#ford likely wouldn't know either of them lol

[cup-o-stars]

Relativity Falls!

Design Concepts (and my unnecessary thoughts):

Excuse the the colors, ig my apps are fighting.

I see Mabel finding success no matter what happens to her, but I really like the thought of her running an insane arts and crafts business in GF. Alternatively, if she fell in the portal, she'd come out acting confident as always, but she probably wouldn't realize how much the constant change and lack of family/stability wore her out until she settled back in. In either case, she's a bit cracked.

Dipper is investigative, but cracks easiest under stress and is not as inherently adventurous as Mabel or Ford- so the portal wouldn't treat him well. If he's not the one in the portal, he'd be into stargazing and real magic to share with people, while also warding tourists away from the dangerous stuff. In general, he'd be an unhappy adult if left to his own devices, lol.

Between Dipper and Mabel, I like Dipper being in the portal more. He's a great protagonist, but as a supporting cast member, he needs to be more insane to match the draw that is 'Mabel taking care of children,' ha. I also love the idea of there being no portal / some other looming threat for these two to struggle with (at least because Hirsche has made it clear that Dipper and Mabel are equally smart, and to me it seems like the portal would reopen way quicker with them), but I didn't plan on posting these and I don't know how my followers feel about me posting lore.

Stanford and Stanley:

Pretty much how they are in canon, but now they're in a setting where they can get over themselves, ha. They aren't quite as mature as Dipper and Mabel were at their age, but after coming to GF, they finally found other people to look out for them. Dipper could be a more emotionally available and level-headed role model (I think having people to take care of is calming for him in turn), and they'd both look up to Mabel as the peak of somebody who knows how to socialize.

Fiddleford:

He's a sweet, southern, farm-raised mechanical engineer just like in canon.

Idk why Fiddleford is in GF (visiting an unnamed grandparent?), but I really like his relationship with Ford in the journal. Following that thought, in this AU, he starts out more of Ford's friend than Stan's, and it's kind of a big deal. Unlike Dipper's arc on learning to be a kid, Stan and Ford clearly struggled a lot with interpersonal relationships / finding security outside of eachother, and that's what I think this AU could be about (it's great they realized they need each other in canon, but the part where they had no one else to turn to is also kinda crazy if you ask me).

Ford gets to meet another smart kid in a weird town, which helps him feel more normal. He has a better idea of what friendship is because of it, but also, since I can't imagine Dipper wanting an apprentice so young/vulnerable/impressionable or Mabel asking only one of the twins to stay- he'd have to come to terms with the fact that he can't live in his dream world forever. (Or maybe the apprenticeship comes from somewhere else, just because the conflict around going back to Glass Shard Beach at all, or sending Stan alone could be pretty good.)

On the flipside, I think Stan's initial jealousy of Ford and Fiddleford's friendship would force him to try finding his own friends / hobbies. I like the idea that he fails at first- and a lot- but Mabel notices his mounting frustration (which he is very keen on hiding), and her consistent and unorthodox support makes him realize he wasn't alone to begin with. He can be more open around her, which makes it easier to open up to others, and then he can make friends without having to pull any tricks. He probably starts with some animals, and then at least gets closer to Fiddleford anyways (I feel like they're both more practical than Ford and value human company more, so they'd bond easier once Stan gets over his personal hurdle).

Anyways- because that was way too much- Mabel's exes are a constant source of antagonists and Dipper is stressed about setting a good example.

(I was more of a Monster Falls fan back in the day, but I can't draw animals, lol)

[localcanadiancreature62]

My Thoughts on Fiddlestan

Okay you people are literally all or nothing with these mfs,like it's either all gut wretching angst or all tooth rotting fluff. So i raise you,"what if it was both?" aka i made them have a good time but they also have Issues ✨. @misteria247 you might wanna see this one cuz i know you love Fiddlestan lol.

So first things first,their first meeting. They would meet soon after the portal incident when Fidds' sanity is slowly starting to slip from the first several usages of the memory gun and he ends up going to Ford's house after having a vague familiarity with the place as well as a desire to make amends with his friend while he still remembers him,only for him to see Stan at the door. A man wearing his best friend's face. Stan lets the guy in while still keeping the ruse of pretending to be his brother after he just faked his death,trying his hardest to pretend that he knows what Fidds is talking about regarding the portal and Ford's time in college.

A few weeks pass,and Fidds get the slight suspicion that he's not actually talking to Ford as "Ford" brushes off his science-y ramblings with "I don't understand" or "I'm too tired to hear about it maybe later",when he knew that the real Ford would know exactly what he's talking about regarding his ideas for modern computers or Schrodinger's cat as well as gladly ramble along with him even if it's 2am at the time instead of ignoring it. He also realizes that "Ford" surprisingly knows nothing about anomalies and either tries to shoo creatures away or just beats the hell out of them rather than studying them whenever they have an encounter with gnomes or something,plus the fact that he gets jumpy whenever an eye-bat appears. Fidds is still sane enough to notice these "tells" and so he confronts the man about it despite Stan already being nervous about not being able to keep up the act. Stan decides to come clean after the southern man literally backed him into a corner while interrogating him about who he is and where the real Stanford is,he explains the truth about Ford's disappearance and that he's trying to fix the portal while having no idea about how his brother's science mumbo jumbo works. Fidds' expression of anger and fear changes into guilt sympathy and even intrigue as he regrets trying to aggressively gouge the man for answers,when the grifter turned out to care about Ford all along instead of selfishly stealing his life for success. He wondered about Stan's relation to Ford and the man explains that he's Ford's twin brother and that they had a rough patch in their brotherly relationship which lead to this whole mess. Fidds then offers to help fix the portal since he's the one who co built it and Stan couldn't be more than happy,although with the condition of no more lies as that impersonation fiasco genuinely scared him which Stan agrees to. They didn't get along at first with Stan's stubborn personality and tendency to tease others at random while Fidds was just really tired and he wanted to get Ford back so that he can get out of this whole mess,but they managed.

Throughout the building of the portal,the two begin to bond regarding their history with Ford and how the man inadvertently screwed them over with his ego. Then talking about how they always felt inferior in comparison to everyone else (Stan with Ford,Fidds with his rough and tumble ranch family who roughhoused constantly while he was a scrawny nerd),discovering that they weren't so different as they thought. Stan ends up taking his partnership with Fiddleford more seriously as he soon realizes that they only have each other,while Fidds starts to humor Stan's teasing and occasional goofing off since he doesn't have anyone else to turn to with Emma may and Tate still refusing contact from him ever since the divorce (just so that Fidds wouldn't yknow. cheat on his wife). They soon become friends who often look out for each other with Stan trying to stop Fidds from overworking himself while Fidds teaches Stan about quantum physics as he tries really hard to understand despite being the "dumb" twin.

