#and then he’s possessed ford dipper and blendin

[the-meme-monarch]

i often forget that gravity falls was not Initially made to have a plot bc a lot of it just works out really well in my opinion. anyway when bill possessed dipper and said “two eyes? this thing’s deluxe” bc when this episode came out i think bill still wasn’t even Thought Of to be this like final villain yet, much less as Havinb Known And Worked With Ford, but at this point we can Now re-contextualize this line like ‘he used to possess ford, who wears glasses, this can be seen as a jab at ford for having “four eyes”, where dipper presumably has perfect vision’ but now we know bill has possessed at least a few other people including at least two corpses that I’m aware of. did not a single one of them have good vision until dipper. the corpses i can understand but otherwise

[ckret2]

One of my favourite things about the book of Bill has to be how hard it has cemented that, for all the airs Bill likes to put on, he's actually awful at manipulating people. Like if you look at the just the show, on the surface his record isn't bad. 2 1/2 successful manipulations out of 3 shown on-screen is solid. ((That is until you examine it further and realize that the 2 successful ones were done to 12 year old children who 1. Weren't exactly in the best states of mind at the time due to severe sleep deprivation/a difficult emotional state and 2. he still had to trick via his power (the fake timer on the laptop/possessing blendin so Mabel didn't know it was him)) But now? Oh man! Ford wasn't just lucky, he joined a tradition dating back all the way to humanities beginnings! Bill has been trying to get people to do his bidding literally since people had gotten good enough at resource-gathering and tool-usage to be able to potentially build his portal! And he failed over and over and over again and he never learned shit! That would be bad enough but not only did he fail at manipulating several civilzations worth of people, they ALSO constantly thwarted him in ways beyond that! He got himself banished, trapped, and annoyed to hell and back and thats just the stuff he told us! Thats not even speaking of his latest and possibly greatest fumble, failing the convince us, the reader of the Book of Bill who is canonically a fan of Bill or at least Gravity Falls into striking a deal with him. In short, if I asked Bill to manipulate a child into eating ice cream with just his words I wouldn't trust him to get it done within my or the kids life time.

Except, Bill IS good at manipulating people. You JUST DESCRIBED several examples of him being good at manipulating people.

Identifying the most vulnerable targets, the "weakest link" most likely to cave and do what you want—like children (or elderly people with dementia, or immigrants who don't understand the language well)—is part of being good at manipulation.

Identifying and taking advantage of people in a compromised mental state when they're not thinking clearly and are more likely to do what you want is part of being good at manipulation. (He didn't try to persuade Mabel to destroy the laptop, BECAUSE HE KNEW DIPPER WAS MORE VULNERABLE. He didn't approach Dipper or Ford dressed as Blendin—BECAUSE HE KNEW MABEL WAS MORE VULNERABLE.)

Just straight up lying to people—about a situation (the timer), about a person (Blendin)—is a manipulation tactic.

Fabricating a totally artificial emergency and pressuring a target to ACT NOW to prevent disaster is a common con artist trick. (See: scammers who cold call strangers, say they're from the IRS and the stranger is behind on taxes, and demand they transfer a large amount of money from their bank RIGHT NOW or go to jail—WHICH ACTUALLY WORKS A LOT, especially because people CAN'T THINK AS CLEARLY when they're panicking.)

Disguising yourself as somebody trustworthy or somebody intimidating to trick a target into obeying you is also a common con artist trick.

Not to mention ALL the work we see into how he manipulates Ford: he makes note of Ford's social isolation and how Bill can use that to his advantage; he identifies the thing Ford wants most (respect & acknowledgment for his intellectual achievements) and weaves that into his manipulation; he uses both Ford's ego AND Ford's insecurity against him; he almost effortlessly turns Ford against the one friend who adores him, making Ford think his friend's kindest attempts to help are evidence of backstabbing; and even though ultimately it didn't work, you can't say that threatening to destroy Ford's life from inside his own body was a BAD manipulation tactic.

Plus the entire muse schtick. Fooling people into thinking you're doing something magical or supernatural is such a common manipulation tactic that there's a whole name for it: "mystical manipulation." Bill does this NON STOP with Ford, and with many of his other victims.

We see him successfully talk an entire tribe into helping him build a working redwood portal—and they only turned against him when the portal started petrifying people, unleashing monsters, and creating bottomless pits. He talked the Aztecs into sacrificing 9,000 people to build a portal that didn't even work. He talked not-Disney into making a cartoon about Bill that included UNLEASHING LIVE BEES IN THE THEATER. Who the hell would think that's a good idea!

And to top it all off, he formed multiple successful cults that were ride or die for him until the bitter end. That's like the crown jewel of being good at manipulating. Bill talked a whole town into joining his cult in under a month in spite of the fact that he kept calling them plasma bags and chugging formaldehyde. Based on the dates in the document about Silas Birchtree, people were marrying into Ciphertology at least five years after Bill's puppet disintegrated and he ditched them.

Bill was good at manipulating people!

Do you know what Bill WASN'T good at? Getting people to finish and open a portal.

Largely because portals are difficult to make, and because he can only get so far into the process before it becomes obvious that this thing will destroy the world and that's usually enough to override any other threats or promises he makes.

Yeah, he says some stupid things that should obviously give him away—like talking about setting off all the nukes. He's kinda pathetic and a bit of a dumbass sometimes. But, here's the thing about successful manipulators, con artists, and cult leaders: MOST of them are kinda pathetic dumbasses. Cult leaders are idiots. There's a cult leader who preached his followers should be on minimal vegetarian diets, had his chauffeur take him out to a big fancy steak dinner, then told his chauffeur he did that to test his faith—and the chauffeur was like well okay. Cult leaders are idiots, AND YET SUCCEED. When Bill says you can get anyone to hum along with your tune if you've got charisma? He's right—that's true in real life.

Manipulators get away with manipulation not because they tell such brilliant impeccable lies that the most clear-headed rational person in the world would believe them... but because they know to tell their lies to people who aren't clear-headed and rational, and because they know using cheap tricks and false identities and lies that the victim WANTS to be true works better than a flawless story, and because they know most people tend to give other people the benefit of the doubt that what they're saying is probably true.

So yeah, he's too cocky, he's a bit pathetic, he lost a lot, he loses at the end of the book... but that doesn't mean he's a bad manipulator. It means that being good at manipulating can only carry you so far, and Bill didn't have what it takes to carry him the rest of the way.

[azelmaandeponine]

I think it's interesting to discuss Ford's ties to Weirdmageddon, but I hate the fandom's recent takes that involve just blaming it all on him. I think it is interesting to discuss how Bill further messed with Ford's self-esteem to make him feel like being a hero was the only thing that mattered, and since Ford had never had the opportunity to deconstruct that, he ended up unintentionally projecting this attitude onto Dipper. But in what world does that make Weirdmageddon his fault??? He very clearly had no idea how much he would upset Mabel or Dipper. He just thought he was offering Dipper the opportunity that Ford had wished he'd had himself. It is entirely normal for any family to have a breakdown in communication, much less a family that had gone through as much as Ford's family had. Bill was the one who exploited a normal occurrence to bring about the end of the world. How tf was that Ford's fault, when he didn't even get an opportunity to explain himself or even know Mabel's concerns?

Yeah like. This fandom has no media literacy and has never heard of nuance before and it shows.

This fandom also loves victim blaming abuse victims (see how they talk about Ford's relationship with Bill).

Weirdmaggedon is Bill's fault. Bill is the one who caused Weirdmaggedon.

Yes, there was a series of miscommunications in the Pines family that led to Weirdmaggedon, but that doesn't mean it was Ford's fault rather than Bill's. Bill is still the one who started Weirdmaggedon, and the miscommunications were more complicated than people give them credit for. Ford meant well, and canonically thought highly of Mabel and thought she'd be fine. He wanted to offer Dipper the chance he never had. Mabel got upset and ran out before Dipper and Ford could even begin to talk things out with her (this isn't Mabel hate, btw--if Mabel hadn't run into Bill-possessing-Blendin, she probably would have cooled down enough for them all to have a conversation and work things out).

Like guys. Miscommunications is not crossing some moral boundary. It's something that happens in interpersonal relationships. Gravity Falls fandom be normal about Ford challenge.

[idensgarden]

mr. bill pines au but he still very much wants to start weirdmageddon. like being happily and chill-ly married is like fun and all but fordsy will understand if i just want to liven the place up a bit, surely! and that's all this is about. yep.

not sure how he'd make his deals without ford finding out. gideon would be easy enough. promise him mabel and he's putty in your hands. (gideon does not receive actual mabel. gideon goes in the bubble. which is fun for a few hours until he realizes. cue offputting carnival themed psychedelic breakdown)

dipper might be more difficult, and would probably piss off ford more than necessary. i think that he'd go for someone else. pacifica seeing the mystery twins be cherished by two extra people would hammer in the idea that it she's the problem. bill, who already has very little empathy towards pacifica for being a BITCH, capitalizes on his insecurity, because who wouldn't?

