#crazed ramblings about gravity falls

[dibbs-n-scribbs]

It feels so bittersweet getting back into Gravity Falls again at an age where I can finally fully comprehend and appreciate the show in its entirety. I was 7 when it came out and found the episodes very fun and entertaining. Every now and then I would go back and revisit it, usually being late to whatever new sensation revolving around the show occurred (this was because I grew up with tv providers that would take away the cool cartoon channels for months-years so I could never watch original premiere dates like other viewers. I also didn't use social media till i was like 13, so youtube recommendations would remind me that I had just missed the Mcgucket author theory, Cipher Hunt, etc). Even going back when I was 15-16, it was fun to revisit episodes I would quote very often, but I'd still feel bad about not having watched every episode yet or even missing the series finally. I'm late to every single fandom ever (I mean I just got into Columbo like 30-50 years later), and even with the new resurgence in GF with the Book of Bill, I didn't here about it until weeks later, and I'm not even getting my book until late November. I've been rewatching some episodes, and I'm experiencing a feeling of nostalgia and grief - reliving the old times while feeling bad for not being able to experience it on time with other fans. Even with the resurgence, the saying "See you next summer" hurts to hear, as there may not be any other Gravity Falls content ever again, as Alex Hirsch might want to move onto other projects (also summer just officially ended too :'0). Being 12 years since the show began, I hope there will be more opportunities to share experiences with other GF fans, but even if there isn't, I'm very glad to be alive in a timeline where Gravity Falls exists as a show. It has created a new format of modern cartoons and will forever hold a big place in my heart. All this rambling to say that I love this show and hope to one day become a big part of it and other shows like this.

[jaywings]

Thoughts on Wheatley, after being a Portal fan for so long?

My thoughts on Wheatley remain largely unchanged after all this time, I think. His arc is great, starting off as a bumbling, casually selfish, but overall friendly ally, before getting a taste of power and becoming crazed with it. Then being overcome by paranoia until his attempts to "fix" things are so short-sighted that they wouldn't even work for his own survival. These days that story just sounds... all too familiar.

I think they did a great job bringing him back in Lego Dimensions and pairing him up with Chell again, giving him enough character development to be able to work and be friendly with her, but not so much that it tried to be a true "sequel" to the game with an emotional arc. Like his apology coming during gameplay rather than a cutscene, and basically amounting to "Hey, no hard feelings about that, right buddy?" Seems pretty on-brand for Wheatley. And his protest about not having enough anti-gravity "for both of us" when Chell tries to grab onto him to keep from falling down a pit.

Also Chell gets to punch him in the face. They did an awesome job.

Wheatley is still one of my all-time favorites. I love writing his dialogue because I can just jot down my own rambling train of thought with a few British-isms thrown in and it sounds in-character, and I'm not sure what that says about me. I also still get excited when I see Stephen Merchant randomly pop up in things- it's like seeing an old friend.

[matcha-milkies]

OCTOBER 14, 1977

Summary: Gravity Falls is a backwards town in more ways than one.

Alternatively: A twenty-something Ford has to listen to the ramblings of two homophobic diner patrons and it is not improving his already questionable emotional wellbeing.

Content Warnings: Homophobia

Tags: Young Ford Pines, Gay Ford Pines, Pre-Portal Incident, Greasy’s Diner, 1970s, Gay Rights, Anger, Loneliness, Estrangement, Ford Pines Has Issues, Ford Pines Needs A Hug, Emotional Constipation

Word Count: 1,013

Link to AO3: Here

A/N: Gay pride is over. Time for gay wrath

Ford is bent over a newspaper at a booth at Greasy’s Diner, hand in his hair, pretending to be focused on the crossword. He taps his pen against the table. If he were actually paying attention he would be done with this “puzzle” in the time it takes to write the answers, but his mind is elsewhere. He picks up his coffee and sips at it tepidly, while the two truckers at the counter rattle off complaints about the state of the country around stacks of pancakes and smiley-face eggs and bacon. Every so often, words like “unbelievable” and “indecent” waft across the space. None of these are the words he needs.

5 across, four letters, unflattering rumors.

Mother. Jobs. School. Children.

5 across, four letters, unflattering rumors.

Right. Wrong. Trees. Fruits.

5 across, four letters, un…

Ford sees the waitress coming his way and flags her down. “Excuse me. Could I get…” A thought occurs to him that almost makes his mouth pull back in a guffaw. He taps his pen a little faster, reconsidering. “…do you have any banana cream pie?”

She doesn’t read the news. She takes the request at face value. “Sure thing! I’ll have it right out.” Hefting a stack of empty plates from another table, she saunters around the counter. Ford watches her leave without really watching her, head perched glumly in his hand. His mouth pulls taut again, and this time it’s in a thin, fleeting frown. The truck drivers are washing their breakfast down with a couple of glasses of orange juice. Ford fixates on the color, his mind beginning to wander as their conversation finally, finally fades to blissful background noise. He sips his coffee.

