” Wendy said as she help me to the chair Soos had placed by the gift shop’s entrance. Then she ran on into the shack.

 “You can thank me and Melody later dawg.” Soos said before he and Melody entered the Shack. And believe me I did.  

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 47

Yeeeee you guys all seemed pretty excited about this one and I’m really glad to have it finally finished for you guys to read seeing as how I’m super excited about it too! It has a lot of interesting parts in it, so I can’t wait to see what you all think of it! Enjoy!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/169117963199/universe-falls-chapter-46

Chapter 47: Society of the Blind Eye

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Seeing as how Greasy’s Diner was one of the few general eateries in Gravity Falls, it often stayed open rather late into the night to accommodate the offhand insomniac customer. Even so, it did close eventually every night, and every night Lazy Susan dutifully closed the diner up before heading home. It was business as usual as she cheerfully swept the floors, emptied the register tills, beat the possums out of the dishwasher, and chased Old Man McGucket out from under one of the tables. With all of these average tasks completed, the waitress locked the restaurant for the night, blithely bidding it farewell as she began to head home to tend to her multitude of cats.

“Good night, diner!” she exclaimed brightly before doing the same to the surrounding woods. “Good night, trees!” Her string of warm goodbyes continued even as she passed by the group of gnomes, stacked upon each other’s shoulders, trying to reach a still-warm pie sitting on the diner’s windowsill. “Good night, tiny men stealing my pie.” Lazy Susan stopped dead in her tracks immediately after saying this, a shocked gasp escaping her as she spun around to face the thieving gnomes again. “Wait, what?!”

“Lift with your knees,” Jeff commanded his tower of tiny accomplices, unaware that the waitress had caught them. “No, your knees! If I go one more hour without eating, I’m gonna resort to cannibalism.” The gnome leader paused, briefly, noticing the still quite stunned Lazy Susan standing nearby before he casually tipped his pointy hat to her. “Ma’am.”

Needless to say that upon seeing such an alarmingly bizarre sight as actual, living gnomes of all things, Lazy Susan’s first reaction was to let out a panicked shriek of fear. The gnomes themselves hardly reacted to the waitresses’ terror as she hurriedly backed away, trying to make sense of the impossibility standing right in front of her. “M-magic little men! What does it mean?! What do I do?!” At that moment, she fortunately managed to bump into the payphone near the diner, and she didn’t hesitate to scramble to dial 911 amidst her palpable distress. “Yes, hi, I’d like to report something” she began frantically as the dispatcher answered on the other end. “I’m at Greasy’s Diner. You won’t believe what I’ve witnessed! It’s unbelievable! Its indescribable! It’s-”

Lazy Susan was abruptly cut off as two sets of hands suddenly grabbed her from behind. She barely even had time to let out another fearful scream before the pair of robed figures covered both her mouth and her eyes as they began to forcibly drag here away. Their leader nodded in approval as they passed by him, before he followed after them himself, leaving only a graffiti insignia of a single eye crossed out on the wall behind him. “It is unseen…” he proclaimed darkly as him, his cronies, and their unwitting target disappeared into the darkness of the night.

“…Welp, back to pie!” Jeff concluded in the aftermath of what him and his fellow gnomes had witnessed. Still, they hardly cared about its ominous implications as they made off with their prize, all of them more than eager to devour it whole. “I was this close to eating you, Carl.”

With the laptop busted seemingly beyond repair and the bunker devoid of any further tangible clues, Dipper had found that he was largely back to square one when it came to his search for answers about the author of the journals. Still, despite the roadblocks he had faced, personal and otherwise, over the past several weeks, he still saw that search as a necessary one, for both the sake of uncovering the mysteries of Gravity Falls, as well as potentially rescuing Lapis from her aquatic imprisonment. A goal that, regardless of the pain he had been put through in his reckless attempt to achieve, he was still striving towards as intently as ever.

Of course, seeing as how his last venture in this search had ended in such momentous disaster, Dipper had wisely decided against going it alone this time, which was why he had ask Steven and Connie to help him sort through all of the clues and leads he had gathered thus far. The trio congregated in the attic, Connie already scribbling away on a notepad as Dipper carefully examined the detailed photo board he had put together concerning the author’s unknown identity. “Alright, author,” he muttered to himself, stepping away from the board as he absently chewed on the end of a pen. “Who are you? Who are you…?” Dipper’s concentration was abruptly broken as the pen he was gnawing n suddenly snapped, resulting in a messy spray of ink all over his face. “Ugh! Not again,” he groaned in disgust, tossing the ruined pen into a bin of other pens that had met the same fate.

“Uh… Dipper? How about instead of snacking on pens, you snack on one of these?” Steven offered with a smile, holding out a plate of cookies he had brought up from downstairs. “They’re a lot sweeter, and way less inkier! That’s a guarantee.”

Dipper let out a somewhat exasperated sigh as he cleaned the ink off his face and took one of the cookies before turning back to his collection of clues. Steven couldn’t help but smile a bit as he handed the cookie plate off to Connie, a wave of contentment washing over him as he thought about how normal this all felt. With Dipper thoughtfully mulling over the mystery of the author, Connie working through her own theories on paper, and Mabel having promised to bring more snacks up in a few minutes, the young Gem was more than happy to see them all working together again. In a way, it was almost as if the sword training debacle, their struggle against Bill, and even the hand ship invasion had never even happened. Like nothing had changed at all. And after all of the upheaval of the past several weeks alone, that was something that Steven was more than happy to hold onto.

“You know, you guys,” Steven began with a warm smile, wanting to spread this happiness to Dipper and Connie as well. “This is… really nice. These last few weeks have been pretty rough, what with those Gem mutants in the Kindergarten, and the invasion, and that whole thing with Bill-”

“Um… Steven?” Connie spoke up in a small whisper, her expression filled with sudden concern as she looked over at Dipper. Upon the mention of the dream demon, he merely glanced down disdainfully, clearly not wanting to be reminded of such a sore subject, though Steven didn’t initially notice this as he continued blissfully.

“I guess I’m just glad that we’ve been able to move past all that,” the young Gem remarked, still smiling, though it quickly fell as he looked over at Dipper. “…R-right?”

“Oh, yeah, sure, we’ve ‘moved past it’,” Dipper remarked, feigning dismissiveness and complacency, though his tone was still somewhat bitter as he muttered his next statement. “Of course, we wouldn’t have had anything to move past if none of it had ever happened in the first place…”

Steven’s upbeat manner diminished completely upon hearing this as he instead instantly regretted even bringing any of it up at all. In all honesty, he should have figured that, even weeks later, the entire possession incident would still be quite a sore subject for Dipper, even despite his apparent progress in recovering from the wounds it had left behind both physically and emotionally. As much as it worried the young Gem to think so, those were wounds that ran so deep that they might not ever completely disappear, no matter how much time and healing passed. And despite his sincere sympathy, regret, and devout desire to help Dipper, to help all of them really, move beyond the pains of the not too distant past, Steven had no idea where to even really start with such an immense endeavor.

All the same, the newly solemn atmosphere was soon broken through as Mabel blithely barged into the attic, message in a bottle in hand as she hurried over to greet the others. “Hey, guys! Guess what I got!”

“Um… a dirty green bottle?” Connie ventured with a small, joking smile.

“It’s a bottle message from Mermando, remember?” Mabel explained, still smiling fondly at the thought of her former infatuation. “He was part fish, part shirtless guy, and by far one of the hunkiest, least creepy guy I’ve crushed on this summer! What if he wants to get back together?!”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up, Mabel…” Dipper said rationally. “I mean, the guy does live in the ocean and the chances of you two actually, you know, being together seem kind of-”

“Too late! Hopes are way up!” Mabel interupted as she rushed to get the letter out of the bottle and read it aloud. “‘Dear Mabel,’ So far so good! ‘It is with a heavy heart-’ So far so good! ‘-that I must inform you I’m getting married?!”

“And… there it is,” Dipper remarked with an already sympathetic frown upon noticing how suddenly distraught his sister was by this news.

“‘In order to prevent an undersea war… arranged marriage… queen of the manatees’?!” Mabel frantically read, growing more distressed and heartbroken with each word. “And she’s so beautiful!” she wailed upon looking at the picture Mermando had enclosed of him and his new, rather unsightly bride. “This can’t be happening…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mabel,” Connie said comfortingly. “We all know how much you liked Mermando.”

“But look on the bright side,” Dipper attempted to encourage. “You’ll get over him eventually.”

“That’s not the point,” Mabel huffed as she pulled out her summer scrapbook. “On my first day here, I made this page for summer romances because I thought I was going to have so many sweeping relationships! But look at my luck so far: turned out to be gnomes,” she pointed to a picture of ‘Norman’, who had indeed ended up being a stack of lovestruck gnomes. “Child psycho…” she continued with apt disgust as she nodded at Gideon’s picture. “Made out with his own hands,” she went on, pointing at a picture of Gabe and his puppets. “And now with Mermando out…” Mabel sighed as she scribbled the word “failed” above the page’s title of “summer romances”, a claim that rang true, as every single one of her relationship attempts had ended in nothing but heartbreak thus far. “I wish I could just forget about them all forever…”

“Aw, don’t count yourself out yet, Mabel!” Steven encouraged as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “The summer’s not over yet! There’s still plenty of chances for you to find that special someone. In fact, I bet it’ll probably happen when you’re least expecting it!”

Mabel looked over at the young Gem at this, her cheeks filling in with an almost invisible blush as she met his warm, sincere smile. A smile that she almost returned, until she took a second look and saw Connie sitting right next to Steven, and rather closely at this. Much closer than she was to him, in more ways than one. “Y-yeah…” she muttered, looking away dejectedly. “When I’m least expecting it…”

“Hey, if its any consolation, my summer mission hasn’t been a huge success either,” Dipper said, turning back to his photo board full of dead ends and incomplete hints. “We’re still no closer to finding out who the author of the journals is. And honestly, at this rate, it feels like we’ve barely made any progress at all!”

“Well, we do have some clues…” Connie interjected, glancing back at her notes. “Like the fact that he probably has six fingers and that he supposedly disappeared over thirty years ago. But other than that… yeah… we really don’t have a whole lot to go off of.”

“Well, we would if the laptop wasn’t smashed…” Dipper added, hesitantly glancing over at the brutalized laptop sitting on the desk nearby. Despite its current uselessness, he still decided to hold onto it, much like how he had held onto the torn scraps of the pictures of himself and Lapis. After all, even aside from sentimental value, he never knew when either of those things might become useful again. “But without it, we’ve lost just about any lead we might have had for finding him…”

“Wait a minute…” Mabel mused as she took a casual look through the bottle Mermando’s message had come in at the laptop, noticing something that none of them had before. “Dipper, look at this!”

“Through your bottle?” Dipper asked dubiously.

“Just do it,” Mabel rolled her eyes as she handed the bottle over to him.

While still skeptical, Dipper did as she said, peering through the end of the bottle as it effectively magnified some of the laptop’s smaller features. Most notable of those being a small metal plate screwed to the undercarriage of the machine, engraved with the name of its inventor. “‘McGucket Labs’. As in… Old Man McGucket?!”

“Isn’t he that crazy old hillbilly that lives in the junkyard downtown?” Connie asked, just as confused as Dipper was. “He built that laptop?”

“Well, he did build that Gobblewonker robot,” Steven pointed out. “And it actually worked pretty well. Until Opal shot it in the face with one of her magic arrows.”

“But wait,” Mabel interjected with a dawning realization. “If the laptop was McGucket’s then… you guys don’t think…?”

“No, he couldn’t be,” Dipper quickly refuted, though as he took another look back at his compiled clues, his tune gradually started to change. “It wouldn’t make any sense. Unless….” He trailed off as he began making connections that had previously seemed completely arbitrary, such as the laptop’s label reading “property of F” and McGucket’s first name: Fiddleford. Connie got up to join in on this, correlating the six fingers on the cover of the journal to the fact that McGucket’s right hand was continually bandaged up, almost as if one of his fingers had somehow been chopped off. Mabel and Steven also ended up collaborating, adding ties between clues and facts until nearly everything seemed to point towards one person and one person alone: Fiddleford McGucket.

“No way…” Dipper muttered, completely awestruck by what had never, ever seemed anywhere remotely possible until now. “So that means… Old Man McGucket wrote the journals?!”

“You know, I gotta admit that out of anyone, he was probably the last person I would have suspected…” Mabel remarked, rather taken aback herself.

“Same here,” Connie agreed, checking over the clues again to see if they checked it, which, against all logic, they somehow did.

“Oh my gosh, you guys, just wait until we tell the Gems!” Steven exclaimed with an excited smile. “They’ll totally freak out when they hear we’ve found out who the author is! Heck, maybe it’ll even jog their memory and they’ll remember helping him write the journals!”

“Then that’s who we’ll go ask first,” Dipper said with apt resolve to finally put this longtime mystery to rest. “Let’s go!”

“Am I blanchin? Girl, we blanchin. I live up in a mansion. Am I blanchin? Girl, we blanchin, I live up in a mansion.” Soos sang along to this rather repetitive rap tune playing on the radio as he swept up in the gift shop, not noticing Wendy’s growing annoyance with the song until she could no longer remain quiet about it.

“Ugh! Soos, can we please turn that stupid song off?!” she groaned, slamming a fist down on the counter. “I can’t get it out of my head!”

“Oh, you mean ‘Straight Blanchin’ by Lil’ Big Dawg?” Soos retorted with a smile. “It’s the catchiest song of the summer!”

“What even is ‘blanchin’?” Wendy asked with a harsh scowl. “Rappers can’t just make up words!”

“Rappers are visionaries, Wendy,” Soos countered. “If they told me to eat my own pants, I would do it.”

“Eat your own pants! Eat your own pants, yeah!” the song blared, and of course, the handyman readily followed along with it.

“Guess I have no choice,” Soos shrugged blithely as he began to unzipper his pants and chow down. However, before Wendy could talk him out of it, the kids rushed into the shop, all fueled by the adrenaline of their newfound lead.

“Soos, Wendy! We need to go see the Gems and Old Man McGucket!” Dipper hurriedly informed, effectually asking them to come along.

“We’ll explain on the way!” Mabel added, booking it after her brother towards the door.

“For now, let’s just say we discovered something huge!” Steven exclaimed, running backwards until he happened to trip. Fortunately, Connie caught him before he could fall, eliciting a small chuckle from both of them. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” Connie nodded before beckoning Soos and Wendy again. “Come on, you guys!”

Not even needing to ask anymore questions, the pair was immediately on board with whatever unknown mission the kids had in mind, so they wasted no time in running out after them, past a very confused Stan.

“Hey, what about work? Kids!” the conman shouted after his employees, though he paused in disturbed bewilderment upon turning to catch the fleeting sight of them. “Why is Soos eating his own pants?”

The Gems’ peaceful afternoon of putting together new stools for the kitchen’s island was abruptly interupted as the kids burst into the house, all of them more than excited to unveil their latest development. “You guys! You guys!” Steven shouted, stars in his eyes as he ran over to his guardians, the others not too far behind. “The most amazing thing just happened, you’ll never believe it!”

“Now, Steven, what did we talk about overexaggerating things?” Pearl chastised gently.

“But he’s not overexaggerating!” Connie protested.

“No, he’s not,” Mabel agreed readily. “Cause we just found out who the author of the journal is!”

“What?!” Pearl and Amethyst exclaimed in shocked unison, while immense, silent surprise crossed over Garnet’s expression as well.

“Well, what are you waiting for?!” the purple Gem asked, just as eager as her teammates to get these long awaited answers. “Spill it! Who is he?!”

“Yes, by all means, tell us!” Pearl nodded vigorously. “It’s about time we find out who this mysterious, seemingly all-knowing “author” is!”

“Go ahead,” Garnet advised more calmly, nodding to the kids to make the anticipated reveal.

“Ok, so this might be a little far-fetched,” Dipper began somewhat tentatively, hoping that the Gems would hear him out on this. “But based on every clue we’ve gathered thus far, we have reason to believe that the author of the journals is none other than… Old Man McGucket!”

Upon hearing this, the Gems’ shared interest immediately fizzled out into confusion and doubt, which were things they had no qualms about sharing with the kids. “Huh, looks like Steven was right,” Amethyst remarked, crossing her arms caustically. “I really don’t believe it.”

“Oh, I get it!” Pearl exclaimed with an amused chuckle. “It’s a joke! There’s no way someone as outlandish and scatterbrained as that wild hillbilly could have written something as collected and articulated as the journals! Very funny, kids. You almost had us going there for a second!”

“Uh, actually, Pearl, they’re not joking,” Wendy clarified as Soos nodded his support. “Even if it does seem pretty out there.”

“And you have proof that McGucket wrote it,” Garnet assumed as she looked to the kids again.

“Y-yeah, we do!” Dipper assured, pulling out the broken laptop. “His name is on the laptop we found in the bunker and everything! And he easily would have been around over 30 years ago to write it.”

“Is the thought of you guys maybe working with him ringing any bells?” Connie asked curiously. “At all?”

“Uh, not really,” Amethyst shook her head.

“Mostly because it’s a rather absurd notion…” Pearl muttered dubiously.

“But is a notion we can’t dismiss, at least not yet,” Garnet interjected, placing steady hands on both of her teammates’ shoulders. “The only way to for sure is to go talk to McGucket ourselves.”

“And if he really is the author, then maybe you guys will remember working together and you can all be friends again,” Steven said with a small smile. Of course, the Gems merely exchanged an uncertain glance at this, none of them really wanting to dash their encouraging young ward’s hopes. But even if McGucket was indeed the author, none of the three of them had any intentions of rekindling whatever “friendship” they might have had with him way back when, for reasons that had little to do with the hillbilly personally and everything to do with the nature of the journal itself. So much of its contents concerned them, and they didn’t seem to have the faintest idea about how all of that comprehensive information was either gathered. Really, what the Gems wanted most now were answers; answers about the past that could hopefully, finally lead to certainty in the future.