Fidds' use of the memory gun becomes less frequent as he didn't have a reason to blast himself with it anymore due to finally having someone that understands his troubles with Ford and the darn triangle feller,no longer feeling as though he had to forget everything as he had someone to talk to about all of this (i mean in canon he wouldn't never went insane if Ford fucking talked to him and explained why he's still going through with the portal with his desperate desire for approval). Stan sees his steadfast love and support be appreciated by someone besides his ungrateful brother,while Fidds sees his unwavering loyalty and handmade gifts be cherished by someone who cares rather than ignored by his egotistical friend.

The fact that the two found someone who cared even when they have their own troubles means a lot to them,this steadfast love and concern was what made Fidds and Stan slowly fall for each other. Stan finally found someone who appreciates him and sees him as worthy even with his many mistakes or occasional stupidity while Fidds finally found someone who won't waste his loyalty and kindness in favor of their own selfish wishes (*cough* Ford *cough*). They're finally happy,after dealing with so much pain. They had their happy ending,or did they? 😏.

While they WERE in a healthy and loving relationship,things weren't all sunshine and rainbows. Stan outright refuses to talk about his problems in fear of being a burden to his nerd plus the emotional walls he put up were too strong even when he tries to be open toward the southern man which always ends in him not wanting to talk about it,meanwhile Fidds opts to metaphorically run away from his issues by using the memory gun to forget every argument and misunderstanding he had with the drifter (which were mostly caused by the memory gun in the first place). Whenever they have a problem with something that the other does that isn't related to the portal,they don't set boundaries they don't talk about it they don't confront the other about it,they do NOTHING.

Fidds slowly starts to go insane again as he starts forgetting about Stan at times with his use of the memory gun whenever they have an argument which is a LOT of arguments as every couple doesn't always agree with each other,he lashes out and has a paranoia episode over either imagining Stan being a stranger that wants to hurt him or him being Ford that wants to take revenge on him for quitting the project which obviously upsets the drifter but he doesn't do anything about it as he cannot afford to lose the one thing he has left because of his dumb problems (little does he know,is that he's already doing it. he's already losing Fidds cuz of his issues). Stan on the other hand,starts treating Fiddleford with the same codependency that he gave Ford with him expecting the hillbilly to always be there for him and always put HIS interests at heart despite the man having his own wants and needs with his Mcgucket Labs project. Thus Fidds is being taken for granted again while Stan is confused and angry over why this hick is ignoring him and trying to abandon him like Ford did (Stanley your brother issues are showing).

It only gets worse in the moments culminating to Fidds' insanity,where Stan doesn't even know who his hillbilly partner anymore while Fidds is completely unaware of the torment he's putting Stan through with his erratic behavior and amnesiac ramblings. Stan was there for the tapes,he was behind the camera with every transition as the southern man told him it was a little experiment regarding the memory gun and he believed that at first only to soon realize that Fidds was literally frying his own brain with that gun after reading his notes about the electricity that erases the memories plus the side effects of prolonged use. By the time Fidds had that car crash,he quit the project again and stopped seeing Stan as he left the drifter alone to fix the portal by himself albeit with more knowledge of how it works due to the various quantum mechanics lessons the man drilled into him. He just needed to figure out the elaborate codes to actually activate it. Stan missed Fidds as he was guilty about their last interaction being an argument about the memory gun and even encountered him but with a new red robe while the man went on and on about some memory cult,but he knew that the man is too far gone for him to make amends with.

Stan then ended up using Fidds' Mcgucket Labs money to support himself but then he realized that it won't be enough as that business was just a start up gig that didn't had the chance to become successful due to the portal and the memory gun,so he had to come up with another way to survive all alone. Then he went to the Dusk 2 Dawn convenience store and saw that everyone was interested in Ford's weird mad scientist house,taking everyone there as he saw that people's interest in the freaky things in that house would make great revenue for him. The Mystery Shack (originally the Murder Hut) was born,and Stan had finally left his life of being a miserable grifter behind. However.. he still saw his Fiddleford rummage in the trash or make killer robots in the news sometimes. He yearns for what could've been yet he shakes his head as he knew what he had with the nerd was currently unsalvageable in his current insane state.

[aeternalis-eien]

Gravity Falls LIVES!

So, just like so many other fans, with the release of the Book of Bill and everything, I've been re-watching the show alot and I've decided to add to the ever growing piles of Gravity Falls Fandom greatness/fun! So here are some of a Head cannons with the Falling Stars AU. *Just a note, I was not in the fandom when it was first coming out, and recently only got to find out about some of the cool AUs out there so that is part of what has caused this lol* For those like me who are learning about some of the cool AUs- Falling Stars is an AU of what if Mabel had been pulled into the portal in EP "Not what He Seems".

Also a note, I have not read book of Bill, the third journal or the comic that was published as I just have not had the chance so alot of this information/stuff I know referencing them, I will admit I got from Tik Tok so bare with me! Head Cannons that I might do one-shots on later:

-Dipper makes his parents give Stan full custody of him and Mabel with child support. The nightmare he has about his parents arguing is regarding how neither of them want either of the twins after their divorce as they find them creep/freaky and would not 'mesh' with their new families. (He could never tell Mabel of what he heard-She knew though)

-Mabel mistook Ford for Stan at first when he saved her from a black hole that was the cause of her being sucked into the portal. She spent hours clinging to him and just sob babbling. (This is also how Ford learned who she was and what likely happened)

-Mabel went into shock for four weeks after realizing what happened and that there isn't a quick/easy way to get home. (She learns to cope by being her 'normal' bubbly weird self.)

-Stan's panic, fear, and freak out in trying to get Mabel back in those early days is what allowed Dipper to not blame him for what happened and actually sit down and hear him out about why he was building the portal. (This would be basically the EP of Tale of Two Stans)

-Dipper has been allowed into Stan's mind/memories with his permission. This started with Stan wanting to regain Dipper's trust and then grew into their search for clues on repairing the portal that Dipper might be able to figure out that Stan couldn't.

-Dipper and Stan spend years trying to get the portal working again, even though Stan forces him to socialize and not stop living his life/existing.

-After Mabel and Ford finally get back, they are able to explain the reason that the portal couldn't just be turned back on due to how dangerous it was. (Back to back uses could rip reality apart fully if not the very planet itself.)

-Mabel acts like her old silly self as not only a coping method but as a way to hold to who she once was, but she can flip on a dime into a serious warrior survival type mode.

-Pacifica and Dipper started dating in high school. Since the weirdness continues in Gravity Falls (and outside it) they grow closer during one of these situations. -Dipper found out that Pacifica is actually really smart, she even ends up joining him and Stan on working on the portal. -She honestly does love Dipper.

-Wendy and Stan ended up 'forcefully' teaching Dipper how to be 'athletic' in their own ways. -Stan got him into boxing and gifted him his own brass knuckles -Wendy got him into parkour and rock climbing. - Pacifica got him into light gymnastics; but he won't talk to anyone else about it.