5 across…

He remembers when his father used to sit him down and explain certain universal truths about the nature of humanity. To watch out for people who would try to tell him lies. Ford had believed so wholeheartedly back then. And how easy it had been, how good it had felt, to be on the right side. The good side.

Maybe he should call his mother. Maybe there are things that she should know. Maybe if he explained them to her, and she explained them to Dad… 

He closes the newspaper. On the front page is a picture that’s supposed to be indecent. Stanley would probably find it funny. Wouldn’t he? Ford thinks about writing in the margins with a Sharpie and looking up Stanley’s address and mailing the paper to him. “Look at this. Look what happened. Isn’t this just hysterical?” That was absurd, they hadn’t spoken in years, why would he send this to Stanley?

The corner of the newspaper is pinched between his fingers and he realizes they’re trembling. Too much coffee. He stows his hands in his lap and waits for his banana cream pie. Unfortunately, somehow, this brings the truckers’ conversation back into full focus, and God, they just will not shut up. Ford has a very active imagination. In his mind’s eye he shoots out of his chair and waves the newspaper around in a half-crazed tirade and starts shouting them down with logic and common sense. He does what he knows he will also do in the shower next week and gets into a full-blown argument with himself, acting out some imaginary scene where he plays all the parts. He tenses in his seat and his fingers curl against his thighs and—

A plate clatters onto the table next to his coffee.

“One slice of banana cream pie!” the waitress chirps. “Can I get anything else for ya?”

“Uh,” Ford says, blinking. “No. Um. No. Thank you.”

“Alright then, enjoy!” She smiles and walks away again. He picks up his fork and just stares at the thing, like he’s going to somehow consume it with his eyeballs. That’s an odd mental image.

It’s a very tasty-looking pie. The white cream on top looks light as a cloud, the crust is golden and crumbly. He can’t remember the last time he treated himself to something like this. Of course, one cannot have the thing and eat it too. He frowns, side-eying the truckers not for the first time. They’re laughing and nudging each other, maybe at someone else’s expense.

He gets up from the cushioned seat, plate in hand. He realizes his hand is still shaking. Too much coffee. Is he really about to do this? His feet move without his permission, one after the other, oh my god I’m actually doing this. He slips into the seat right next to the truckers, an odd smile on his lips. He leans over like one of them is about to tell a joke and he wants to hear it. The two of them stutter and eye him with mostly confusion. The plate lifts in Ford’s hand, heavy at first and then suddenly weightless as momentum builds. He pushes it into the nearest truck driver’s face, and it smears white chunks all over from his dark eyebrows down to his beard.

“Hey!” shouts the other one, shooting up from his seat and knocking the stool over in the process. Ford somehow can’t bring himself to care. He’s doubled over laughing, and he can’t stop, clutching his sides, giving himself stitches, practically suffocating. The first trucker, the one who got hit, is in shock, picking sugary bits of pie out of his beard, more confusion than confection smeared across his face.

Ford wakes from the daydream. He’s still seated at his booth, his pie still sitting neatly in front of him. The truckers are still blabbing on, although they’ve moved on from talk of the press conference. Maybe they did a long time ago. The moment passes. He doesn’t want to get banned from the diner is all.

Still, Stanley would have done it.

What an absurd thought to have. Stanley would never be here.

Ford stabs his fork into his pie and eats it, and to be fair, he does enjoy it very much, although maybe he would’ve enjoyed having it a little more.

A/N: I wrote this to work out some frustration I’ve been feeling lately with gay acceptance, which is better than it used to be but I still encounter people online comparing it to alcoholism which almost makes ME want to dive headfirst into alcoholism so

It was either this or smash mailboxes with a baseball bat

[themsource]

In canon, Ford is better at fighting than Stan, since I think that was pretty much established in that scene where he easily overpowers Stan after he comes back from the portal, and Alex said once that he believed that sober Ford would always win in a fight between them, because Ford has the formal training and Stan just has the madness. But what about in 7alt8? 7alt8!Stan would be able to win against 7alt8!Ford in a fight?

Oh absolutely 7alt8!Stan could win against 7alt8!Ford, depending on how the fight plays out. Especially if he's the one able to throw the first punch because 9 times out of 10 he never misses, and once he gets that first jab he doesn't let up

Sorry I'm about to ramble a little ^^;

In 7alt8 Stan and Ford are actually pretty matched in terms of ability given that Ford has been fighting monsters and struggling to survive in his adventuring, so he isn't rusty or anything. Just like how OG Ford got by in his interdimensional travels, only with less life or death risk as he isn't trying to get by 24/7, and does have a home in Gravity Falls that he can retreat to for a bit at a time - which means not as put through the ringer as OG Ford or having experienced the paranoia and desperation that I'm sure really honed OG Ford into a living weapon basically. He's had the ability to run away to guaranteed safety when absolutely necessary.