Without any further ado, the kids, Soos, Wendy, and the Gems all headed down to the junkyard, knowing that they were McGucket’s favored stomping grounds. Oddly enough, there were no apparent signs of the hillbilly as they arrived, but the Gems in particular were rather tense and alert, all three of them aware that this meeting could change everything. Either that, or it would be nothing more than a rather bizarre waste of time.

“Old Man McGucket, are you here?!” Dipper called, glancing around the mountainous piles of trash for the supposed author.

“Here, hillbilly-billy-billy!” Soos exclaimed louder, as they drew closer to McGucket’s shack in the middle of the dump.

“I still can’t believe we’re following through on this…” Pearl murmured, clinging close to Garnet as she narrowly avoided stepping on any stray bits of garbage.

“Me neither,” Amethyst said as she munched on a stray shoe she had found. “How could that crazy old McGucket guy and author dude be the same person? Pretty sure that guy doesn’t even know what a book even is, much less how to write one.”

“Like I’ve said before,” Garnet spoke up, her tone firm to balance out her teammates’ doubt. “Before now, we didn’t even have any guesses about who the author could be. Even if this new lead seems unlikely, it’s the only one we have. And that alone makes it worth pursuing.”

While Amethyst and Pearl were still rather hesitant to buy into the possibility of McGucket being the author, they heeded their leaders’ advice and held their peace on the matter. At least for now.

As the group finally arrived to McGucket’s ramshackle shack in the center of the junkyard, they found that it was in the middle of being vandalized, as Nate and Lee graffitied the words “McSuckit” onto its side. “Ha! This is hilarious,” Nate chuckled as they finished up their prank.

“Took an hour to think of this, but it was worth it!” Lee laughingly agreed, though the levity was cut short as McGucket suddenly emerged from his hut, having overheard the noise, prompting the teens to flee from the scene.

“Get outta here, ya salt-lickin, hornswaggling…” the hillbilly trailed off, his anger dissipating into dejection as he turned back to the insult painted onto the side of his dilapidated home. “‘McSuckit’… They got me good…” McGucket was quick to perk up, however, upon noticing the group of kids and Gems standing nearby. “Visitors! Come, come!” he exclaimed brightly, leading the way into his shack. Its interior was expectantly a disaster, with trash and spare broken down mechanical parts strewn all over as the hillbilly’s racoon wife scurried about freely. Even so, McGucket hardly seemed to pay this any mind as he instead cheerfully entertained his rare guests. “Pull up some rusty metal! You’re just in time for my hourly turf war with the hillbilly that lives in my mirror. Quit starin’ at me when I bathe!” he shouted at his reflection in the nearby metal bathtub.

“Somehow I find it hard to believe that he was the one whom Rose trusted with so many of her best kept secrets…” Pearl muttered to Garnet, the doubt and disdain in her tone clear.

“You can drop the act, McGucket!” Dipper exclaimed boldly as he pulled out the journal. “I know you’re the author. You studied the mysteries of this town and wrote this book!”

“Yeah, and you filled it with all kinds of personal junk about us,” Amethyst added, her hands on her hips. “Speaking of which, I don’t think you have a lot of room to write about my room bein’ a mess when your place is pretty much just as bad. Kudos to you on that though, I’d party in a mess like this.”

“Anyway, dude, you’re the genius Dipper’s been looking all summer for!” Wendy got back on track.

“Er, genius?” McGucket questioned with an uneasy frown that was quick to turn remorseful. “I’m no genius… I’ve never done nothin’ worthwhile in my life. Everyone knows I’m no good to nobody. I can’t remember what I used to be, but I must’ve been a big failure to end up like this.”

“Wait, so… you’re saying you lost your memories too?” Steven asked, glancing over at the Gems as he said it.

“That seems a bit too ironic…” Pearl remarked, looking to McGucket with newfound suspicion.

“I-I swear… I don’t know nothin’ about no book or mysteries or any o’ that there flimflam…” McGucket said, fretfully fiddling with his long beard. “Sorry to disappoint ya kids…”

“But… but your name is on the laptop!” Connie argued intently.

“Unless that’s supposed to be some other McGucket,” Soos shrugged. “But there’s probably about… only one dude in Gravity Falls with that name, maaaaybe two, tops.”

“Well, what about this book?” Dipper asked, presenting McGucket with the journal. After all, he wasn’t about to forget about his only possible lead on the author so easily, especially not when it felt like he was starting to get so close. “Are you sure you didn’t write it? Here, take a closer look.”

McGucket shook his head once more as Dipper started flipping through the journal’s pages, none of them apparently registering in his already sparse memory whatsoever. “I told you, I don’t recall. Everything before 1982 is just a blur. Just a dim, hazy-” The hillbilly abruptly cut himself off as the journal landed on a page featuring the dominating image of a single eye crossed evenly through its piercing pupil. McGucket let out a shriek of raw terror upon so much as catching a glimpse of it, and he fell to the ground hard, scrambling away from the journal as his manner grew frantic and erratic. “The Blind Eye! Robes—the men! My mind! T-they did something!”

“Wha—who did?” Dipper asked, just as taken aback as the others by this sudden outburst.

“I… I don’t recall…” McGucket admitted, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

“Oh, well isn’t that just incredibly convenient?!” Pearl exclaimed, a hint of accusatory hostility in her tone. “I mean, what are the odds that this elusive author we supposedly worked with years ago just so happens to be an amnesiac garbage-dweller who can’t even remember anything important at all? Ugh, I knew this would be a waste of time.”

“Pearl,” Garnet interjected, silently commanding the white Gem to calm down before she turned back to McGucket. “You mentioned something called the Blind Eye. What is that?”

“I… uh, I don’t… they… i-it was…” the hillbilly trailed off, placing a hand on his head as he seemed to lose himself to a longstanding yet unknown panic. “I don’t know!”

“Aw, you poor old man!” Mabel said with genuine sympathy. “No wonder your mind’s all loopy. You must have been through something really intense.”

“What if McGucket learned something he wasn’t supposed to know, and someone or something messed with his mind?” Dipper theorized. “If that’s the case, then we have to get to the bottom of this!”

“Well, I guess we gotta if we ever wanna figure all this journal junk out, huh?” Amethyst asked, glancing to her teammates.

“Yes,” Garnet nodded resolutely. “It’s not entirely clear, but I can see that looking into all this will lead us to answers of some kind, though its hard to say exactly what those answers might be right now.”

“And even if you aren’t the author, then at least maybe we’ll be able to help you get your memory back,” Steven said to McGucket with a supportive smile. “So no matter what, it’ll be a win-win!”

“Think, dude, what’s the earliest thing you can remember?” Wendy asked the hillbilly.

“Uh… this, I reckon,” McGucket took a newspaper clipping he had pinned to the wall down, one that pictured him lost and disoriented in front of a rather familiar building in town.

“That’s the history museum!” Connie exclaimed, pointing the building out.

“Then that’s where we’re going,” Dipper asserted, knowing that it would be the best place to start looking for clues that could very well finally led to the missing piece of this intricate puzzle they had all been searching for.

Eager to follow this newest lead, everyone rushed to pile into Soos’ truck and head over to the museum. However, as soon as the handyman turned the ignition, they were all instantly met with a song playing over the stereo that set Wendy off the moment she heard it.

“Are we blanchin’? Girl, we blanchin, I live up in a mansion.”

“Ugh, Soos!” the cashier groaned in frustration as she hurriedly ejected the aggravating CD and tossed it out the window. The others all looked to her in surprise at this, particularly Soos, which was why she was quick to make a terse, rather stilted apology. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

“Can you guys believe it?” Steven remarked to the other kids with a bright smile. “The four of us are finally back in action, solving mysteries and rewriting history again! Isn’t it great?”

“It will be great if we can jog McGucket’s memory and he actually turns out to be the author after all,” Dipper remarked rather dryly, his attention mostly focused to combing through the journal for any further clues.

“And hopefully we can do all that without running into that Blind Eye thing he mentioned, whatever that is,” Connie added just as seriously, already examining a map of the museum on her phone for anything out of place.

“Y-yeah, but… we can still have fun doing all that, can’t we?” Steven asked, suddenly apprehensive as he glanced back at the Gems, whose expression were all also rather somber and tight.

“Fun?” Dipper repeated with something of a scoff. “Steven, come on. This is serious, our biggest break towards finding the author yet. We have to focus on that first. Especially considering what happened the last time we let ourselves get distracted…”

“R-right…” Steven said, his smile finally falling completely as he let out a small sigh as he leaned his head against the window. Dipper and Connie didn’t notice this, and the young Gem didn’t blame them for it; after all, he knew exactly why they both had every intention of pushing themselves so hard with this important mystery. Still, that didn’t make him feel any better about one of the underlying reasons in particular about why that was.

Mabel, on the other hand, had taken notice of Steven’s sudden melancholy as she sat right next to him, and while it did worry her, another part of her saw it as an opportunity. One that, largely without thinking, she decided to try and take. “Uh… hey, Steven?” she spoke up, trying her best not to come across as flustered.

“Yeah?” the young Gem replied in an absent mutter.

“W-well… I was just wondering… if maybe you and me could, uh… if we could…” Mabel trailed off, her cheeks blushing brightly as she let out a small gasp of realization. “Oh my gosh, I think I finally know how Dipper felt about this whole confession thing…”

“What was that?” Steven asked, having not heard her last muttered statement.

“Oh! Uh, I was just…” Mabel finally gave up with a small sigh, deciding that now really wasn’t the time for this, especially as she spared a quick glance over at Connie sitting on the other side of her. “I was just, uh, thinking that you and me should take Dipper’s advice and be more, um… serious and focused about this author mystery, is all… Y-yeah, that’s… that’s totally what I was gonna say…”

“Oh… Ok, then…” Steven frowned, both confused and downcast as he went back to staring out the window, not noticing Mabel’s clear frustration with her own nervousness. Usually, she had no problem with this sort of thing, but this instance was entirely different than anything she had ever felt before. If she was perfectly honest with herself, these feelings in general were rather foreign to her, at least to the extent that she had been experiencing them for the past several weeks. Which was likely why she was having such a hard time admitting them to anyone really, but especially to the young Gem and in a sense, even to herself. After all, she had already failed at this so many times already; what would good would throwing her heart out on the line again do her, especially since she knew there was such a huge chance that it would be thrown right back?

The rest of the ride was rather silent until the group got to the museum, which was, for some reason, closed for the day, Fortunately, they were able to find easy enough access inside through an open window, and as soon as they all made it inside, Garnet held her teammates back for just a moment, to make sure that they were all clear about what exactly their mission was.

“Remember,” she cautioned, her voice quiet but firm. “Our main mission is to fill in the gaps between us and the author. We don’t know what we’ll find here, so we need to be ready for anything. And if we learn something that we don’t like… then we’ll just have to deal with it and move on from there.”

Amethyst and Pearl nodded in affirmation of this, both of them knowing just as much as Garnet did that today’s investigation could very well change everything they thought they knew. But all the same, they were quick to rejoin the others in starting their search for clues.

“Alright, everyone, keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious,” Dipper advised as they all spread out throughout the main hall.

“So would this exhibit on these groady old caveman forks be considered suspicious?” Amethyst asked, casually infiltrating said exhibit without a care.

“Uh, that’s not really that suspicious, Amethyst,” Connie remarked, raising an eyebrow. “Its just… weird, I guess.”

“Yeah, I’ll say so,” the purple Gem agreed, grabbing one of the wooden utensils. “How the heck did humans used to eat with these lame things without getting mad splinters all up in their mouths? They should have just used their hands to chow down, like a civilized person or whatever.” With that, Amethyst downed the ancient fork with one gulp, much to the startled surprise of everyone watching. “Huh, kinda woody but other than that, it’s not too bad.”

As the investigation continued, Mabel found herself rather disinterested with it as she heaved a morose sigh, something that Wendy too notice of as she paused her search to check up on the younger girl. “Mabel, are you ok? You just walked past a cat without petting it,” she pointed to the nearby taxidermy mountain lion, which Mabel had barely even spared a second place at.

“Oh, Wendy, everything I look at reminds me of my failed romances…” Mabel pouted, nodding to several of the nearby exhibits. “That formaldehyde heart, that romantic diorama. Even this poster of my most recent crush,” she said, looking up to a poster advertising one of Gabe’s puppet shows before disdainfully pulling it down only to reveal an old poster for Sev’ral Timez underneath it. “Oh come on!”

“So, your last memory was here,” Dipper said to McGucket as the hillbilly meandered about. “Anything coming back?”

McGucket frowned as he looked around the museum, quite uncertain though it was clear he was making a genuine effort to try and remember something, as difficult of a task as that often was for him. “Er—well, I-”

“Guys, look!” Soos cut in, pointing down the museum hall. At the end of the corridor, obscured by shadows, was a vague human figure, one that was quick to further into the darkness upon being spotted.

“Whoa, who was that?” Steven asked with apt alarm.

“Everyone, after them!” Pearl commanded, already running on ahead. The others followed suit, chasing the shadowy figure down the hall, tracing their path all the way to a room lined with a myriad of images of eyes. Yet as they all piled into this room, the unknown figure was seemingly nowhere to be seen at all.

“Well kettle my corn! He vanish-ified!” McGucket exclaimed, aghast.

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Dipper shook his head, confused. “Where did he go?”

“Hm…” Garnet mused, looking over the eyes covering the walls and remembering something the hillbilly had mentioned earlier. “The Blind Eye…”

“You don’t think this could be it, do ya, G?” Amethyst asked, slightly disappointed. “Just a room filled with a bunch of creepy old eyeballs?”

“This better not just be it!” Pearl remarked hotly. “That would make this whole thing even more of a wild goose chase than it already is! You!” she spun around to face McGucket. “We brought you all the way here, so I think its about time you start remembering something or else!”

“I-I… I’m tryin’,” the hillbilly said, clearly intimidated as he shrunk back a bit. “But its mighty difficult to recall just ‘bout anything when I feel like all these eyballs are a-watchin me…”

“Wait,” Dipper interjected, tracing path of nearly pupil in the room right back to McGucket. “They are! Move aside.”

The hillbilly did so, casting a nervous glance at the rather impatient Gems as he did to reveal a central stone tablet, one that carried a carving of yet another eye, yet much like the one in the journal, it was crossed cleanly through. The way it was set up, it almost looked like a switch, and as Dipper gave it an experimental push, that proved to be exactly what it was as the wall started to peel back to a short staircase that led into mysterious darkness down below.

“Whoa, a secret passageway!” Connie exclaimed, amazed. “This just took on a whole new level of cryptic! And that’s saying something, seeing as how it was already really cryptic to begin with.”

“What’s down there?” Pearl asked, looking to Garnet for answers, which was something the Gem leader didn’t really have as she instead simply shrugged point blank.

“We’ll have to be stealthy,” McGucket noted with newfound resolve. “I’ll hambone a message if there’s trouble.” He did so, slapping his arms and legs in a rhythmic message that was lost on everyone else.

“I… have no idea what that means,” Dipper admitted with a frown.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Amethyst asked daringly. “Let’s scope this sucker out!”

Seeing as how the group was unsure of what they’d find below the museum, they made sure to take care to keep quiet as they descended the staircase down below. As they reached the bottom, the sound of deep, unified chanting soon became apparent amidst the narrow, candle-lit corridors. They all remained on high alert as they followed this chanting, which only grew louder and more ominous with each passing second until they reached a thick scarlet curtain. And as they collectively peered out what lay beyond this curtain, they were met with by a sight that none of them had been expecting.

A large, wide open room laid before them, once again lit only by candles sconced on the walls. At the room’s center rested a reclined leather chair, one with restraining straps attached to the armrests and body. But by far the most sinister thing about this already alarming setup was the multitude gathered around this chair in an organized circle, all of them wearing crimson, floor-length robes with hoods that concealed their faces completely. And as they assembled for their unknown purposes, they continued their Latin chant, unsettling the hidden group watching them from behind the curtain. “Novus ordo seclorum. Novus ordo seclorum.”

This continued chant continued as the apparent leader of this gathering stepped forward, the familiar crossed-out eye symbol adorning his robe as he held his hands up to quiet his followers. “Who is the subject of our meeting?” he asked, his manner cold and authoritative.

“This woman,” another one of the robed men announced, escorting a familiar, albeit blindfolded figure into the room. Her identity only became clear, however, as he pulled the sack covering her head off, revealing a very confused, disoriented waitress underneath.

“Lazy Susan?” Mabel whispered, exchanging a bewildered glance with the other kids at this. After all, what could the usually kindly, albeit a bit dimwitted waitress have to do with this foreboding group of robed figures?

“What is it you have seen?” the leader asked Lazy Susan as she was sat down in the reclined chair.

“Speak!” the other members echoed, startling the already anxious waitress quite a bit.

“Uh, w-well, I was leaving the diner,” she began unsteadily. “And I saw these little bearded doodads. And I was like ‘bwaaa?!”

“There, there. You won’t be like ‘bwaaa?’ for much longer…” the leader said with faux sympathy as he opened up a wooden box one of his compatriots presented him with. He pulled a strange looking device out of it, one that was clearly some kind of gun or blaster, though it was rather archaic and bizarre in its design. A large lightbulb was fixed to its front, and on its side was a dial used to input letters, though overall its purpose was initially unclear. As the leader began to dial the words “little men” into the machine, the other members all pulled their hoods down, none of them bothering to even acknowledge Lazy Susan’s barrage of curious, nervous questions.