-Dipper blames himself for Mabel being pulled into the portal and believes that if he had just trusted Stan none of it would have happened.

-Mabel blames herself for getting pulled in, believing that if she hadn't let go of the button she wouldn't have been so easily pulled in and is worried about what has happened to Stan and Dipper.

-Stan taught Dipper how to pick locks as a hobby and 'male bonding' -Pacifica picked it up and is better at it then both of them.

-Dipper took up photography and found that he has the talent and skill to be professional. He started this so that he could continue Mabel's scrapbooks. -Pacifica, Greta and Candy now do a weekly scrapbook day after finding Dipper spiraling at 14 trying to balance his time doing everything.

-Ford made Mabel a digital journal/camera that she can wear as either a watch or a pendant so that she can record/photograph their journey to show Dipper when they get home. -Ford lost hope finding a way home long ago, but he doesn't want her to become like him.

-Greta has become a very popular travel influence/blogger thanks to her royal boyfriend. They are in love and very loyal to each other. -She likes to collect things from her travels to give to Mabel when she returns.

-Candy is on her way to become an internationally acclaimed robotics and prosthetics engineer. -She helps ensure Dipper's protective gear actually works.

-Pacifica has become independently wealthy away from her family due to her skills in finances and stocks. She also handle's Dipper's investments and patents as well as McGucket's. -She basically runs the fiances for the Shack, Stan and Dipper as she claims they are money morons- they are of course. -She has made sure the shack has been kept up and all the work is properly funded for the portal repairs.

-Dipper moved into Ford's old room after a year and a half as he couldn't handle seeing Mabel's things, but couldn't bring himself to move or touch them either.

-Waddles is/has been taken care of by everyone as every single person can't imagine how sad Mabel would be if she returned and he was gone.

-Mabel is known across the multiverse as the greatest matchmaker in any reality. She has made a solid name for herself and brings in 'funds' for her and Ford's travels. -She is even sought out by multiverse royalty for her skills in finding compatible matches that are known to be long lasting.

-Ford calls Mabel Kirk as she left a trail of broken hearts through their travels by no fault of her own as someone 'always' fell head over heels for her; even if she was clueless about it. -Mabel doesn't get the reference.

-After Mabel returns, she has kept in contact with some of the friends she made in traveling with a crystal flower that she keeps safe. When she first got back it looks like she was just talking to herself freaking out Dipper and Stan, but they eased when Ford explained what was going on during a particular heated conversation she was having with someone's who's language is to shout aggressively.

-Dipper grew his hair out because it reminds him of Mabel; he normally wears it tied back or braided when he is working.

-Mabel cut her hair short because it reminds her of Dipper; Ford isn't the best barber so Mabel learned how to do both their hair for him.

-Mabel takes out at least three of Bill's friends during Weirdmageddon herself. Stan is both horrified and deeply impressed.

I'm sure I'll think of more and might just add on to this lol.

I hope everyone enjoys some of my HC!

[acerobot]

Putting Ford in a wandavision scenario is honestly so inspired. Ford loves his niece and nephew so much and has some level of fatherly instincts (seen with him wanting to raise the shapeshifter baby in journal 3) so Bill giving him kids to get attached to is so fucking good.

How do the kids work actually? Are they just figments that bill is puppeting directly or do they sort of function on their own, similar to the beings in Mabel’s bubble?

I'm so glad you like it, anon I honestly didn't think anyone would take interest in this so it means a lot that people are. Those are definitely a part of the reason behind this! Well, loving his Niece and Nephew, I won't claim I've read the third book. But this man Loves his family, straight up pulled a gun on a bus driver so his niece could bring her pig home. Love right there. But yeah, I have a friend describe the kids as Bill providing enrichment for Ford, and I love that dearly lol The kids(I realize I never mentioned their names in the post, so they're Caesar and Dorabella, after Ciphers cause puns) are more like the beings in Mabel's bubble for sure! They do their own thing, starting out as simple personalities and 'designs' that evolve over time. Such as gaining interests in new things they're exposed to, and changing how they act, behave, and even how their body works as they gain new knowledge and everything like that. I'm not sure if I explained that last part very good. I guess an example would be they initially didn't react to pain, so think of them getting hurt in a bike accident or falling, even big injuries like a broken arm wouldn't get a reaction until they learned they should through Ford's reactions and media like books, movies, etc.. A constantly evolving being.

That being said, they are still just a creation of Bill, despite becoming something more than their initial creation both purpose and traits wise. So he can look through their eyes and such to monitor Ford, if needed, but he usually doesn't actively control either one of them, he has other things to do. I can see him doing it sometimes though, or at least influencing their actions to guilt Ford into staying and such. On that last part(Apologies for the long reply anon), being Bill's creations he can also get rid of them at the drop of a hat. And Ford, well, he's AttachedTM. These are his kids despite being fake, they've grown and changed and he Has bonded with them

Unfortunate in that Bill can take them away if he feels as though it would make Ford behave, and also from what Ford has seen it doesn't seem they can leave the little 'bubble' of a town their in. So taking them and running is just not on the table. Very good motives to stay with risk of these kids he's bonded with being essentially erased if he doesn't. I did promise the friend I mentioned earlier I wouldn't have Bill perma delete them tho, so, unfortunately for Bill, he's a little attached himself. Don't let anyone know that. Those kids are theirs, his and Fords, it was inevitable. Not saying he hasn't temporarily done it when he deemed it necessary tho.

[annoyangle]

//so far poll is OVERWHELMINGLY in favor of all caps typing so GUESS WHAT you kids get to read the BLARING ALL CAPS FOR BILL VOICE after all lol

also moderate spoilers for BoB and future portrayal below

Having read the book, the one thing I think I'm going to struggle a little with balancing is the childish/pathetically needy side of Bill. I've always HC'd that Bill gets emotional when he's drunk - had that on board since Weirdmageddon 3 first aired. But _pathetic_ drunk is a new one. Sobbing and calling for his mommy in a baby voice feels almost too pathetic for Bill - at least my Bill, you know?

Same with like 'fussy billy wouldn't drink without his silly straws' or whatever. The implication being that he suffered child medical abuse/trauma in his homeworld is not something I have an issue with tho. The hints of his past have ALWAYS been dark; now we just have another couple of snippets of it. Kids bullied him 'setting fires with his mind', his parents 'tried to snuff out his talents', the silly straw page implies he was medicalized from early on. He is now CLEARLY portrayed in the book as neurodivergent. However, no matter what the canon says, Bill has previously always been written as an ADULT with ADULT cognition levels and so I don't really want to go too deep into like childish regressive stuff. I don't feel like that's the right direction for me.

