#either way stan's symbol is not next to his in the zodiac in the journal

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

au where they manage to do the zodiac, but it still doesn't work because ford changed it to put stan's symbol next to his

[fordanoia]

@whatwouldteslado Summary!

A lot happened during the original run of the session. For any new people that would like join in on this summer session, I decided to make this for those of people that wanted to participate, but didn’t have the time to read 400+ pages.

Again- the Summer Session, a short 2 week mystery, is starting on the 19th tomorrow and check out this post if you want to know what more about it. Essentially, it’s a liveblog that started out with Paranoid Ford and developed a lot along the way.

Here is a VERY basic summary of what happened in the Original Run / “What you need to Know.” 

Early on after Bill’s betrayal, Ford started using an archiving tool resulting in a blog that began to receive messages. He was convinced to dismantle the portal and contact his brother for help via phone. 

By the time Stan shows up, Bill has broken Ford’s arm and Ford is generally at the end of his rope. An anon suggests he listens to “Time” by Pink Floyd to break his deal with Bill since it is suppose to last “until the end of Time.” Thankfully, this works and his deal with Bill breaks.

After enlisting Fiddleford, disbanding the Society of the Blind Eye, and more the mystery trio decide on trying to fulfill the zodiac in order to banish Bill for their own safety.

Along the way of working to fulfill this zodiac a lot happens. They befriend the handwitch Handrietta and a wild scampfire Ford named Scampy, Bill sets the Shack on fire burning most of it away, Shifty is set free, bikers from Stan’s past show up, and more.

They decide to put on a Grand Exhibition Show to draw a crowd and get the zodiac together, tricking Bill to think he knew their entire plan so he would be unprepared for their defenses at the show. 

They manage to pull this off with help from Handrietta (the handwitch), Dan Corduroy, Käíla (Dan’s girlfriend), and their own clones created from the copier machine. 

Afterwards, they freeze Shifty again (to speak with later), knock out Jimmy Snakes who attacked Stan after the show, and they decide to send a final message to Bill.

The transmission to the blog from the device is momentarily lost as they switch their signal to the Nightmare Realm. 

If you wish to follow the Summer Session I advise joining the discord server.

For a summary of start to end read under the cut. Alternatively check out the Entry posts made on the blog. They didn’t tag all their entries so here is a search function for the earlier ones.

Shortly after a night where Bill blogged possessed, Ford was convinced to dismantle the portal by anons.

When a Bill anon threatens Stan, Ford becomes worried about his brother. Another anon suggests listening to the song “Time” by Pink Floyd in order to end the deal, unfortunately the music store is closed for the weekend.

Ford goes into town to call Stan and asks him to meet him, warning him to be safe. Stan agrees to come up. Although he doesn’t say so, the plan is to give Stan a journal to take away.

While waiting for Stan to arrive, Ford begins a restraining device in an attempt to stop Bill from doing anything when he falls asleep. Bill breaks his left forearm before he can finish the device.

In another brief stint of possession, Bill hides journal 1 under the sink. Unknowing of its location, Ford goes outside in the snow and returns later searching the house.

In yet another stint of possession, Bill dislocated three of Ford’s fingers.

Ford welds two of the journals shut into his safe then shortly after realizes he can’t give Stan a journal when they’re both locked up. Thankfully, he soon finds Journal 1 within the house.

He locks himself into a room with some food and Journal 1 waiting for Stan.

Ford falls asleep before finishing a note to Stan, then Bill returns again. This time he plays a game called “Where Doesn’t It Belong” with anons. During which he waits for answers of “where it doesn’t belong” and then proceeds to stab Ford’s body in that location with the point of the splint Ford had used to bind his broken arm.

Upon waking, Ford finds the remains of Journal 1 shredded around him and the injuries to himself. He soon discovers that the portal schematics from Journal 1 are missing.

Stan arrives and releases Ford from the room. After patching up his injuries they go to the drug store for some medicine then to the music store to find a record of the song “Time” by Panic Floyd. The music store was sold out of nearly any song with “Time” in the title due to Bill getting songs stuck in people’s head over the weekend.

The day after on the way to the radio station, Ford passes out from the medicine due to a trick from Bill causing him to take too much pain medication. Bill possesses Ford’s body and steals Stan’s car to make it to the museum, but slips on icy stairs and knocks himself out.

Stan finds Ford and they return to the shack and the next morning Stan retrieves the “Time” record on his own and brings it back for Ford to listen to. Listening to the end of “Time” breaks Ford’s deal with Bill.

Bill attempts to hack into the device, but winds up blocked by the programming.

Stan and Ford go to the unicorn glade to get hair and do so. Ford lines the shack with the hair and as well fashions it into necklaces in order to make a portable barrier. They later stop by Fiddleford’s apartment to give him a unicorn necklace, but due to Fidd’s opposition to seeing Ford the reunion does not go well.