(bonus points for a puppet pacifica episode, you know. pacifica redemption arc definitively starts after bill writes the infamous water tower note, and when the pines twins finish rescuing her, she breaks down because no one else came to save her. i think. i might storyboard that)

his only way to get his grubby little four fingered hands on the rift would be to have mabel hand it over. i don't think he'd do it that differently from in the show, but he wouldn't need to possess blendin. for all my blendin likers out there, i'll find a way to incorporate him, promise. and when he does get it, instead of doing his whole evil laughter "LOLL IM GONNA KILL YOUR FAMILY NOW BAII" thing, he just kind of. leaves. mabel sighs, confused, slightly uncomfortable from bill's intensity, and looks out her window..,,

and when the sky turns red and bill has his hand on the doorknob, ford gets the iconic "what did you DO" panel

[hereforagoodtimenotasmarttime]

Gompers the goat is one of the most underrated characters in Gravity Falls. Despite being in over 20 episodes, getting multiple Journal 3 mentions, having dialogue directly referring to him, kicking off the plot of several episodes, including Weirdmageddon, he is barely mentioned by the fandom. The majority of Gompers focus from the fandom has been being the subject of theories trying to connect him to Bill Cipher, due to the similarities in their eye design. While not confirmed to be connected to Bill Cipher, it is stated in the Book of Bill that goat pupils do not change when he possesses them, possibly as a reference to the theory. He is confirmed to be anomalous. Gompers first came to Mystery Shack when a man attempted to pay for a tour with a baby goat. Based on Stan’s love of money, it can be presumed that he denied the offer. However the goat stayed, as confirmed by Alex Hirsch. By July 13th 2000, as seen in season 2 episode 8, “Blendins’s Game”, Gompers lives at the Mystery Shack. In the present day Gompers is mostly a background character, only occasionally interacting with the main cast. In season 1 episode 18, “Boyz Crazy” Gompers makes his first contribution to the plot. He chews off Ergman Bratsman’s license plate, getting him arrested and starting the conflict of the episode. His second and more serious contribution to the plot is in season 2 episode 13, “Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons” when he attempts to eat Dipper’s 38 sided die. Dipper tries to get him to stop, causing him to fall through the roof of Ford’s lab. This begins the plot of the episode where in Ford and Dipper bond, allowing Ford to trust Dipper enough to help him repair the rift, leading to the beginning of Weirdmageddon. All of this already makes Gompers an interesting character, but there may be even more to him than meets the eye. When asked about his opinion on Gompers, the official Bill Cipher Reddit account repiled “I LIKE HIM BETTER THIS WAY” implying he wasn’t always like this. In Journal 3 there’s a coded message on the page after “The Carny” page. After decoding the message it says “NEVER TRUST A WITCH SHELL CURSE YOUR EAR AND TURN YOU INTO AN IMMORTAL GOAT SO I HEAR” despite this not directly referring to Gompers, as the only goat in Gravity Falls we can assume that he was cursed, and turned into an immortal goat. Maybe we’ll learn more about this mysterious goat, or perhaps he will remain one of Gravity Fall’s unsolved mysteries.

[i-need-of-a-hobby]

So we all know the theory that Gravity Falls, The Owl House and Amphibia take place in the same universe right?

its a pretty well know theory (even if you don't believe it) in all three fandoms but if you don't here's the gist of it:

so basically that theory is built off easter eggs, like willows dads having a book with Hop-Pops face on it

and references to the other shows like that entire Gravity Falls episode in Amphibia,

that imply that they’re taking place simultaneously, with gravity falls taking place in 2012 and TOH and amphibia taking place in 2019-2020 (without the covid the lucky bastards) with Camilla reading an article about a girl returning from a frog world in the season 2 finale of TOH

but that opens the door for a whole lot of inter-dimensional *shenanigans* and so many plot points i can and will argue reference and overlap with each other.

now theres the obvious similarities like how bills minions fit the description of beast demons from the owl house:

(ignore the circling its not my screenshot I found it on google)

and bill himself is on one of kings posters when he tries to teach Luz about demons:

Bill is also in the book that tells marcy about the calamity box:

a book I believe was written by ford since the cover says its by "Dr. P" (P-ines anyone?) and has eyes that look awfully familiar, which I think are a reference to either the cores eyes, the portal doors eye from toh, or Bills eye (and the fact that this eye symbol is so similar across shows feeds the theory that they're all in the same universe)

meaning the Bill is a semi-universal character/figure throughout the different realms

if the other realms (Bill's realm, the several Ford got trapped in, the Boiling Isles, and Amphibia) have access to each other, and Bill is as universal as he seems, he probably interacted with some citizens of those realms, and probably left a mark

now it's finally time for my personal take/add-in:

we never get an origin for the core 

or the newts relation to the core

we get an episode about Andrias's personal history and his individual relation to the core, and how he came to be the guy who manipulated and then stabbed a very vulnerable teenage girl, but it seems like the core has just been with the Leviathan lineage since at least before Andrias's dad (who's over a thousand years old since thats how old the flashback is)

so, what am I rambling about?

well, if bill, a dream demon, made his way to amphibia, the core might have been the newts attempt to artificially replicate his powers

NOW HEAR ME OUT: on top of being incredibly powerful once he’s released in gravity falls

he also has the power to go into other peoples minds and search their memories like he does to Stan in his very introduction

which is an awful lot like what the core tries to do, since Andrias says the core is the hive mind of a dozen of the greatest newt minds and when Darcy happens it has complete access to her memories

not to mention how when it talks to andrias what physically appears when it talks are it’s eyes, which is what changes on dipper and Blendin (time travel dude) when bill possess them

the amphibians (powered by the music box) were an incredibly advanced civilization capable of a lot of damage (as seen by the literal frobot army they created

so i don't think it would be crazy to say that when they (specifically the newts) saw what a being like Bill could do, they would try to replicate it.

Obviously, the core and Bills mind-jumping powers are not the same, which is a way I'd say the Amphibians failed: instead of popping in and out of peoples minds like Bill does, the core completely takes their minds, more like a parasite.

we don't know all the parameters since we know basically nothing about the other newts in the hive mind, other than that each mind shows up as an eye on the cores "head" before and after it possesses Marcy. and speaking of the girl, she has no control or consciousness (that we know of) while under the cores control.

but we do get one and a half-ish examples of people who are very aware of the cores presence in their mind (unlike Bill) but are physically controlling their own bodies (we think) (unlike Marcy) and those two are Andrias and his dad, who both communicate with the core more like it's just a very dangerous, intrusive thought.

so.... yeah...

idk how to end this but please reblog and tell me if you think im crazy or not-

[ryan-the-thing]

Honestly I gotta redesign some of these probably but-

Bill Cipher, a demigod who's true name is shunned, made an enormous and fatal mistake: burning down his entire dimension; following in his father's footsteps of ruling. He could't save his family from the accident, and was left in open space with few survivors who wanted nothing of him. They cursed him with immortality/a timeloop that he should suffer for in return of his arson. Immune to fire and abandoned, Bill wandered the depressing galaxy and eventually ran into the Axolotl. They decided to adopt him and give him a second chance after living together for a bit. Bill was sent to the 3rd Dimension, (no physical form), and decided to ask humans over generations to build him a portal in return for a prize of their choice. Planning far ahead of himself, he realized he could take over this dimension and be king, like the old days of being a prince. He liked this, and in the mindscape he met other trapped souls who wanted to rule under him. He made their deals and shortly after found Ford after his own brokenhearted experience. This was the perfect human! Smart, handsome... Ford took his offer and became close with Bill after a while. During a working hour of the portal with the scientist, one of Fiddleford's fingers were sliced off and he quit shortly after. Ford then took on the experiment by himself with Bill. As Bill accidentally showed Ford his true plan, Ford betrayed him, feeling tricked. Bill tried telling him the misunderstanding, but he was unsuccessful. Freaked out, Ford started taking down the portal, met up with Stan again, got sucked into the portal, yada yada…In the future, Dipper and Mabel's parents send them to the Mystery Shack for the summer. They watch over Mabel closely because she is an angel. She got it from her grandpa Shermy, who was killed by hunters. All angels should be killed on sight. Luckily, Mabel's family are there to protect her, and she still goes on adventures with her friends and family. Bill tries getting his project done through the kids, which fails. At the end of the summer, Ford is brung back through a portal and meets everyone again after 30 lost years in other dimensions. One day when Dipper comes back from an adventure with Ford, Mabel is jealous because she's not a demon or a nerd, and runs off. Soon, the accident of Weirdmageddon happens from Bill manipulating Mabel for an exchange to be a demon. He breaks the globe as possessed Blendin, and traps Mabel in her imaginative bubble, where she is not an angel. Weirdmageddon happens while the main characters try to stop Bill. The monsters he agreed with try to destroy the town and cause fire, which panics Bill. Which he didn't plan/want, but the demons were called off anyway. He begs for Ford to try and stop it, and it works with his own deal. Bill erases Weirdmageddon but become almost powerless afterwards. As the deal is done, the town goes back to normal, accepting Mabel as the last of her kind, and Ford keeping Bill with him again. Then it's just pretty much the same ending of Gravity Falls.

Oh yeah here's his info btw

[scarletrose-o7]

He'd absolutely be pissed when he'd see that Mabel was being blamed for Weirdmageddon.

Anyways, to answer your first question: They saw her as someone who's selfish and doesn't care for her brother. That she always did stupid shit and her brother always sacrificed his stuff for her, and that she would never do the same.

Which, honestly, is such a shitty argument.

1. She's 12. Should be enough, but no.

2. She wasn't forced into self-sacrificing situations like Dipper was.

3. SHE STILL HAS SACRIFICED FOR DIPPER WHEN IT WAS NEEDED (The sock-puppet episode and a few others that i can't think of rn).

4. The reason people blame her for weirdmageddon is 'cause she gave the rift to Bill who was possessing Blendin. She LITERALLY didn't know that the rift was something that'd cause the end of the world. Let's be honest, it was partially Ford's fault for not trusting his family and telling them about this rift (other than Dipper, who he projected himself on). Also, she genuinely seemed shocked when that happened. And in weirdmageddon part 2, she looked even more shocked and sad seeing what gravity falls turned into after she'd left her prison.

5. Let's be honest, Dipper is as selfish as Mabel. His misbelief was even clearer than Mabel's.

(I could go on and on. But it'd be tedious to read. And I don't have time rn to say everything/cover everything. Though I'd recommend watching this video to get a better understanding on the points I've made).

Tldr: GOD FORBID WOMEN DO ANYTHING.

For your second question, unfortunately, yes. There are a few left. Though, I'm pretty sure Mabel haters were always in the loud minority. Currently, most of them have just shut up or actually realized that she's not bad.

Bill watching the fandom blame Mabel for Weirdmageddon:

all the years of manipulation and hard work just for someone else to get the credit

ok but for real, why was Mabel so villainized she didn't deserve that

is there anyone here that actually hates her still

[killmebythebeach]

Oh wait, what am I doing! Empires s1 gravity falls au.

Gem and Fwhip as the pines twins, OBVIOUSLY. Gem is Dipper, journals and studying the oddities of the town. Fwhip is Mabel, instead of a crush of the week he has a victim of the week (these have resulted in explosions on multiple occasions).

Scott and Xornoth as Ford and Stan respectively. Exor as Bill. Xornoth went to help from Scott because he kept seeing Exor, but they argued and Scott was hit with the rune sword. Xornoth is trying to bring him back.