“What is that gizmo? It looks like a hair dryer. Are you guys barbers? I-” the waitress cut herself off with a sudden scream as the leader pulled the gun’s trigger, a burst of electricity zapping Susan squarely against her forehead. The blast held her paralyzed in its thrall until it finally died out, leaving her slack in the chair for a moment, her eyes blinking slowly and unevenly as she recovered from what looked like a very horrific experience.

“Lazy Susan, what do you know of little men?” the leader asked, hands held behind his back as he set the ray gun down.

“My mind is cleared, thanks to the Society of the Blind Eye,” Lazy Susan reported almost robotically, much to the satisfaction of said society members.

“It is unseen!” they all proclaimed in triumphant unison, their mind-erasing mission complete for now.

“Oh my gosh! They just wiped Lazy Susan’s memory!” Dipper exclaimed in a stunned whisper, just as shocked as all the others at such a disturbing sight.

“They should have wiped off that awful mascara,” Soos joked, trying to lighten the mood, though his attempt wasn’t well received by Mabel or Wendy.

“I think she looks beautiful!”

“She’s doing the best she can, Soos!”

“Whoa… touched a nerve there…” the handyman frowned, glancing away fretfully.

“So uh, I guess this whole mission just got a lot more serious, huh?” Amethyst asked, rather apprehensive in light of what they had just witnessed.

“I’d certainly say so…” Pearl muttered, somewhat shaken by the implications of all this as she gripped the edge of the curtain a bit tighter.

“Lazy Susan, how do you feel?” the society leader asked the waitress as a few other members helped her out of the chair.

“I feel great!” the waitress remarked brightly as she began to be led away. “I can’t even remember what was wrong, or what I’m doing here, or if I’m a man or a woman!”

“Your memories will be safe with us,” the leader said solemnly as he removed the glass tube from the ray gun, labeling it with Lazy Susan’s name. “Buried in the Hall of the Forgotten.”

“Into the Hall of the Forgotten! Into the Hall of the Forgotten!” the other members chanted as the leader sent the cylinder off through a vacuum tube, one that carried it up to the ceiling and out of the room.

“Good chanting, boys!” the leader exclaimed proudly. “Have you been practicing? Either way, meeting adjourned.”

“Unsee you later,” the society members bid each other farewell as they began to disperse.

“Unsee you later!”

The group behind the curtain waited a moment or two to make sure all of the society members had left, and upon Garnet’s cue that the coast was clear, they all emerged to investigate things further. “Amazing. A secret society of evil mind erasers!” Dipper remarked, both amazed and unnerved. “I’ll bet they erased your memory a long time ago, McGucket. And maybe even all of your memories about the author too!” he theorized, turning to the Gems.

“But… but that’s impossible!” Pearl exclaimed, looking to the nearby memory gun anxiously. “If we ever had a run into this so-called ‘Society of the Blind Eye’ in the past, then certainly we would have remembered it!”

“No, we wouldn’t have,” Garnet clarified. “Not if they used that gun on us.”

“So, uh… what are we supposed to do now then?” Amethyst asked.

“Well, if we can find where you and McGucket’s memories are hidden, it could be the key to unlocking all the mysteries of Gravity Falls! And then some…” Dipper mused, ever mindful of his own personal reasons for wanting to find these long awaited answers. “Alright. Mabel, Wendy, Connie, you three stay here and make sure those robe guys don’t come back.”

“Whoo! Girls club!” Wendy cheered, exchanging fists bumps with both Mabel and Connie.

“Steven, Soos, McGucket, we’re gonna go find that Hall of the Forgotten,” Dipper continued with apt resolve.

“Meanwhile, we’ll try to track down some of those society members,” Garnet said readily, her hand clenched into a tight fists. “And if they won’t give us answers willingly, then we’ll make them.”

“Yeah, now you’re talkin’!” Amethyst exclaimed rowdily, already summoning her whip. “Time to beat up a bunch of creepy, robe-wearing nerds!”

“W-we’re not actually going to utilize any physical violence against them!” Pearl assured as her and the other two Gems began to head off. “Unless, of course, they refuse to deny us access to memories that are rightfully ours, in which case we might consider it…”

“Well, dudes, I guess we should-” Soos was cut off as his hat was suddenly sucked into one of the nearby vacuum tubes, sending it off to where all of the memories the society collected were supposedly sent.

“Quick! After that hat!” Dipper exclaimed, already running after it as McGucket and Soos followed quickly after.

Steven started to join them, though he did stop short briefly upon taking another glance at the memory gun sitting on the table behind him. The example of its use they had all witnessed had been frightening to say the least, but there was no deny that gun was effective at clearing away any and all memories of harrowing experiences. And while the idea was just a small, fledgling thought inside the young Gem’s mind, he couldn’t help but wonder if it could be used to erase other kinds of memories as well, including those of pain, remorse, fear, and sorrow. If it could destroy all thoughts of past regrets, from a perilous invasion that ended in heartbreak or an ill-fated puppet show marred by wrongly-spilled blood. If it could do more than heal the long-lasting scars of the past, but instead make it as so they had never happened in the first place.

All the same, Steven’s initial musings on the matter were cut short as he was abruptly thrown right back into the moment thanks to Connie. “Uh, Steven? Aren’t you going with them?” she asked, noticing the young Gems rather awestruck expression as he stared at the gun.

“Huh? O-oh… oh yeah,” he blinked, shaking his head clear of such thoughts for now as he hurried after Dipper, Soos, and McGucket, but not before calling back to the girls. “Good luck, you guys!”

“R-right back at ya!” Mabel called back with a smile that was just a bit too wide, though thankfully neither Wendy nor Connie seemed to notice.

The Gems remained swift and silent as they made their way through the society headquarters’ labyrinthine halls, all three of them ready to summon their weapons at a moment’s notice if need be. Needless to say they were all rather tense, and they had every reason to be; after all, it truly did seem as though the Society of the Blind Eye could possibly be behind their string of missing memories concerning the author. And yet, despite how close they apparently were to getting answers, they couldn’t help but be mutually anxious about it all the same. None of them really knew what they would learn if they truly did recover their supposedly lost memories, but if anything was clear, it was this: reconnecting the faded pieces of their past would either answer all their questions, or create countless more.

“Gems,” Garnet stopped suddenly as they began to pass by a closed door, one that was more than enough to peak some interest.

“It’s locked,” Pearl reported, trying to wedge it open to no avail. “I suppose we’ll just have to-”

The white Gem was cut off as Garnet’s gauntlet crashed into the door, breaking it apart easily. “Well, I guess that’s one way to get in,” Amethyst chuckled, hopping inside the rather small storage room. At first glance, it didn’t seem like there was anything of note to be found save for several boxes filled with spare society robes. However, as preceptive as always, Garnet approached the far end of the room, which was largely concealed in darkness until Pearl followed suit, her gemstone casting light upon something that made all three Gems gasp in shock.

The entire wall seemed to host a wide array of old documents and newspaper clippings, some tracing back as far as almost thirty years ago. Regardless of their age though, almost all of these clips contained common themes: reports and coverage of Gem monster attacks, of the Crystal Gems themselves fighting off such attacks, of the town suffering mass damage from those attacks. The Gems themselves recognized every single one of the instances hanging before them, though they were still quite surprised by them all, especially seeing as how they weren’t the only things there. A myriad of notes was also tacked to the wall, filled with all manner of disparaging accusations and insults towards the Crystal Gems themselves: “Crystal Menaces!”, “Gravity Falls isn’t safe with them around!”, “Disaster Magnets!”, “Are they even of this Earth?!”, “Alien Invaders?!”, “Some ‘protectors’ they are!”, “They must be witches!”, “They’ll bring destruction upon us all!” and so on and so forth, seemingly without end. All of these notes had been arranged in such a way that they formed the society’s ionic eye symbol, its center being a picture of the Crystal Gems, one that included Rose Quartz herself that had been crossed through in dark red ink. A perfectly obvious testament to what the Society of the Blind Eye clearly thought of the Crystal Gems.

“W-wha… what is all this?” Pearl asked in a shocked whisper, taking a small step back as she looked to this unnerving display with wide eyes.

“Uh, I think its pretty obvious what this is, P!” Amethyst exclaimed in sudden defiant anger. “It’s proof that those ‘Blind Eye’ chumps, or whoever they are totally jacked our memories! All cause they hate our guts for some reason, which is like, whatever! Obviously they don’t know how awesome we are and how we save this town’s butt like, pretty much every day!”

“G-Garnet, what do you make of all this… this slander?” Pearl asked, gripping the Gem leader’s arm tightly. Garnet herself still seemed quite taken aback by what they were seeing, her jaw still dropped and her expression unreadable as she glanced around again. Her gaze finally stopped, however, upon the newest article of the collection, one that pictured the hand ship’s approach on Gravity Falls just a few weeks ago. The Gem leader was still silent as she pulled it off the wall, and when she finally did speak, her tone was soft, solemn, and most of all guilty.

“They… they’re right,” she said, not bothering to glance up. “The only reason Gem monsters attack Gravity Falls is because we’re here. We’ve known that for years now. Our presence puts this town in danger nearly every day.”

“W-well… b-but we always do manage to fend the monsters off and keep the town safe!” Pearl protested fretfully. “It’s what Rose wanted us to do! She… we… Oh, what would she think of all this? An entire society dedicated to ridding people of their memories of anything out of the ordinary? Including us? She would have hated it…”

“S-so… they’re trying to erase people’s memories of Gem stuff,” Amethyst said, still shaken and upset. “And that’s super messed up, yeah. But what about our memories? Why would these guys even go after us in the first place if they want everyone else to forget about us? And why would they only get rid of our memories of author dude and like, nothing else?”

“Maybe they wanted to get rid of the memory of him even more than us…” Garnet theorized, putting the picture down.

“Of McGucket?” Pearl asked incredulously. “But he’s completely harmless! Well, aside from that fact that I’m fairly certain that supposed ‘racoon wife’ of his is rabid…”

“What if he wasn’t so harmless before those robe dudes took his memory?” Amethyst wondered worriedly. “What if he was some kind of threat to them, so they messed his brain up and made him go totally nuts? And… what if they wanted to do the same thing to us only they didn’t make it that far?”

“B-but… no,” Pearl shook her head, refusing to believe it, even though the evidence was starting to add up. “Rose would have never allowed something like that to happen! She would have put this Society of the Blind Eye nonsense to a stop the moment she heard about it! U-unless…”

“Unless they erased her memories too…” Garnet mused, looking back up to the wall of accusations before them. “The shapeshifter… When we were in the bunker, it mentioned something about us having ‘gaps’ in our past… And it questioned whether Rose had those same gaps or not.”

“W-well of course she did!” Pearl countered, flustered for the sake of defending her former liege. “She must have! Otherwise, she would have known about all this. She would have told us!”

“Would she have?” Amethyst asked, an anxious frown crossing her features. Pearl initially prepared to counter back that Rose indeed would have, but her words faltered as she looked back to the wall of clippings again. Specifically, at the photo of their happy, smiling, stalwart team, standing together, tarnished by the blood red X crossed over it by the society. Rose had had many enemies in her time, from the highest elites on Homeworld, all the way down to mere Gem foot soldiers who loathed her stance to protect the Earth. But that was back during the war. For practically the duration of their time living in Gravity Falls, the Crystal Gems had faced no severe opposition to their presence there, save for perhaps Gideon, but the Gems saw him as only a minor aggravation at best. But this, this was nothing less than complete and utter malice on the part of the Society of the Blind Eye towards them, malice that had most likely led to several important memories being stripped away from them, if not more so. But, in the eyes of the Crystal Gems at least, Rose Quartz was infallible. She had never been defeated by any foe before, to any degree. Certainly, there was no way she would have never let herself fall victim to a group of mere humans with an archaic memory erasing ray gun, even if the rest of them had. So why, then, would she have never filled in the gaps for her teammates? Why would she have let memories that bore at least some significance fade away into nothing?

And most of all, why would she decide to keep things that way, even after she was gone?

With the boys and the Gems gone, the girls found themselves with little to do as they remained in the meeting hall, keeping a tentative eye out for any stray society members. Mabel and Wendy sat on the steps leading into the hall as Connie stood a few paces away, practicing some maneuvers with the blade Pearl had entrusted her with for this mission. It wasn’t an incredibly eventful way to pass the time, but at the very least, it was something.

“Whoa, Connie, you’re getting pretty good at swinging that thing around,” Wendy remarked with an impressed grin upon watching the younger girl pull off a deft technique.

“Thanks, Wendy,” Connie returned her smile. “Pearl’s been teaching me and Dipper some pretty advanced moves lately, and it’s a good thing too, seeing as how we’re basically dealing with a sinister mind-erasing cult here.”

“Correction: they’re an evil, mind-erasing cult that totally needs to invest in some new robes,” Mabel added, sticking her tongue out. “The look like they’re all in some kinda demonic choir or something. A few more colors other than that overdramatic blood red would totally spruce things up!”

The girls all got a good laugh over this lighthearted suggestion, though the levity was soon broken as a sudden rattling crash sounded out from somewhere down the hall. Upon hearing it, Connie was instantly on the defensive, her sword held out in front of her as she poised to listen once again.

“What was that?” Mabel asked with a curious, concerned frown.

“I don’t know, but I’m gonna go check it out,” Connie said, resolved. “You guys stay here, I’ll be right back.”

“You got it, ‘Miss Knight’,” Wendy smirked, sending Connie off with a salute before she disappeared into one of the headquarters’ many halls. Only a beat or two passed after she left, however, before Mabel let out the long sigh she had been holding in, flopping down to lie on her back with an exasperated groan.

“I just don’t get it, Wendy,” she began, still caught up in her earlier dejection. “I hug a lot, I can burp the alphabet, I have scratch and sniff clothing, I’m the total package! So why does every boy leave me?”

“Pfft, who cares?” Wendy asked with a shrug. “Boys are the worst. You shouldn’t get hung up, man.”

“M-maybe I come on too strong, you know?” Mabel wondered, sitting up.

“Well, what’s your opener? Pretend I’m a boy.” At this, the cashier tucked most of her hair under her hat, though she did leave enough to make herself a fake mustache with it. “Mm, testosterone,” she quipped with a manly spit before Mabel dove right into her incredibly enthusiastic pitch.

“Hi! I’m Mabel! I’m 12 and own a pig! Wanna get married?!” she exclaimed loudly and exuberantly, a bright, beaming smile dominating her features.

“Honestly, that was perfect,” Wendy chuckled, amused by her excitability as she let her hair fall down once more. “Like I said, just don’t let all those sour crushes get you down, dude. You’re way better than like, all those loser guys, if you ask me.”

“Ugh, that’s what I keep trying to tell myself,” Mabel groaned. “But its so hard when not even one of them has worked out at all! I mean, I have so many failed romances now that its getting hard to keep count of them all: there’s Norman, Gideon, Sev’ral Timez, Mermando, Gabe, Steven-”

“Whoa, whoa, hold up!” Wendy interjected, looking to Mabel with stark surprise. “Who was that last one again?”

Mabel flinched, covering her mouth as her face flushed red with a bright red blush over her accidental slip up. “Uh… n-no one! It was no one!”

“Nuh uh, man, I heard you,” the cashier remarked with a knowing grin. “You totally said Steven! Since when have you been crushing on him? You gotta spill all the details, dude.”

“Mmm…. You promise you won’t tell anyone?” Mabel asked hesitantly, knowing that if there was anyone she could trust with this information, it was Wendy.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” she assured, pulling of her signature zipping lips motion.

Mabel still didn’t jump right in, mostly out of nerves more than anything else. It was bizarre, really, seeing as how she had been vaguely aware of these feelings for quite some time. But only now was she finally admitting them out loud, not just to Wendy, but to herself. “I guess… it all started when me and Steven fused… We had such a great time together, to the point that… neither of us really wanted to let go. I-I sorta felt like I would have been really happy just staying with him forever, you know? And… in a way, I guess I still kinda feel like that…”

“Aw, Mabel, that’s super sweet,” Wendy said with a sincere smile. “But if you’ve felt like that about Steven for this long, then why don’t you just tell him about it already?”

“Ugh, cause it would make things super awkward!” Mabel exclaimed, frustrated. “Steven’s not just some random guy of the week, he’s Steven. He’s one of my best friends! If I told him I had a crush on him and he turned me down, then it’d ruin like, everything! And not to mention, he’s already…” She trailed off as she glanced over at the hallway Connie had headed down, shaking her head as she decided to leave it at that. “N-never mind…”

“Dude, don’t worry about it being awkward,” Wendy advised, placing a steady hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “Steven’s like, one of the most chill people ever. I’m sure he’ll understand. And even if he says no, it won’t really change anything. Chances are you’ll both just forget about it and move on with your lives eventually.”

“Forget…” Mabel repeated, her eyes widening with realization as she glanced over at the memory gun sitting only a few feet away. “Wendy, that’s it!” she exclaimed excitedly, rushing over to the device as the cashier followed in confusion. “I just need to type ‘summer romances’ into this thing, and I won’t feel bad about them anymore! And I bet if I do, it’ll even get rid of that silly old crush I have on Steven too! It’s perfect!”

“Whoa, hold up, Mabel,” Wendy cautioned, concerned. “We don’t even know what that thing does. You could accidentally erase, like, learning how to read, or breathe, or-”

“Or one of those terrible summer songs you can’t get out of your head?” Mabel suggested with a broad smile, instantly quieting the cashier at the promising prospect of forgetting the incredibly aggravating ‘Straight Blanchin’ once and for all.