I also feel shoving him into a mental institution at the end of the book is kind of ... am ambivalent way to attempt to walk back his more corrosive and controversial aspects? Neurodivergence and medicalization is KIND of a hot button in a lot of ways for a lot of people. I can't help but notice Alex's oddly ambivalent tone in discussions about the book in RL, either. You don't have to pay penance for writing mildly subversive content, guy! The Subgenii didn't and neither did the Flying Spaghetti Monster guys! My other HC for Bill is that he's been deeply disappointed with... pretty much everything on a molecular level since he gained 'ascension' to his current form. So that's not too much of a stretch to fit in.

FInally, I am... amused as fuck since my personal HC is that Bill and Ford have been toxic exes since .. .uh... the Search for the Blind Eye website codes were translated?? BUT. I have tried to keep shipping OUT of this account because it's become SUCH toxic discourse on Tumblr and fandom in general, and I don't support anyone 'taking sides' over any ship or another, or harassing each other about which pretend people they like to imagine smooching. So I just shut down all shipping discussion when it comes up. and I really don't care to incorporate that aspect of things too much into my portrayal of Bill. So I am weighing how much to include that whole 'I'm really not over Sixer' thing.

I want to be as canon as possible, BUT. these things make me think.

also don't get it that I dislike the book. I love it!! There's so much good stuff! It's just that I KNOW people are gonna grab the wrong ends of things and use them to beat each other up, and I don't wanna fuel that. At all. Just kinda thinking 'out loud' about some stuff I guess

[allbeendonebefore]

weird question but for the sake of fanfic accuracy, how would ralph and oliver like their steaks? my first instinct for ollie is to say well done lol

also this is my first fanfic so i wanna get their portrayals (mostly for ralph) right, as much as i can at least. how do you think they’d interact when it’s just them? personally i see ollie as very reserved/uptight and i feel like ralph would feel awkward bc there’s lots of underlying tension even if they aren’t arguing plus little things ollie says/does that grate on him even if ollie isn’t trying to piss him off.

ah the steak question, the one i always avoid because steak is my least favourite way to eat beef and i know bertie is like. PASSIONATE. about that. I think he'd raise an eyebrow at well done though, i think he is more a medium-rare/medium sort of guy and he is also a fan of beef tartare so the rawness does not bother him but he also wants that sear on the outside, yknow, like the cook put an effort into the Correct Balance. Well done is like. why are you drying out that poor cow, you might as well be eating jerky. [fellow albertans with steak opinions, please by all means tell me]

How they act together is definitely contextual somewhat but yes I agree that Ollie is generally uptight because that's the way he is around everyone, that's the cost of being the Good British Child and the Public Face - and Bertie has this roulette going that will either land on [high strung, take offense] or [make a show of being So Relaxed] because he's the one that Also gets flack for being the Princess Province from everyone, so he is out to prove (both to everyone and to himself) that he's NOT as high strung as OLIVER even though in a lot of ways he Absolutely is. Like, I will be masochistic and tough in situations I wouldn't be in private just to show him what a Real Man (tm) would do. (a real man may choose to buy heated seats for his truck but is not... he's not soft enough to use them... no sir... unless of course YOU want them on, I GUESS. i almost forgot they were there.)

[and like, the implication is that bert is "At Home" in his Element in the comic, which is a little different than Not Being At Home of course. no i didn't specify which airport they're at... oop. entirely depends on the reason why ollie is visiting which i also didn't specify]

Obviously with [gestures at the background radiation of political bullshit] though I think they are both tired. i'm tired. i'm tired of seeing it im tired of hearing it and we all need a break from political theatre. like yes, tension, its real, it's weighing on everyone, i often use it as fuel to vent when i do dumb comics, but its also like. we are in this same bullshit together, like me and my colleagues back in ON watched ford ripping up and selling off the green belt while kenney and smith are still trying to turn the mountains into open pit mines like "same hat". There's a point beyond "you don't get me!!" where it becomes "you get me...", its like, its this assumption that things are never going to change and the assumption about how one is going to react that is the actual crux of the personality conflict, you feel me? i don't know if this makes sense at all its just something i have been chewing on a lot. chewing on it like a dry well done steak

anyway its like. it would feel odd to me if there Wasn't teasing and jabs but for me there is definitely an ironic feeling to it, like they both understand what is actually going on but it's hard to figure out what to do about it and so they kind of get stubborn and stuck in their ways a little, but at the same time its also like "thanks for coming," "you see what i have to deal with," "i picked an activity i think you'd like (i hope you say so, i'm very proud of it even though i pretend its no big deal, this is me actually being very vulnerable and concerned with your opinion, i hope you appreciate it, but also if you did idk how to respond)" or "i knew you weren't going to like this but you should broaden your horizons and loosen up" hahaha...

(you see why i struggle articulating my thoughts, like, how do you Portray that idk man)

like, i do have more to say and im happy to try to be clearer about what i mean or to give some more specific examples or try to detail what i think the [+/- sims friendship points] things might be or those little grating things, I just need to stop somewhere before i stop making sense altogether hahahaha

[luv4fandoms]

A little info on my OC Ellie Mills

(posting this for my own reference when writing really lol)

𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿 〜 if your oc can drive, what kind of vehicle do they have? do they have a dream vehicle?

Ellie drives a 1968 Ford "Highboy F250 "Survivor". She learned the basics of how to fix cars when she was little from her brother Jason before he left.

𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻 〜 what does your oc wear to sleep? do they have a dedicated set of pajamas or do they just wear whatever?

Honestly she would just wear a tank top like this and underwear. Unless you had company. Then she'll throw on a pair of boxers.

𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗮 〜 if your oc has a bag or a purse, what are five things that’d be inside?

1. Wallet

2. Keys

3. Phone

4. Pocket knife

5. Book

𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 〜 what was one of your oc’s favorite tv shows/movies as a child? do they still enjoy it now?

Tv shows, she loved things like The Addams family, Bewitched, The Munsters, and yes she still watches them. Movies, she loves Desperado and Silence of the Lambs the most and to this day will watch them any chance she gets.

𝘄𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗼 〜 what’s their relationship like with their parent(s)/guardian(s)?

She has a really good relationship with her mom and stepdad, very loving. She doesn't talk to her dad as much since she hasn't seen him in years.

𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮 〜 does your oc have any disorders or disabilities?

ADHD is her worst one, had a hard time keeping her mind on one path. Other than that she suffers from depressive episodes.

𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮 〜 who are some of your oc’s best friends?

She had some friends back home but wouldn't call the close. Her mom is pretty much her best friend. Ellie finds it hard to trust people so she doesn't make friends easily.

𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 〜 describe your oc’s personality

Ellie is pretty laid back and chill. She's more of the motherly type and will take on that role most of the time at family gatherings. Not much of the party/drinking type, is definitely the person making friends with the dog at any sort of party. That doesn't mean she doesn't know how to have fun, but just prefers to be herself around people she knows. Isn't afraid to speak her mind if the situation calls for it, but is usually the quiet one that observes. That being said she's usually the jokester type in her friends group, as well as the one most come to for advice.

𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱 〜 has your oc ever made any choices they regret?