Pearl and Sausage as Wendy and Soos. Full WRA baybe!!! Sausage is strangely wise, always has good advise hidden under all his silly words, and Pearl comes from a family of kickass farmers. Gem definetly has a squish on her.

Joey is Gideon and wants a) Xornoth to marry him and b) the tale of the stags, the grimoire, and the book of prophesies (the journals). He has a deal with Exor so he can possess Xornoth. He HATES the twins for "getting in the way of him and Xornoth". Also cuz he finds out Gem has the grimoire much earlier than Gidion finds out Dipper has a journal, that too.

Lizzie is old man mcgucket, making a "deal with destiny" to help Scott in his studies in exchange for collecting cool stuff from their findings. But in a tragic lab accident, she loses her memories, of her friends and even her brother.

Speaking of brother, Jimmy is the most pathetic wet rag version of Pacifica you could come up with. His family outcasted Lizzie and claim to descend from the founders of the town. But Jimmy? He's uncool, clumsy, unathletic, only charismatic in a sort of pittying way, perfect victim for Fwhip's pranks. However, the twins don't REALIZE how powerful Jimmy's family is until after a prank gone too far.

Joel like, kinda plays the Robbie roll? He was dating Lizzie before the whole memory thing and he makes that Xornoth (impersonating Scott, who lost her memories)'s problem. But he doesn't really believe any of the supernatural crap, so he thinks Scott told Lizzie to break up with him and ghost him by pretending to not know who he is.

And the knomes? There's only one knome. The rest are wolves. The knome is Shrub and she's much nicer than the ones in the show. She helps the twins on most of their adventures, basically whenever they need a small army.

Katherine is the town newspaper, she's got all the gossip but she will never disclose from where (flowers talk to her, it's fine). She's always the first person Gem and Fwhip go to if they're investigating or need info. There's no real equivalent if her in the show, maybe Toby if you REALLY stretch.

And then Pix is Blendin. Once again, much nicer than in the show, he doesn't take the twins into a death game, but he's just as easily set off. He's on the run from the Vigil, like Time Baby, and while Katherine knows everything about the people of the town, Pix knows a about the monsters. Unlike Blendin though, he is from the past, an ancient civilization (don't ask how they figured out time travel).

Did I make this au specifically to have Bubbles as Waddles? Maybe. What's it to you?

[orangeoctopi7]

Walking Like a One-Man Army

I guess this chapter is kinda for @soosly ? It does prominently feature Soos being a BA.

: Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 :

The three of them piled into Soos’s truck. Ford elected to slide into the back of the cab with Mabel rather than sit shotgun. He needed to tell his niece what Debbs had decided.

“Mabel, I, uh…” He said slowly, “I spoke with your mother earlier this morning…”

The colorful girl tensed and pulled the collar of her sweater up a bit. Had all their ill-fated conversations over the last couple of days left her apprehensive to even speak with him?

“...I told her I wanted to keep Dipper on as my apprentice, and that you were welcome to stay here as well. Unfortunately, she, uh, declined to grant her permission.” 

“Oh!” Mabel smiled with relief, letting her collar drop. “That’s ok! Me and Dipper already talked about it and decided not to stay here anyway, so everything works out!”

Ford’s heart sank. So Stan was wrong. The children had indeed come to realize the old researcher was a toxic influence in their lives. He tried to tell himself it was for the best, to focus on his intellect and control his emotions, but controlling anguish was a lot harder than controlling fear. He at least was able to keep his expression neutral as he found something else to distract him: nitpicking grammar.

“Dipper and I.” He corrected her mechanically. “In any case, we need to come up with a plan to confront Bill and find Fiddleford.”

“He’s got this little shelter next to one of the telephone poles.” Soos commented from the driver’s seat. “It’s actually surprisingly nice for something in the middle of the dump made completely out of scrap material.”

“If Bill’s expecting us, that’s probably where he’ll be.” Ford said gravely. “I imagine he’ll keep Fiddleford close-by, to keep a close eye on his bargaining chip. We’ll need a distraction. Bill may be an all-seeing eye, but even he has trouble splitting his attention.” 

“Oooh, I’m super amazing at being a distraction!” Mabel piped up.

“I don’t doubt that.” Ford nodded, fondness somehow managing to slip past all the other emotions he was repressing. “But I promised your brother and Stan that I’d keep you safe, so I need you to stay close to me. Soos, do you think you could be a good distraction?”

“Oh yeah, totally.” Soos said nonchalantly. “Mr. Pines asks me to be the distraction all the time! When the taxman comes, or the safety inspector, or the police….”

“Of course he does.” Ford muttered. “What I need you to do is keep Bill’s attention while Mabel and I look for Fiddleford and get him to safety. Bill should still be possessing that time travel agent, so while he won’t be able to access any of the reality-warping powers he wields in the mindscape, he will have access to any weapon from Gravity Falls’ history or future. You’ll need to be ready for anything.”

“Well, they did teach me how to disarm an opponent with a gun or knife in my karate class, so I’ll probably be ok.”

* * *

It was quieter that Mabel was used to when they reached the dump. Normally, you could hear the sound of power tools and banjo strings even from the dump’s entrance, but not today. Today was deceptively peaceful.

The peace was broken by an eerie, high-pitched laugh. It was coming from the center of the dump, but as they looked around frantically, they couldn’t see their enemy anywhere. Ford fired his blaster, obliterating a board in the fence with a one-eyed triangle carved into it. 

“Well, he knows we’re here.” He said gravely. 

“What should we do?” Mabel asked.

“Proceed with the plan. Soos, you head straight for the center of the dump, we’ll go around the long way. Mabel, do you think you’ll be able to lead me to Fiddleford’s shelter if we don’t take a direct route?”

Mabel nodded with determination, even though she was only about 50% sure she’d be able to find the place, considering she’d only been there once. 

They split up, Mabel leading Ford towards the east wall of the dump. She was pretty sure if she climbed up the pile of wrecked cars there, she’d be able to look out over the dump and figure out a way to get to McGucket’s shelter, and maybe even see where Bill was at.

While running through the dump, they heard the occasional scurry of a racoon or possum through the trash. It was clear that Ford’s already twitchy nerves were on high alert, and he leveled his blaster at every single one. Luckily, he hadn’t been startled enough to fire it yet, which was good because they were trying to sneak around while Soos was distracting Bill.

The stack of cars was within sight when they noticed more scurrying around the corner. Only unlike all the other scurries they’d heard, it seemed to be running towards them instead of away from them. Ford pointed his blaster yet again, and pulled Mabel behind him.

“PEEKABOO!” Blendin’s face wearing a contorted grin popped out from around the corner. “WOW, SIXER, YOU REALLY EXPECTED ME TO TAKE THE BAIT AND GO AFTER QUESTION MARK? PPPPFT, PLEASE! HE’S NOWHERE NEAR AS FUN TO MESS WITH AS YOU! OR SHOOTING STAR, FOR THAT MATTER.” 

Bill took a few menacing steps towards them and leaned down so he was closer to Mabel’s eye-level. “WHADDAYA SAY KID? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A NEVER-ENDING PARTY FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY? I’LL MAKE SURE ALL YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS ARE THERE, AND YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO GO TO HIGHSCHOOL! IN FACT, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS GIVE ME THAT RIFT!”

“Don’t you dare speak to her.” Ford growled. 

“You’re a butt-brain!” Mabel shouted, flinging out the worst insult she could think of.

Bill shrugged Blendin’s shoulders smugly. “OH WELL. I WAS GONNA LET YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL PARADISE BUBBLE FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS, BUT IF YOU’RE NOT GONNA COOPERATE WITH ME, I GUESS YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO SUFFER UNIMAGINABLE PAIN AND DESTRUCTION LIKE THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE DIMENSION.” He pulled out a large rusty pipe and hefted it threateningly in his hands. “SO, WHERE’S THAT RIFT, IQ?”

“You really think I was stupid enough to bring it here with me?” Ford scoffed.

“WELL, I MEAN, YOU WERE STUPID ENOUGH TO TRUST ME.” Bill counted on his fingers. “AND TO THINK YOUR BROTHER WOULD ACTUALLY LISTEN TO YOU WHEN YOU CALLED FOR HELP. AND TO USE TOO MUCH GLUE WHEN YOU TRIED TO SEAL THE RIFT. SO YEAH. I DO THINK YOU’RE THAT STUPID.”

“Well I’m not.”

“OH, LEMME GUESS. YOU LEFT IT WITH PINETREE?”

“And with Grukle Stan!” Mabel added defiantly.

Bill snorted. “YEAH, ‘CUZ I’M REAL SCARED OF HIM!”

The possessed time traveler didn’t even get a derisive chuckle out before Soos barreled into him with a flying kick.

“Hey dude, I need you to pay attention to me for the next, I dunno, five to ten minutes?” He looked over at Ford. “D’you think that’s enough time?”

Ford just nodded mutely, unsure of how else to react to the handyman’s sudden entrance.

Bill picked his possessed body up off the ground. “YOU WANT ME TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOU, QUESTION MARK? HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS ATTENTION?” He pulled out a time tape and disappeared in a flash, only to reappear a second later with a large carpenter’s hammer in his hand. He threw it at Soos, who dodged it with skills honed from ten years of karate sparring.

As Bill continued to pursue Soos, pulling out weapons from random time periods as he went, Ford pulled Mabel away, back towards the center of the dump. This was just the distraction they needed, it just happened in a different order than they’d been expecting. 

So, her original plan to look for McGucket’s shelter from the top of a trash mountain wasn’t going to work now, but she could still find it, right? She remembered that a telephone pole had been one of the main support beams in the little hut, so she just needed to follow the telephone lines! Spotting one above, she rushed ahead, now pulling Ford instead of the other way around.

Sure enough, they came upon McGucket’s hovel nearby. Too nearby. They could still hear Soos doing his best to lead Bill on a wild goose-chase on the opposite side of a pile of discarded furniture and tires. But they could also hear a low, animal-like moan from inside the shelter. The two of them rushed across the clearing, hoping to reach the fox skin that acted as a door before Bill rounded the trash pile.

Before they could reach it, two things happened.

First of all, a loud, up-beat pop song started blaring out of Mabel’s pocket. 

“Girl, oh girl, you got it all, you know.”