7alt8!Stan as I stated in a previous ask has been training in combat since he was seventeen. He actually has the advantage of strategy when fighting given he's trained with interdimensional beings, both the henchmaniacs and various others that Bill has sent him after in other worlds, giving him a sense of combative creativity. He basically is like OG Ford but worse, as his life wasn't always on the line so he was able to really take advantage of learning special techniques and where and how to hurt someone the most from terrible and powerful entities, over and over again till he got it right

If you take away the danger of Stan's gloves which have the madness toxin coating the spikes (a toxin which mind breaks a person for up to 72 hours when it gets into the blood and makes them disoriented and crazed) and have him just going fisticuffs, then I feel they're pretty evenly matched so long as 7alt8!Ford manages to dodge or deflect/parry more hits than he takes (the ones he can see coming that is)

7alt8!Ford would have to outlast 7alt8!Stan more than anything in order to win while making sure he doesn't take more than one or two hits at a time, as the only advantage he really has is he has more stamina while Stan has more strength. He's had more cadio than Stan has, as running from danger when needed is more aerobic than boxing/fighting (when something is aerobic you can actually do it for longer periods of time), and he's done that plenty of times that he could parkour his way out of a maze if pushed without breaking a sweat XD Stan though could break a brick wall with enough force if he wanted. I feel just three consecutive hits would be enough to knock Ford prone if not knock him out completely so yeah ^^;

[anarchaos110]

ALL ABOUT THE CHAOS: UPDATED

MY CRAZED RAMBLINGS! STAY OUT OF MY FRIKKEN BLOG (not really lol!)

Names I go by: Anarch, Anarch Astra, Uzi, Chaos, Jinx

Pronouns: She/They

Age: 18

Orientation: Omniromantic asexual!

Relationship Status: Happily taken, soz!

Ask Box status: OPEN!

Favorite color: Purple! Or black if it counts

What do I do? I answer questions, take art requests, and reblog whatever I feel is fun, cool or significant!

My main fandoms: Murder Drones, Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Warrior Cats, and The Owl House!

Other shows I love: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power; Adventure Time; The Amazing Digital Circus; Gravity Falls; Ramshackle; Lackadaisy (I’m very into indie shows if you can’t tell lol!); and The Dragon Prince!

How family friendly is this blog? I’d recommend only interacting if you are at least thirteen, as being in some adult fandoms and being a young adult myself I often cover dark, adult or heavy themes and/or reblog stuff with strong language use

Is this blog a safe space? I support: LGBTQIA+ (being that myself!), neurodivergents (also me!), other disabilities, all races/colors, all religions, furries, therians, otherkin, plural people (INCLUDING endogenic systems!). Basically, I love and support all types of people!

DNI:

-Racists

-Queerphobes

-Anti-furry/antitherian

-Bigots of any kind

-P*dos

-Zoophiles

-Proshippers

Fun fact about me: I have my very own animated indie show in the works! Check out the initial advertisements here https://youtube.com/@starguard-studios-sylvestris?si=lQGABLZKOjh8FPEy

Boundaries:

-Don’t ask me to draw NSFW or kissing art of canon fandom characters please. I have zero issue with (and even enjoy) other people’s ship art but I’m simply not comfortable drawing it myself at this time.

-Don’t start ship wars with me because you disagree with my ship or a comment I’ve made about such ship. Respectful and thoughtful debate I enjoy and appreciate, but ragging on my ships or opinions is just counterproductive and it doesn’t get to me anyway, because I’m a multishipper lmao! (And for those of you in the radioapple war going “ALASTOR IS ACE HE CAN’T DATE, you’re looking at a taken asexual who is also somewhere on the arospec! Leave me alone lol)

-Hero worship or idolism is a big no no. I’m extremely flattered to those of you who admire my art or my series; but putting yourself down in my name makes me really uncomfortable! Also, I am nobody’s “goddess”, I’m a normal (ok not normal but real) person just like you!

-No hitting on me! As previously stated I’m taken, and I’m monogamous (as far as I know lol) so it’s not an open relationship

-Don’t sexualise me or my characters. Most of mine are feral (walking on all fours) cats anyway so if you say something sexual about them I will instantly mark you as a zoophile and you will be blocked.

Thanks for reading! I look forward to interacting with you :3

[blankcest]

LEMME, GIVE THE BASICS OF THE MACKEREL AU SO MY RAMBLING ISNT COMPLETELY CRAZED

So, the Mackerel AU is basically my attempt at how I would write Billfordstan. Especially when it comes to Stan and Bill’s relationship, ad well as a heaping helping of Stancest.

The inciting incident is when Bill calls Stan in The Lost Pages of Journal 3, the call actually goes through. Due to Bill letting slip where his brother is, Stan goes to Gravity Falls early due to the last thing he heard was his brother planning on killing himself.

This then leads to Ford and Stan interacting, Ford unable to explain anything and Stan scared and confused out of his mind about his brother.

Due to a misunderstanding (Stan calling Ford Sixer, which triggers Ford into thinking Stan is possessed) leads to Stan accidentally knocking his brother out. Which is easy cause Ford is on the verge of exhaustion and is physically weakened due to this. This leads to Stan actually meeting Bill face to face, and it goes as well as you can expect.

Bill decides to fuck with Stanley, having learned so much about him from Ford’s head. As well as try and use him to open the basement door so he can access the portal room.