Honestly she would say her ex's but to her they are lessons.

𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 〜 post some images or a moodboard that fit your oc’s aesthetic

𝗱𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗮 〜 post a song or a lyric that fits your oc

Meredith Brooks- Bitch

𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶 〜 does your oc’s name or design reference anything? i.e. music, movies, etc.

Nothing that she can put her finger on, she's kind of a combo of Hobbit, meets woodland witch, meets cottagecore/grannycore.

𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘁𝗼 〜 does your oc have any tattoos and/or piercings? if so, what are they? if not, do they want any?

She has her ears pierced, as far as tattoos she has a feather tattoo that her whole family has on her chest, other than that she has vines,leaves,and flowers going up her arms and shoulders. Stopping at her wrists and chest. Though she would like to get stuff on the back of her hands.

𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗶 〜 is your oc a smoker? (tobacco, cannabis, etc.) if so, do they plan on quitting?

No she doesn't smoke and doesn't really drink either.

𝗺𝗶𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗮 〜 has your oc ever committed any crimes? if so, what did they do? if not, what would they be most likely to commit?

She hasn't committed anything besides maybe ripping music and movies. But crime she's most likely to commit? Honestly she would murder someone to protect a loved one.

𝘁𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 〜 what kind of hobbies does your oc enjoy? is there anything they’ve always wanted to do but never had the time/resources to try?

She enjoys cooking/baking, gardening, crocheting, sewing, embroidery, painting/drawing and writing. Really anything she can be creative in.

𝗺𝗮𝗶 𝘁𝗮𝗶 〜 how was your oc’s life growing up? did they do well in school if they attended? do they have any awkward teenage memories?

Her childhood was very sheltered, until it was all flipped upside down. She went to public school for a few grades but went back into homeschooling eventually. She doesn't really have any awkward teen memories unless she counts her first kiss.

𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗶𝗶 〜 does your oc speak any other language(s)? if they didn’t learn to speak the language(s) when they were growing up, when and why did they learn it?

She only knows a few words in Swedish and Japanese and that is simply from shows and movies.

𝗰𝘂𝗯𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗲 〜 if your oc wears any perfume/cologne, what’s their favorite?

She doesn't really have an all time favorite, but she does prefer more woodsy/floral scents.

𝗰𝗮𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗮 〜 what does your oc’s voice sound like?

I picture her to sound like Rachel Maksy

𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘆 〜 what does your oc consider to be their best feature? alternatively, what’s something they’re most self conscious about?

She really likes her eyes because they are green and she knows that green eyes are not as common.

She is most self conscious about her tummy and breasts cause she has a pooch and small breasts. She's a pear shape, only having B cups and wide hips.

𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗻 〜 what kind of people does your oc hate the most?

Anyone who would hurt children

Anyone who would hurt someone who they deem "weaker than them". This can be a man to a woman, a woman to a man, man to a man or woman to a woman, she doesn't care, it pisses her off.

Toxic controlling people

Manipulative people

Liars

Cheaters

[unwanted-animal]

tag game: stranger things edition

I was tagged by @harringrovest :D

ride or die ship (your otp): Mungrove and WillBilly :3

most annoying ship: ElMike, honestly. They're 14. If I was still with the guy I dated at 14 I'd be MISERABLE.

second favourite ship: Harringroveson and Harringrove

favourite platonic relationship: Stobin

underrated ship: WIllBilly. Let the flayed boys be gay and commiserate together, dammit.

overrated ship: ElMike, again lol

one thing i would change in canon: Bring Billy and Eddie back. I understand the cost-cutting measures, but like. It sucks bricks.

something canon did right: Everything with Erica, and also putting Billy in that slutty red shirt.

a thing i'm proud of creating for the fandom PLEASE BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF I WANT TO SEE/READ YOUR ART: I wrote a Mungrove Mpreg Fic that's 14k words in 12 days. I also made this WillBilly gif and it took me HOURS. Also this Steddilly (Metalsandwich) playlist

a character who is perfect to me (wouldn't change a thing): Billy Hargrove and Eddie Munson

the character i relate to the most and why: Eddie Munson. I am a gay roleplaying metalhead as well so I imprinted on him IMMEDIATELY.

character i hate the most and why: I don't really hate any character, but I'm most dissatisfied with Jonathan and Mike in S4. Jonathan because he's lying to Nancy and Mike because he's just... dull as dishwater, and his obsession with El isn't healthy for either of them at their age. I know that makes me sound ancient but like. Buddy, chill, you're a freshman.

something i've learned from the fandom: The folks who hate Billy are OBSESSED with him, moreso than my gay ass is and that's saying something.

three tags i seek out on ao3: Billy Hargrove/Eddie Munson, AU, Canon Divergent (WHERE THEY LIVE GOD DAMMIT - or meet in the Upside Down)

song i strongly associate with my otp/favourite character: Eddie: Believer, by Ozzy Osbourne. Billy: Trapped Under Ice by Metallica Steddilly (Steve/Eddie/Billy - Metalsandwich): Kiss Me Deadly by Lita Ford

I'mma tag @pocketsizesatan, @343enderspark, and anyone else who wants to do it! (i need more mungrove/steddilly/billy/eddie moots lol)

[the-firebird69]

Friends in High Places #ford #monster #mudbog #offroad #truck #shorts

At 12:00 would be a little bit big but still work and I guess he changed the tires to a street tires and you'd have to put in wheel fenders and it would lower it probably a foot and a half and you have to lower the suspension so it wouldn't fall over it would be wider and you take the whole cab and you turn it into just two seats and it'll be a truck for him and they said why would we do that and he says I don't know it's like Dave Thomas said so they started laughing and said we don't like that guy I said I don't like either one of them they weren't laughing now they were and they said I don't need to step though and then they started to laugh like crazy and then it started to be a joke he says he could use the step since but not really like we have it and they go into it and said what's the difference is that probably a foot down a little more heavy duty and and these immobilized and they said why they said well you have to change that into a two seats and he said who the hell is this going to be for they say your name sort of and he says no way so they want to make one because they want to rig it or something and the answer is probably and we know what to do so he's thinking of something like this and just making the capital huge the top of it would be about 12 ft it says that's too high no that's the height of the house the most bridges are probably 16 ft and you have to wash that kind of stuff and Shaquille O'Neal says it's not really worth it but our son says that you put in titanium roll cage with cutters on the interior that you can't see and he said wow that's pretty Sharp and it's not bad it's an idea but really it'll be a little high up there so you have to lower it a bit but it would still work

Thor Freya

He's going to be really big and he needs stuff that can hold a lot of weight and this would hold him but not that well it's really the bigger trucks that he'd have to get and they don't have to be this high up there but what a radical idea is to bury a cutters inside of the frame and yeah we need those for the ride

Will bill we usually go along they were different pace but they want to see what we come up with they really need us they're telling us too we want to do it we have to he says Ken can help out with his lapena crew That's great he says terrific thanks for the name so there you you're ducking you're hiding you get cover and even though your ass is huge LOL and I want you to shut up he says

Will

Olympus

[starriva]

Tag Game To Better Know You! Send this to people you’d like to know better!