Dipper, Steven, Soos, and McGucket had narrowly avoided being spotted as they raced after the handyman’s hat, in the hopes that it would lead them to the mysterious Hall of the Forgotten. And, seeing as how they had a definite path to follow, it didn’t take them too long to find it. It was a large, sparsely lit room, much like the rest of the society’s headquarters, but its defining feature were the countless glass tubes contained within it, staking almost all the way up to the ceiling. There were hundreds, probably thousands of them, all encompassing the memories the Society of the Blind Eye had taken away from innocent people over the years. An alarming, yet awe-inspiring sight, to say the least.

“Honey fogelin’, saltlickin’ skullduggery!” McGucket exclaimed upon taking in this incredible sight.

“Man, you have got to teach me some of those old man swears,” Soos remarked, impressed by the hillbilly’s vernacular.

“Look at all these tubes!” Steven remarked as they walked into the room itself. “How are we ever gonna find McGucket’s memories in all this? Or the Gems’?”

“I know, right?” Dipper agreed, just as daunted by this seemingly impossible task. “No wonder nobody knows in Gravity Falls seems to know anything about the supernatural. These guys must erase the memories of people all over town!”

“Dudes, what if they’ve even erased some of our memories, but we forgot about it because our memories were erased?!” Soos exclaimed with a gasp. “Wouldn’t that be totally nuts?”

“Y-yeah… it would be…” Steven muttered rather apprehensively. He took pause, however, upon noticing yet another memory gun lying on a nearby table otherwise laden with tubes. His earlier uncertainty returned to him at the sight of it, especially as he looked around at all the stolen memories surrounding him. The Society of the Blind Eye used that gun to strip people of their pasts, though their purpose in doing so was by all accounts unclear, but it was easy to assume their motivations weren’t too ultraistic. But just because the hands using it were sinister, didn’t mean the memory gun itself necessarily was. There had to be beneficial uses for it, uses that the young Gem had already considered, uses he thought about as he took a tentative glance over at Dipper, remembering well just how hard of a time he in particular had had of things immediately following that disastrous puppet show, knowing that the memory of that dark day still haunted him, even weeks later. And yet, that painful memory could so easily disappear, for all of them really, with just the mere pull of a trigger. It would be so quick, so easy, so harmless, and so ultimately helpful for helping all four of them finally move on. Which was why, without drawing any attention to himself at all, Steven slowly and silently grabbed the memory gun and slipped it into his backpack, with an idea in mind but not enough courage in his heart to act on it just yet.

“Whoa, check this out,” Dipper spoke up, calling everyone over to what was clearly a viewing machine for the memory tubes. He had managed to find one with Robbie’s name on the label, and so, unable to shake his curiosity, he inserted it in the machine. The screen went live, showing the angsty teen strapped to the chair in the meeting room amidst being interrogated by the society.

“Yes, Robbie, what is it you have seen?” the leader asked somewhere offscreen.

“So I was attacked by this magic kung fu guy that was throwing, like, balls of fire at me,” Robbie began recounting a familiar tale. “I kicked his butt though.”

“Robbie, speak honestly.”

“…I was saved by a 12 year old and a lady with a square-shaped afro…”

From there, the society was quick to wipe the teen’s memories of the encounter completely clear, resulting in the screen abruptly going black as a result. Of course, this was only more proof that the society had been clearing the town of their memories of the alarming or the paranormal, but that they did so to seemingly any extent, both massive and mundane. And seeing as how they had apparently taken so many memories already, it was clear their intentions were to keep the people of Gravity Falls in the dark about the magic and mystery that surrounded them at every turn.

“I still don’t get it,” Dipper remarked, glancing around at the immense collection of memory tubes filling the room. “We know what they’re erasing memories of, but why are they doing this in the first place? What would they have to gain from-”

“Looky, fellers!” McGucket cut in, excitedly pointing up to a memory tube that, fittingly enough, had his name on it. “It’s those words what people call me!”

“Oh, dude, your memories!” Soos grinned. “We did it!”

“Great, now all we need to do is find the Gems’ memories and we can put a rest to this mystery once and for all,” Dipper said with pleased resolve as McGucket headed for the shelf his memories were sitting on.

“Grabby grabby!” the hillbilly exclaimed blithely, climbing onto the shelf and retrieving his tube. “I got it!” However, what McGucket, or any of the others failed to notice, was that as soon as the tube was removed, the discreet electrical chip that had been positioned underneath it began blinking. And as a result, a sharp alarm suddenly began to blare throughout most of the museum, one that startled the entire group as their stealth was completely compromised. “Ah! The alarm in my brain is a-ringin’ again!” McGucket cried as he fell off the shelf.

“Halt! Who’s there!?” the distant shout of a society member sounded out from somewhere down a nearby hall.

“Oh no! Run!, dudes” Soos exclaimed, already leading the way out of the room. Dipper and Steven were quick to follow suit, though it was clear they had already been spotted by a member who was now on their tails.

“Get back here!” the member shouted after them, not noticing as McGucket managed to tuck away behind the large statue at the back of the room as he chased after Soos, Dipper, and Steven. Fortunately, no other members seemed to be hunting them down as they rushed through the headquarters’ narrow halls. Not too long into this chase, however, the young Gem happened to remember the weight of the memory gun in his backpack, and, given how things had just drastically changed, he realized that it would either be now, or never. And so, without any warning, Steven suddenly grabbed Dipper by the arm and pulled him into a nearby shorter hallway. Dipper was about to question the young Gem on this, but he was quick to assume what Steven had apparently been thinking as the society member ran right past them, not spotting them at all as they tucked away out of sight.

“Nice thinking, Steven,” Dipper said with a smile, though he was quick to prepare to move on ahead. “Now, we should probably go find the Gems so they can help us-”

Dipper cut himself off abruptly upon hearing the familiar sound of a memory gun sparking up, prompting him to stop dead in his tracks and turn around to see the last thing he could have ever expected. Instead of a society member, the charging memory gun was in Steven’s hands as he pointed it directly at him, with the clear intent of firing it. Yet despite this intent, the young Gem’s face was awash in worry, regret, and most of all fear, emotions that were all quick to amplify the moment he took in Dipper’s expression of immense shock at this unexpected twist.

“S-Steven, what… what are you doing?” he asked, scarcely able to believe what was happening.

“Dipper, I… Y-you…” Steven trailed off, taking in a deep breath to steady himself before continuing, though he still held the memory gun up all the while. “Listen. What happened to you a few weeks ago, that whole thing with Bill, i-it… it was terrible. A-and so was most of what came after it. When I stood there and watched him possess you, the only thing I wanted to do was go back in time just a few seconds to stop it from ever happening. And while I know I can’t do that, I… I feel like this memory gun might be the next best thing.”

“Wait, so… you want to erase my memories of Bill possessing me?” Dipper asked, deeply unnerved by this news. “Steven, that… that’s crazy!”

“No, it isn’t!” Steven argued with a small, wavering smile. “Don’t you see, Dipper? It could be like none of it ever happened, especially if Mabel, Connie, and I get rid of our memories of it too! It could help all of us finally move on and feel better!”

“How would it make us feel better?!” Dipper asked hotly. “Steven, that thing is dangerous! You saw what it did to McGucket; it made him go completely insane! And what about the Gems? It’s the reason why they can’t remember even a single thing about the author of a book that’s filled with information about them! Do you honestly think that gun would make anything better? Because the way I see it, it would only make things so much worse!”

“Not if we only erase our memories of Bill!” Steven protested, though his adamant tone was quickly starting to waver. “Dipper, you got hurt really badly, in so many different ways. All I want to do is help you finally forget all that pain because you didn’t deserve any of it in the first place. W-wouldn’t the chance to make it all go away be worth a few lost memories?”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Dipper said, trying his best to remain calm and rational amidst one of his closest friends pointing a memory-erasing gun right at him. “Steven, if you erase all our memories of Bill, then we’ll be completely defenseless against him the next time he shows up, which he will eventually, I know it. And even if he didn’t, you’d still basically be undoing all the progress we’ve made in getting over it, which wouldn’t be fair to any of us.”

“B-but… but we wouldn’t have anything to get over if I just… i-if I…” Steven trailed off again, guilty tears starting to well up in his eyes.

“Steven, I’m not going to try and stop you,” Dipper sighed almost wearily, even though he could have easily stopped the young Gem if he really wanted to. It would be as easy as simply drawing his sword, and yet he didn’t. Mostly because some part of him, however small, that was still plagued by the pain of nightmares and remorse, might have actually wanted him to pull that trigger. “But I do want you to ask yourself this: if you go ahead and do this, how would it make you any different from those Blind Eye people?”

Steven paused at this, a very soft, tearful gasp escaping him as he briefly considered this question. By all accounts, he was intending on using the gun on Dipper largely without his consent, before moving on to do the same to Mabel and Connie. He wasn’t giving any of them a choice, much like the society didn’t give its victims any choice, all because he thought this was the right way to go. Because he believed this would help, regardless of the risks it might bring about. Because he thought it could, at least in some small, fleeting way, help ease the load of guilt and sadness off his own shoulders and finally make things right.

Except no. The only thing this would do, was make things all wrong.

As torn apart by conflict as he was, the young Gem’s finger still rested lightly on the memory gun’s trigger, even though the decide itself had begun shaking in his trembling hands. No matter how hard he tried to force himself to swallow his palpable fear and regret, he found that he simply couldn’t, especially as he met Dipper’s soft, sad, and surprisingly almost accepting gaze. Still, even despite that, Steven had barely just begun to squeeze the trigger when the tension of the moment was broken through completely.

“Steven?!” Connie’s shocked exclamation instantly caught the attention of both boys as they turned to see her standing at the other edge of the hallway, sword in hand. “Dipper? W-what’s going on? What are you doing with that thing?!”

“C-Connie!” Steven gasped, tears still streaming down his cheeks as he abruptly lowered the memory gun. “I-I… I wasn’t… T-this isn’t what… I-”

“I-it was my idea!” Dipper suddenly interjected, maintaining this course even as both Steven and Connie looked over at him in apt disbelief. “I… I guess I was still feeling kinda torn up about the whole Bill thing, a-and I figured that memory gun would be a good way to just forget about it once and for all. So… I asked Steven if he would… you know…”

Connie’s expression was still wide-eyed and incredulous as she looked to Dipper, but all the same, she still let out an appalled scoff in response to such an apparently hazardous idea. “Dipper, I know what you went through because of Bill was awful, but… that memory gun is really dangerous. We really shouldn’t be messing around with it.”

“Yeah, that’s… exactly what Steven told me,” Dipper lied, feigning guilt. Guilt that the young Gem refused to let him take.

“W-wait, Connie, no,” Steven shook his head, wiping his tears away. “Dipper wasn’t the one who-”

He never got to finish as suddenly, out of the shadows of the hallway, three pairs of hands emerged, each of them abruptly covering each of the kids’ eyes before they could even see who their assailants were. “W-wha-? Who’s there?!” Steven asked in apt alarm as the memory gun was starkly ripped out of his hands.

“Let us go!” Connie growled, swinging her sword out broadly as Dipper struggled to draw his amidst the hands already pinning his arms down. “Or else!” Her threat went unfulfilled however, as her blade was subsequently knocked out of her hand. With all three kids left essentially defenseless, the hands restraining them were quick to whisk them off, dragging them all back to the main meeting hall and an unknown fate.

As the society members rounded up all the kids, they failed to track down all of the intruders to their headquarters and among the ones they missed was McGucket. The hillbilly had indeed had the wits about him to tuck himself away just out of their sight, his memory tube still tight in his grip as he peeked out from behind his hiding place. True, the key to restoring his long lost memories lay right in his hands, but he couldn’t very well take that key in good conscious while the ones who had done so much to help him find it were in trouble.

“Oh, you’ve really tarred up now, Fiddleford,” McGucket lamented to himself fretfully. “This is all your fault… Oh wait! I know! I’ll go get them three shiny women!” With this newfound idea in mind, the hillbilly prepared to emerge from his hiding spot, though he stopped short another brief moment upon glancing down at his beard. “Why does my beard have a bandage? Does that even make sense? Why has no one pointed that out?”

While still confused, McGucket was quick to shake this momentary distraction off as he headed off, scuffling his ways down the halls. However, like most everything else he tried to do, the hillbilly had something of a hard time focusing on this task of finding the Gems. His already frayed and scrambled mind could barely stay on any tangible, rational thoughts for too long before it dove right back into the dense fog of forgetfulness he was so used to. But this was a serious situation, one that could have a very dire outcome if he wasn’t vigilant with this search. Which was why he did everything he could to force himself to buckle down and focus, to keep his flighty mind grounded, and remain on track, despite how much of a challenge that was for him. Yet in the end, his hard mental work paid off as he eventually passed by the room the Gems were still congregated it, its door hanging wide open as they continued investigating the photo collage on the walls for any further clues.

“Hey! Ladies!” McGucket exclaimed, frantically running over to them. “I need ya’lls help!”

“Oh, great…” Pearl grumbled, rolling her eyes as they all turned to face the hillbilly. “Just what we need right now…”

“What’s the problem, dude?” Amethyst asked, crossing her arms as she watched McGucket anxiously shift back and forth on hi feet. “Did you find a beehive in that big hat of yours?”

“No! I-its… I… Aw, hornswaggle! I done went and forgot!” McGucket exclaimed, his slipping memory a result of mentally spending himself so much moments ago.

“Of course you did…” Pearl remarked dryly, turning back to the clippings. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re in the middle of something actually important here…”

McGucket frowned as he glanced down fretfully, unsure of what to say or do to get the Gems to hear him out, much less what they were even supposed to be hearing him out about in the first place. He turned to leave them to their business, but he stopped short upon glancing up at the wall of clippings, catching sight of the photo at the very center of the board. And as he spotted the pink haired figure in that picture specifically, the hillbilly stopped to stare, his jaw dropping in awe at the striking familiarity of her warm, smiling face. The kind of familiarity he had not been acquainted with in years.

“I… I remember her…” he began, almost in a daze as he stepped forward. The Gems all glanced back at him, confused as he took his hat off in almost a solemn show of reverence.

“Who?” Garnet asked, even if she already had an inkling of who he was talking about.

“H-her,” McGucket nodded up to the pink Gem’s image, still clearly trying to recall the details. But in the very smallest of ways, a vague, broad picture had started to emerge from the fog, one that he forced himself to cling onto as he continued. “I… I think her name was… o-or at least I called ‘er… M-Miss… Miss Quartz…”

“R-Rose Quartz…” Pearl whispered, her eyes widening with shock. “You… really did know her… Then that… that would mean… I can’t believe it… You actually are the author?!”

“I-I don’t know ‘bout all that…” McGucket shook his head. “But I do know I know her! O-or at least I used to, way back in the bygone days…”

“What do you remember about her?” Amethyst ventured, exchanging a tentative glance with the other Gems.

“Not too much…” the hillbilly mused. “B-but I reckon she was big, and pink, and pretty, and… and she had a voice like sweet honey, and boy howdy she was smart too! She always had somethin’ nice to say, no matter what the occasion. But I wasn’t really as close to her as…” He trailed off, his brow furrowing in confusion as the gaps in his memory returned, gaps that, despite his bout of recollection, he was unable to fill in.

“As who?” Pearl pressed, growing more curious by the second about the secrets her liege had supposedly left behind.

“I… I can’t quite recall…” McGucket frowned. “But there was someone else, I know there was. I just ain’t got any recollection of who…”

“Ugh, someone else?!” Amethyst groaned, exasperated. “How many other people were involved in this whole journal biz?”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” Garnet shook her head before looking back to the hillbilly with respectful sincerity. “What matters is that we finally get to the bottom of these missing memories. All of our missing memories.” She smiled somewhat at this, something that McGucket returned as a sense of familiarity passed between them, one that had been long forgotten, but was just starting to come out of the darkness and back into the light. “McGucket, we need you to try to remember what you came here to tell us. I have a feeling that whatever it was, its important.”

“What I was gonna… oh!” McGucket gasped, realizing that calming down had led to the clarity he needed. “The young’ins are in trouble! Them Blind Eye folks are after ‘em!”

“What?!” the Gems exclaimed in startled unison at this alarming news.

“Well then we gotta go and save them!” Amethyst exclaimed intently. “If those creepy guys get their hands on them, their memories are as good as janked! And I’m not about to be the one tryna explain to Greg and Stan why Steven and the twins don’t remember them.”

“Then let’s go,” Garnet ordered, already heading for the door. However, before the Gems could leave, McGucket happened to stop them with a sly, barely even manic grin.

“Hold on a second, ladies. I got me an idea…”

Despite their struggling, the kids, Soos, and Wendy found that they were largely outmatched by the sheer number of society members, which had made their capture relatively easy. Mabel and Wendy had been apprehended first, seeing as how they had been on guard in the open in the meeting hall itself and Soos had been caught just before Steven, Dipper, and Connie. The society could tell that their young captives were all quite resilient, which was why they had taken the precaution of tightly tying all six of them to a large beam in the meeting hall, as all the society members gathered around to watch their intruders be punished.

“You should not have come here,” the leader began ominously as he stepped forward. “We do not give up our secrets lightly.”

“Who are you bathrobe wearing freaks?” Wendy asked harshly as she tried pulling out of the ropes.

“Why are you doing this?” Connie demanded just as fiercely.

“And what’s with your creepy British accent?” Mabel asked the society leader in particular.

“Well, I suppose we are just going to erase your minds anyway, so…” the leader nodded to his followers, who complied with his orders as they removed their hoods, one by one, revealing a host of surprisingly familiar faces.

“Toby Determined?”

“Mr. Fryman?”

“Bud Gleeful?”

“Mr. Smiley?”