The next day they ask the mailbox some questions and investigate the museum. They find the Society of the Blind Eye and Fiddleford, who they promptly wind up kidnapping. After some reconciliation, the Society attacks the shack. Although Fiddleford convinces the Society that he is fine, as they had come for his rescue, in the confusion, Ivan, who had sneaked in, was tased by Ford into unconsciousness. It turns out Ivan had the memory blaster on him.

Ford tricks the Society into believing the memory blaster was destroyed and they leave. Ivan, runs outside shortly after waking up, and is soon possessed by Bill and resulting in a fight. Using the memory blaster on Ivan, Fiddleford makes Ivan forget about Bill and they take Ivan to the ER for his injuries.

That night they burn the portal schematics, but unbeknownst to the others Ford had taken a picture of one set of the schematics from the device.

Afterwards, they set out on a hike to the caves to find the zodiac as they believe another set of the zodiac is there that could work (as the other one involves people that haven’t been born yet). Ford has vague memories of this zodiac and recalls only a couple symbols.

Although they make it to the cave, they cannot find the symbols Ford has been remembering. They plan to talk with the handwitch for assistance. On their way back to the shack they befriend a Scampfire that becomes known as Scampy.

The shack, it turns out, has been burnt in a fire while they had been gone. Although it is still standing, it is significantly burnt and unsafe to live within. They later retrieved what they could from the shack.

With a new “base of operations” at Fiddleford’s apartment, they go to the handwitch’s home to talk to her. She gives them cryptic fortunes and later upon being asked her name tells them it’s Handrietta. It appears that this zodiac Ford “remembers” is actually a new zodiac though Ford refuses to meditate in order to unlock/see the remaining symbols.

When speaking with Dan for insight on the house fire, he offers them the extra cabin to live in for the time being. The trio find out that Ivan, possessed by Bill, was the one to have burnt down the shack.

During a visit back inside of Fiddleford’s apartment a bomb explodes. Ivan is very damaged, Fiddleford is relatively damaged, and both Stan and Ford make it through relatively fine. (In an initial roll, Ford had rolled a critical failure, but a mechanic called an “impact roll” was used to reroll. Info at the bottom.)

While hospitalized, Shifty attempts to kill Fiddleford who makes it out by stabbing him in the eye and running.

During their stay at the hospital Ford and the others realized that Bill had managed to make his way back onto the blog and decided on a plan to beat him. Pretending they didn’t know he was on the blog they communicated secretly with askers as they prepared to give the town an exhibition show. At this show they would gather the zodiac in order to get rid of Bill. Using the clone copier machine and the help of Dan’s girlfriend Käíla they managed to recruit the remaining zodiac members for the show. With the help of Handrietta’s hands they also know that a biker gang has come into town, one that Stan had ended badly with on a previous note. With them is Jimmy Snakes.

Shifty disguises himself as Stan and momentarily fools Ford and Fidds, but then in a panic Fidds erases Shifty’s entire memory. They show Shifty his memories on a screen, and enraged Shifty goes to leave them stuck, but falls through the Shack’s floor, unconscious.

The Exhibition Show is a success. They gather the zodiac and although Bill attacks, possessing Shifty, they incapacitate him and proceed with the show. The Memory blaster is used to erase the crowd’s memories of Bill, the memory blaster, and Stan (excluding Jimmy Snakes due to a pair of Handrietta’s hands upon Stan’s request).

They take Shifty back and cryogenically freeze him in order to talk with him later.

Stan separates from Ford and Fidds and winds up attacked/chased by Jimmy in his “Ghost Rider” form. Thankfully, Stan does manage to beat Jimmy and knocks him out. Ford and Fidds find Stan and they set out to the hospital.

Finally, the mystery trio decide to send a message to Bill’s Nightmare Realm. As they switch the signal the device’s transmission to the blog is lost.... For now.

-

Impact Rolls were a limited number of rolls I gave to the discord server. Essentially, I rolled for a lot of stuff so they could use these impact rolls to either allow for a reroll on something OR to cause some magical gravity-falls-esque thing to possibly happen with a roll.

[princeasimdiya12]

Piqua Falls Part 2

So here is part 2 of the Captain Underpants Gravity Falls AU created by @tornrose24 along with @jackie-sugarskull @nintendogamergirlexe and myself. But we highly encourage any and all fans of CU and GF to participate in this AU either by sharing ideas for characters, potential plotlines or funny memes and fanart. This is an open discussion that all are welcome to join in on. The first part along with the last reblog can be found here.