“But girl, oh girl, you don’t got me, no!”

Mabel slapped her forehead and pulled out her phone, trying to silence it. “Ugh, Pacifica! Bad timing!”

Second, Bill blew away the trash pile with a shot from a cannon, sending chunks of broken wood and plastic everywhere and clearing a path between him and the shelter.

“THERE YOU ARE!”

Mabel just barely managed to hold onto her phone as Ford grabbed her by the arm and practically threw her into the door. He hurtled in after her, but no second shot came. Instead, they heard a loud, frustrated groan.

“UUUGH, WHY DO YOU HUMANS MAKE WEAPONS THAT ARE SUCH A WASTE OF TIME? WHO THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE TO REPACK THE GUNPOWDER AND ROLL IN ANOTHER BALL EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO SHOOT SOMETHING?”

“Well, it’s not that they thought it was a good idea, it’s just that they hadn’t developed the technology--” Ford started to explain when Mabel reached up and covered his mouth. He really couldn’t help himself sometimes, could he?

That same moan they’d heard before came again, louder, from under a pile of newspapers. Many of them had frantic calculations scribbled all over them. Ford reached down and brushed them aside, revealing a shivering, hyperventilating McGucket.

Mabel had seen McGucket be pretty crazy this summer. He’d jigged on an unplugged videogame for a week, ate his way out of a dinosaur, and claimed he preferred to walk backwards when she gave him a makeover. But she’d never seen him look so terrified and broken. His eyes were wide and unfocused, like he didn’t even notice they were there, and his breaths were coming in short, sharp whines. It was especially sad compared to the last time she’d seen him, when his mind really seemed like it was beginning to clear.

Ford looked down on his friend, absolutely devastated. If McGucket was looking bad compared to the last time Mabel had seen him, she could only imagine how he looked compared to the last time Ford saw him. 

“Y’KNOW WHAT, I’M JUST GONNA GO BACK AND GET ANOTHER ONE THAT’S ALREADY LOADED.” They heard Bill whine, followed by the zap of the time tape being used.

McGucket moaned again at the sound of Bill’s voice, shutting his eyes tightly and clutching his head. That seemed to snap Ford out of his shock, and he reached down and scooped the old inventor into his arms.

“Let’s get out of here.” He told Mabel.

Just as they ran out the door, Bill reappeared in front of them with another cannon.

“UH-UH-UH! FOUR-EYES ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL I GET WHAT I WANT, SIXER!”

“Just keep running!” Ford shouted to Mabel. They picked up the pace and just barely got out of the way in time to avoid the cannonball that ripped through McGucket’s shelter.

“Dudes, over here!” Soos called to them, where he was trying to finish reloading the other cannon Bill had abandoned after less than a minute of trying. “We can fight cannon with cannon!”

“There’s no time!” Ford barked. “We need to either get out of here or find cover!”

“Cover, huh?” Soos said thoughtfully, scratching his chin, until an idea popped into his head. “Oh! You’ve seen that old timey video of the dude who takes a cannonball to the stomach and it just bounces off of him? I’ve always wanted to try that!”

Ford and Mabel stared at him for a beat, dumbstruck.

“I say follow your dreams, Soos!” Mabel encouraged him.

“Yes, if you believe you’re capable, I see no reason not to give it a shot.” Ford agreed.

When Bill reappeared with another cannon, Soos stood squarely in front of it while Ford and Mabel made a run for the truck.

“OH, THIS OUGHTA BE GOOD!” Bill smirked as he fired.

Soos braced himself just as the cannonball collided with his stomach. While the iron ball did bounce off his gut and drop to the ground, Soos was also thrown back almost three feet. He landed on his back but the wind was already knocked out of him. As soon as he could move again, he rolled over and threw up.

“Ohhoho… dude…” the handyman muttered. “I knew that was probably gonna hurt, but it still hurt way worse than I was expecting. Ugh, I think I might’ve cracked a rib.”

No answer. Not even a mocking remark from Bill.

“Dudes?” He slowly got up to his feet and looked around. Ford and Mabel had run away, and Bill had chased after them. Oh well, at least Soos had bought them some time. He reached into his pocket to call his abuelita for a ride home, but alongside his phone, he felt another object. His truck keys. “Uh-oh.”

* * *

Despite Soos’s best efforts, Bill was still hot on their tail. Fiddleford squirmed weakly in Ford’s arms as they passed another mountain of garbage. His eyes seemed to briefly focus on Ford, but they looked far, far away.

“I’m jus’ barely gettin’ my mind back now, I don’t wanna lose it again...” The old inventor murmured feebly before resuming his catatonic state. It felt like someone had just stabbed Ford in the heart with an icy dagger, and he picked up the pace.

The sign above the dump’s exit soon came into view, but there were still several more piles of junk between here and there. As they fled, Mabel turned and fired her grappling hook at an old kitchen sink sticking half-way out the bottom of one of the larger junk piles behind them. The hook caught on the faucet and Mabel yanked back on the line hard, dislodging the kitchen sink and collapsing the garbage mountain in a landslide. 

“Let’s see Bill blast his way through that!” She cheered.

Ford knew it was too soon to relax. As long as Bill was possessing this time travel agent, he had access to any weapon in human history, or humankind’s future, for that matter. Although, come to think of it, why hadn’t Bill used a weapon from the future on them yet? Perhaps that would draw the attention of the Time Paradox Avoidment Enforcement Squadron?

“There’s the truck!” Mabel exclaimed, bringing Ford out of his speculations. They skidded to a stop as they finally reached the vehicle and Ford tried to open the door.

It was locked.

Soos still had the keys.

Ford swore under his breath as he searched for something to pry the door open with. Yes, he could break into the truck, and yes, he could hotwire it, but that all took time! Time they didn’t have!

He was expecting Bill to step out of the dump any second now, but he didn’t appear. Instead, what at first glance appeared to be a flock of ravens rose out of the nearby woods. At the same time, Fiddleford thrashed in his arms and began to yell incoherently. Stanford tried to lay him in the back of the truck gently, so he wouldn’t drop him. The old researcher’s blood ran cold. It sounded almost identical to the gibberish his friend had spouted immediately after the failed first portal test. 

As the mysterious flock drew near, Ford began searching for a rock, a golf club, anything he could use to break open the truck’s windows and get inside, all while keeping a close eye on the approaching swarm. As they came closer, he could see they weren’t birds, they were bats! But why would a swarm of bats take flight in the middle of the day? They were close enough to start blocking out the sun when Ford realized they weren’t bats. They were Eye-bats!

He pulled out his blaster and started firing into the swarm. “Mabel, find something to break into the truck with!”

She nodded and took a step back towards the dump, when Bill finally made his leisurely way to the exit. Ford couldn’t help but notice that Fiddleford’s cries stopped almost as soon as the possessed time traveler appeared.

“YOU FLESH-SACKS AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE!” Bill crowed. “NOT UNTIL I GET THAT RIFT! AFTER THAT, I HONESTLY COULDN’T CARE LESS.”

Just as Bill took another menacing step towards Mabel, Soos appeared, sledding down a trash mountain on a car door. He crashed into Bill and kept going until colliding into the side of his truck.

“Uh… I got the keys.” The handyman said in a daze, holding them up triumphantly.

Ford grabbed the keys and helped him up and into the shotgun seat. “I think I’d better drive.”

“Thanks dude, I appreciate it.” Soos said with a chuckle, then clutched his stomach. “Ooof, ugh, that’s… that’s definitely bruised.”

The truck zoomed away just as Bill rushed for the truck bed where Fiddleford was still laying. The swarm of Eye-bats descended on them, and Ford rolled down his window, steering with one hand and firing his blaster into the flock with the other. He knew it wasn’t exactly the safest position for his friend to be in, nearly unconscious in the bed of a speeding, reckless pickup truck, but he couldn’t exactly pull over and buckle him in next to Mabel. Not if they didn’t want to be overtaken by Eye-bats. The old researcher just had to hope that his old friend would be able to hold out until they reached the shield spell.

* * *

Stan was just sitting and watching tv like this was a perfectly normal day. Dipper wondered how he could possibly do it, just push all the danger and worry aside and vegg out like that. Sure, Stan wasn’t really invested in McGucket’s safety, but he had to care what might happen to Mabel, Ford, and Soos, right? 

Of course, Dipper had known Stan long enough that he knew the old conman tended to express his emotions in a weird way. He teased and noogied to show affection, loaded on chores instead of compliments, and lied to the people he loved to try and keep them safe. Not to mention he’d spent the last thirty years trying to bring his lost brother home with an incredibly dangerous machine, while also pretending everything was normal. Maybe Stan was just really good at ignoring danger and worry by this point. And wow, that was a depressing thought. 

Dipper kept vigilant watch out the front window, searching for any suspicious activity while also waiting anxiously for the return of Soos’s truck. He’d been sitting there for maybe fifteen minutes when the phone rang. It rang two more times, and Stan made no move to answer it. Dipper was unwilling to leave his post himself, but Stan was just watching old reruns of Baby Fights!

“Uh, Grunkle Stan?” Dipper called out after the fourth ring. Maybe he’d turned down his hearing aide?

“I hear it kid.” Stan grunted.

“Well, aren’t you going to get it!?”

“It’s probably just that triangular jerk, tryin’ to distract us. And if not, whoever it is can just leave a message.”

“But what if it’s Mabel or Soos?”

Dipper was distracted from his complaining when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. A car was coming down the dirt road towards the Mystery Shack. The boy seriously doubted the rescue mission would be back already.

Stan got up with a grunt from his chair to see what had caught Dipper’s attention. “There, see? What’d I tell ya? Wouldn’t’ve noticed whoever this yahoo is if you’d been trying to listen in on me while I was on the phone. When you know somebody’s after ya, you gotta keep distractions to a minimum.”

“You were just watching TV!” the boy gestured back to the flickering CRT.

“Eh, it’s a rerun, I’m not really payin’ attention to it, just need something to calm my nerves.”

The mystery car drove out of the trees. It wasn’t a car at all, it was a limo. One Dipper recognized from the Northwest’s fleet.

“Well, this ain’t gonna be good.” Stan grimace.

“M-maybe it’s just Pacifica coming to ask for help again?” The boy said hopefully, although his heart wasn’t really in it.