“That farmer guy?”

“Creepy dude who married a woodpecker?” Soos finished this barrage of stunned exclamations. “How’s that marriage goin’, by the way?”

“Oh, great, great,” the man chuckled nervously, glancing at the woodpecker perched on his shoulder before dropping his voice down to a whisper. “Not great.”

“But you’ve never met me before. And if you had, you wouldn’t remember,” the leader said, finally removing his own hood. Sure enough, he was completely unfamiliar to all the kids, with a gaunt, rather grey face, a crossed scar over his right eye, and interestingly enough, a bald head adorned with a complex set of tattoos replicating a phrenology map all over. “I am Blind Ivan, and we are the Society of the Blind Eye! Formed many years ago by our founder… our founder… Does anyone remember who he was?”

The society members took pause at this, all of them trying to come up with an answer to this question until they inevitably found one. “Huh, well, what do ya know?” Mr. Smiley shrugged, grinning blithely as usual. “Guess none of us remember.”

“We have been usin’ that ray on our own brains an awful lot,” Bud added just as casually.

“Why would you guys do all this?” Dipper asked petulantly. “What do you have to gain?”

“As you have no doubt discovered,” Blind Ivan began to explain, hands behind his back. “Gravity Falls is a town plagued with supernatural strangeness. The kind of strangeness that can drive any normal mind to madness. No one knew how to stop the things that went bump in the night, so our founder invented the next best thing: a way for us to forget. We took it upon ourselves to help the troubled townsfolk by erasing the memories of the strange things they’ve seen. Now the people of Gravity Falls go about their lives ignorant and happy, absolved of the dread of the dangers that lurk in the shadows all around them thanks to us. And as a perk, we help ourselves forget things that trouble us. Everyone has something they’d rather forget. In fact, your own sister was about to use that ray on herself. Isn’t that right?” he asked Mabel with a knowing smirk.

“Mabel? Seriously?” Dipper asked, incredulously looking over at her.

“Heh, I was thinking about it, ok?” Mabel shrugged with an awkward laugh. “I wasn’t actually gonna do it… Ok, maybe I was…” She bit her lip, especially as she stole a quick glance at Steven.

“Uh, Dipper, I don’t think you really have a lot of room to talk seeing as how you basically asked Steven to do the same thing for you,” Connie pointed out, not harshly, but still rather disappointed.

“What?” Mabel, Soos, and Wendy all asked in unison as they looked to Dipper, genuinely surprised by this news.

“Oh, uh… y-yeah, I guess I kinda did?” Dipper admitted, still keeping up his former ruse up.

“W-wait, no,” Steven tried to clarify once more, rather overwhelmed by guilt that Dipper had chosen to take the fall for his own mistake. “He didn’t-”

“Enough squabbling!” Blind Ivan interjected impatiently as he grabbed the nearby memory gun. “You children have seen quite enough. But worry not; very soon it will all be come unseen…”

“And how is that your call, huh?” Wendy asked defiantly. “In fact, why do any of you weirdos get to decide what memories people keep and which ones they don’t. This whole thing seems pretty rigged in your favor if you ask me.”

“Yeah, don’t you see? This thing is ruining lives!” Dipper added just as boldly. “What about Old Man McGucket? He lives in a hut and talks to animals thanks to you. Don’t you feel bad about that?”

“Mmm… maybe a little…” Blind Ivan considered briefly before promptly shooting himself with the memory gun. “But not anymore! Now…” he began inputting the word ‘summer’ into the device. “You won’t be telling anyone else about what you’ve learned here. Say goodbye to your summer…”

Needless to say that the entire group panicked as the memory gun was aimed at them, charging up with the power to delete their entire summer from their minds altogether. “Guys, if we’re gonna forget everything, I got some stuff I wanna get off my chest,” Soos began anxiously. “Mabel, for half the summer, I thought your name was Maple, like the syrup. No one corrected me!”

“I only love some of my stuffed animals, and the guilt is killing me!” Mabel cried, knowing that she could have easily admitted something much more personal, but she figured it would be best to let those feelings be buried in the past.

“Sometimes I use big words but I don’t actually know what they mean!” Dipper admitted tightly. “I mean, I’m supposed to be the smart guy. If I’m not the smart guy, then who am I?!”

“One time I got an A- in science and I never told my mom about it!” Connie exclaimed guiltily. “She’s a doctor! If she ever found out I preformed less than perfectly in science of all things, she’d completely flip out!”

“Ok, I’m not actually laid back,” Wendy took in a sharp breath. “I’m actually stressed like, 24/7. Have you met my family?!”

Steven was the only one of the group to hesitate in this round of confessions, but in the end, his remorse won out and prompted him to finally speak the truth before anyone could stop him. “C-Connie, I was actually the one who wanted to erase Dipper’s memories about the whole, uh… puppet show thing. A-and yours and Mabel’s too…”

“Steven!” Dipper exclaimed sharply, having not wanted the young Gem to admit this.

“You wanted to what?!” Connie looked over at Steven, completely appalled.

“Wait, what happened again?” Mabel frowned in confusion, completely lost about this news.

“Oh, stop being a bunch of babies,” Blind Ivan rolled his eyes at this melodrama, more than ready to fire the ray at the frightened group. However, just before he could, something that was nothing short of a miracle happened. And, bizarrely enough, that miracle came in the form of a loose canon hillbilly.

Out of seemingly nowhere, McGucket dropped down from above, landing squarely on Blind Ivan and knocking the memory gun out of his hands. Of course, the kids were pleasantly surprised by this interruption, but they were even happier to see that the hillbilly wasn’t alone as the Gems suddenly emerged from the shadows of the room, their weapons ready as they confronted the startled society members.

“All of you! Stand down!” Garnet ordered as Pearl rushed over to cut the kids free. “Or else.”

“You three!” Blind Ivan exclaimed in outrage as he pulled himself up to stand again. “The Crystal Gems… By far our greatest adversary in keeping the minds of this town clean from thoughts of disaster, seeing as how disaster follows your group around like its attached to you at the hip! Gravity Falls would be much better off if your kind was forgotten about completely… in fact…” The society leader smirked darkly as he reached for the memory gun, but before he could get it, Amethyst was quick to snatch it away from him with her whip.

“Sorry, baldy,” the purple Gem smirked, keeping a tight grip on the gun. “But we’re not gonna let anyone around here forget about how awesome we are!”

“We raided the mining display for weapons!” McGucket informed the newly freed kids, presenting a cart full of what they had nabbed. “Now fight like a hillbilly, fellers!”

The kids heeded him as they were all quick to take what they could from the cart, including pickaxes, banjos, taxidermized animals, and Soos even managed to find a display block on dysentery. “Oh nobody better mess!” the handyman exclaimed, holding his ‘weapon’ out threateningly.

“They know too much!” Blind Ivan shouted to his followers. “Don’t let them escape!”

While the society members were quick to attack, kids all steadily defended themselves against them now that they were armed with their unorthodox weapons. “Get this song out of your head!” Wendy proclaimed, bashing one member in the head with a banjo.

“Dysentery’s gonna get you, dawg!” Soos warned, chasing another member through the hall with his dysentery plaque.

“I’d watch out if I were you,” Connie smirked as she fended a member off with a stuffed rattlesnake, aptly terrifying them. “I’ve heard rattlesnake bites are pretty deadly.”

As this scuffle continued, everyone managed to hold their own, including the Gems, who did use some restraint with their weapons as they kept the memory gun out of the members’ reach. In the midst of this chaos, however, Dipper happened to spot a familiar, rather important tube lying on the ground just a few feet away.

“McGucket’s memories!” he exclaimed with a gasp, rushing for it only to be blocked off as soon as he had grabbed it.

“Not so fast, kid,” Fryman said, his arms crossed as he kept Dipper from getting the tube back to McGucket. Fortunately though, a vacuum tube was right next to him, giving him a another option.

“Mabel, catch!” Dipper shouted to his sister on the other side of the room, shoving McGucket’s tube into the suction. Mabel did so, grinning triumphantly as she nabbed it, only the farmer to try and snatch it away from her a moment later.

“Give it up, girl,” he warned as she held it away from him, though she had a sly idea as she looked to the vacuum tube once more. “You’re no match for the unstoppable power of-” The farmer cut himself off as Mabel pointed the suction tube at his robe, which was quick to come flying off as a result, revealing that he was only wearing his underwear and nothing else. “That’s right. I don’t wear nothin’ under my robe. Not gonna apologize for that. Maybe ya’ll should apologize for bein’ a bunch of prudes.”

“Ew!” everyone exclaimed in disgusted unison at this unsavory sight.

“Welp, time to erase that forever,” Soos quipped, holding up the memory gun Amethyst had just handed off to him. However, before he could do anything with it, Blind Ivan finally reclaimed it, not hesitating to point threateningly at Dipper as he caught the memory tube Mabel had tossed back to him.

“Give me that tube,” the society leader growled, clearly tired of playing games.

“Never! These memories belong to McGucket!” Dipper protested firmly, shoving the tube back into the suction tubes to get it away from Blind Ivan.

“The society’s secrets belong to us!” the society leader countered as they both raced after it in the hopes of securing it once and for all, even as it zoomed across the ceiling and into the Hall of the Forgotten. They were largely neck-and-neck in the chase for the memory tube, until Blind Ivan ended up intentionally tripping Dipper, allowing him to claim the coveted tube first. “End of the line,” the society leader scowled, pointing the charging memory gun at the defenseless boy before him. “By tomorrow, this will all seem like a bad dream. Say goodbye to your precious memories…”

“No!” Dipper gasped, fearfully, unable to really bear the thought of losing his memories of the Gems, of Steven, of Connie, of Lapis, even as he braced himself for the inevitable blast. One that, much to his surprise, never ended up hitting him as someone else took the brunt of it instead. “M-McGucket?” he flinched upon noticing that the hillbilly had jumped in between him and Blind Ivan at just the right second. “You… you took a bullet for me…” McGucket didn’t get a chance to respond as he was blasted by the memory gun once more, much to Dipper’s apt alarm. “Oh my gosh! Are you ok?!”

The hillbilly paused, blinking away the ray’s effect for a moment or two before letting out a hearty laugh. “Ok as I’ll ever be!”

“W-what?” Dipper asked in confusion, surprised as everyone else was as they all rushed into the room to see what was happening.

At the same time, Blind Ivan continued shooting blast after blast at McGucket, startled that it seemed to have no apparent effect on the hillbilly as he continued approaching him steadily. “Why… isn’t… this… working?!”

“Hit me with your best shot, baldy!” McGucket challenged with a wide, wild grin amidst the successive round of memory blasts. “But my mind’s been gone for thirty-odd years! You can’t break what’s already broken!”

“Wha—no!” Blind Ivan growled hotly, still trying in vain to wipe the hillbilly’s mind. “This is impossible! You can’t just be immune to-”

“I reckon I can!” McGucket interupted, finally snatching the memory gun away from the distraught society leader. “Say goodnight, Sally!” With this, the hillbilly abruptly headbutted Blind Ivan, knocking him out cold just long enough to allow the Gems to finish apprehending the rest of the society members. With the entire group captured, the kids didn’t hesitate to tie them all to the same pole they had formerly been restrained to, all of them quite pleased that they had gained the upper hand against the sinister society and their mind-erasing agenda.

“Unhand us!” Blind Ivan demanded upon regaining consciousness as him and his fellow society members tried to break free. Their attempts were quickly stopped, however, as Garnet stepped forward, cracking her gauntleted knuckles to keep them in check.

“Yeah, it isn’t so fun being tied up, is it?” Mabel asked with a smug smirk before turning to the others. “Hey, you guys wanna draw on their faces?” Despite protests from Blind Ivan on this, Mabel proceeded to do just that, crossing out his tattoo that read ‘knowledge’ and writing the word “butts” over it.

“Hey, stop that! Its not funny!” the society leader clambered angrily, especially as the kids and the Gems all got a good laugh out of it.

“I dunno, dude, its pretty funny,” Amethyst chucked.

“It’s like, objectively funny,” Soos agreed with an amused nod.

“Now, before we put an end to this horrid little society of yours…” Pearl began, her spear at the ready as she addressed Blind Ivan coldly. “We still have one final question for you: where are our memories?”

“Your memories?” Blind Ivan shook his head incredulously. “You fools, we never took any of your memories! We were only ever interested in eradicating the townspeople’s memories of you and your so-called ‘Gem monsters”. What good would erasing your memories do for us?”

“Wha—but… nah, man, you guys gotta have them,” Amethyst contested. “We saw that whole room of newspaper clippings you keep around just to bash us! So quit your lying and tell us where our memories are!”

“He’s not lying,” Garnet suddenly spoke up, looking down intently.

“Huh?” all of the others looked to the Gem leader, surprised by this revelation.

“He’s not…” Garnet shook her head, placing a hand against her temple as her future vision refused to comply with her. “I-it… its foggy, but… I can tell. Our memories, wherever they are, aren’t here.”

“So… they weren’t the ones who took your memories about the author away?” Steven asked with a confused frown.

“But if it wasn’t them, then… who did?” Dipper added, just as bewildered by this ongoing mystery. “And why?”

Garnet sighed, looking between her two aptly disappointed teammates first, and then to the worried group of kids. “The truth of it is… we don’t know… For all we know, they might not have been erased by one of those guns at all. But its safe to say that something happened to make us forget the truth. And even if we didn’t get that truth here today, we’re not going to stop looking for it until we find it. Right, Gems?”

Pearl and Amethyst paused, both of them frowning as they looked to their leader with initial uncertainty. They had wanted to finally get answers, to finally piece together the puzzle that was this part of their past so much, that the thought of having to wait much longer for those answers seemed almost unbearable. But as it stood, their memories were still lost, still unknown and forgotten; which meant that the most they could do now was keep moving forward, in the stalwart hope that the missing pieces of their past would return to them soon enough. “Right,” they both agreed with small smiles, resolved to do just as Garnet had said and keep searching until they finally found what they were looking for.

“This isn’t over!” Blind Ivan cut through this moment with an angry threat. “We’ll have our revenge! We’ll never forget what you’ve done!”

“Oh, I think you just might…” Dipper smirked as he fired the memory gun up, entering ‘Society of the Blind Eye’ into it as the subject. And, with a mere pull of a trigger and a flash of light, the mind-erasing society was, ironically enough, completely erased.

Of course, all of the former society members were somewhat disoriented upon having their minds wiped of their original purpose for being at the museum. So the kids had been quick to come up with a convenient guise, one that even ended up helping McGucket out as they escorted the society members out.

“Thanks for visiting the museum for Gold Miner Appreciation Night,” Dipper grinned as he stood alongside McGucket, who happily held his hat out for solicitation as the passing former society members dropped money into it. “Be sure to tip the gold miner on the way out.”

“I’m sorry, but… what’s my name?” Blind Ivan stopped short at the door, far more confused and lost than any of the other society members. “Where am I?”

“Uh oh… might have gone a little overboard on him…” Dipper noted worriedly.

“Well, remember, he did try to erase all our memories,” Connie said, hands on her hips. “So I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.”

“Your name is Toot-Toot McBumbersnazzle!” Mabel quipped to the former leader brightly, handing him a banjo. “You’re a traveling banjo minstrel, with a song in your heart and funny tattoos on your head!”

“,,,Yes,” Blind Ivan, or rather “Toot-Toot” said with a wide grin of acceptance with this. “I am Toot-Toot McBumbersnazzle! Cheers!” And with that, the former society member walked off, plucking away at his banjo happily, his former ill intent completely forgotten.

With the society members all gone and the threat they had posed eliminated, everyone decided to head back into the museum with the same intent: to finally uncover the secrets that lay hidden within McGucket’s memory tube. They all gathered in the Hall of the Forgotten, eager to see exactly what and who the hillbilly used to be, but even so, McGucket himself was quite anxious as he glanced down to the memory tube in his hands.

“Uh, Mr. McGucket?” Steven spoke up with a small supportive smile. “Aren’t you going to put your tube in that machine so you can finally see your memories? You know, find out who you really are?”

“I-I… I’m not so sure…” McGucket frowned, still uncertain. “What if… what if I don’t like what I see?”

“We’ve come all this way,” Mabel encouraged warmly. “You gotta at least take a peek. Go on.”

The hillbilly let go of his lingering reservations as he took in a deep breath, inserting the tube into the machine to see what hidden past it contained. As the static on screen cleared away, it revealed a much younger version of McGucket, who, by all accounts, looked much more scrupulous and put-together than he currently was. This younger McGucket was keenly dressed, with a suit jacket, tie, spectacles perched on his nose, mostly neat light brown hair, and no unkempt, overgrown beard in sight. Yet even despite this, his expression was still tight and deeply unnerved as he spoke to the unseen screen before him.

“My name is Fiddleford Hadon McGucket, and I wish to unsee what I have seen.”

The group watching all let out a shared gasp of surprise upon seeing this younger version of the hillbilly, and to learn that he had apparently willingly wanted his memories erased. Though none of them were more stunned than McGucket himself as he took a small step forward, awestruck as he listened to what his younger self had to say.

“For the past year, I have been working as an assistant for a visiting researcher,” Young McGucket said, his tone and expression still quite serious. “Along with the help of four magical, extraterrestrial women, he has been cataloging his findings about Gravity Falls in a series of journals. These women, the ‘Gems’, and I helped him build a machine which he believed had the potential to benefit all mankind, but just as easily could be used to bring about great destruction.”

Upon hearing about this unknown machine, Dipper was quick to turn to one of many cryptic pages in the journal, one that held what he assumed to be at least part of some kind of blueprint for a mysterious device. More than likely, they were one and the same, but even so, then what could such a supposedly dangerous machine even do? And more importantly, did it even still exist somewhere?