Ooo yes. Definitely. Absolutely. Weird Al would be a perfect fit for the Several Times boy band and the gang would be hyped to see and interact with him. Since there’s no cloning of any kind, would you like there to be some other abnormal activity that he’d be involved in or him just being himself would be more than enough of the adventure?

And okay, I’ll be fine with Sawyer as Abuelita. I’m not sure where that post was where you made the comparison but I’ll be sure to find it.

I can see Erica wanting to work at the Mystery Shack despite Krupp being an overbearing and ruthless boss. She needs a challenge to test her endurance and mental capabilities. And it would be fun for her to rub it in Krupp’s face when she shows how capable she is. I also have some thoughts on what her character arc would be about. I was thinking that she’d be like a foil to George who is also an academically smart kid who has what it takes to achieve higher standing and seeks challenges that are stimulating to her. She represents George but if he was focused more on himself and what he could accomplish rather than just having fun in the moment and not accessing that potential. And to add on to it, he also has his close friendship with Harold which gives him more reason to have fun and not think of himself as much. Thus, Erica would come off as more detached from other kids her age. She’s friendly and willing to interact with them, but she doesn’t have the same bond as the boys have with each other. It’s something that perplexes her and sometimes she feels jealous that George has something he deems more valuable than his own potential.  (And it would be cool if she was hiding some of her own secrets. Particularly if she conveniently found a way to deal with the monster of the week that no one sees coming. Do you think she’d be part of the same government agency that Rhee and Yewh work at, thus setting her up as a potential Judas? Or is she from another dimension who is trying to keep Piqua Falls safe from the imminent threat of ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’. Because you end up laughing for hours on end if you hear or speak his entire full name.)

I’m really happy that you love the ideas! And I think that would be adorable! I love that Bo and Gooch would get to show off their musical talents. I’m not sure if the Bobeesas would allow it, what if as part of their mansion party, they hold a talent show in their mansion encouraging the youth of Piqua Falls to come and display their musical talents for the town and uppercrust. Bo and Gooch already have their banjo-organ duet set up but they take a drastic turn when they meet Annie Manda Presto (animando presto which is Italian for ‘to be fast in spirit’) a fierce girl with a serious attitude and a protégé opera singer. So while the boys try to get her attention for music advice, they also start to worry about their own music and may end up in conflict over the other’s musical taste. As for Harold, I take it that something happened in which Billy had to uphold his end of his deal with the devil which ended up crushing Harold either because of what Billy had to do or some misunderstanding. The gang tried to take him to the party to get his mind off of it but he was still in a slump. That is, until a mysterious masked boy with an aquatic necklace offers him his hand to dance…

You also make a valid point regarding Anthrope. It’s hard to imagine her being as insane or deadly compared to McGucket. Although her having emotional mood swings would definitely help her in that regard. (It’ll be kinda like Junko going through her personality changes in the last trial right @jackie-sugarskull ?) But if you’re not completely sold on Anthrope for the role, we can always change her for someone else.

That totally makes sense for Melvin. He’d be an established rival of the Shack since he’s trying to win over the public with his mechanical wonders. Made even more wonderous when he finds the second Journal and uses it to his advantage. His reputation in the town is often tarnished thanks to George and Harold publishing comics about Melvin that demean him and paint him as a laughable dweeb (this is one of the few times Krupp is okay with them making comics and even offers to copy them himself so there’s plenty for everyone). I’m thinking that he would end up creating his own monsters of the week in order to terrorize the gang while also trying to find a way to break through and learn of the Shack’s secrets. He’d still have his obsessive crush on Erica and would try to woo her with his smarts and superiority. And Erica returns the gesture with a knuckle sandwich.

Ooo I just had an idea. What if Krupp originally hired Melvin to help him rebuild the machine after he learned from the papers about him being a prodigal genius when it comes to inventing. So he brought him over to the shack with the promise of him being the next Einstein if he could figure out the machine and get it up and running. To Krupp, it actually seems like a miracle since the kid is a whiz at machines. But just because Krupp hires him doesn’t mean that the partnership is easy. Melvin is as insufferable and nitpicky as ever while Krupp doesn’t want him to ask too many questions and wants him to get it done asap. So while Melvin looks around the computer room, she comes across the Author’s loose notes and personal entries where they discuss the machine in vague terms while also referring to the danger of Poopypants as a powerful cosmic entity. Something clicks to Melvin that he becomes drawn to the entity and learns about the other journals which can lead him to personally communicate with him just like the Author did long ago. But Krupp realizes what’s about to happen and doesn’t want a repeat of his past mistake. So he stops Melvin from leaving with this new info by using one of the memory wipes left lying around. Thus, Melvin no longer remembers anything about the portal or him working for Krupp. But he knows  that something big is hiding underneath that primitive shack and he wants to find out what it is. And fortunately, he already knows where to look thanks to a note book page he stashed on himself that reveals the location of Journal 2.