Stan doesn’t fucking buy it, but refuses to leave his brother in danger.

This leads to Stan staying in Gravity Falls, desperately trying to protect and take care of his brother while awake and while possessed. Ford being psychologically tortured and constantly in a dream state, leaving him barely able to explain anything, and Bill enjoying very second of it. ALONG WITH UNREASONABLE SEXUAL TENSION!!!

The reason its called the mackerel AU is because Bill nicknames Stan “The Holy Mackerel” based off his symbol on the zodiac cipher. And similar to Ford, has a bunch of other fish related nicknames for him cause Stan deserves to be ocean themed as a treat <3.

[merakiui]

Anon that asked about ur fave type of villain: ahhh Mera pls I absolutely love when u ramble about these things. I wanted to mention Jack Horner but idk if u watched the movie yet. Sorry I’m gonna ramble for a bit, but I’ve always loved villains bc of the drama they bring in and how diverse they can be. I also like Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls bc he’s an unhinged menace through and through (tho it’s implied that he has a sad-ish backstory). I also like villains that are created at the hands of other humans/the world fails them. I read this Manhwa wayyy back, I forgot the name but it was long, but the villain of the series is basically the spitting image of being a hero/good person. He was a rly nice and gentle person, he has the power to heal/purify things, and he wears all white and has a soft appearance. But then he went through some shit at the hands of what he thought were good ppl and it cause him to snap and become a manipulative psycho. Tho speaking of deceiving appearances, is that why u like Jade? At first, in his robe story he initially appears to be fairly nice but then we (and Trey) realize that he’s acc a menace? But I do share ur love for villains with deceiving appearances. I love villains where their actions contradict their appearance, but I also like when their facade starts to crack overtime, or if it’s a uncanny valley kinda thing, they seem normal in every way yet there’s something that’s kinda off.

Oh, Bill Cipher!!! His character always fascinated me. I loved everything about him and how he could be so devious and cruel. He is yet another character who entraps others with supposedly simple, beneficial deals and a mere shake of the hands. >_< unhinged villains are another type of villain I love because there's something spooky in seeing a character so devoted to their cause or being so dedicated to villainy that there is no reasoning with them.

That manhwa sounds interesting!! If you ever recall the title, I would love to know it! The character you describe seems so cool!! I like when a character who starts so innocent and happy slowly darkens over time because the people/environment around them has wronged or failed them in some way. A character with a soft, gentle appearance who snapped and became so manipulative!!!!! Aaaaa that's really so good. orz I'm weak for that type of trope.

I adore Jade's deception and gentleman personality. I think I also really like him because he is someone who can always smile so calmly and act politely no matter what the situation is, which depending on the context can be very unsettling. I like that, even though he can be terrifying and scheming, he can be unexpectedly cute at times. And when you can never read him or tell what he might be thinking!!!!! I love him a lot. ;;; he's a character I like to liken to poison because it takes time for his influence to truly settle, but when it does and his plans come to fruition it is a nightmare. <3 and his ceremonial robes story omg... he truly is a menace, but I wouldn't have him any other way hehe. (˘ ˘ ˘)

Aaaa uncanny valley, yes! I love a character who has something about them that isn't quite right. It's so eerie... or a character who is already so off-putting from the very beginning that you struggle to determine what, if anything, is normal about them. I think of Tsukasa from Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, who is overall so unsettling and becomes truly terrifying when in certain scenes throughout the manga and anime.

I also like Ryo Asuka from Netflix's Devilman Crybaby. His character was always so captivating. He was a very unique villain! The club scene when he breaks a bottle and begins to slaughter everyone with such a crazed expression was too good! And his gradual character development and the ending that followed the climax... T_T it is always a stab in the stomach.

[goofygoldengirl]

Why You Should Be Grateful That Miraculous Ladybug Is Out Now Instead Of 2008

Ok buckle up kids cause this is gonna be a long one and its gonna get wordy and grandma might ramble a bit. Fellow old timers feel free to chime in if I missed anything.

Disney Channel? You Mean Sh*ty Channel!  

Most of you were too young to remember this but from about 2006-2012, before the advent of Phineas and Ferb and Gravity Falls, no one over the age of about twelve point five would ever admit to liking anything on the Disney Channel. Yes that’s right the Disney Channel, the literal embodiment of what might happen to you if you took about fifty cups of Red Bull mixed in with exactly 50 packets of Splenda. Edgy tweens and even edgier teens across despised The Disney Channel with all they, no we, had. Its shows and unfortunate stars were the butt of every single joke, degraded in ways that probably would not be cool now, and boy oh boy if you actually watched The Disney Channel you kept it on the down low. Considering that Miraculous Ladybug is now being distributed by Disney when not on Netflix, the hypothetical switch from Nick to Disney would have been the show’s death sentence. Don’t believe me? Look what happened to Naruto when it moved from Cartoon Network to Disney.

I Will Go Down With This Ship And You All Are Going Down With Me! 