Sure enough, the Northwest stepping out of the limo was Preston. He looked around like everything about the Shack was a personal insult to him before stepping up to the door and knocking with a gloved hand.

Stan grabbed the taxidermied fake dodo sitting on a small table in the corner and reached under its wing, pulling out a small handgun, which he held behind his back as he opened the door. Dipper wasn’t quite sure how to feel about the fact that his uncle was answering the door with a loaded gun in his hand. Sure, they were all in danger from Bill at the moment, but he really didn’t want Stan to go to jail for shooting one of the most important people in Gravity Falls, even if Preston probably deserved it.

“Whaddya want?” Stan asked gruffly.

Preston’s small, forced smile seemed painful. “Aheh, yes, well, I suppose I’ll get right to the point then. I’m here to purchase your… I suppose this qualifies as a business on some level? My opening offer is two million dollars for the building and the land it occupies.”

“Hah! Yeah, right!” Stan barked. “I wouldn’t sell this place to a scumbag like you for twenty million!”

“Well, how about fifty million?” Preston asked coolly.

Stan froze, his eyes wide. He stared the billionaire down, trying to decide if he was bluffing. It sure didn’t seem like a bluff to Dipper. The boy knew the Northwests threw that kind of money around like it was nothing, because to them, it was.

“Not for a hundred million.” Stan said, although it was less of a defiant denial and more of a fishing offer, trying to gauge how high Preston was willing to go.

“How about a hundred and fifty million?” Preston offered.

“Higher.” Stan shook his head.

“Grunkle Stan!?” Dipper cried indignantly.

“Ah-ah!” Stan pushed him back without even turning to look. “Not now kid, the grownups are talking.”

“Two hundred million?” Preston asked, his cool smile starting to slip.

Stan shook his head. “Uh-uh. Higher.”

“Three hundred million?” Mr. Northwest ventured again through clenched teeth.

“Higher!”

“F-five hundred million?” 

“I’m thinking twice that much.”

“Seriously!?” Preston finally exploded. “You want a billion dollars for this--this hovel!?”

“Y’know what, you’re right.” Stan shook his head. “I’m not askin’ enough. Two billion!”

The Northwest patriarch looked like he very much wanted to strangle Stan.

“C’mon Northwest, I know you’re good for it!” Stan smirked.

“Absolutely not! Seven hundred and fifty million, and that’s my final offer!”

“Welp, my final offer’s still two billion, so you can either pony up or get off my porch.”

“....Fine.” Preston hissed, the veins in his forehead popping.

Stan stuck out his hand for Preston to shake, but as soon as the billionaire reached for it, the conman yanked it away.

“Psych!” Stan chortled. “Hah! I just wanted to see how far I could go before you chickened out! You couldn’t give me your whole dirty fortune for this place!”

It took Preston a moment to regain his composure. “I beg you to reconsider, Mr. Pines.” He said with a dangerous edge to his voice. “Take it from someone in the real estate business, property can lose value so quickly.”

“Yeah, the answer’s still no.” Stan said flatly. “Now get outta here. Don’t think I won’t call the cops!”

“I’m afraid you’ll find they’re busy at the moment. I just made a rather large donation so they’re holding a banquet. Even if you could pry them away from it, I doubt they’d be willing to arrest the man that just doubled their salary.”

“Oh, well, if you’re so sure the cops won’t be coming.” Stan pulled the gun out from behind his back.

Mr. Northwest finally backed off, although he shared a long glare with Stan before getting back into his limo. “This isn’t over, Pines!”

“Tell it to someone who cares!” Stan shouted after him.

Dipper looked up at his uncle with awe as he shut the door. “Grunkle Stan, that was awesome!”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, don’t think I didn’t notice you actually thought I was gonna take his offer.”

Dipper blushed and laughed sheepishly.

The old conman sighed as he sat back down in his recliner. “Eh, guess I can’t blame you. I was actually tempted for half a second. Then I remembered that guy’s a lying cheating crook, and he wasn’t gonna actually pay anything for this place. Still, two billion dollars, wouldn’t that be somethin’!”

“Grunkle Stan, no amount of money is worth the end of the world as we know it.” Dipper reminded him sharply.

“I know that!” Stan retorted, insulted. “I’m just sayin’, if I’d been able to trick him outta that much, heh, that would’ve been the con of a lifetime.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Dipper stammered, taking up his watch at the window again. “I shouldn’t doubt you. I’m just… I’m just really worried, y’know. Bill’s using more and more people to try and get at the rift. The Northwests are the most powerful people in town. You got him to leave for now, but he’s probably gonna hire thugs or something.”

“I know you’re worried, kid.” Stan said sadly. “I wish you didn’t have to worry about all this junk, but at the very least, you don’t gotta worry about this. I’ve had to hole up against hired thugs in this Shack before. ‘Course, this time I’m not gonna be able to fake my death to get ‘em to give up and go home.”

Dipper grimaced. This conversation wasn’t really reassuring him. 

Stan sighed again. “Look, bud, I know Bill’s got a lot of people in his pocket, but time’s on our side, right? Eventually, that glue you found is gonna set, and then what’s he gonna do? Besides, you and your sister are going home next weekend anyway, and then you won’t have to worry about a thing.”

Dipper turned to look back at his uncle. “I’ll still worry about you. And Ford. And everyone else left here in Gravity Falls.”

Stan felt his heart swell when he realized how much the boy cared about him. It didn’t matter if he was safe, if his family was still in danger. Stan was all too familiar with that feeling, and he didn’t like the thought of this twelve-year-old kid being burdened with it.

“Well then, we’re just gonna have to figure something out then, aren’t we?”

[fallen-gravity]

Scars, Show Me All The Scars You Hide

Ford and Mabel have a talk about blame, and how too much of it can cause the heart pain.

Alternatively,

Mabel tells Ford about her encounter with Bill prior to the start of Weirdmageddon.

AO3

Everything is peaceful. 

Ever since the town had been cleansed of any and all evidence that Weirdmageddon had happened at all, the small town of Gravity Falls seemed to sigh a breath of relief for the first time in decades. The birds were chirping away as the clouds from an earlier rainfall were beginning to clear. The whole atmosphere of the town still smelled of rainfall, and it seemed that half of the town’s population was out for a walk to enjoy it. Everyone in town seemed friendlier to each other, too. It was near-impossible to come across a sidewalk unoccupied by groups of people gathered in messy circles to talk. 

The Shack was booming with business, far more than the morning after Gideon’s arrest.  Also in great contrast was the fact that those who were stopping by the shack had little interest in tours, rather to come in to meet the family that saved the town from utter destruction. Stan had already gotten far more than his fair share of aggressive handshakes and teary-eyed hugs from citizens who’d lived in town their whole lives,  while Ford stood off to the side, watching them with a quiet fondness, finally understanding what his brother had meant when he told them the Shack had been a fundamental part of the town’s history. When they had first argued over the deed to the Shack, Ford had just thought he’d been exaggerating, but it was moments like those, as well as the times he would be mistaken for Stan in public, that really opened his eyes to how much the people of this town really loved the place, and, more importantly, how much these people loved his brother. 

Today might be the first lull the Shack’s seen in a solid month, and Stan had made the decision to close up shop to spend time with the family before Dipper and Mabel had to head off back home. They’d spent the entire early afternoon together, playing dumb games and watching dumb movies, and now, for the first time today, they were all off doing their own thing. It wouldn’t last, they knew, but they also couldn’t argue against the fact that sometimes comfortable silence was one of the warmest feelings on Earth. 

Stan’s taking a nap on the back porch, Dipper’s in the kitchen scribbling things down in a blank notebook Ford had gifted him when he was offered the apprenticeship, and Ford was down in his basement lab, cleaning up the last of the rubble of the portal he and Stan had taken baseball bats to the night prior. 

Mabel…. 

Mabel is pacing back and forth in the living room, stuck wondering why if everything is so peaceful and perfect, just like she’d dreamed things would be, that something still felt...off to her.  Not in the sense that she’d forgotten something, or that things shouldn’t be all peachy keen, it’s more along the lines of something that’s wrong with her specifically.

She knew it couldn’t be a lack of sleep, because she’d fallen asleep in Grunkle Stan’s lap during one of the movies earlier. It could be that she’s sad to be leaving in a week, she supposes, but no, they hadn’t been talking much about her and Dipper’s departure lately, and she’d already made both Stan and Ford pinky promise her that the two of them could spend the following summer in Gravity Falls, so that couldn’t be it either…

“Mabel?” Dipper asks, startling her out of her thoughts, and she freezes in her pacing. He’s carrying his notebook under one arm, and his favorite blue pen is poking out of his hair from behind his ear. Nerd. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know…” Mabel admitted, rubbing at her arm. “I know that everything’s all sunshine and rainbows now that Bill’s gone for good, but I don’t feel like sunshine and rainbows”

“Oh, Mabel…” Dipper frowned, placing his book on the armrest of Stan’s chair. “Is it because we’re leaving so soon? I know Stan already promised us we could stay here whenever we needed, but I thought you missed Mom and Dad”

“I do miss them!” Mabel shot her arms in the air. “I miss everyone at home. But I don’t think that’s what’s bugging me so much”.

Dipper frowns, and takes a seat in Stan’s chair, indicating he wasn’t going to leave the room until he could figure out what was bugging her himself. “Well...what do you think it is?”

“I don’t know!” Mabel whined, bringing her hand to her forehead as if she had a bad headache. “I’m thrilled that everything’s okay, I’m thrilled that Stan and Ford are best friends again, and I’m thrilled that we get to come back next summer, but I...can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. I haven’t been able to since the morning Stan woke up with his memories intact” 

“Mabel, that was two days ago!”

“I know, I know…” Mabel begins pacing again. “But I just thought that it was just cause I was so stressed he was gonna relapse again, or that something else terrible was gonna happen, or-”

The small crunch of a piece of paper interrupts her before she can finish her train of thought, and when she looks down to see what she’d stepped on she realizes it’s an early draft of the invitation cards for her and Dipper’s birthday party.

Her face goes pale at the sight. 

“Mabel, are you okay?” Dipper stands to reach out for her shoulder. “You’re not looking too hot…”

“I know what it is” she says, before he can touch her, and he retracts his hand. 

“You do? Can you tell me?” 