And after that scuffle, Krupp becomes even more secretive regarding the portal and the shack itself. Even if the boys make fun of him for it, no one is learning his secrets on what’s underneath the shack.  Huh, I’m honestly seeing a lot of symbolism regarding the crummy shack that everyone knows and sees followed by the secret portal that no one knows about and how it harbors his darkest secret.

Awww that’ll be adorable. And if they do time travel back, then they may just meet only CU. If CU lived in Piqua Falls his whole life then Krupp wouldn’t have been around at the time. Unless of course he came to visit for a reunion of sorts thus giving the boys the chance to meet both men at the same time.  Aww now I’m imagining CU in his cape and underwear trying to ‘help’ people while freaking them out.

I’m really glad you like that zodiac sign for him. Lol And for the other characters, maybe we can include Lisa’s who’s symbol would be a musical note. Or the emblem belonging to her family which has a musical theme. Billy’s would be a seashell with a star in the middle; the shell representing his heritage and the star to show how his wish inspired him to change in different ways.

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN, TEENS AND ADULTS WHO HAVE NOT YET WATCHED GRAVITY FALLS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Ahh I see what you mean. Well if necessary we can base them on the villains that are directly from George and Harold’s comics both in the book series and the animated series. ( The Wicked Wedgie Woman, the Egg Salad Manwich, the Turbo Toilet 2000, the 3 Robo-Boogers, Sir Stinks A lot, the Jorts Alien, the Socktopus, Jessica’s evil twin sister Messica etc.). As for Edith, it would make the most sense considering that neither she nor Krupp would willingly throw their frustrations at each other like the Stan twins. To quote Phineas Flynn, “Yes, yes we do.” And in all fairness, it’s hard not to make him suffer considering all the messed up things he does to everyone in every adaptation of CU ever. He brought this on himself and we’re at least thoughtful enough to give him a happy ending in any AU. Provided that he works for it. :p And yeah, Edith isn’t one to hold a grudge so she’d be willing to let Krupp into her life. But she does need a lot of time to readjust to every that happened in her absence along with ensuring that Poopypants isn’t successful in crossing over.

*ominous Latin music plays in the background even louder*

Ahh alrighty. Either way, it still sounds like a great outfit idea. :)

[minijenn]

I'll be honest with you, I never thought that the Zodiac was a tool to use against Bill. It was always my theory that Bill needed the people on the wheel to complete whatever his nebulous long term goal was, like make a deal with or posses all of them. Though I actually think Alex said in some interview somewhere that it would have just turned into a big Care Bear laser and killed Bill, which is kinda underwhelming when Ford could build a gun that could apparently do that as well.

OH! OK SO WILD SPECULATION TIME AND ALSO POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR UF’S SEQUEL TIME! So I think that the order the symbols on the wheel are arranged is of some significance, seeing as how we see them organized in a number of different ways throughout the show. First there’s how its shown in its brief iconic title card appearance: 

But notice how they’re organized differently when we see Gideon’s drawing of it at the end of Stanchurian Candidate: 

(notice how here we have the Pine Tree and Shooting Star next to each other, Or the fact that instead of the six fingered hand we have one of the fucking journals drawn instead for some reason? Among numerous other differences.)

And then finally the version that Ford draws during the finale: 

(where we now have Stan and Ford’s symbols next to each other (for the sake of plot), again, among other glaring differences) 

Basically, what I’m saying is that in every version of the wheel we see in the show, the symbols are always arranged differently, and I totally feel like that was something intentionally done. Why? Because the order that the symbols appear on the wheel determines exactly what the wheel does.

So let’s say that the version that Ford draws in the fearamid is the one that banishes/defeats Bill. Ok, fine, makes sense, that’s what those cave drawings he found told him (and those drawings match this version of the wheel). But what about the iteration that Gideon drew in his cell, specifically for the sake of making a deal with Bill (in other words, summoning him)? If the zodiac was specifically for the sake of getting rid of Bill, why would Gideon, who has at least some knowledge of how Bill functions from journal 2, draw it for the sake of summoning him, unless it could actually do that as well, dependent on the symbols’ arrangement?

So we got one version of the wheel that defeats Bill and another version that summons him. But what about that third wheel from the title card? Hard to say with that one really, it could easily work to defeat Bill as well or hell, maybe it could empower him even more. Either way, the order of those symbols matters. The zodiac has the potential to do more than one thing, I’m almost certain of it. And honestly, I’m kinda just gonna disregard that thing Alex might have said about the zodiac just being a fucking beam that could have killed Bill because yeah, that is super lame, Ford built a weapon that could have done exactly that so really, I just have this feeling in my gut that the zodiac could have done more, for both good, or for ill. And that’s a personal lil headcanon that is certainly gonna make its way into UF’s sequel because I honestly think I’m onto something with this… 

[crossroadsdimension]

Lucky!Ford ch 4

Let it be known that this chapter really, really did not want to cooperate at first. It was as nervous as Ford seems to be at the idea of talking to Stanley, let’s put it that way.