At the same time, the Gems all exchanged a bewildered glance upon hearing them be mentioned directly, though what bothered all three of them more was, once again, the sparse details McGucket provided about this machine. Certainly, there was no way they had been a part of constructing something that could put humanity in such apparent danger… could they?

“I decided to quit the project,” Young McGucket continued, wringing his hands anxiously. “But I lie awake at night, haunted by the thoughts of what I’ve done. I believe I have invented a machine that can permanently erase these memories from my mind,” he said, holding up the memory gun, of all things. “Test subject one: Fiddleford.” At this, he fired the gun off, the screen going to static as a result. As it cleared once more, a much happier McGucket appeared, clearly absolved of his horrific memories. “It worked! I can’t remember a thing!” The screen cut once more, with McGucket still quite ecstatic over his new invention as he held up the society’s iconic eye image. “I call it the Society of the Blind Eye. We will help those who want to forget by erasing their bad memories!”

As static cut in once again, the next shot of McGucket showed him much more disheveled and distraught than before, the lab setting behind him in a complete state of disarray as he twitched almost endlessly. “T-today I came across a colony of little men, very disturbing. I would like to forget seeing this.” The inventor used the memory gun on himself again, cutting to show that some time had passed. His hair had begun to grey and wither, his arm was held in up in a cast, and dark bags had formed under his eyes, which had begun to take on a glazed, blank state. “I-I accidentally hit another car in town today. I feel terr-bibble—terrible! I’ve been forgettin’ words lately. I wonder if there are any negative side effects to-” McGucket was cut off as the scene cut again, this time to show that he was in a rundown motel, his mental and physical state steadily declining even more as he had finally started growing his thick white beard. “I s-saw somethin’ in the lake, something big!” In the next shot, his beard was even longer, his manner wild and untamed and a wide manic smile on his face as he put his large hat on. “My hair’s been a-fallin’ out, so I got this hat from a scarecrow! Hey, are my pants on backwards?”

The tube cut to one last memory, this time showing McGucket as he was in the present, living in the mess of the junkyard as he cheerfully ran about, insanely chuckling and speaking in absolute gibberish. “Yroo Xrksi! Girzmtov!” he laughed, using his fingers to form the shape of a triangle over his eye right before the memories cut out into nothing more than static completely.

With this show of memories finally over, a solemn silence feel over everyone in the room as they all looked to McGucket sympathetically. There was no question that the hillbilly had fallen far from the seemingly promise beginnings he once had, into the depths of insanity and instability he was famously known for. And the worst part of it all was that he had instigated that fall himself, out of the best intentions that had turned into the worst of situations.

“Oh, McGucket…” Mabel was the first to speak up, her voice soft and somber. “We’re so sorry…”

“Aw, hush,” the hillbilly said with a wave of his hand as he retrieved his memory tube. Surprisingly enough, a small smile was on his face as he turned back to the group, even despite everything he had just seen. “You kids helped me get my memories back, just like ya said.”

“But… did you want those memories back?” Connie asked, concerned.

“After all these years, I finally know who I am,” McGucket mused, still smiling as he looked down at the tube. “Maybe I messed up in the past, but now that I’ve seen what happened, I can begin to put myself together again. And I hope you ladies can do the same when you find your memories,” he said to the Gems with a smile of solidarity.

“Thank you,” Garnet said with a cordial nod.

“Yes… we’re… sorry about how we might have treated you before…” Pearl rubbed her arm guiltily. “We just… really want to get to the bottom of this, once and for all…”

“Aw, its all water under the bridge,” McGucket cheerfully quipped. “And don’t worry, I’m sure ya’ll will figure it out eventually!”

“Yeah, and maybe once we do, you can tell us about all the crazy stuff we used to get up to, since we all apparently used to hang out back in the day,” Amethyst remarked with a playful grin, eliciting a genuine laugh from all four of them.

“So, wait,” Dipper interjected at this, still somewhat confused as he looked between the journal and McGucket. “You aren’t the author, but you worked with him. Do you remember who he was?”

“Its… beginning to come back…” McGucket acknowledged. “But I need more time. And reading glasses!” The hillbilly grinned as he grabbed a pair of said glasses that was fortunately sitting on the nearby table before letting loose a hearty spit. “Heck! I got some rememberin’ to do!”

“Uh… speaking of remembering…” Steven spoke up apprehensively, addressing Dipper and Connie in particular. “Dipper, I’m sorry about what happened back there with the memory gun… I guess I just thought that it could finally help us all forget about… well, you know, but… maybe forgetting about it isn’t really the right way to heal from it…”

“You’re only getting that now, Steven?” Dipper asked with a small, joking grin. “Man, and I thought I had to learn that lesson the hard way.”

“Heh, yeah…” the young Gem let out a small, awkward laugh. “So… are we all good?”

“Well, Steven, I’m not gonna lie, what you wanted to do to all four of us was… kind of messed up,” Connie said, crossing her arms. “But your heart was in the right place, just like it usually is. So I guess I can’t be too mad about that.”

“Thanks,” Steven nodded warmly. “And you, Dipper?”

“Yeah, we’re good too, Steven,” Dipper said, still smiling. “Just as long as you promise to never try to pull something like that again, no matter how bad things get, ok? Because, no offense, that was a pretty bad idea…”

“Yeah… it really was…” Steven admitted, though he still couldn’t help but crack a growing grin. “But I promise.” Unable to contain his happiness at this debacle being resolved, the young Gem couldn’t help but pull both Dipper and Connie into a tight, unexpected hug, one that surprised them both, but they were quick to return it all the same.

As the three of them continued to talk, and the Gems kept on discussing the matter of the still-unknown author with McGucket, Mabel found her sights landing on Steven from afar, though he didn’t seem to notice. Wendy, on the other hand did, which was why she decided to address her, knowing exactly what was on her mind. “So, Mabel, you still wanna erase those failed summer romances?” she asked with a knowing grin.

Mabel paused at this, taking a quick glance over at the memory gun lying on the table nearby before letting out a small sigh of acceptance. “You know, nobody likes having bad memories, but maybe its better to remember the bad things and learn from them than to go all denial crazy trying to forget them.”

“And what about your feelings for… you know who?” Wendy asked, dropping her voice down to a whisper.

Once again, Mabel hesitated, casting another longing glance over at Steven as he laughed along with Dipper and Connie. “I… I guess I’ll just have to deal with those feelings as they come,” she shrugged, hoping that would be a task easier done than said.

“That’s some real mature junk right there, Mabel,” Wendy grinned, nodding in approval.

“Yep, Miss Mature, that’s me,” Mabel smiled proudly before turning to the others. “Hey, you guys all wanna help me vandalize this picture of my jerky ex-crush?”

Everyone was quick to agree on this, all of them grouping close to doodle on the poster of Gabe Mabel had found earlier. When they were done, no one say any point to linger in the now-defunct society’s headquarters any longer, and so they all piled into Soos’ truck to head home for the night.

“Hey, you know what?” Wendy remarked to Soos with a grin as she got into the passenger’s seat up front. “Going on this big adventure actually made me get that stupid song out of my head.” Of course, she was quick to remember it again as the very first song that played on the radio as the handyman turned the ignition on was none other that ‘Straight Blancin’. “Oh come on!”

“So, the author wrote all this,” Dipper informed McGucket as he let him leaf through the journal, still trying to glean whatever sparing bits of information he could get. “Does any of it ring a bell for you?”

“Hm… It’s all so familiar…” the hillbilly mused, adjusting his newfound glasses as he peered over the time-weathered pages, pages that he had likely seen before while in the author’s employ. The piece of the mysterious blueprint at the center of the book in particular struck a chord with him, but exactly what kind of chord that was, he couldn’t quite discern yet. “It’s almost like I can remember…”

Unbeknownst to any of them, the realization of those very blueprints rested under the Mystery Shack itself, in the form of the machine that Stan had been pouring the past 30 years into bringing back to life. And with the information he had gathered from journal 3, the conman was growing ever nearer to its reactivation, something that he couldn’t help but revel in as he stood before its brilliant, basking light.

“Alright, you’re getting closer,” Stan said to both himself and the machine with apt resolve. “Every day its getting stronger.” As if to prove to this fact, the machine burst with brief power, ripping the conman’s notepad and mug right out of its hands and into the clarion glow at its center, never to be seen again. “Hah! Yes!” he exclaimed, satisfied by this result. He was less satisfied, however, by the stray pipe that had gone flying from one of the rafters, only to strike him against the back of his hand hard, resulting in a sizable cut. Stan was quick to bandage this injury up, hardly even paying it much mind at all as he looked back to the fruits of his labor, all the more eager to see the very soon coming day when it would all finally come together.

“Hmph, it’s ‘dangerous’, she said,” he rolled his eyes at the recollection of what Rose Quartz herself had told him over thirty years ago. “If that’s so, then why’d you build the dumb thing in the first place, huh, pinky?” he asked the replication of the pink Gem’s gemstone fixed to the bottom tip of the machine. “Well, I don’t care if its dangerous,” Stan continued pointedly, looking back to the vast light ahead. “I don’t care how long it takes. I’m gonna pull this off, and no one’s gonna get in my way!”

The conman’s stern vow echoed throughout the room, all the way back into the lab, where his picture of Dipper and Mabel still remained, their bright, blissful smiles almost serving as something of a testament to the immense secret their uncle had been keeping from them all summer.

A secret that could only remain as such for so much longer.

Next:

[badonkodank]

A Simple Word So Heavy

ao3

Chapter Five: All The Doubts I’ve Faced

A/N: Only one chapter left to go, folks!

When he says it again, it has to be the hundredth time, yet somehow it hurts more than any of the times before. This time he wants someone to hear him, and no ones does.

Ford was back.

That was probably the only complete sentence his mind would form that entire day. When he’d been punched by the one person he’d been hoping to embrace, when he’d told the kids and Soos his (as Mabel had put it) “tragic backstory”, when he’d been waiting for the government agents to leave, that had been the only thought worthy of paying any attention to.

Ford was back.

So many years spent studying and working had actually payed off. All the money that had been put into the machine had counted for something. All the lying, cheating, and general asshole-ry had amounted to something. Every night spent screaming at scrap metal and crying onto the already stained pages of a single journal, desperately scrambling for any sort of solution or clue, had been worth it.

He’d done it. After thirty long years, he’d done it. He’d brought his brother home.

It had meant lying to his family and potentially risked screwing up the relationship he’d come to form with Dipper and Mabel, but there’d been no way he could’ve stopped after all the progress he’d made. And in the end, while the lies had had caused his niblings lot of unneeded stress by accident, they’d understood and really come through. And, if he would be completely honest, he knew there was no way he could’ve found the other two journals on his own. He still hadn’t figured out how Dipper found the third one, but that could be dealt with later.

Or he would, if they would talk to him. Stan still couldn’t be sure if they trusted him after everything that had happened. Mabel sure seemed alright- in fact she was downright thrilled- but Dipper… Stan hadn’t missed the cold looks the kid had shot him more than once since everything had gone down. Yeah, he’d said he understood why he’d lied to them, and he’d been sorry for not believing him to begin with, by Stan knew all too well that just because someone apologized for their actions and could be aware of why you did something, it didn’t mean the same thing as forgiveness. It certainly didn’t mean trust was re-earned.

For the first time in thirty years, Stan found himself being desperate for something different. Especially since he was quickly realizing his hopes for a proper reunion with his brother had not only been ridiculous, but highly unrealistic.

After so long alone, wanting nothing more than to have his sibling back with him, Stan had forgiven Ford. He couldn’t pinpoint when or why, but after awhile it had just seemed pointless to hold a grudge for something that had happened over a decade back, especially when he was constantly in the process of trying to bring him home. He’d thought Ford would’ve been the same way, but as was his luck, his brother had seemed angrier than ever.

He couldn’t understand it. Sure, he’d screwed up in getting Ford sucked into the portal, but it had been an accident. How was he supposed to have known that there was a vacuum point for the thing when all Ford had done beforehand was explain to him what the thing was- and at the time, he hadn’t even understood that.

Didn’t matter, though, because Ford was still furious, and that was what it came down to. Thirty years of his own life spent on a family member who couldn’t be bothered, even for one second, to acknowledge all the time and effort he’d put into getting them back. There was just no pleasing him, was there? If he wasn’t upset about the dream school he’d missed out on, he was mad about Stan being mad, and when it wasn’t that, apparently it was the accident from thirty fucking years ago.

Stan could’ve laughed at himself for thinking things would ever change between them. How could he have possibly expected Ford to be even the least bit grateful for the sacrifices he’d made in his life, when it was so clear -and always had been, really- that he only ever cared about himself? He’d come to that conclusion before, during his tirade when they’d been younger, but it was only then that Stan realized just how right he’d been.

Maybe he should’ve just told Mabel to press the button after all.

Stan shook his head forcefully to quickly banish that thought. No. No matter how upset he was about Ford’s actions towards him, there was no way he’d wish for the man to be anywhere else, especially if that somewhere else wasn’t earth. Still, it did make him wonder, if he’d never tried to bring Ford back and had decided to permanently assume control of his brother’s identity, would he be happier? Would the pain in his heart go away if he’d just given up and allowed himself to be content with the family he had left?

Probably not.

Even so, he couldn’t deal with it. Not right now. The kids would only be with him a couple more weeks, and then, according to what Ford was saying, he’d be back out on the streets. It would be a hell of a lot harder than it had been in his younger days, especially after he’d grown used to a bed that didn’t kill his back, warmth during the winter, food whenever he wanted it, and a TV, and all those other little pleasures only a home could provide. He knew he could do it. If he had to, he could, but the fact that Ford would kick him to the curb as soon as there were no innocent witnesses to judge him for it was the final clincher that drove home the resounding “yes” in the “Is Ford really an asshole?” game. The fact that as soon as he was able, he would do the same thing Filbrick had done all those years ago hurt more than he’d thought it would.

It was the final straw.

“Cuz as far as I’m concerned, they’re the only family I have left.”

He didn’t wait to hear Ford’s reaction, if he’d had one at all. It felt like an eternity before he got to the top of the stairs, and it took every bit of restraint he possessed to not look back to see if Ford was still standing there. Instead he headed into his bedroom. He could hear Mabel and Dipper talking as he walked passed their door. They sounded like their usual, happy selves, and he smiled sadly. It was good that those two were so close. They always had each other's’ backs.

He could only pray nothing destroyed that bond.

Maybe he’d talk to them about it when morning came around, how no matter what happened in the future, they had to remember how precious their connection was and to never let anything, be it dreams, ambitions, boyfriends or girlfriends, parents, school- whatever, wreck it. Friends and relationships would come and go, parents could disown you or cut you off, but when things got hairy, if you still had them in your life, you could always count on your twin to be there.

Yeah, he’d be sure to tell them that sometime before they left, because the possibility of anything similar to his and Ford’s fallout happening to them… wasn’t anything he wanted want to think about. He knew all too well how much it hurt to love someone who was obviously never going to care enough to love you back, and he didn’t want Mabel and Dipper to ever experience that.

Stan closed the door to his room with a heavy pent up sigh, leaning back against the woodwork briefly as his racing heart slowed. He’d never thought, in all his years, that the one who would finally cut the cord would be him. In fact, he’d never pictured it being cut in the first place. In his delusions of a thankful brother, he’d also come to create some world around that reunion, where they forgave and forgot and spent the rest of their days making up for lost time. Where Ford deigned to amuse him with his oh-so precious time and didn’t have anything better to do than bond with the family he’d missed so very much.

“Ugh,” he groaned as he pushed away from the door and made his way over to the dresser. He didn’t make a habit of smoking with the kids around, but dammit if he didn’t need one right then. He’d crack open the piddly little window or something so it didn’t bother anyone.

As he puffed on the cigar, Stan could feel his anger retreating to be replaced with a numbness that encompassed his entire being. The gravity of what Ford had said to him, and what he’d shot back in return started weighing heavily upon him, drowning him in their finality. It sort of felt like anchors had been tied around his ankles and he was slowly being dragged down into the blackest depths of the ocean, the pressure making his head fuzzy and leaving his eyes feeling like they would pop out of his skull at any given moment.

He sniffed and put the cigar out when the smoke made his eyes burn. He closed the window and took a second to pause and look out at the black outline of forest against the night sky. He hadn’t wanted the night to end this way. He’d wanted to hang outside on the porch with Ford, drinking something a little stronger than Pitt Cola and finding out how his brother had been the past three decades. After a bit, Ford would’ve loosened up and started really getting into what he was saying, and he’d’ve taken on that steely, passionate look he always had when talking about something adventurous and/or scientific. They’d… maybe, discuss the whole “demon possession” thing he’d read about in Dipper’s journal. They’d make up.

He’d wanted to talk until his tongue grew heavy and he leaned against Ford, still outside on the couch beside him, and for the first time in a long time, his words would be heard.

But, as he’d learned time and time again, things rarely went how he wanted them to. He’d known that and still allowed himself to get sentimental and wistful about the idea of a life of normalcy with his best friend. And he regretted it completely.

So, as was likely to be the way for the rest of his life, nobody heard him. Not when his breath hitched while he wiped away a few stray tears, not when he prayed to no one in particular for things to get easier despite the circumstances, and certainly not when he said goodnight.

When he says it again, he’s sure to be quiet and doesn’t know why he’s saying it. The one who wants to hear it doesn’t, and there is no point, but he says it anyway.

He was back.

At first, Ford had thought having family around would be frustrating and awkward, but the more he’d gotten to know the children in the short periods in which he’d been allowed to be around them, the more he’d fallen in love with them. He hadn’t been particularly fond of Stanley’s hovering whenever Mabel and Dipper had struck up conversation, but it couldn’t have been helped. They’d come to an agreement of sorts and so long as he kept to his part, Stanley would keep to his at the end of the summer.