Tagged by @modernday-jay , thank you!

What book are you currently reading?

For pleasure I'm currently on book seven out of a ten on an alien romance series. It's a 7/10, score elevated for world building. I might of started this series a week and a half ago. Now I'm just invested to finish.

If we're talking actual books on my TBR at the moment it's wuthering heights, catch-22, Mormons and the Swastika, your country and my country And I want to re-read cinder from the lunar chronically again.

For school I just finished reading, class of ‘74 and two presidents Fords bibliographies. Wouldn't recommend very boring and honestly the man was out of touch but hey being out of touch makes for very good minority house speakers who accidentally end up president.

Needless to say I read a lot, a lot for school, a lot of newspapers, a lot of trashy romance books and every so often I get an actual good non romance book in the mix. But it is those romance books that resparked my love of reading so credit where credits is due they are very good at emotional investment.

What’s your favorite movie that you saw in theatres this year?

Hands down everything everywhere all at once, that shit made me cry and I bought a second ticket to take my partner to it. Other good movies I saw this year, the new Netflix Pinocchio, the glass onion, Vengeance, and Bullet Train. Some of those are deep, others are just high quality and amusing stories.

What do you usually wear?

If the weather permits I like to wear skirts. Everyone thinks you're dolled up and nice but in reality I'm just lazy.

How tall are you?

On a good day, 5’5.

What’s your Star Sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

I'm a Libra and to my knowledge no but I do have a birthday week with one of my parents though. It's nice.

Do you go by your name or a nick-name?

Just my name, my irl freinds do not refer to me as starriva, just online ones.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

In high school I thought being a history teacher would be cool, not anymore. Bless those brave underpaid soldiers.

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one?

Way past the six year threshold for this one, I love him a lot. He keeps me sane, I adore him.

What’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

I'm very good at understanding the American news/politics lol often times family and freinds ask me to update them and explain why the information I included is important to them.

I'm bad at balancing at yoga. Also emotional regulation, fuck ADD.

Dogs or cats?

I'll probably always have a dog until I die but I'm a cat person though and though.

What’s something you would like to create content for?

Creating content for hetalia wether I post it or not has always made me happy. No other fandom really does it for me…..and it's been years I've tried and accepted my fate.

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

Shitty alien romance. Can't get enough of them, my whole seven week reading streak on KU is because of them.

Edit one week later: finished that series and am now 3/4 on a new one.

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

Trumps inevitable downfall sue either to Desantias or the courts. I'm pacient I can wait more, also same BOTW 2. Hoping for skyward sword references. Pls pls pls.

What’s a hidden talent of yours?

I don't think I've revealed that I oil paint to anyone online. Also I'm a cat whisper, I haven't met one that hates me yet.

Are you religious?

No, raised Mormon picked up one middle school history book and lost the faith. I can understand the values that it can bring into a person's life but I did not find any value in it for me.

What’s something you wish to have at this moment?

Time to oil paint.

Thank you for the request! I would like to get to know people in the fandom but perhaps at a more opportune time.

[female-malice]

Okay... I hadn't actually watched the race before but now that I have... it's so fucked.

I'm doing a lot of Erica discourse because she's been so annoying about this whole thing. But on the other hand, she's the biggest female swimming star at the NCAA tournament. Ultimately, she underperformed at the tournament. She underperformed a bit here in the 500y and she seriously underperformed in her favored event the 1650y. Maybe her training schedule prioritizes international events over NCAAs. But watching this race... there's some other shit going on too.

So rewind to the Olympic 1500m. She was on Ledecky's heels basically the entire race. Which is brutal. Ledecky front loads all her swimming. She bursts out speedy in the beginning, gets out ahead of everyone, then eases into a steady pace. She holds that pace for the rest of the 15+ minute race. But at the Olympics, Sullivan said "okay girl i'm coming with you." She burst out with Ledecky and stayed at her heels for 15 minutes. And they just swam like that.

So Erica clearly swims and sets her pace according to her competition.

And you can see in the NCAA race, she swims in the lane next to Thomas. And she's competing with him and sets pace with him. But when he pulls ahead she's like "oh fuck whatever."

Emma Weyant, her real competition, is not in the lane next to her. There's an obnoxious man with sloppy flip turns and bad swimming technique between them. So Erica Sullivan doesn't know what Emma's doing and she can't compete against her. She doesn't know that Emma's beating her.

“If I lose, I’m going to be (ticked), not because Lia’s trans but because I’m a competitive person, and I’m going to go back home and train as hard as I can. I’m going to be the same amount of angry if Emma beats me, Emma Nordin or Emma Weyant. Or Brooke Forde.”

Obviously she knows who her real competition is.

Erica wanted Lia to compete. But that meant she wouldn't get a lane beside Emma Weyant. So that means she couldn't adjust her race strategy to what Weyant was doing. So now she has to live with this.

Emma knows she just won. I lover her expression lol. The face of a winner. She beat Erica's ass just like she expected to. And if you're wondering, no, Emma didn't bother sharing words of support for Lia Thomas before the race. She's doing her own thing. So of course she won. She understands reality better than her opponent.

Okay that's my thoughts on the race. So let's talk about the post-race handshakes. When you see those, you might think "ugh god! why are they shaking his hand!" So we need to talk about swim etiquette.

The standard race-ending gesture is a friendly hug with the racers on either side of the winner. You never see a stiff awkward handshake like that unless the swimmers are seriously not vibing. Sullivan immediately threw that hand out like "don't hug me, dude." It looks nice to people who don't know swimming. But if you know, you know.

On the right, Erica Sullivan congratulates the winner Katie Ledecky with a big hug. On the left, Erica acknowledges the man who swam in the lane between her and her competition.

I'm pretty sure Emma Weyant was just going to hop out of that pool without acknowledging the man. But Erica did an awkward handshake so Emma was like "fine... I'll do an awkward handshake too." Really, it should be Emma and Erica shaking hands and hugging in lanes side-by-side with each other. But the NCAA had other plans...

[infriga]

Oh, I'm glad you reblogged the WIP tag game because I don't think I saw this post until now! I'm very curious to hear any tidbits you'd be willing to share about Murky Waters. :D

(WIP tag game here, I'm still willing to elaborate on any others I haven't answered yet as well!)

Oh man this one is a bit of a doozy. It was a GF fic that I'd wanted to write back in the midst of my GF days, and I actually started writing it before I wrote 1 Step Forward, 20 Steps Back, but I managed to get a more cohesive outline made for 1 Step Forward Etc that compelled me too much to ignore, and was sucked into writing that instead.