And yet, it has come into existence and is now on my blog! Huzzah!

Talk Things Out

Knowing that he and Stanley had to talk was one thing. Actually getting around to talking to Stanley was something else entirely.

Mostly because Ford didn’t really know how to approach the subject of the rift that had formed between himself and his twin. Not to mention the fact that he had to get used to being back on Earth and there were a lot of things that he didn’t know about that was common knowledge for everyone else.

Ford’s brow furrowed at the computer screen and the newspaper that Dipper had found for him on the Internet, which was apparently this dimension’s version of a wireless information grid.

“Of course they turn out to be not everything that I had hoped they’d be.” He scowled at the news about WCT and how high their tuition was -- not to mention how they were apparently making their own students’ test scores appear higher than they actually were in order to keep themselves high up on the list for recommended engineering colleges -- before clicking back to a news article on Backupsmore.

It apparently now called itself “Underdog University,” which Ford found to be horribly ironic.

“Catchin’ up?”

Ford whirled at the sound of the gruff voice and blinked a couple times when he saw his brother standing behind him. He frowned. “What are you doing in the library? Don’t you have that...that attraction of yours to run?”

“Yeah, but I got a call about a double of me running around town an’ I figured I’d make sure people knew you weren’t me.” Stan shuffled his feet against the carpet.

Ford adjusted how he was sitting on the chair. “And how are you introducing me to them?”

“I-I’m just sayin’ that yer my brother from out of town. Do ya really think that I’m gonna say anythin’ else at this point?” Stan’s brow furrowed.

Ford frowned at the look on Stan’s face. Stan didn’t seem angered at his comment; he seemed...almost nervous.

It took a moment for Ford to consider even why Stan would even be nervous.

Ford sighed and turned to look back at the computer. “Is there anything else that you came here for?”

“Yeah. Mabel said ya...ya wanted ta talk.”

Ford’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, ready to enter his next query into the electronic subconscious of this dimension. He didn’t move, didn’t turn his head.

“I...I know it’s prob’ly not the best time, since yer still gettin’ settled back in, but…” Stan trailed off. “Ya know what, forget it. Ya probably wouldn’t want ta talk ta me until ya kick me out of the house, anyway.”

He turned and stomped off, leaving Ford sitting alone in the library corner, hands still hovering over the keyboard.

He let them drop after a moment. “A sdkl” appeared in the search bar as he bowed his head a little and sighed.

“Great-Uncle Ford?”

Ford lifted his head and looked to his right, blinking a couple times when he saw Dipper standing next to him with a rather large package under his arm.

“I...I just saw Grunkle Stan. Have you--”

“Not yet,” Ford admitted, quietly. “It….” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Do you need a plan?” Dipper offered. “I-I could come up with something. Mabel says that I plan too much for everything, but maybe this time--”

“I appreciate the thought, Dipper, but I doubt that you would be able to help me as much as you would like.” Ford sighed again and shook his head.

“O-oh.” Dipper pulled back a little, putting a hand on the package. “Um…” He bit his lower lip. “I-I don’t know if you’d be up to it or not, but...I-I just got this today and I’ve been looking for people who would be willing to play with me.” He held the package out so that Ford could have a look at it. “Mabel doesn’t want to play because she doesn’t want to think about math, and Soos is more into--”

“Is that Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons?”

Dipper looked up at Ford’s question and saw that his great-uncle was staring at him with an agape expression. “Y-yeah! Do...do you play?”

“Do I play?” Ford gave a short laugh. “‘With pen and paper, shield and sword, our journey is our sweet reward!’ It’s been years since I’ve been able to sit down and play a proper game!” He frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Although, it would be rather difficult to play if we only have the two of us…”

“D-do you think Grunkle Stan could play with us, too?”

Ford sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Stanley never saw much of a point in attempting to play, much less make sense of the game. When we were younger, he thought it ridiculous that charisma was something you had to roll for.”

“Oh.” Dipper’s hopeful expression fell, and he let out a sigh. “Sounds a lot like Mabel. She doesn’t want to think about math very much.”

Something shifted in the bookshelves near them, causing Ford’s and Dipper’s heads to turn sharply.

Ford’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the leg of a blue suit and part of a ridiculous hairstyle.

“Maybe we should be having this conversation elsewhere,” Dipper said carefully.