Mabel takes a few looks around the room to make sure that they’re alone.

“Follow me,” she says, but then she grabs Dipper by the hand and runs up the stairs to their attic bedroom.

“Mabel, what’s happening?” Dipper asks her as she locks the room behind her. “You’re acting a lot like...me” 

“It’s all my fault”

“What? What’s all your fault?”

The concern in her brother’s tone makes her choke up for reasons she can’t describe. “Weirdmageddon”, she shutters. “It’s all my fault”.

“What?” Dipper’s voice squeaks, which makes Mabel flinch. “Mabel, don’t say that! Of course it’s not your fault!”

“Yes it is,” she mopes, and plops herself down onto her bed. “Bill came after me when I ran into the woods, and I gave him that weird snow-globe looking thing.” She buries her face in her pillow, but she doesn’t wait for her brother to respond before she keeps going.  “It wasn’t out of anger, or anything, I swear. He possessed that Blendin guy and promised me an eternal summer in exchange, and I handed it over because I’m a big dummy dumb, and everyone got hurt because I thought I wanted time to freeze forever so we wouldn’t have to be apart” 

For a brief moment there’s silence, but then Dipper’s hand on her shoulder. When she pulls her face out of her pillow to look at him, it’s all wet and gooey. “Mabel, are you kidding? I thought the rift shattered in your backpack. I thought for sure it was because you tripped, and everything exploded out of your backpack. I thought you were a goner”. 

Mabel sniffles, but she doesn’t respond. 

“Mabel, your story is so much better than the ones I was making up in my head. I mean, I wish Bill had never tracked you down at all, but I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.” He pulls her into a hug. “Great Uncle Ford and I were just talking about this the other morning, Mabel. He was worried sick that he’d hurt you taking it by force” 

“You’re…” she stutters, returning the hug. “You’re not mad?” 

“Of course not” he shakes his head. “I meant what I said in Mabeland. Whatever happens, we get through it together”. 

She giggles and pulls away from the hug, wiping at her face with her sleeves. “But...what about Grunkle Ford?”

Dipper shakes his head. “You should tell him too. He’s gonna be understanding, Mabel, he already knows how much Bill had it out for us personally”

That’s...true, she supposes, shuttering at the memory of her and Dipper offering themselves up as bait so Bill wouldn’t kill their Grunkles. She stands to exit the room, gives her brother one more hug for good luck, and and repeats Dipper’s words to herself the entire way down the staircase and into the gift shop. The stairs to the basement are propped open, which she assumes is because Ford no longer feels he needs to keep its location a secret.  She makes her way down slowly, partly out of nerves and partly to avoid spooking Ford.

He’ll understand, she says to herself one last time as she exits the elevator. Ford’s sitting at the work desk, and the view of the portal in the next room is blocked off with a curtain. He’s hunched over, just a little bit, and Mabel figures it’s probably because he’s writing something in one of the journals. It’s only as she approaches him that she realizes he’s not wearing his trench coat, because she can tell that he rolled the sleeves of his sweaters up to make for easier writing. 

“Grunkle Ford?” she asks, knocking lightly on the machine closest to her right in case calling his name isn’t enough to snap him out of his focus. 

“Mabel!” his response is cheery, and he places a bookmark on the page he’d been working on and closes the cover. “What brings you down here?” 

“Well, I...guess I wanted to talk to you about something”.

“Sure, anything” he grins, patting at his pant leg in invitation to come sit on his lap. Mabel sighs, tries to think for a moment about how she can place things lightly, and takes Ford up on his offer. She crawls up onto his lap, opens her mouth to speak, and freezes when she notices that his wrist is covered in cuts and blistering scars. A quick glance at the other wrist and she’s met with the same sight. 

“Grunkle Ford?” is all she can manage, and her eyes follow hers to the scars on her wrist. 

“Oh!” he replies, much cheerier than she’d expected him to, and rolls his sleeves back down. “I’m going to be fine, sweetie, those will heal in due time”.

“What happened to you?” she looks up at him with her signature puppy eyes. “How recent are these?” 

From her spot on his lap, Mabel can feel Ford’s chest rise and fall as he sighs quietly. “You have to promise me you won’t tell Stan,” he says, rubbing delicately at his wrist. Mabel nods silently, and his eyes fall to the ground to avoid eye contact with his niece.

“Bill did this to me. When he was demanding that I give him the codes to undo the bubble around the town, he chained me by my arms and legs and fried me until I talked. I’m so sorry that you had to come across them by accident, but, uh, I’m grateful that you saw them today, rather than earlier. I nearly threw up when I saw them for the first time after I was freed”

Mabel’s breath hitches, and she’s tearing up. It’s getting harder and harder to convince herself that It’s not your fault could be a true statement when everyone she cares about is getting hurt by it. Bill fried him. Bill chained him up and fried him, and if the scars on his wrists are just from the chains, she can’t even begin to imagine what the scars must look like under the rest of his sweater. He must be completely disfigured from the neck down, if she knows anything about Bill. He’d tried to kill her two other times prior to Weirdmageddon, but those were over much less risky things than control over the whole universe.

She throws herself against Ford’s sweater in a fit of choked sobs, and his arms are around her before she can even finish processing that she’s crying again.

“There, there, Mabel” Ford’s voice is cool and collected, but tinged with sadness to see her break down like this for the second time in three days. He rubs gentle circles into her back, quietly shushing her sobs, and the tender gesture of it all just makes Mabel cry even harder. “It’s okay, Mabel. You’re okay. You’re safe. I’m safe, thanks to you”. He gently pats her hair, and Mabel sniffles as she pulls away. Ford keeps his hand where it is, at the top of her head, and she hates how much of a grounding feeling it is. 

“It’s not okay!” She yells, and more tears pour down her face. “You’re hurting! Bill could’ve killed you!” she gasps for air. “If we had shown up just five minutes later than we did, you could’ve been a goner!” She takes his other wrist, which was still wrapped around her to prevent her from falling off of his lap, and rolls it up to reveal the identical scar he’d just covered up moments ago. “These look worse than the time I pulled a tray of cupcakes out of the oven with my bare hands cause I was too excited to wait for them! I thought I was never gonna feel anything ever again!” She cries. 

“Mabel, sweetie…” 

“No!” she cries. “I don’t deserve to be called that. It’s all my fault he hurt you.” Her sobs quiet as her body seems to double-whammy her and send her into a panic attack, trembling uncontrollably against Ford’s chest. “It’s my fault” 

There’s a gentle six-fingered hand on her cheek, and she looks up to warm brown eyes staring into hers with heartbroken worry. “It’s not your fault, my dear, Bill and I have a really complicated history together. Nothing you could’ve done would’ve changed that”

“That’s exactly my point! Bill may not have acted any differently, but I still could’ve!” 

“What do you mean?”

Mabel wipes away her tears with her wrist again.

“It’s my fault everything happened in the first place. I’m the reason Bill got his hands on the...uh...rift, I think Dipper called it” she sniffles. “Bill caught up to me when I was all upset in the woods about arguing with Dipper, and told me he could fix things if I gave it to him, and I-” 

She’s cut off by Ford’s hug around her tightening, like she just unlocked a set of keywords that’d make him never want to let go of her again.

“Mabel, I want you to listen to me very carefully”

She doesn’t say anything, but squeezes him in silent confirmation to let him know she’s still listening.

“Nothing that happened was your fault, okay? I need you to understand how genuine that statement is. It wouldn’t matter if Bill convinced you to smash the rift into the ground yourself. It wouldn’t matter if you handed it over without question, or if you shook his hand.”

“But-”

“Let me finish” he cuts her off, but the soft nature in his tone lets her know he isn’t upset. “Mabel, it doesn’t matter who said or did what because this is exactly how Bill liked to play his games. He knew you wouldn’t be thinking straight, he knew you wouldn’t question anything he asked you to do.” he reaches under his glasses to wipe at his own eyes. “He did the same thing to me when I was younger, Mabel. I called him my best friend. He convinced me to hang onto every word he ever said without giving them a second thought”

He pulls her away from the hug so he can look her in the eyes again. “You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever encountered in any dimension, Mabel. Don’t blame yourself for the mistakes I made when I was younger. If there’s anyone that should be blamed for the whole ordeal besides Bill, it should be me.”

“Grunkle Ford, don’t say that!” 

He laughs quietly, bitterly. “I should have told you about the rift earlier, Mabel. I’m sorry I kept it a secret from you”

“It’s okay,” she replies. “I know that you were just trying to keep me safe. Stan had to keep a lot of things from me, too”.

“No kidding…” Ford’s voice drifts off, which makes Mabel painfully aware of the fact she was currently holding a conversation with one of said things. He shakes his head. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that pitting all of the blame on yourself isn’t going to do you any good.” He rubs awkwardly at the back of his neck. “...Stan and I had to learn that one the hard way. If you focus too much on the idea that all you’ve done is hurt people, you miss out on all of the times you’ve done good for other people.”

He smiles warmly. 

“Dipper told me you were the one who stopped the portal from shutting down. I’m not sure I’d even still be alive if it weren’t for you. You’ve done so much good for the people you care about that anything else is nonexistent in comparison. You’re a wonderful person, Mabel, inside and out. If there ever were a person out there who truly was pure of heart, I can say in all honesty that I think it’d be you”.

Mabel’s on the verge of crying again. She throws herself at him in another hug, and he’s quick to hug her back.

“You’re a wonderful person too, Grunkle Ford. I don’t want you to forget that either”.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear she could hear him sniffle at the remark.

[guardianoflightanddarkness]

"The ammount of people placing all the blame on Bill" - He is litterally the one who has been planning, scamming, lying, manipulating and torturing his way through for thousands of years, who has possessed and tortured everyone, the Pines included, and who has planned and started Weirdmaggedon, in what world doesn't Bill have ALL the blame?

"No normal person wouldve been manipulated by Bill!!!" - Yeah, tell that to Ford, Dipper, Mabel, Blendin and ALL the people he manipulated through history. For crying out loud, even the show itself leaves clear how good he is at manipulating and how many people he screwed over the centuries, not even the books are needed to know that, and Journal 3 and The Book of Bill only add more evidence of it.

"It worked on Ford cause he's a little stupid and very self centered" - WOW, waaaaaay to play the victim blaming game.