Murky Waters was supposed to be about the younger twins going to stay with the grunks on their boat for the first half of the following summer, to see what kind of stuff they'd been doing out in the Arctic. But then part way through the trip they get involved in some supernatural hijinks which results in them being trapped in an underground labyrinth that they found on a mysteriously appearing sheet of ice that started following them around in the middle of the ocean (yes I know it doesn't make sense for an underground labyrinth to be below a sheet of ice on the ocean, that discrepancy was intentional lol). The idea was that the labyrinth was the prison for some sort of ancient evil entity, and the reason why it trapped the Pines there was because the stuff that went down with Stan in Weirdmageddon sorta made him a magnet for demons. There's a lot more to it, but if I ever decide to get back into writing it if I get into GF as a main interest again then there are some things I don't want to spoil much. Let's just say it was supposed to be a sort of creepy horror/thriller fic about the Pines stuck in a labyrinth while a demon is trying to possess Stan. Might as well make it an annual tradition, right? lol. There was also a prophecy sorta thing involved, because I was trying to work in a bunch of interesting and mysterious foreshadowy symbolism into the mix lol, but that gets a bit complicated and spoilery.

There were a few things it was meant to explore, one was the potential lingering effects of the whole killing a demon in Stan's mind thing, either positive or negative. And I don't just mean like, how it still affected Stan mentally or physically, but in particular how it affected him like, metaphysically. Like maybe it makes him more appealing to other demons, or even attracts them, because Bill sort of carved an easier path in his wake, so to speak, especially with how destructive the method of purging him was. And maybe it also gives Stan some advantages in other ways regarding the supernatural. Stuff like that.

Another thing I'd intended to go into was some of the ways Ford has grown, and maybe a bit of role reversal with him being the one choosing family (specifically Stan) over the greater good. Basically they weren't going to be alone in the labyrinth, and I don't just mean the demon, the person who created the prison would also be there to provide some exposition as a sort of eternal warden, meaning they were stuck there for a long-ass time (kept alive by magic) to power the magic keeping the demon sealed away. Their role would also be to sort of try and convince Ford to agree to a plan that would result in needing to sacrifice Stan to save the world (since Stan would act as a method for the demon to escape and this demon wouldn't be any nicer about it than Bill was, but they could theoretically use the same method they used to get rid of bill, only this time they'd have to kill Stan for it to work because of the nature of the type of demon it is and type of possession and stuff), but Ford would be like "you know what, fuck you and fuck the world, I'm saving Stan. Don't talk to me or my brother ever again"

The other main thing I wanted to explore was the younger twins wanting to help and be involved, but unlike in GF instead of them dealing with a bunch of shit on their own and separately from the grunkles, they actually have to deal with the Grunkles trying to keep them safe and even being overprotective in a lot of ways. The 4 of them would end up having to balance the fact that the twins are children who need to be protected with the fact that the twins also don't want to be useless and sidelined and treated like they're incapable. In the show the younger twins often ended up doing a lot of stuff on their own without the Grunkles being involved, so that conflict didn't come up as much, but I thought it'd be fun to actually see them doing more things together and figuring out how that works when one half is old and experienced and super defensive of their family, and the other half is very young but also very eager to be involved and included and are also going to be super defensive of their family. And of course both sides are equally stubborn. Plus I also wanted to take that chance to do more stuff to develop the relationships between Ford and Mabel, and Stan and Dipper.

A lot of the plot related stuff makes more sense in context, but it was one of the few ideas that I actually wrote something for. I managed to bang out a bit over 10k words of a draft, which I'll include a snippet of under a readmore for anyone who's curious. Keep in mind that this is like 4 or 5 years old, and isn't fully fleshed out or edited, so any mistakes or confusing bits can be blamed on that lol. Fun fact I basically narrated my idea for the entire fic plot to @ancientouroboros at one point on discord, so even though I lost my original notes/outline file, if I ever want to get back to writing it I can always just use that as a reference lmao.

Anyway, here's the snippet from what I'd managed to write before being dragged into writing a different fic:

Their flashlights reflected off of smooth, caramel-coloured walls. The material wasn't something any of them recognized, somewhere between stone and marble, and it extended down in a straight line on either side. The roof however was roughly textured stone. Stan wondered if there was actual earth under the ice or if it was just a design choice. He would probably never know.

He kept expecting to hear water dripping, or the scurrying of whatever small pests might have found their way in. But the tunnel was dry and silent, defying his expectations of creepy underground lairs. The only sound was their echoing footsteps. After a while, the angle of the stairs evened out until they disappeared entirely, and the path came to an end at a T shaped junction. Two separate paths branched off to the sides in either direction, and on the wall directly across from them was a mural.

Fish of all sizes were rendered in intricate detail across the entire section of tunnel, extending endlessly into the dark. The black substance they were painted from gave an almost iridescent sheen to their scales, making them appear so alive that whenever Stan wasn't looking directly at them, he swore he could see them moving in his peripheral vision.

"Great, so is this thing going to be a maze or something?" He grumbled “which way do we go?”

"Okay," Ford said, taking charge for the moment, "we need to be smart about this. If this really is a maze then we absolutely cannot split up, so we have to figure out what sort of method we'll use to get through here and find whatever it is that we're looking for."

"What if we followed one of the walls the whole way through?" Dipper suggested, but Ford shook his head.

"While that is a good suggestion, unfortunately it won't work if any section of this place is detached. When a maze has islands that method is no longer applicable, and we have no way of knowing what this one looks like or where our goal will be situated within it."

"What about that guy who used a ball of string?" Stan asked, which earned him a surprised look. He refrained from explaining that he’d seen it in a movie once.

"You mean Theseus?" Ford asked, "Well it could work theoretically, Mabel even brought her yarn on the trip, but without knowing how big this place is we could run out part way through. An easier option would be to simply draw out numbered markers along our path, but that method could take a very long time depending on the size of this place. There would be a lot of backtracking."

"What if we followed the fish?" Mabel piped up. She pointed cheerfully to the mural, and now that Stan thought about it, they were all facing the same direction, as if they were all heading to the same destination.

Ford hummed, his six fingers drumming on his chin as he considered the wall. "Is it really that simple?" He murmured.

"We could do both." Stan added, "Follow the fish and leave markers. If it doesn't work, we can just backtrack and find another way."

After a moment of deliberation Ford nodded. "Good idea Stanley. If that's the consensus then I suppose it doesn't hurt to try. Without more information we can't really come up with a better idea anyways."

Once Dipper had dug out a piece of chalk from his vest (seriously he was becoming a hoarder just like Ford), they took the right passage, following the lead of the paintings. Every 30 feet or so Dipper used the chalk to write a number on the wall, counting up from one. To find their way back all they'd have to do was follow the numbers down to zero.

For a long time, the path continued uninterrupted, long enough that Stan began to wonder if they'd been wrong about it being a maze, but eventually they spotted another split in the hall. One opening continued straight ahead of them, the other branched off to their right. The mural again decided their path, flowing around the corner to the right, and they followed after it.