“Good idea.” Ford vacated his chair and gathered his notes before starting for the library’s entrance. Dipper followed on his heels, game under his arm.

If either one of them heard a child’s voice behind them, they didn’t say anything.

Dipper didn’t speak up again until they were out on the street.

“I-I know you don’t want a plan from me, but...have you figured out how you’re going to talk to Grunkle Stan yet?” Dipper pulled the bill of his cap down when Ford looked over at him. The pine tree symbol on his hat still sent chills down Ford’s spine, but at least he knew they wouldn’t have to make use of the Zodiac with the portal demolished and Bill still on the other side.

Ford sighed and moved his gaze away from his nephew. “I have seen countless dimensions and I’ve defeated many creatures. I will talk to Stanley; the time simply isn’t right for it yet.”

Dipper nodded a little. “Yeah, I know the feeling. But, uh...sometimes it’s just good to go for it, you know? I, uh, I tried to plan how to talk to a girl and how our conversation would go...but I found out that’s not how I should do things. Maybe you should just…” Dipper trailed off and played with his hat. “Just go for it?”

Ford watched Dipper turn his head away quickly again. His brow furrowed as he looked down the street as his thoughts started to turn.

Dipper was essentially suggesting that Ford “wing it.” Ford did not do very well with “winging it.”

At least, most Fords didn’t.

Ford still had his luck -- luck which had done more to help than harm him since he had returned to his dimension. As far as his journal and the way he had returned, at least. He still wasn’t sure about the Fiddleford or the information he was learning about the truth of things, but it sometimes appeared as though he was going to the right direction.

Ford knew it wasn’t a good idea to put complete trust in his unusual luck. People who tried ended up either dying or managing by the skin of their teeth.

He wasn’t going to trust his luck.

Not completely.

Time Break

It turned out that fate did not plan to simply let Ford go about his own way of talking to his brother.

Mabel came into the kitchen with Stan in tow as Ford and Dipper were starting to set up. “Grunkle Ford, Grunkle Stan’s got something he wants to say to you!”

Ford looked up from his dice and character sheet, blinking in surprise. He looked over at Stan, who rubbed the back of his head and averted his gaze from his brother.

“Well?” Ford raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

Stan fidgeted, glanced at Ford, then looked away again quickly. “I, uh…” He sighed. “Mabel, I don’t think I can do this.”

“Yes, you can!” Mabel insisted. “Grunkle Stan, I could stab the tension in this house with my knitting needles. You gotta hug it out!”

“Kid, it ain’t that easy.” Stan shook his head.

Ford went back to his dice and looked at the numbers he’d rolled. He spun his pencil in between his fingers, then sighed and put the pencil down.

“Sure it is! Dipper and I do it all the time, right, Dipper?”

“Uh…” Dipper looked between Ford and Stan as Ford looked up from his dice again. “Mabel, I don’t think what works for us is going to work for them. There’s...there’s a lot of stuff that we don’t know about that they did, you know….” He trailed off and ducked his head as the looks he was getting from the rest of his family.

Ford glanced over at Stan and noticed that his brother was looking at him; the two of them quickly turned their gazes away from each other and focused elsewhere.

Ford found himself staring at his dice again, and at the lousy 1 he’d thrown among them for a possible character’s stats.

Critical miss on social interaction.

Ford sighed irritably. If this kept up, he and Stan were going to be dancing around the subject -- and each other -- for the rest of the summer. If they were going to get things settled now, one of them was going to have to open his mouth and say something.

But what?

Ford wracked his brain for something that he could say to get the conversation started, brow furrowing as he glared at the dice as though he could vaporize them just by looking at them.

“Y’know, Poindexter, I’m surprised ya haven’t started throwin’ blows like ya did when I got here thirty years ago.”

The comment threw Ford out of his thoughts abruptly that he looked up sharply from the dice and looked over at Stan with a befuddled expression.

“I mean, I stole yer name, I stole yer house, an’ I tried ta activate that thing in the basement. Ya...didn’t seem to happy about the fact I still had yer journal, either.”

Ford sighed. “No, I’m not. That information is dangerous -- I’d told you that it needed to be hidden.”

“And if it was so dangerous, why didn’t you just destroy it in the first place?”

“Because not all of it was dangerous.”

“Then you could have just gotten rid of the bits that were.” Stan folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow as Ford’s frown deepened. “Or did you not want to do that, either?”

Ford could see the truth in what Stan was saying, but that didn’t mean he was going to simply let Stan roll over him. “You weren’t in the position I was in, and I couldn’t destroy something that I’d worked so hard on! I spent six years gathering that data! If I had just destroyed it, then I would have had to go through my studies all over again!”

“Uh huh. Then why is it that you were muttering about going to see unicorns last night?”