The ammount of hate Ford gets is flippant to this day, and the stupidities people will say just to defend their favourite character even if that character is a fricking genocidial PSYCHOPATH.

nice argument however you’re wrong

this fucking reeks of victim blaming. calling someone stupid and selfish for getting abused an manipulated i see.

[mintartem]

Challenged in Instagram

Like in canon, these two are absolutely close. They are unseperable. But like normal siblings, there are times when they bicker. Nobody is perfect.

Examples of those times where they bicker is in Little Stanford/Stans where Stan keeps teasing him about being shorter despite being the older twin. Like Mabel (but much worse), Stan was only doing that because of his insecurity of knowing Ford is better than him at EVERYTHING (at the end of the summer, Ford did ended up becoming taller though).

Stan is protective of Ford, that we all know. But what we never knew is that what if Ford felt like his failing Stanley somehow? Ford is the older twin and older siblings usually have that instinct to protect their younger siblings. And yet Ford hadn’t done anything that feels like he is protecting Stan. And yet Stan always protects him, the older twin. But since this is one of the only thing Stan’s good at (in Stan’s word not his), he lets Stan have it.

Since he is the older twin, there are signs of Ford being protective of Stan. Like with Preston’s constant bullying and Bud’s harassments. For example, in Little Stanford, when Bud carried them back to his home, he comforted Stan as much as he could because they were too high. Or in Bud Rises, where Bud split them up using his giant robot and they were on top of the cliff, Stan was only paralyzed in fear. His terrified face is what pushed Ford over the edge to just not think and just jump at that robot and give Bud a good six-fingered knuckle sandwich.

With Bill’s appearance and his possession of Ford, Stan decided to keep an eye on his brother. Especially to not tire himself showing more of his protective personality again. Without knowing it though, Ford was starting to find it “suffocating.”

At the end of A Tale of Two Pines, Dipper and Mabel talked. Stan and Ford did the same but theirs was more serious than Mabel and Dip’s. In the end, Stanley wasn’t able to sleep well like Mabel. In his brain, if he was sucked into the portal, would Ford save him? He knows he would save Ford.

The worst fight they had that summer was in Ford and Stan vs. The Future where Stan heard what Ford secretly thought he was. He was suffocating. Of course that hurt Stan and also the fact that he wants to stay in Gravity Falls with or without Stan also hurts too. For Stan, he is nothing without his bro. Even if Ford assured Dipper that Stan will be fine. In Stan’s head “No, I’m not fine! I will not be fine!” His brother doesn’t know how he feels which drove him to do the action of running away with Ford’s bag and ended up giving the rift to Blendin who was currently possessed by Bill.

And then after that what happened in canon happened and everyone becomes happy for a weak before their heroes depart to go back to New Jersey. Even if Mabel want to adopt them to not let them live in that abusive household, she can’t and she and Dipper have 30 years to catch up with especially now that every bit of her life was refreshed in her memory.

Thanks to modern technology, they can chat and talk to their friends anytime especially when they were made fun of at school. They may not have anyone but each other in New Jersey, but they still have friends in their home, Gravity Falls.

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

Gravity Falls S02E17 - Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Future

I have been told that "Roadtrip Attraction" is the last stinker of the show so I'm hoping that means plot and Bill (only three episodes left!) If that's the case, with that title, I'm expecting... maybe Bill shows the twins a bad future? I kinda doubt Blendin is going to be back, his story seemed to be over but maybe he's going to return as an ally or maybe to reveal what's going to really happen if Bill is successful?

Many possibilities and all sound fun so let's do this!

Wow, this'd be traumatizing.

The most honest pre-teens I have ever seen.

I like how the joke works both ways, if Mabel is actually agreeing or if she's being sarcastic.

Isn't it a bit late for having a mid-life crisis? But I guess he had no time for that with Stanford gone and now with him back he's going through a literal identity crisis.

oh no, no, bad soos, bed crumbles are the worst

they are so cute when they are not misunderstanding each other

you know an episode is going to have plot when it refers to the episode where _everything_ changed

I feel like I have seen that word before. I'm not sure where though. Also, what does Audi have to do with the end of the world?

The twins are being so good to each to other (Mabel would have _totally_ made fun of Dipper here in any episode before The Last Mabelcorn) that I can't decide if the show is finally letting them grow up or if this is the calm before the storm.

If the show wants to complete the parallel with the older twins, there needs to be a big fight, showcasing how different they are by getting over that fight by actually communicating, something Ford and Stan haven't managed to do.

So far it all looks fine, I guess Dipper could end up missing their birthday party by prioritizing helping Ford? Or Mabel could go full Stan analogue and break something important... something that's already cracked. Oh. Oh no.

oh honey, I wish life was more like a musical

This feels like episode-plot-defining-words. Bill doesn't really have the power to change someone's age but maybe he can show Mabel a future where everything that Wendy is saying becomes true?

I keep saying "Bill this" and "Bill that" but that's because I really want Bill to make an appearance sooner rather than later.

Mabel is going to feel abandoned and it's all because of bad reception. ☹️

I dunno, duct tape worked in that other show.

oh god that's an image I didn't want. What's with this show and flying teeth

NAME OF GAME I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL BUT IF YOU HAVE PLAYED IT YOU KNOW

The most depressing statement made in this show. You can get used to anything. Even giant extraterrestrial vessels buried under your town.

Dermatologists hate this one weird trick to seal up your pores.

That's one bit of continuity I never expected to see again. Good for you Grenda, good for you.

This episode is already making me feel bad for Mabel and there's like 15 minutes left.

The whole thing about Gravity Falls being very contained into a summer vacation gives me all the feels. In real life maybe Mabel would never see her friends again, all her experiences just a memory of a wonderful (and very weird) summer. Now I'm wondering how the show is going to handle the ending post whatever thing happens with Bill.

I also hope this is not all some sort of "surprise party" because it's not okay to break Mabel's heart (and mine) just for that.

Aaaah. Dipper is getting everything he thinks he wants while Mabel is discovering the opposite.

noo, stay away with your bad life experiences

Yeah, Dipper's dead. He's just a big sack of anxiety-related adrenaline.

I guess that's one way to write off someone with an expensive VA.

hm

His birth mark always becomes visible when something important is happening but I have no idea if it's going to be actually relevant somehow or not.

that's a mood.

welp.

I thought _something_ would happen to trigger the fight I think is going to happen but I didn't expect it would be _so_ similar to the older Stans. I guess it makes sense since this way there's no way to misinterpret the comparison they are making.

and welp.

yeah, that's Bill

Interesting. I thought Mabel herself was going to break it. The changes from the older twins are interesting. Unlike Stan, Mabel didn't know what the Rift means for Dipper. But also unlike Stan, she's giving it away on purpose.

well, that's going to haunt me

I expected at least one more episode before this happened so... this is going to be fun.

THE PROPHECY SEEMED FAR AWAY

BUT FINALLY WE'VE REACHED THE DAY

GIVE UP THE PAST. EMBRACE THE STRANGE

EVERYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT WILL CHANGE

---

Well.

I know the finale is longer than a normal episode so I thought it'd be all self-contained but the world is already ending and there's three episodes left. Huh.

The episode began so well, with the twins being extremely cute and then it all went to pot. I thought it was all going to culminate in a big fight, with Mabel breaking the Rift by accident, maybe by throwing the backpack or something like that, so she falling for Bill's words is almost a relief. I mean, they fought but I expected something even worse.

I can't blame Mabel, who hasn't wanted time to stop because something that feels magical has happened? And Gravity Falls is _literally_ magic. Bill just knew the right thing to say (and the right person to possess, why was Blendin in the present again?), he's an expert at that. For a second I thought Bill was also possessing Grenda and Candy to manipulate the entire situation but maybe that'd be too much. Anyway, considering Dipper (and his hero, Ford) has fallen for Bill's tricks, I hope the entire thing of who did what blows over instead of pining the responsibility too hard on Mabel next episode.

And I can't blame Dipper for wanting to stay. They are young but studying under someone like Ford is definitely a huge opportunity. I'm not sure it'll actually happen, it feels too isolating of a future for Dipper, but at least it's a good excuse to keep visiting Gravity Falls in the future.

Great episode (especially after the last). After so many weird fights between the twins everything that happened in this one felt wholly justified. Now to deal with the end of the world! Until next time!

[dreamseersystem]

How I Met Bill and Dipper

First to start as a note. I can visit worlds and dimensions, mostly when I sleep. Most of the events occurred during the "dreaming" cycle, but I always lucid dream.

It all started in the end of 2015 for me. When I first found myself running from Oryan (a crazed Celestial Asshole that was bent on owning me) yet again and Alcor (of the Transcendence Timeline) sent me through the portal. He... Gave his life to save mine and the niblets. Nydia and Nall (children of another Dipper and Mabel I knew before this). He used the last of his magic before transferring it to me to change them into dragons in the scape and erase their memories until we were safe. He then casted a spell to seal away my magic and hide me from Oryan. The side effect was, which I didn't find out till I woke up, was that is made me appear as a 14 year old female. He pushed me through the portal and sealed it behind him. I didn't wake up till a few days later in the dimension.

I found out later I basically landed naked on Dipper and Soos carried me back to the shack after wrapping me up in his shirt. During my time asleep, Bi was watching through his Windows. I sensed this, still having some powers despite being sealed and watched him in return. He sensed me and I faded into a healing sleep.

When I woke up it was a week before Dreamscapers. I spent that time finding out how the dimension differed from canon and really the only thing was me. One night before a few days Gideon would summon Bi, he decided to enter my scape to spy on me, got caught by Nydia and we talked. He was interested in me and all so we made a deal. He was allowed in my scape while I was sleeping and he wasn't allowed to attempt any possession and whatnot. He had some idea I was familiar with the timeline and it was also stated I would not reveal anything about the future in the agreement.

Dreamscapers went about the same, just me disappearing until the end, telling Bi that not everything is what it seems, and Gideon Rises went the same except when leaving Gravity Falls I was on the bus too... The barrier stopped me from leaving and I was thrown out of the bus. One of the shards got me really bad, and Bi offered a deal, he'll save my life for the ability to possess me. I made the terms more fair, only saying when I give him permission or sharing the body and I wouldn't be removed from it.