However, he’d found it had become increasingly difficult to stay away from them. Every time he came up from the basement he’d be bombarded with smiles and questions from the excited balls of energy. It was true, if he had actually wanted to avoid them he would’ve been able to with ease, but he hadn’t wanted to.

So when Dipper had crashed into his lab earlier that week and asked if he’d wanted to play his all-time favorite game, of course he’d immediately said yes. It was odd, how quickly he’d warmed to Dipper, considering it had continued to be a challenge getting used to the dimension after so long spent away from it, but he’d decided it had to do with how similar Dipper was to himself. They’d just… clicked.

Granted, things had gone downhill fairly quickly after they’d started that game, but in the end, they’d had a lot of fun and even managed to rope Stanley and Mabel into it, so he could call that one a win. Dipper seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed himself as well once the threat of having his brain eaten had been removed. Of course, he hadn’t been too worried about the predicament, having dealt with worse situations in the past, but it had served as a reminder that Dipper wasn’t wholly like him; he hadn’t experienced half the things he had in his life. Ford had decided then that he’d have to spend more time with the boy, help him reach his full potential as an individual.

The go-ahead to spend more time with him that Dipper had gotten from Stanley had come as a surprise, but the apology he’d given Dipper for making fun of the game had been even more so. Ford remembered how hard it had been to get Stanley to apologize when they’d been young -that and “please” had been like pulling teeth- so hearing him say it so easily then made him pause. He’d almost forgotten that while he’d been growing as a person during his time alone… so had Stanley. His brother had just seemed so similar to his younger, hotheaded and reckless self when they’d first reunited that he hadn’t considered for a second that he might have changed in any way whatsoever.

It almost made him wonder how else Stanley had grown. Almost.

After they’d gotten back home, he’d quickly retreated back downstairs, leaving the others to watch their kid’s show. The twins had asked him to stay, but when he’d seen Mabel getting settled on one side of Stanley and her brother sitting contently on the other, the rest of their small group on the floor, he’d declined. He knew when an invitation was a courtesy and not legitimate desire to have someone there, and he wouldn’t have understood the show that had them all so excited anyway.

Hours later, when the children had been sent to bed, Ford dragged himself back upstairs to clean up the rest of his and Dipper’s game. Stanley told him he didn’t have to, that he was already doing it, but Ford shrugged, stooping down to pick up a handful of graph paper on the side of the room opposite his brother.

“It would be senseless -you cleaning everything in order to bring it down to me- when I’m already here and can take it myself.”

He caught Stanley’s eye roll but decided it best to ignore him for favor of focusing on the task at hand. He hadn’t expected him to actually be picking up after someone else, but apparently that was just one of the other ways his brother had changed over the years. Or maybe it was something he’d been forced to learn when the twins had come into his life. Ford supposed it didn’t much matter when or why Stanley had begun doing it, just that he was. Still, it struck him as strange.

But then, the longer he was around the man, the more he noticed and the more he realized he really didn’t know Stanley at all anymore. So many things he once recognized about him were gone, leaving Ford with someone who might as well have been a stranger- an anomaly to be studied.

The way Stan looked and carried himself wasn’t at all like Ford remembered. He slouched more than he ever had seen him do before, his hair had thinned, and while his face still mirrored his, the lines on his face were more severe than the ones marring his own. Heavy frowns must have been his default expression for a large portion of time.

What struck him the most, though, was the knowledge that he had no idea why age hadn’t been nearly as kind to his brother as it had him. He had no idea what experiences had turned Stanley into whoever he now was, and it was the oddest feeling, being aware you should know something about someone, and yet not having a clue.

He pointedly ignored the familiar scar peeking out from underneath his brother’s wife-beater when a thrill of panic and guilt shot through him. It seemed some things hadn’t changed one bit.

He must have noticed his staring because Stanley looked up from what he was doing abruptly, leaving Ford to drop his attention back to the last couple of papers and pencils strewn about. He could feel the eyes boring into him as he grabbed the last couple pieces from his area. When he straightened up and caught his twin’s eye, he wondered if Stanley was thinking along the same lines as he’d been, or if he was staring just to be annoying.

Ford took his starring as an opportunity to retrieve the items from his brother. Stanley handed them over, clearing his throat as he did, which had Ford raising an eyebrow and shuffling the papers just to give his hands something to do while he waited for him to say something.

“You… ate dinner, right?”

“Oh.” Ford blinked. He didn’t know why, but he’d almost been expecting something different to come out of Stanley’s mouth. He had no idea what it would’ve been, but it wasn’t that. He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. “Not yet, but I don’t, uh, really eat food in the traditional sense anymore anyway.”

“Oh,” Stan mumbled, dropping his attention to the black screen of the TV at the far end of the room, “Okay.”

Heavy silence took up the room within seconds, the unfamiliar brand of tension leaving Ford with the option to either continue the pathetic attempt at a conversation or leave. Seeing as it was the first interaction they’d had since he’d come home that hadn’t devolved into an argument, Ford figured it would be best to leave before the environment grew hostile once more. There didn’t seem to be much else he could do, after all.

“I’m going to go.”

The announcement was stiff and awkward, but Stan accepted it graciously enough, giving a short nod. “Alright, have fun.”

Ford hummed and turned away, walking perhaps a touch faster than necessary towards the other room where the vending machine was located. He needed to be back downstairs where everything was blessedly familiar. It was one of the places in the house that hadn’t been changed much... actually it was the only thing in his world that hadn’t been changed in any way, shape, or form. It may have housed the dismantled remains of one of his greatest regrets, but it was one of the most comforting places in the whole of Gravity Falls for him for the time being. He knew he’d grow accustomed to all the changes, but not yet. He’d start small, and he’d made some progress just then with Stanley. At least he thought so.

He’d managed a brief exchange with his brother without wanting to yell at or punch him. He’d considered that minor progress, even if it wasn’t really much in the grand scheme of things. He briefly wondered if his twin felt at all like they’d taken a step towards… something. Tolerance? Maybe.

“Goodnight.”

It was said softly enough that he could’ve easily missed it, but he didn’t. Ford halted in front of the vending machine, his free hand, which had been lifted to punch in the new code he’d given it, dropped as he slowly turned around to face Stanley.

His face must have given away how taken aback he was, because Stan’s expression immediately closed off from view. His eyes gave away all he didn’t show, though, and Ford swallowed hard when he recognized the very same emotions he’d seen in his own eyes at one point or another in life flashing in rapid succession: Fear, uncertainty, hope, anxiety, and after the silence had stretched on between them for a half second longer than it should have, regret.

Stan shrunk back and huffed a quiet laugh. It was a broken up little sound and Ford tensed when he recognized it as the same one he’d utter whenever Filbrick would finish yelling at him. “Uh, a-anyway,” he stuttered, already beginning to retreat in the direction of the front door, “I’ve gotta go, um, make sure Soos went home and ain’t just hangin’ around.”

Stanley ran off before he could react. Part of him wanted to call out, to tell him to come back, but his tongue lay useless in his mouth while the other part of him was glad he’d stayed silent. He didn’t want to get Stan’s hopes up and open that can of worms. Neither of them had forgiven each other, and Ford didn’t know if they ever could. He didn’t know if he could. How could he forgive someone who’d ignored all his warnings and had risked the fate of the universe just to rectify a mistake? He couldn’t see how.

That fact didn’t stop his throat from closing up as he bit the inside of his lip and stared at the door his twin had disappeared behind. It certainly didn’t stop him from opening his mouth as he went back to typing the code in, the smallest of sighs escaping him as he answered, much too late:

“Goodnight, Stanley.”

[bekaroth-reads]

Dipper vs Bill (Gravity Falls)

Dipper and Mabel were ecstatic. Stan and Ford were going to be porting in a harbor the next town over from them, and the young teens' parents were letting them go stay with them. They were going to be spending the night on the boat and the next day sailing around in it. "Oh, my gosh, Dipper! I'm flipping out here!" Mabel cheered excitedly as they made it to the docks to start looking for the right boat. "I know, right?" Dipper agreed as he scanned the area. "It's been almost half a year since we left Gravity Falls. Let's see here- it should be- there!" He exclaimed as he pointed to the vessel that said, "Stans O' War" in sloppy paint letters on the back of it. "I told them they should have let me paint it." Mabel said as she eyed the words with a slight disapproving look. "Well, it's their ship, so they were the ones that should put the name on the back. Besides, I'm pretty sure that they wanted to make sure that you wouldn't make it glittery. Sparkles wouldn't really go with the tough guy sailor vibe they're trying to get across." Dipper answered with a shrug before knocking on the door to the cabin. "What? That's not a thing!" Mabel started with a huff, "Plenty of sailors like sparkly stuff! They're always looking for treasure and what not." She placed her hands on her hips to stand akimbo as her head leaned toward Dipper with a disbelieving look on her face. Before her brother could answer, the conversation was interrupted by the door opening. "Kids! How've ya been?" The gruff voice of Stan erupted from the doorway. "Gruncle Stan!" The twins yelled happily as they almost tackled him in a hug. "Hey, I'm gettin' too old to be ambushed like this." He chuckled as he regained his balance. "What were you two goin' back and forth about out there anyways?" Stan asked them as they went the rest of the way into the cabin. Mabel gasped as she remember the debate that she and Dipper were just having. "Oh, yeah! Gruncle Stan, do sailors like sparkles?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side as she waited for an answer. "Kid, I don't know where you heard about that, but you're too young to hear any more." Stan replied with a slightly concern face. "Hi, Great Uncle Ford!" Dipper called to the other man sitting at a desk in the corner. "Well, hello!" was all he replied before jotting something else in the journal on the desk in front of him. Once he was done he placed a book mark down on the page, closed the journal, and turned around so he could actually be part of the group that was now in the small cabin of the boat. "So, what should we do now that we're all back together again?" Stan asked after they had all talked and caught up a bit. "Let's go to town! We can window shop since Gruncle Stan is too cheap to actual shop!" Mabel said excitedly as she pointed out the porthole and down the docks toward the town. Almost as soon as she suggested that, Ford got a look on his face that everyone could tell meant he had major reservations about the idea. Of course Stan was the first one to confront his brother. "Alright, Poindexter, what's with the face?" He asked with slight irritation in his voice. "Stanly, we just got into port, and I think it would be a better idea to stay and rest here rather than run ourselves ragged by going all over town." Ford replied as he adjusted his glasses. "No," Stan started back, the irritation showing more now than it previously was, "you just want to be a hermit and not interact with people as per usual, but that's not fair to the kids. We're gonna be on this boat all day tomorrow, so let's go into town today." Suddenly there was a loud crash out the deck, and the sounds a man on the dock panicking. "What the-" Stan barked as he went to the small porthole on the cabin wall to see what was happening. "You've gotta be kidding me! That idiot just spilled a bucket of somethin' all over the deck!" And with that Stan was out the door to have a few choice words with the man outside. Ford walked to the door and closed it. "Kids, we need to talk while Stan isn't around. Besides, I'm fairly certain you shouldn't be hearing the majority of what he would be saying." He said before turning to them. Mabel and Dipper got a little laugh at the comment that their uncle made about his brother, but then stopped and became very attentive when they saw the somber look on his face. "Look, there's been something going on with Stan, and it's becoming increasingly more worrisome. You see, he's started to regain his memories at an increasingly fast rate." The twins looked at each other as if to ask each other why that was a bad thing. Ford saw them, and answered their question before they had a chance to verbally ask him. "I know, that sounds like it would be a good thing. The problem comes from the fact he's not remembering thing like family, friends, or anything like that sort. It all has to do with the supernatural encounters that have happened over the past year. At first I thought that it was harmless, but then I realized that there is the potential to be a problem. No, a catastrophe!" Both Mabel and Dipper knew that if Ford thought there was going to be something going south then there was little chance that he was wrong. Ford took a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "The one of the things I'm trying to keep him from remembering is anything to do with Bill. Bill was contained inside of his mind, and I think that the only thing keeping him prisoner there is the fact that Stan doesn't remember him. If we aren't careful Bill could be released, so that's why I decided to port here and why we shouldn't go to town. I'm trying to avoid any sort of situation that might trigger any memories involving that dream demon. We all have a tendency to attract odd things and situations, so we need at least some form a isolations from largely populated area in order to be sure to not encounter something." Both Dipper and Mabel understood what their uncle was talking about and wouldn't want anything to happen to Stan, or let Bill Cipher be free to roam the earth, but that didn't mean they weren't bummed about being stuck on the boat instead of actually getting to go do something with their uncles. They were also aware that if there was a mess on the deck then they were probably going to have to help clean it up. "Ugh! I can't believe that we came out here just to do chores! I thought this thing was called, "Stans O' War," not, "Stans O' -Bore-!" Mabel said as she threw her hands in the air in frustration after Ford had walked out of the cabin (she was upset with the situation, but didn't want to make him feel bad). "Mabel, that pun was awful." Dipper said flatly to his sister. She stomped over to a chair in the corner, threw herself down with a huff, and practically yelled, "This situation is awful!" Later that night after the deck was cleaned and the four of them had talked and laughed about many different things, (a bit about Gravity Falls, but the subject quickly turned to all of Stan's misadventures during his younger years), the kids went to sleep in the cabin while the two men went out to talk on the deck for a little bit longer. Dipper started out sleeping fine. It was a calm, dreamless sleep. It was when he started to dream that things started to get complicated. He suddenly found himself back at Mystery Shack, the way it looked before Soos took over, (not that Soos changed many things, but there were differences). "What the heck?" He almost whispered as he looked around at the surrounding forest. With nothing seeming to really catch his interest outside, Dipper decided that he would go into the actual shack to see what was in there. Once inside, he confirmed everything was still exactly the way it had been over the previous summer. The shop, the museum area, the kitchen, the living room, all of it was the same. "Well, maybe if I can't sleep in real life, then I can at least go to bed here." He huffed, still feeling some of the tiredness of real life in his dream. After making the small trek up to Mabel and his room, he flopped down onto his bed and closed his eyes. While he lay there trying to fall asleep, a thought suddenly hit him. "Wait, if I have the Mystery Shack all to myself, then that means that I could go look through all of Great-Uncle Ford's lab!" He was excited to say the least. He knew that it was a dream, and that he would probably be making up half of the things down there, but he didn't care. It was more the thought of being able to do so in the first place the excited him. When he sat up to go back downstairs, something caught his eye. The window between the two beds had what looked like sunlight coming through it. It wasn't clear sunlight like you would see during the morning or afternoon, though. It had a light orange, almost yellow tint to it, like one would see at sunset. That didn't make any sense though. Because of the placement of the window the sun only shone through it directly when it was early morning, there would be no way that the light of a sunset could get through. There was somethin else that made this whole thing seem off. Aside from the fact that the light wasn't there when he first entered the room, the fact that there wasn't light outside was to be taken into account as well. It wasn't like it was pitch black or even night time, but everything seemed like it was more of a picture of things that were actually there. Come to think of it, everything was sort of washed out, almost black and white looking aside from the plane splashes of color here and there like when he was in- "Oh, no!" Dipper almost whispered as he quickly backed away from the lights that he now recognized as a yellow triangle on the floor. "Oh, yes, Pine Tree!" An all too familiar voice replied as the light compacted into a single area on the floor that he started floating in the air. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! I can't believe you thought I was gone for good." Bill said as he turned around and stretched his arms and legs as his trademark hat materialized above his head. Dipper was speechless. If Bill was trapped inside of Stan's mind then how was it that he was here? "Great question, Pine Tree." Bill responded without even needing to hear it ask. This bugged Dipper to no end because he was sure that Bill could find the thoughts of the person who's mind he was in. That could mean that he was in Dipper's mind now, or that he had somehow gotten the ability to read everyone's mind, neither of which sounded like good things. Dipper decided that the best corse of action would be to push theories aside for the moment, and ask Bill about it. Weather or not he was going to get a straight answer from the demon was another fact entirely, but there was no harm in trying. "I didn't even ask you anything. How would you even know that I had a question?" Dipper asked with clear frustration in his voice. "Aw, come on!" Bill started as he leaned back like he was lounging in a chair. "It was written ALL over your face, which you should see right now by the way because it is priceless!" He laughed as he pointed to the topic of conversation. Dipper turned his face in an effort to get away from Bill, but Bill simply floated over so he could still be seen. "Look, kid. You wanna know how I got out of Stanly's mind? The answer is: I haven't." Bill said with an ever so slight hint of annoyance showing through. "But, how are you here if you're still stuck in Stan's mind?" Dipper asked, more confused now than ever. "As sharp as ever, kid!" Bill said as he snapped his fingers and some daggers appeared next to him. Dipper dove out of the way quickly, narrowly missing the daggers as they came flying in his direction. One of them caught his sleeve, and put a shallow cut on his upper arm. "Anyways, I have a proposal for you." Bill said as he adjusted his bowtie. Dipper didn't answer him because he was too busy attending to his arm. "Look, I'm willing to let YOU let ME into your mind, like permanently. You see right now I'm just projecting my subconscious into your subconscious. It's like that one movie with the guy from the broken ship!" Before Dipper could answer, a large, unseen force that sounded like someone playing an entire brass section in his ears sent him flying across the room, and slammed into a wall. Dazed, short on breath, ears ringing, and arm still hurting, the young teen was more aware than ever that the triangular figure in front of him was not happy the see him. "Ah-ha-ha-ha! What's wrong, Pine Tree?" Bill cackled as he looked at the beat up boy that was slumped over on the floor in front of him. "Get over yourself, Bill." Dipper mumbled as he stood up with a hiss because the pain that he was in before he continuing in a clearer tone. "Why would I ever let you all the way into my mind? I don't want you here to this extent!" Bill rolled his eye and crossed his arms. Boy, humans could be so annoying! Especially if their last name was Pines! All that aside, he still had big plans ahead and he wouldn't let them ruin it from him. "Well, you see," Bill started as he floated closer to where Dipper was, "I want a do over on Weirdmageddon. Who knows, maybe I'll even go with that other name you guys had for it. What was it again?" Bill turned back to the window in the room as he lost himself in thought trying to remember what the other name that the people of Gravity Falls gave to his brief reign. Dipper took this opportunity make for the door and get away from his tormentor. He went as quietly as he could, but was more concerned about getting out of the room quickly. He was right by the back door when Bill yelling in realization rang through the house. "Odd-pocalypse!" Bill said with a snap of his fingers and turned around to see that Dipper was no longer there. "What the-PINES!" He roared as he became gigantic and started to glow red, his eye turned pitch black and the pupil within turned blood red. The latter of his exclamations was what Dipper heard. There was no time for subtlety now, and Dipper bolted out the door in an effort to put some space between he and Bill, even though he know that it probably wouldn't do much good. He looked around briefly to try to get some sort of plan. Whilst looking, Dipper's eyes caught sight of the back porch. "That hole I found with Gompers! I can dive into the lab, and hide there, or maybe even try to find something to help me!" He thought as he ran towards the spot in question. Dipper bounced off of the lab wall opposite of where he entered and tumbled on the floor as he landed. He quickly got himself up and into the other room. The only people that knew about the entry to the lab were Ford, Gompers, and himself. Bill couldn't have found out from Ford because he couldn't get into his mind, and, unless Bill had decided to invade the thought process of a goat, there would be no way that he would know where Dipper was. Even so there was the possibility that he could find the hole and figure out where Dipper went. There was only one solution to this situation, he needed to find something to defend himself from Bill. There was the usual things that could be found in the lab, but most of the things that could have been of use to him were under lock and key. Suddenly, he saw a jar with something that he knew he could use. He ran over to the shelf that the jar was on and grabbed it. It was just in the nick of time too, because as soon as he did Bill's voice rang through the lab. "Well, well, well! I've got to say; you really had me going there for a minute." Bill fazed through the ceiling a short distance from where Dipper was standing. "You know, I'm not even sure how you got down here so quickly, but apparently you found some way, so colored me impressed!" Bill finger gunned in towards Dipper, who dodged out of the way even though nothing actually came towards him. He didn't want to take any chances with Bill. "Wow, jumpy aren't we, Pine Tree?" Bill said with a degrading look. "Anyway, I didn't get to answer your question earlier. You want to know why you should let me into your mind? The answer's real simple. You see, I'm not too powerful in Stan's mind because of all the barriers that erasing his memory has put up. I need to be in someone else's mind so I can get out." Bill gave his reason like it was a totally justified thing, like Dipper should trust him regardless of what he had done in the past. "No way! I'd never let a maniac like you into my mind OR into the world!" Dipper snapped angrily as he pointed at Bill in a manor that seemed to be calling him out for everything he had done. Bill's expression changed from amused back to angry. "I wouldn't get cocky, Pines! You aren't the only one I can try to persuade." Bill's threat didn't frighten Dipper, who immediately knew the best response. "You can't get into Ford's head! That's just an empty threat!" Dipper beamed with pride at the intelligent comeback he just delivered. Bill, on the other hand, would have thought the answer amusing if he wasn't already past the point of wanting to kill the teen with every fiber of his being. "I'm well aware, and I wasn't talking about Ford!" The demon yelled, his voice starting to distort. Dipper stood there bemused for a moment, but not for long before he realized exactly who Bill was talking about: Mabel. There was no way that he would let this triangular freak do anything to his sister. Without any hesitation or thought of strategy whatsoever, Dipper threw the jar that he had been holding. It flew into the air, hit the ceiling, and shattered. "You idiot! You missed-"Bill's taunt was cut off when the cycloptopus that was in the now broken jar jumped from the ceiling and straight onto Bill's eye. This gave Dipper time to form an actual plan. He tried to think of an option whilst Bill was bouncing about from wall to wall screaming profanities. There would only be a limited time to do so before Bill got the cycloptopus off and regenerated his eye, so he had to think quickly. "There are plenty weapons and objects of Great-Uncle Ford's that I could use down here, but they're all locked somehow." Dipper thought as he looked around at the different cases and shelves that were around him. "There's no way I can get to any of these things! The glass is bullet proof, so I can't break it. And, for the life of me, I can't think of any of where he would have put the keys or what his security codes would be! I-" Dipper stopped suddenly; part of his last inter-ramblings making him remember something that would have been extremely helpful earlier. "I'm in my own mind right now!" He actually said out loud because of how excited he was. When Bill was finally able to get the nasty monster off of his eye, and regenerated said body part a few minutes later, he was met with a rude surprise. He was sent flying across the room by a burst of energy. When Bill was finally able to see what was going on he saw Dipper standing on the other end of the room with a rather fancy looking laser gun. He was taken aback to say the least. Not that he should have been, but the fact that the Pines family without fail managed to become even more annoying almost every time he saw them was almost more than he could bare sometimes. "Bill, get out of my mind." Dipper said firmly, working desperately to keep his voice in check so it didn't crack like it was known to at times. "Oh, right. Like I'm going to listen to a pathetic whelp like you." Bill sneered as he got himself back up into the air. "Yes, you are! This is my mind and you're not welcome here! Also you're not as powerful as you once were, so you can't fight me on this!" Dipper yelled in an attempt to assert his dominance. "Listen, Pine Tree, if you think you're going to kick me out with that thing-" Bill pointed to the gun in Dipper's hands and then stopped. "Where DID you even get that from?" The demon asked with frustrated confusion in his voice. "I got it from the lab." Dipper answered curtly, not wanting to go into detail. "You did not!" Bill said more angry than confused this time. "I've been down here plenty of times, and I never saw anything like that!" He continued while his eye started to turn black and red once again. "Will you just shut up and get out of here!" Dipper yelled angrily as he shot the gun again, this time holding down the trigger so a continuos stream of energy shot out. The longer Dipper healed down the trigger, the brighter the room got. Finally, it got to a point where he couldn't se anything, and he had to let go because the intensity of the light was hurting his eyes. When the light had faded, Dipper's eyes had adjusted, and the dust had settled Bill was gone. There wasn't even a trace of the demon left. With a sigh, Dipper made his way up the stairs of the lab, and into the main part of the house. His idea was to go back up to his room, but he did not have the energy to even make it that far. He settled on going and sitting on Stan's big chair in the living room. Once there, Dipper practically threw himself in the general direction of where he wanted to go. Luckily, he actually landed where he intended, and just scooted himself the rest of the way onto the chair after a little while of lying there limply. Once seated properly on the chair, he let out a sigh of relief. "I can't believe that I actually got rid of Bill. I thought it would be harder." Dipper thought out loud as he sat there in the quiet. He knew that something like an imaginary laser gun wouldn't have really done anything to Bill in the past, but it seemed to work this time. Come to think of it, Bill said that he was merely projecting himself from Stan's mind, so maybe that made him weaker than usual. Right as he started to fall asleep, an all too familiar laugh made him wake up instantly. "Ah-ha-ha-ha! You really thought that you could make me go away that easily? Wow, Pine Tree, that's unbelievably stupid, even for you!" Bill's voice seemed as though it was actually coming from everywhere at once. Dipper looked all around the room the see where his adversary could be, but everything looked like how it should. He went through the entire house, upstairs and down until the only rooms left were Ford's room and the bathroom. He decided the check the latter first. When he got there he froze in horror when he saw himself in the mirror. He was extremely beat up looking, but that's not what frightened him. The true horror came from the fact that cut on his arm that he got earlier was now Bill Cipher's eye. It looked every which direction until it made contact with Dipper's. "You'll never get rid of me, kid! I'll always be there to ruin your family's lives! I'll always be there! Always!" Bill continued to yell threats and other ominous phrases while the veins in Dipper's arm that were by the eye progressively turned black. Not being able to take anymore, Dipper passed out as the black substance started to spread throughout the rest of his body. Dipper sat up with a gasp, and was relieved to find himself back on the boat. Quickly, he looked over at his arm where the eye had been, and was even more relieved when it wasn't there. He was starting to settle down his breathing when he heard Ford from his desk at the other side of the cabin. "Dipper, are you alright?" He asked as he walked over to the young teen. "Yeah, I- where's Gruncle Stan?" Dipper asked, not wanting to be the one to talking about Bill too much in front of him and make him remember too much. "Stan's still out on the deck. Why?" Ford asked slightly perplexed. When he was sure that the coast was clear, Dipper told his uncle what had just happened. Ford sat there in a very stoic manner as he listened and analyzed what Dipper was saying. "He said that if I wouldn't let him into my mind that he would go after Mabel." Dipper said more worried than ever as he looked over to where his sister was sleeping. Ford sat there for a moment while he tried to think of what to do. "Well, I think for now we can-" "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Mabel's scream made the two of them jump and Stan rush into the cabin. They all ran over to see what was going on. "Mabel! Mabel, are you alright?" Dipper asked his sister as he put a hand on her shoulder. She sat up quickly with a stuffed unicorn hanging off of her teeth. "No!" She whined, he speech being somewhat hindered due to the unicorn. "I fell asleep with my mouth open, and Princess Lovicorn's hear got stuck in my braces!" The others stopped and laughed for a moment before they started to find way to get Mabel untangled from her doll. Stan thought the whole thing was hilarious, but Dipper and Ford mostly felt relieved that it was just the unicorn and not Bill going through with his plan to target the girl. Either way, both of them were going to keep an eye on things for awhile. Dipper, though tired as he was, stayed up the rest of the night to keep watch over Mabel. He wanted to be sure that nothing would happen to her. Besides, there was absolutely no way that he was going back to sleep tonight.