“Unicorns?” Mabel’s eyes lit up instantly. “There are unicorns here?”

How had Stan heard that? “I require some of their hair to make a barrier around the house in order to keep the supernatural out. There are some things out in the woods that you don’t want to be allowed to rampage in here freely.”

Of course, Ford was mostly thinking of Bill, but he wasn’t about to tell them that.

“Unfortunately, they are incredibly annoying and will only let someone with a pure heart take anything from them.” Ford leaned back in his chair and sighed irritably.

“I’ll go! I’ll do it!” Mabel rushed up to Ford and gave him a wide-eyed, pleading stare. “I’m probably the most pure-hearted out of all of us!”

“She’s got a point there,” Dipper said, nodding in agreement.

“I could make it a girl’s day out and bring Candy, Grenda, and Wendy with me!” Mabel squealed. “CanIgocanIgo? Please please please?”

Ford hesitated, but Mabel’s eyes only seemed to get bigger and bigger and more and more pleading by the second. He sighed. “All right, all right.” He reached into his coat and pulled out his second journal. “You’re going to need this if you’re going to want to find them -- I’ve marked the pages that you’re going to need; only look at those, understand?”

“Okay, Grunkle Ford!” Mabel rushed out of the room before Ford could grab something else from inside his coat to help her defend herself. “Candy, Grenda, Wendy! Clear out your afternoons -- I’ve got something awesome planned!”

“After talking about how dangerous your research is, you just let her take off with one of your journals?” Stan demanded. “Ford, you--”

“I’ve given her something to do,” Ford replied shortly. “The second journal contains spells more than anything else, and they are all encoded to ensure that they won’t be read easily.”

“Gideon probably figured out how to read them,” Dipper muttered. He ducked his head when Ford looked over at him.

“...I highly doubt that Mabel will be making use of such things.” Ford looked back at Stan. He didn’t want to let it slip that he was partially trusting that some of his luck would rub off on Mabel and let her get the unicorn hair he needed.

“Not unless she runs into Gideon, which probably isn’t going to happen if they’re in the middle of the woods,” Dipper agreed. “I trust Mabel. She’ll be okay.”

A part of that statement made Ford want to flinch a little, but he managed to hold back from doing so.

“Besides, Mabel and I have faced all sorts of things so far this summer -- she’ll be fine,” Dipper added quickly.

“Kid, what are you--”

“Yes, I read the notes you added to my journal.” Ford didn’t look over at Stan as he felt his brother’s sharp gaze turn to him. “Although I admit that I am impressed with the fact that you managed to subdue a Gremgoblin, that was incredibly dangerous, especially at your age.”

Dipper ducked his head at that, hiding his face under his baseball cap.

“Grem -- ya know what, I don’t wanna know.” Stan shook his head. “Dipper, ya mind gettin’ out of here for a while? Keep an eye on Mabel or something.”

“Uh…” Dipper looked between Stan and Ford, then nodded and ran out of the kitchen without a word.

Stan stood for a moment, then walked over to where Dipper had been sitting across the table from Ford and sat down. He eyed the sheets and dice in front of him before carefully pushing it towards the center of the table, making sure the dice didn’t turn over.

“So.” Stan folded his hands and rest them on the table. “Ya still plannin’ on kickin’ me out at the end of the summer or not?”

Ford sighed and ran the fingers of one hand through his hair. “I want my house and my life back Stanley. But that doesn’t mean I want you out of either one, either.”

Stan blinked blankly. “Wait. Yer not kickin’ me out?”

“...I’ve seen what the people here think of you. You’ve made such a large mark here that my coming here has caused an uproar. And--” Ford stopped himself, then sighed and turned his gaze away from Stanley.

“...and I’m not sure if I should stay.”

The room was silent.

“Bullshit.”

Ford blinked when he heard Stan swear.

“I drifted for over ten years and I was still able to settle into this place. You really need to learn to take better care of houses, Ford; this place was starting to fall apart even before I started turning it into the Mystery Shack. I know yer keepin’ things to yourself, so I won’t push ya, but really, did you really think a portal was going to be able to help?”

Ford didn’t say anything, but he looked back at Stan. As soon as their eyes locked, something in Stan’s face shifted.

“All right, you don’t want to talk about that either; fine, then.” Stan folded his arms across his chest. “If you don’t want to talk about that, what do you?”

Ford let out an alien curse, causing Stan’s eyebrows to shoot up. “Stanley, do you really expect me to know? I’ve been in other dimensions for thirty years, I don’t know Earth etiquette as much as I used to, and in case you haven’t noticed--”

“Yer havin’ a hard time adjustin’ an’ that’s why yer thinkin’ of leavin’,” Stan finished. When Ford stared at him with a wide-eyed expression, Stan snorted. “Ya really think I haven’t noticed, Poindexter? You’ve jumped at the coffee machine turnin’ on every mornin’ like a shot’s gone off, ya’ve been stayin’ in the basement rather than sleepin’ anywhere else in the house, an’ ya definitely didn’t know not ta give kids weapons.”