If you think the whole love square plus bonus Kagami and Luka are riling up the fans then oh boy I have some news for you. Ten years ago would have been TEN MILLION times worse. This was back when the Twilight craze just kicked off and let me tell you the dynamics of the Edward/Bella/Jacob triangle made its way into fandoms everywhere. Multishipping and polyamory did not exist. You had your OTP sail or sink til the end and damn every single motherf*er that got in your way. Another shipper? Start an argument on your site of choice and watch it blow up to epic proportions as others joined in. Sometimes your hatred was so strong that you resorted to creating immature anti shipping fanart and fanfic with a long detailed description on how much that ship sucked. If there was rival love interest in canon? Vilified beyond reason in fanworks. If they had no bad traits, ka pam! Let’s create one. Already a bit of a jerk? Now they’re the devil and should go to hell. Especially if said character was female, because hey the average teenage girl back in 2008 had a sh*tton of internalized misogyny. And how you said would this apply to Miraculous Ladybug if it came out ten years ago? There would be intense infighting among the shippers of the love square itself. You had to pick one side and stay with it, even if they’re both the same two people. And don’t get me started on all the love triangle AMVS that would feature Adrienette feat  Kagami and Luka. There would be dozens of: Thinking of You by Katy Perry, My World by SR-71, or Facedown by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Click Out and Close The Laptop! 

Ok let’s be mature about this guys. Once a show gets an audience with a demographic of teen and up, certain fanworks (they used to be called lemons) will pop up. Back in 2008, it wasn’t common knowledge to most teenagers that it was highly illegal to depict explicit underage smut. Most sites did not have a good filtering system, and even if you weren’t one of those people lying about your age to gain access to mature content, the likelihood that you’d stumble upon something you didn’t expect, want, or prepared to see was very high. However, with that being said, most people then, like now upon finding out that Adrien and Marinette are both 14, would agree that our lovestruck duo are way too young to even consider engaging in activity beyond kissing.

It’S NoT A PHASE MoM!

2008-2009 was the height of emo and scene. If you happened to not be what most media consider to be in the “popular crowd” at your school, then you knew someone who was and get acquainted with the music, looks, and all that goes along with it. And if you have a character who dresses like a cat, wears black, and looks edgy enough for you, Ladybug would get sidelined to the point where everyone believes that Chat Noir is the main character. Or even better: Adrien himself gets sidelined because he looks too preppy and because he’s not sad enough. And oh that’s not even touching upon the sh*tstorm that would happen once Luka would get introduced. You think everyone is fawning over Luka now? Ten years ago there would be no escaping from him. Everyone and their OC would have been paired up with Luka because there is actually a hot emo guy on tv. If the creators decided to poll the fans and ask who they thought was the most attractive dude, Luka would be in the first three spots. Any episode without Luka would be deemed to be unwatchable. Deviantart stamps with Luka that flash song lyrics from Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance, Evanescence, Hawthorne Heights, Linkin Park, AFI, Green Day, and all the other bands I wish I could add but can’t would take up the bio on everyone’s deviant art page. Someone would photoshop Luka’s head on Gerard Way’s body and call it the sexiest thing that ever existed. I am serious dudes, you should be glad it’s not 2008. I’ve been there.

And that’s the end folks. Excuse me while I reach for my glass of wine and drain it.

[the-librarymuseum]

“I think I was poisoned. Can you help?”

Another story in the Hostage AU with Doc and Washington

(a spiritual successor to the hostage thing for @dvn-art since they asked for more and i live off of attention(im sorry this took so long))