[sarahburness]

Growing from Ghosting: 5 Things To Consider While Dealing with Silence

“The important thing to remember is that when someone ghosts you, it says nothing about you or your worthiness for love and everything about the person doing the ghosting. It shows he/she doesn’t have the courage to deal with the discomfort of their emotions or yours, and they either don’t understand the impact of their behavior or worse, don’t care.” ~Jennice Vilhauer

Let’s get this out of the way first: Ghosting is crappy etiquette. There’s no real, concrete excuse for it, except perhaps pure, unadulterated laziness with a touch of cruelty.

We take for granted how much technology has changed the way we interact with people. We are humans first, but it seems we may be conflict-avoiding robots second. Efficiency and avoidance reign supreme in this futuristic dating world of 2017, and because of how easy it is to disregard anything and everything, common courtesy has now become painfully underutilized.

To be frank: it is exceptionally easy to ghost someone who has no connection to your life previous to the one encounter. If you aren’t feeling it with this new person, and you don’t want to use the mental leaps it takes to articulate a rejection to a practical stranger, then more likely than not you won’t communicate at all.

Access to the ignore button has never been easier, and pressing “unmatch” on Tinder equates deleting the person from your headspace and your own personal universe. Here are five things to consider in the land of ghosts.

1. What do you really want from the person who’s ghosting you?

In the land where easy hookups are abundant, polyamory is normal, and ethical non-monogamy sounds like something you’d see at a farmers market, here we all are, trying to figure this new world of dating out. With each generation of dating (and dating apps), we are met with new terminology, new hats to try on for ourselves, and we’re re-focusing our energies on what we are really looking for.

I am a monogamous person. That doesn’t mean that in my fifty-plus first dates, I haven’t been able to recognize some of my own awful behavior (long, dramatic paragraphs of anxiety-ridden texts to a new potential date, anyone?), so I’ve had to reexamine myself a multitude of times, take a major chill pill, and reorganize my needs and desires.

That being said, asking myself, “What am I really looking for?” after I get painfully ghosted is seemingly the best question to ask.

Why exactly was this painful (beyond it being inhuman and previously nonexistent before modern day dating)? Did I just want acknowledgement of my humanity? Closure so I can focus on the next person? Did I even find this person particularly interesting? What other things are going on in my life that are causing me to react so strongly?

Yes, monogamy is important to me, but getting overly upset about a person who feels no attachment toward me is a new kind of character building experience. Ghosting is a reminder that life is unfair and often severe. Technology has made communicating with each other easier to access, and yet has created a strange isolating landscape in which we are all a part of.

This feeling of desertion still applies to people who have been ghosted after several dates, or friendships that have suddenly and painfully disappeared; it just becomes more painful and potent.

2. The sea of excuses don’t feel any better than being ghosted.

I got on my old OKCupid account a couple years after being off. In a cruel twist of fate, I saw a sea of all of the men that I dated previously. We were all in this together, apparently, like some sort of sad loner club no one signed up for.

Here we were, the men that ghosted me and the men that like to me too much, and I didn’t feel the same. Somehow, after years we were all still here, and all using the same tired profile pictures.

After a few days, a man messaged me a lackluster apology that he ghosted me as he was going through “some stuff” at the time. And with that, he walked back into the internet, never responding my follow-up questions. Gee, thanks, I’m glad I could be a vessel in which you exonerated yourself from your strange guilt.

Does it feel better that he weakly apologized and gave a vague excuse for his behavior three years later? Not particularly. So, expecting any explanation at a later time isn’t helpful in this ghosting journey that we are all on.

More common than ghosting, here are some boring/obvious excuses I have heard instead of being ghosted, and they feel about the same as the disappearing act itself. In no particular order:

“Sorry, I’m not really looking for anything serious right now.” (They say, fully aware that I was a monogamous person looking for something serious before meeting.)

“You lied on your profile. You said you were 5’8”, but you’re taller.” (He says, as he lied about his own height, weight, blah, blah, blah. For the record, I’ve been 5’8” since I was twelve, unless I had a spontaneous growth spurt at thirty.)

“I didn’t sense a connection.” (He says, as he talked at me the entire time, completely unaware that I actually possessed a personality that he didn’t want to take part in.)

“You’re too good for me.” (Yes, probably so.)

People are either desperate or not desperate enough. This ebb and flow of dating is equal parts predictable and surprising. Protect your heart, date whoever you want, but know that you will eventually get your feelings hurt. Whether it’s half-baked excuses, or radio silence forever. You know the saying though: better to buy a ticket to the lottery than never to have played, right? RIGHT?

3. Know that you may ghost someone yourself.

Even I, Queen of All Emotions, have accidentally ghosted someone before.

Have you ever met someone so unremarkable you just simply forgot about them? You sat there during your date shrugging your shoulders, stirring your iced tea, wondering if this person had a pulse.

He stared at me blankly, asked me what I did, and I felt as if I was in a weird, monotone interview for a job that I didn’t remember applying for. As careful as I am, I accidentally ghosted someone and they were sad about it. I couldn’t even bring myself to apologize in fear I would open up the strange waves of communication with this person again.

It happens. I get it. It’s a two-way street and I’m human enough to realize my shortcomings. I’m sorry, Kevin. Or was it Brian? James? Steven?

4. You cannot educate a ghost.

This may be the most important realization on my journey through ghost country: You simply cannot educate a ghost. There will always be people perpetuating this stereotype of non-consideration (maybe even you!).

These people are not in your control. Sending them a “wake up call” does not work. It’s not your job to educate them.

This idea has been the hardest thing for me to accept. I have sent paragraphs of texts to men who have ghosted me. This only solidifies the silence. Obviously the person is not texting you back if you’re going to badger him on his shortcomings.

Maybe they’re going through something, you’re not on their mind, they don’t care in the slightest, or their phone was eaten by an alligator. Whatever the case may be, they don’t care enough to contact you, so your novel of setting the balance right in the world will go to blind eyes. It will drive you insane if you allow it. Do not allow it.

As long as you’re honest with yourself about your needs, somewhat earnest in whatever you’re trying to accomplish datingwise, then you can overcome this. It’s all you can do. Getting ghosted means actively becoming a stronger, wiser person, because the alternative is bitterness and never ending frustration.

Technology is still the Wild West of communication. We know how to correctly formulate an email to our boss, a job prospect, your great aunt Mabel, but to someone who is virtually meaningless to us, it’s becomes considerably more of a gray area.

In general, people just don’t know how to socialize properly in a digital format, so we have created a culture where we simply don’t. And because this was a casual encounter, saying something at all could put us in a situation where the other person over-compensates with their hurricane of emotions if the feelings weren’t mutual.

I get it, you don’t want to deal with a hot mess and I don’t want to deal with your issues either, and thus perpetuates the ghosting cycle of life.

5. In other words, relax.

Know that you’re putting in the effort. Know that if things are supposed to work out they will work out. Find a mantra, yoga, meditation technique, eat a giant plate of pancakes, do whatever makes you feel better to get over the first few hurdles of the unavoidable ghosting epidemic.

No one ever promised us that dating was always going to be enjoyable. The funny anecdotes in romantic comedies make it look like a barrel of laughs, but sometimes it simply isn’t. Accepting this is an unfortunate part of the trade off of putting yourself out there is like learning a tedious aspect of your job. You’re going to hate it at first, but if you still want to date, this is part of the job description.

In other words, be brave, certainly put yourself out there, but also send only one follow-up text, otherwise you will drive yourself into certain madness.

About Sarah E. Miller

Sarah E. Miller is a freelance writer, dabbler, collaborator, and an occasionally funny lady. She spends her days writing for various blogs, dreaming up big ideas and trying to put those dreams into action. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website sarahdoesitanyway.wordpress.com.

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The post Growing from Ghosting: 5 Things To Consider While Dealing with Silence appeared first on Tiny Buddha.

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