“Mabel has a grappling hook, I simply made a logical progression from that to a crossbow!”

“Which was the same one you pointed at my face when I got here thirty years ago, if I remember correctly,” Stan replied shortly.

“Stanley--”

“Not right in the head, yeah, yeah, yeah. You don’t think I know? Ya kinda gave it away when you demanded if I’d come to steal yer eyes.” Stan pointed at his own. “Now, like I said, I won’t bug ya about whatever it is that got ya thinkin’ about makin’ a portal or what ya did on the other side, but--”

“There are other things to talk about,” Ford responded dully.

“Yeah. Starting with what the heck you were thinking when you decided to call me in only to send me off.” Stan slammed his hands down on the table, causing Dipper’s dice to bounce a little. “You wanna know what I thought? I thought we were gonna get back together and do what we always talked about when we were kids! And then you went about kicking me out again!”

“You did not know what I was going through at the time!” Ford snapped back. “I-I thought that the world was going to end if I didn’t do something.”

Stan jerked back a little. “Then why didn’t you tear it apart?”

“It was research.”

“Research schmesearch -- if I were you I would have torn the thing down because my life was more important! You nerds like your books more than your own lives!”

“It’s the one thing we can contribute to society; of course we consider it more important than our lives!”

Stan’s wide-eyed stare took a moment to sink in, as did the words Ford had just yelled across the table. His own eyes widened as he sat back in his chair and groaned, running a hand down his face and refusing to look at Stan.

Stan sighed. “We’re both screwed, aren’t we?”

Ford made a noise that sounded like a mix between a hum and a grumble. This was not how he had been expecting this conversation to --

Wait. Both?

Ford raised his head and looked at Stan oddly. Stan saw the look and raised his hands.

“Oh, no. We’re not goin’ inta that. I’m not buggin’ you, yer not buggin’ me.”

Ford eyed him for a moment longer, then dropped his head again and shook it slowly. He reached into his coat and pulled out a canteen, which he took a swig of.

“I mean, I wasn’ out there for thirty years, but...ya get the idea.” Stan paused. “What’s in that?”

“Something from another dimension.” Ford had honestly forgotten which one it was by now. “It’s strong; I don’t know if you’d be able to handle it.”

Stan rose from his chair and came over, motioning with one hand. “Try me.”

Ford hesitated, but when Stan persisted he reluctantly handed the canteen over.

Stan took a swig of the canteen’s contents and blinked rapidly. “Whoa. That’s strong stuff. How is it ya don’t look even buzzed?”

“When you travel through multiple worlds, you tend to learn quickly that you need an iron stomach.” Ford took the canteen back and hid it in his coat again.

“Geez. And I thought that eating out of garbage bins gave me an iron stomach.”

Ford snorted. “We’re both messed up, aren’t we?” This conversation was going better than he had been expecting it to; he’d thought that they would have gotten into a fist fight by now over one thing or another. The worst thing they’d done was raise their voices at each other.

Was this his luck coming into play? Or was it something else?

Stan didn’t say anything, simply standing near where Ford sat with a confused expression. “So, uh...are the kids gonna come back and see us blubbering like old men?”

Ford snorted at the mental image and shook his head. “I doubt it.”

Stan mimicked the snort. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, uh...I’m gonna go work on some exhibits. If, uh...if ya wanna talk, I’ll be around.” He started to move out of the kitchen.

“Stanley, wait.”

Stan paused in the doorway and looked back at Ford.

Ford hesitated, then shook his head. “There’s a safe trail through the woods that I used to walk in the mornings. I’m planning on starting to do that again early tomorrow. I’d…” He paused, bit his lower lip. “I’d appreciate some company.”

“I don’t do early,” Stan said, after a moment.

“Afternoon, then -- it only takes fifteen minutes, I swear.”

“I’ll, uh…” Stan drummed his fingers against the wall. “I’ll think about it.” And then he was out of the kitchen without another word.

When Dipper and Mabel came back in the early evening, one carrying a chest full of gold and gems and the other soaked in rainbow blood and with rainbow hair in her hands, they found the tension in the house less oppressive than it had been, but still present. That night, after the barrier was put up, Ford didn’t retreat into the basement to sleep, and instead disappeared into the room that had once had the electron carpet -- he noticed absently that the carpet had been removed, but he wasn’t about to go looking for it right at that moment.

He was honestly looking forward to getting some proper rest for once.