The weirdest thing happened to Dufresne a while back. The weirdest thing in his life. He had been kidnapped by this rough looking guy who called himself Washington and claimed he didn’t want to hurt him as he had a knife to Dufresne’s throat.    He never would have thought something weirder could happen.    “I-I, um, you what??”    “Poisoned. I think. I feel….really off right now and to be completely honest I almost blacked out on my way here. There were... things? That came out of the sidewalks and I think some of them leeched some blood or sweat out of me. I’m not -woah...” Washington swayed in the doorway and caught himself on the frame. Shaking his head and blinking as if to clear his eyes he continued. “I’m pretty sure it was a hallucination but I feel really nauseous now. Do you think you can fix me, Doc?” David was standing in front of his office, hands on the door frame, seemingly holding himself up like that, sweating profusely with dilated eyes.    “You need to go to a hospital!” Dufresne exclaims as he sweeps in to grab a hold of David before he can fall over. He can feel David’s full body weight rest on him as he drags the other man inside the office and goes to look for his phone.    “No you can’t!” David exclaims from the seat he was dumped into. “It was the same bastard as last time. Flowers, damn him and his crew!” David briefly looked panicked, turning his head and finding a small trash can nearby he dove for it and vomited hard and loud.    “Oh man! Oh geez! Okay wait!” David could hear the fridge open over his gagging noises and cups clinking and then Doc was back with a big cup of water and a small cup of water. “Here. Take this small one and rinse out your mouth in the bathroom.”    Dufresne handed over the small cup which David hugged to his chest without attempting to raise it to his lips yet. He allowed Doc to help him up with one hand and lead him to the bathroom in the back of the office where Doc had a small apartment setup.    He ignored the popcorn dropping off the walls and down the ceiling, writing them off as irrational and probably, hopefully, hallucinations. He also tried really hard to ignore his melting reflection in the bathroom mirror as he tried to rinse his mouth out. He might be getting motion sickness. He gagged again but no vomit this time as he spilled a little bit of water down his chin and rinsed with what made it in his mouth.    Doc kept a tight grip on David as he swayed and spit the water into the sink. His aim was a bit off and some of it splashed onto the mirror and David was quick to apologize. “Damn, sorry Doc. I didn’t... I’m. It didn’t look so close.”    “Forget about it.” Doc replied quickly. “If... If you won’t go to the hospital I need to know your symptoms. I’m not a doctor but I do have the internet.”    David gave him a quick run down of everything that happened that night, stopping intermittently to make the room stop tilting and to gag lightly over the sink.    Washington had been at the usual haunt drinking at a bar when he suddenly didn’t feel great. Someone had spiked his drink but who and what didn’t become apparent until about an hour later. When it hit.    It started with a sped up heart rate and a splitting headache that Wash knew he didn’t have enough drink to warrant. When he started seeing spiders crawl over his hands and into the bar he knew something was wrong and he whipped around aggressively. Butch Flowers the only one who held his gaze long enough to smirk and raise an eyebrow at him.    “Something the matter, friend?” He purred. It was all Wash needed to bolt up... and immediately drop back to his chair, almost pushed down by gravity to the bar.    He eventually stumbled his way down the street remembering his travel path last time he got into it with Flowers that led to Doc’s place. His little studio apartment/office space.    Obviously he couldn’t go to the hospital for this. The doctors would have to get the police involved and Wash couldn’t get caught. Not after last time anyway, but his feud with Flowers was no one’s business besides his. And Flowers’ crew and Maine’s crew.     So it was a bit of a gang feud.    Two sects of the same gang.    The police could not get involved is the point Wash is trying to make here.    Doc let out a shaky breath and leaned back. He only wanted to know the symptoms and he got a pretty impressive backstory that he wanted nothing to do with. Yes, he got the symptoms, but now he has to go on with his daily life and pretend he doesn’t know the man he’s helping and was previously kidnapped by is a wanted gang member?? Okay. One thing at a time.    “Actually, I don’t even need the internet for this one. Sounds like you got spiked with some Belladonna.” Doc said softly, pulling out his phone anyway to look up how to treat it.    David groaned and reached for the cup of water Doc still held out to him. He took a long drink and when he could see straight...er, he asked, “What is that??”    “Uh..” Doc clicked and exited out of web pages. “Nightshade. You know, Deadly Nightshade berries? Sounds like he gave you either a concentrated dose of it or just straight up crushed some berries into your drink.”    David cursed under his breath as the tiles on the shower wall started to peel off and drip to the tub. “I knew the bartender was in Butch’s pocket. Last time I tip that bastard.” He finished the water with his eyes closed and started trying to fill it back from the tap in front of him.     Doc watched with heavy concern as David held the cup about 2 inches to the right of the stream of water and then tried to drink from the still empty cup.    “Damn.” Wash whispered. “Your water pressure sucks.”    “I got it. Stay still, try to avoid vomiting again, that could make things worse.” Doc took the cup from David and ran to the kitchen to fill it with filtered water and grab some supplies.    He returned a few minutes later with two cups, one of water and one of natural fruit juice, to find David on the floor of his bathroom, plucking at the base of the sink where the pipes disappeared into the wall.    He looked up, eyes still worriedly dilated and almost swimming as he tried to focus on Doc. “Your snakes are stuck in the flat space.” He blinked hard and didn’t actually open his eyes again. “My head hurts.”    Doc placed the cup of water directly into Wash’s hands and helped sit him up against the wall before turning the bathroom light off. “Drink. I doubt you have an auto-injector with Antilirium on hand so we gotta make do.” He pulled out a case of black pills and began opening some of them to pour into the cup of juice, making the bright liquid dark and black.    Dufresne wasn’t exactly expecting David to understand what he was saying right now besides “Drink” but David spoke up between sips of water and said “Antilirium is just as bad, man. You ever stab yourself in the thigh just to speed your heart rate up even more and sweat so much you feel like you’re melting? And then you vomit more and that’s it, if you’re lucky. If not you got-”    “That’s enough!” Doc semi-shouted, cutting David off before he could ramble and make himself dizzy again. “Drink your water, this could make you severely dehydrated. It’s a little late in the game but if you aren’t going to the hospital we need to soak up as much of that garbage as we can so I’m making you a juice with activated charcoal I had on hand and you need to drink all of this without puking.”    David looked up, as best he could, with an incredulous look, as best he could make, and even in the near dark of the room only lit with a small nightlight, Dufresne could see Wash’s eyes still swimming. Still, David continued marvelously with a scoff and “Why the hell do you have activated charcoal just ‘on hand’?”    Doc shrugged, a little frenzied, a little panicked. “What?? I brush my teeth with it sometimes!”    Wash knew better than to laugh so he cracked a shaky smile instead and toasted to Doc with his half empty water cup. Once he finished it completely he exchanged the cups with Doc and started on the charcoal/juice mix.    “This might...it might be too late to help but reading up on the belladonna, it might be okay. You, you seem strong enough to make it through as long as, um, Flowers wasn’t intending to kill you.”    Wash shook his head, holding up a finger as he finished drinking the concoction. He took a deep breath before he answered. “Flowers knows better than to try to kill me. More likely he just wants me out of commission for something. But he’ll have to do more than leech my blood with pavement suckers for that to happen.”    Doc gave him a moment as David seemed to puzzle through what he just said. “That....” David started, squinting in the dark and putting the empty juice cup down softly. “The leeches that came out of the sidewalk weren’t real, were they?”   Dufresne got up and refilled the water cup with some tap water quickly to hand off to Wash as he shook his head. “Probably not. I wasn’t with you at the time but I’m willing to bet they weren’t real.”   Wash took the cup but gasped, offended. “Why weren’t you with me? I thought we were friends, Doc?”    That caused a new round of stuttered half words from Dufresne as Wash eyed him curiously and drank his new cup of water slowly.   “I gotta. I gotta warn Maine that something’s up.” He declared suddenly, slamming the half empty water cup on the floor. It splashed out and onto the floor and David seemed not to notice as he tried to stand. The dizziness slammed into him and Dufresne barely caught him before David slammed his head against the tiled walls of the shower. “Jesus, the gravity is heavy on this planet.” His dilated pupils made him look innocent even with his usual crazed sleepless eyes.    “I know, bud, I know. Let’s get you somewhere soft.” He tried to half carry Washington to the room with his massage tables but Wash fought slightly against him.   “No no. If I get sick I need to be somewhere safe.”   “You are sick, Washington.” Doc told him softly, not fighting him.   “No I mean exorcism style. Gotta give up the ghost to the underworld.”   That threw Dufresne for a loop, he had to admit. But Wash was tugging against him and towards the bathtub. Which Dufresne helped him into before he snuggled up on his side, facing the wall and holding his stomach.    “Oh, you mean if you puke! You want to be near a drain.”    Wash looked over his shoulder a little irritated. “Tonight I die. Tomorrow I live.”    “Alright. I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” Dufresne waited a bit to make sure Wash wouldn’t say anything else or get up but he just turned back to the wall and curled in on himself further.   Doc moved quickly through the studio, rinsing the charcoal cup and washing his hands before getting a bigger water bottle for Wash to drink when he woke up periodically, and stopping to light some rose oil in the hallway outside of the bathroom. He turned on all his little nightlights so he could wander the studio freely without turning the harsh lights on and he grabbed a pillow from one of the massage beds before he returned for good back into the bathroom.    He could hear David muttering to himself quietly and Doc slipped the pillow into the tub and under his head. Wash went silent and loosened up just a bit so Doc continued and pressed the water bottle into the space between David’s stomach and his right hand, which curled around it possessively but he didn’t open his eyes or take a drink.    Doc kept an eye on David all throughout the night, even getting up once to refill the water bottle. It seemed at about 4am that the worst of it had passed.