Need to say he used it to his best advantage. Causing trouble for me with Dipper and Mabel. He left me alone at nights only because I was helping Stan with the portal. I decided I would help a bit since I would be going by my own smarts and not what the future was. That way he got more rest.

We had a hate relationship. I played with him and got the upper hand a lot. He hated me and resented me. At the same time, Dipper got over his crush for Wendy and found out he had one on me instead. By Sock Puppets, both were interested in their own ways. Bi was more possessive, Dipper was more loving. Bibae's reason for making the deal with Dipper then was to mess with his feelings for me. I know for a fact now it was because he was jealous.

As the portal came closer to getting done, I knew I had to make plans to protect Bi from Ford. Meanwhile, after Dipper's bout of possession from Bi, we found out he could see Bi like I could in the scape. Which caused more conflict. They were always fighting. Bickering even worse than they are now. There was a few times they got along... But not really until the Northwest Party. He got pissed that a ghost would be Dipper's end and threaten to throw his ectoplasmic body into a dark abyss of the Nightmare Realm. Needless to say, I had to stop him and let Paz do her thing.

Since Bi started possessing me, some of my powers were able to leak through the seals, tho not enough to let Oryan find me. I was able to devise a way so Ford couldn't detect Bi. But the downside was he couldn't fully possess me anymore. Well, downside for him. It was something we talked about because we knew he would be back. But, he agreed it was necessary since he didn't want Sixer knowing he was back yet.

The day he came back into this dimension was... Taxing. Dipper got mad at me because I sided with Stanley. We had a fight... That night I went out onto the roof and just me and Bi were up there listening in on Stan and Ford. When they went to bed, Dipper came up and we talked. He realized he made a mistake and he should have trusted me. We all were tired at that point and fell asleep on the roof together. Mabel took a picture of me and Dipper and somehow caught Bi between us. It is a cute picture. Might have the drawing I did still somewhere. Have to find it.

Ford was smart. He traveled to a few dimensions that heard rumors about me. Saw certain symbols that matched my seals. He never trusted me. Even when I offered him information I normally wouldn't give. But he was too fascinated by me to shun me. So he would talk to me and ask me questions which I only vaguely replied to at the time. I met some Fords... Only my first Forddad was good... The rest... I won't go into it here... So I was wary.

When Bi finally revealed himself to Ford, he sent me away to not know what was going on. I think he suspected even then that I was talking to Bi. He got Mabel to get stuff for the barrier, tho Dipper tried to make light of it. He didn't think Ford was possessed in the basement like Ford thought at first, he was scared that Ford found out. And almost did with the brain scanner. I, meanwhile was busy with my own thing and planning for the barrier. I knew it would go up somehow. I was setting up a place to stay out in the woods. And by the time I came home the barrier was up. I couldn't go in because of not only my connection with Bi, but because of the powers I didn't know of yet that laid dormant.

Ford had me sent away then. Dipper pleaded for me, but he would not be moved. By this time the power that was unsealed was starting to overwhelmed me, whisper thoughts into my head, losing control of who I was. The darkness that had once consumed me was returning. I let Bi's talk of revenge sway me. So I knew what to do. Bi never had to use Blendin except in changing a few things in the past to make everything fall into place. But a part of me knew what was happening. I was able to drag Ford and Dipper into the Dreamscape and place a protection spell on them to prevent harm. I warned them that I would lose myself and the next day Weirdmageddon began. I was the one whom convinced Mabel to give the rift over. I'm the one that broke it.

I remember bits and pieces myself after this. Bi told me most of it. But I was... Not feral, but I lost myself to my own darkness. The insanity that once drove me to do very bad things. Bi said to him at the time I was very... Bad ass but scary. Tho he wasn't scared of that till later. He let himself at me like how he wanted to from the beginning. Causing pain and suffering. Stuff he regrets now. He did it to purposely hurt me. During one of these sessions I started to feel and know who I was again. I remember seeing Ford being tortured. I remember seeing Dipper waving his hand across my face as he removed the chains. I remember him hiding me behind a pillar and running off with his sister into the pyramid. I remember Stan and Ford switching clothes...

I snapped out of it then... I wanted to warn Bi, but I knew I couldn't. So when Bi entered the scape, I did too. I remember mostly the fire. Calling out to Bi as the fire surrounded him and Stan. Him yelling that I was stupid and needed to get out of there. Me refusing. Bi said he felt fear for the first time in his life then. He actually did care about me in his own way. Just never was shown how.

He used the last of his power to send me out of Stan's mind. He told me later that Stan asked him why if he had energy left... Bi had simply said... "Because at least they can still have a future."

I woke up outside the scape and everything was falling around us. Bi was shattered. By the time we were on the ground we saw the rift still open and didn't know why... Then I remembered. I had a shard of Old Bill left inside of me. Any Bill was connected to the rift. I knew what I needed to do. I told Dipper to get everyone in the circle and activate the zodiac. I was able to use that power to Ascend. I turned into the Ascended form and shattered myself on the barrier, causing it to break and send a power surged throughout the dimension. Thus causing the transcendence. I ended Weirdmageddon only to start the era of magic. I remember everything fading to black.

Dipper said it was calm then. That I was gone. Stan had lost his memory. And everyone was shaken. He cried for me. But somehow he knew I would return there. Stan had regained his memory because of Mabel, and all that was left of Bi was a stone statue. Summer ended, but the adventure wasn't over yet. That would be five years later.

Dipper: I'll take it from here for the interval.

After they were gone, everything hung just felt out of sorts. The world was changing and didn't know how to handle it. I went back to school as the nobody. Parents said the events should just be forgotten and just focus on dealing with school. Neither of us really forgot our summer. I was focused on seeing Astra again. I knew he would return. I spent five years sticking to the books, dealing with Mabel's crazy adventures. Not getting into those here.

When I just had graduated, I had a huge fight with my parents that night and went to bed. They couldn't understand why I would want to go back to Gravity Falls. To the Supernatural. Mabel said she was just leaving and acting like she is on a road trip. We both wanted to go back. It was that night I suddenly saw Astra for the first time in five years floating right above me and making me fall out of bed. He "convinced" my parents to let us go to Gravity Falls and we left within a day.

Astra: This is where I continue off. Those five years... Happened in a night in reality. It was like watching from beyond. I remember the scape... Shapes forming around me... Seeing Alcor in the space between life and death and explaining what he did. Seeing Old Bill one final time, the last piece I knew of then passing beyond. Being surrounded by the Flock as they recognized me as their new master. Feeling myself reform. It was different than the other times. Usually when I died I would appear back in my own scape awaiting for another portal to open... Another world to visit... But I was still in this world. I haven't returned to my scape. I was still in the dimension's scape. It was surreal... Something had changed... I didn't know what then... I guess from the transcendence. I still don't know why...

We returned to Gravity Falls. I made a deal with Ford about protecting the shack. For you see, I was weak and only Dipper was able to see me. I made a deal to claim the shack as my territory so I could appear in reality and be grounded there. It took a little time but I was able to claim the town too. I appeared to people and made deals under the name Alkaid. I created my demon self you could say. Our Alk didn't split from me till way after. I even got our Gideon on my side by healing his mother. By then I had an inkling of what was to come to GF so I made a deal with him that he would start a protection squad to watch over the supernatural.

Then I found Bi... Well what was left of him. His statue. Took me awhile but I found it. It was then I met Axxie for the first time. He told me that I couldn't wake him up until we had a way to split his power, so he wouldn't go mad with power like before. I had an idea then. Time Baby owed me a favor. So I went to the future and claimed a Time Wish. Used it to bring Liam to our time without changing the events of the past. I was able to devise a spell to split the power Bi had and share it with Liam. Liam was all for it, he wanted to see his brother again. So we did it and Bi was awaken in human form and Liam gained a human form as well.

To say Bi didn't take to the new look was an understatement. He hated it... Resented me, Dipper, and Liam... Whined, threw fits, screamed with rage as we had to limit his use of powers to protect ourselves. Ford didn't help by bullying him a lot. Shenanigans occurred. Axxie decided to take a more physical form and hang about to tease him too. I tried to reason and teach. Bi... Hit me only once then. We were on the roof that night and I brought up if he truly hated me for now... That maybe if I could have taken his place back then... He slapped me... Said that I shouldn't say such things. He told me... He didn't hate me. He was just... Confused and it felt odd having a human body of his own. He never had feelings like this before... And it confused and frightened him. We talked more and slept on the roof that night. The next day I saw him talking with Dipper. It took awhile... He was still getting used to everything. But soon he and Dipper found out they cared for each other too. Tho they still had their spats. Like even now. We bonded in a special Celestial marriage ceremony and found out Dipper was a Forest Guardian soon after.

Then Dipper's parents came for a visit. There was no warning. Even I didn't See it. But they came and demanded Dipper and Mabel return home and rid themselves of any magical taint. They called me a monster and said I brainwashed them. That I would condemn them. That I was evil.

I don't remember much then... I shut down... I always do when people call me things like that because I start believing it. Bi held me and Dipper fought and yelled at his parents. They left... We were hurt... They had joined the new group of Anti-Magics that was going around. The Pure Ones. The Untainted Ones they called themselves. We vowed to protect the town then. And to support each other. It wasn't a few months later in reality I found out about soul bonds and we realized that we were connected like that. And the rest is another story.

There isn't much more to it. We had more things that happened afterwards, stuff that happened with ex friends... Personal things. I won't talk about Old Bill. I'm... Not ready for that story yet. Too painful still. I did say something about him before ages ago. But that's all I want to talk about it for now. Bill, Dipper, and me have triplets together. And many more through our other mates. We are still happy and care for one another very much. Tho Bill is a lazy ass these days lmao.

And that is that.

[misshorrorotaku]

Personally, I think she was more focused on the part about Dipper becoming Ford's apprentice, and everything else just became background noise. I mean, she did seem to not really know what the rift was when "Blendin" asked her for it.

And her reaction when he breaks it can be explained by the fact he immediately reveals that he's possessed by Bill. XD

So, how much did Mabel know about the rift? Because the beginning of Mdvtf implies, she overheard at least part of the conversation between Ford and Dipper. Does she know what it is and just also think it could be used in making a time bubble? Or did she only hear the part of the convo about saving the world and miss the part about the rift.