When David finally woke up at about noon the next day he had a headache still and his mouth was dry but he no longer felt like puking. He did however have to pee like nobodies business.    When he realized he was in a bathtub he reasoned out that a toilet should be nearby.    What didn’t make sense here was the guy sleeping under the sink next to the bathroom door. He looked familiar.    “After.” Wash muttered as he turned to the toilet and peed the most he had ever peed in his life. His pee was a startling grayish color and he would have been worried if the guy under the sink hadn’t woken up right at that moment.    “Oh thank goodness, you’re up! Woah!” He averted his eyes quickly and almost banged his head on the sink trying to scramble out of the room.   “Hey, where-” Realization dawned on Wash. “Oh! Doc! I’m back at your place! What happened?” He finally stopped peeing and was able to get himself put back together somewhat and finish up, washing his hands as he yelled at Dufresne down the hall. “Did I come here last night? Oh... Was I poisoned?”   “Yup!” He heard Dufresne squeak from around the corner. “You uh, you had some Belladonna berries in your system and I think they may have passed thanks to the charcoal.”   Wash turned off the sink and walked out, drying his hands on his pants. “Okay cool, that explains the gray pee. Thanks Doc.”   “Woah woah, wait where are you going?” He put his hand on David’s arm as he started to make his way down the hall.    “Obviously I’ve gotta start planning on getting Flowers back for this.” He looked at Doc like he was crazy.    “Ooooh no you don’t. Get back in that bathtub and go back to sleep. I-I mean, go to my room and get in bed! I mean!” He panics a bit before taking a deep breath and saying, “Go, rest, wherever in the studio you want, but you aren’t leaving until I can check up on you and make sure you get some food in you.”    Wash was all ready to play the rough and tumble, gotta get moving, game but flashes of guilt for imposing on Doc made him soften. He unclenched his teeth and rolled his eyes. “Where’s the bed?”    “Down that way and to the right. I’ll wake you up for breakfa- uh, late lunch, when it’s done.”    “Thanks Doc.” If Dufresne thought Wash would sleep and not plan his retaliation, he was more naive than Wash thought. But still. Getting some food in him first wouldn’t hurt.

[anthurak]

Crazed Ramblings about the WLW couple we could have gotten in Gravity Falls (no, not THAT one).

Alright, here’s the fairly unhinged crackpot fanspiracy theory I got after rewatching some of Gravity Falls:

Were it not for the corporate Disney overlords keeping Alex Hirsch and the rest of the Gravity Falls team on a tight leash, then we very possibly would have seen Wendy and Tambry becoming a couple in the episode ‘The Love God’, via love-potion shenanigans on the part of Mabel.

Exhibit A: It is well-known by this point about Hirsch’s efforts to include an elderly lesbian couple just in a brief background appearance, only to have even that shot down. I’d say it’s no stretch to imagine that without the corporate over(lord)sight, Hirsch and the rest of the team would have likely pushed for even more LGBT rep.

Exhibit B: Alex Hirsch has confirmed that Wendy is bisexual. Pretty easy to draw a connection between that and Exhibit A.

Exhibit C: It just makes sense in the narrative context of both the episode and the show as a whole. After the first season showed Wendy’s crumbling relationship with Robbie, it makes sense to follow that up with showing Wendy starting a much better relationship in the second season. In just the previous episode, ‘Blendin’s Game’, it’s shown that Wendy and Tambry are longtime childhood friends. And considering that we don’t see young Robbie interacting with either Wendy or Tambry in this episode, I think it’s easy to imagine a scenario wherein Wendy and Tambry showing up together in ‘Blendin’s Game’ lays a bit of groundwork for their present selves to get together in the following episode.

Additionally, Wendy and Tambry getting together also provides a nice, logical conclusion to Dipper’s whole character arc dealing with his crush on Wendy through the show, something we didn’t actually get otherwise.

Here’s the thing; Dipper never really moves past his crush on Wendy. While they do get a chance to address his crush in ‘Into the Bunker’ where it becomes clear that Wendy obviously does NOT return those feelings, it’s still left a bit open-ended. Going through the rest of the show, it’s clear that Dipper’s crush on Wendy is still very much present even if he’s no longer trying to act on it.

It really feels like we’re missing an episode B-plot which follows up on the conversation from ‘Into the Bunker’ where this whole thread of Dipper’s unrequited crush on Wendy reaches some kind of resolution. That episode made it clear that Dipper’s crush is not going to be returned, but without any follow-up that shows him finding closure to his unrequited feelings. Which in turn makes this whole thread feel a bit unresolved.

To that end, a logical conclusion to this plot thread would be Dipper fully recognizing and moving past his crush on Wendy. And a great way of doing that would be to show Wendy getting together and being happy with someone else and Dipper being able to recognize, accept and support it. Wendy and Tambry getting together in The Love God could have provided that.

Heck, going back to ‘Blendin’s Game’, I think we can even see what could have been a hint to this with Dipper and Mable meeting past-Wendy and Tambry. Sure it’s a funny joke that Mable cracks about how Dipper ‘now knows how Wendy feels’ about his crush on her, but it’s also pretty clear that realization struck a chord in Dipper. Again, consider a scenario wherein this scene with Wendy and Tambry together as kids provides a bit of setup for them becoming a couple in the present. In this case, providing setup for Dipper to finally move past his crush on Wendy.

(Btw, for actual example of this sort of character arc playing out in another show, just look at Finn in the later seasons of Adventure Time in relation to Bubblegum and Marceline.)

With all that in mind, I think it’s easy to imagine a version of ‘The Love God’ wherein Mabel, either deliberately or inadvertently, gets Wendy and Tambry together with a love-potion, and then starts to regret her actions. And Dipper is at first driven to help Mable undo the love potion because he is still nursing that crush on Wendy. But by the end of the episode, Dipper recognizes that Wendy is actually happy with someone else, a long-time childhood friend at that, and he should respect that. Thereby finally letting go of the crush he’s had on Wendy for the whole show. It could even lead to a situation where it’s Dipper who talks Mable out of undoing the love potion.

Also, you may ask ‘What about Robbie?’ To which I say; ‘What about Robbie?’

Seriously, you’re saying the show needed to develop someone who is at best a tertiary supporting character instead of developing a MAIN character? This totally could have been one of Wendy’s big character episodes (something she barely gets any of) and you’d rather it be about the human equivalent of rat poison? Again, in hindsight it just makes way more sense that this episode would be focused on Wendy instead of Robby.

Look, Robbie is fine as a character. But ask yourself: Would you REALLY take a Robbie-focused episode over a WENDY-focused episode?

Now, do I have any actual proof of any of all this?

None whatsoever.

Was this mostly an excuse for me to talk about an underrated ship?

Absolutely XD