More and more alternate paths opened up before them, until it was obvious that they were indeed inside some massive labyrinth. Stan had lost track of how many twists and turns they'd taken up to that point, so instead he chose to trust that Dipper’s markers would be able to lead them back out.

It wasn’t until they were a few hours into the maze that he started to notice that something was off.

"It really is remarkable." Ford was saying, as they made their way through a four-way intersection, gesturing at a device in his hand which he’d pulled out of his pack at some point. "This place looks untouched, as if it's brand new. No dust, no moisture or mold, no fungi, not even any insects or animal droppings, yet it has to be several thousand years old!"

"How do you know that Grunkle Ford?" Dipper asked.

"Well my boy, many ancient cultures have been known to use pictograms when developing their writing. These murals are unfamiliar to me, but the door itself was done in a style that I recognise. I also scanned some of the gold at the entrance, using rhenium-osmium dating to determine its age, and the results confirmed my suspicions!"

"Don't you think you should have brought that up when we opened it?" Stan grumbled. He'd been feeling more and more agitated as the minutes passed by, and every now and then the hairs on the back of his neck would prickle uncomfortably.

"Ah well," Ford sighed, "I only just got the results of my scan a moment ago, and while I recognised the pictograms as very old, to tell you the truth I haven't pinpointed exactly where I recognise them from. So, it’s not very useful information I'm afraid. Honestly, I have no idea how it's managed to stay in this condition.”

"Maybe it's magic!" Mabel chirped. She'd been looking bored for a while and was eager to join the conversation now that something interesting had been brought up. "It appeared like magic, and it kept us here with magic, so can't magic keep it clean?"

"That's an astute observation my dear," Ford replied, "But magic isn't very self-sustaining. A spell usually needs a caster to keep it active for long periods of time, otherwise it will fail shortly after. I can't imagine anyone around here has kept it going for millennia." He frowned, "At least, I hope there isn't anyone still here."

The thought of someone else being down there with them gave Stan the willies, and the strange feeling that had been plaguing him seemed suddenly obvious; he felt like he was being watched.

"Well, if there are people here, maybe they're nice?" Mabel said, ever the optimist.

"I do hope that's the case." Ford replied, his smile kind, but not entirely convinced. Like Stan he was a bit more of a realist, but also like Stan, he couldn't bring himself to discourage Mabel's idealism.

"Hey Stanford." Stan interrupted, "How much longer are we gonna keep walking? We can't exactly go on forever."

"Tired already? I thought your stamina had improved since last summer.” Ford teased, but he did take a moment to consider the question.

"Aww come on!" Mabel let her entire body slump over dramatically as she whined, "It's way too early to stop now!"

"Yeah!" Dipper, agreed. "We haven't found anything cool yet!"

With his nerves already strung tight, for reasons he didn't understand, Stan couldn’t bring himself to be amused by their enthusiasm like he would usually be. "We're not here looking for anything cool!" He barked, and the kids went quiet, looking guilty. Stan sighed. "Look, I get that we haven't gone that far, but it's already evening. When it starts to get late, we'll have to figure something out. We can't march through here all night."

Ford gave him a concerned glance, then looked back at their surroundings, conflicted. "Of course, of course. But we really do seem to be making consistent forward progress. To give that up now and turn back would be..." He snapped his fingers in sudden revelation, "We brought all of our supplies, couldn't we simply make camp down here? The temperature has warmed considerably, so I don't think we'll have too many issues with the cold."

Stan really, really didn't want to make camp down here. The cramped halls, the piercing beams of their flashlights, the oozing flow of the fish in the murals as they gained in size and number further into the maze, it was all giving him the worst kind of vibes. But even if he said something, did they really have a choice? What else could they do? The phones had been useless, the GPS had gone crazy, and even if they managed to fix the boat, there was a good chance they'd wreck it completely by running aground again.

So, he shook off the bad feeling and reluctantly agreed. "But at the first sign of anything funny we're heading back, alright?"

Ford nodded, and his gaze was understanding. They were taking a lot of risks here, especially with the kids, but their options weren't exactly numerous. Stan was usually pretty gung-ho about forging ahead into the unknown, but with Dipper and Mabel here he knew he had to be a lot more cautious.

They continued for a while longer, going further and further into the tunnels. Ford’s tracker gave them a good indication of what direction they were going in at least. Their watches had gone funky too, but Stan had always had a good sense of time (he hadn't always been able to afford watches back in the day, and even when he could they got broken more often than not). It wasn't long before he announced that it was time to set up camp and go to sleep, no if ands or buts.

The younger twins gave their customary groans, even as they pulled out their stored blankets and made pillows out of their packs. The grunkles followed suit, and though they had no way of starting a fire (it would be bad idea to light one in a subterranean tunnel anyways), they made do by setting the flashlights up in pairs on both sides of their makeshift sleeping arrangement.

Dipper and Mabel were tucked firmly in between Stan and Ford, who laid facing outwards, alert to any dangers that might approach in the night. "I'll take first watch" Stan offered, and Ford agreed.

"I can take second watch!" Mabel volunteered, her voice already heavy with sleep.

"No need." Ford replied, "I can take second watch. You two need to rest."

“Well then, I can take third watch...” She mumbled.

“Alright, I’ll wake you up when my watch is over.” He conceded. She didn’t need to know that there were only two watches. The kids closed their eyes, satisfied.

With a customary “goodnight”, Ford wrapped himself up in a blanket, boots and all, and soon all three were snoring away.

Stan was left staring into the darkness. The black substance that had been used to paint the mural glinted as it reflected the glare from their flashlights, even further down the hall where everything else was in shadow. If he shifted his head too much, they looked like blinking eyes. He laid as stiff as a board, refusing to move and give his growing anxiety more fuel. They’d been here for hours without encountering anything, not so much as the whisper of bugs crawling across the floor, or the squeaks of bats nestled somewhere out of sight. The silence was one of the most oppressive things he'd ever felt. Even in the deepest, darkest caverns he'd traversed in the past, he'd never encountered a place so eerily empty. And yet, the feeling of someone or something watching him persisted. He got goosebumps every time his body twitched in discomfort from being tense and still too long, making the schools of hidden fish wink at him in the void.

Even after he'd woken Ford to pass off watch in the middle of the night, he found himself unable to sleep. For a long time, he stared at those dots of reflected light, willing his eyelids to stay peeled open, for his ears to remain alert to any sound beyond their huddled group. But eventually his exhaustion took over, and he fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

[destinyc1020]

Have you seen Darnell’s stories? He’s definitely got himself a man. And they are both FINE.

Also, not sure if you want to open discourse about ~~the dress~~ but I have some thoughts for class discussion LOL

So let’s just agree that Zendaya looks beautiful and fire all the time no matter what. Of course!

I don’t have that strong of an opinion on the Loewe design, actually. I only wish the metal work had complemented the shape of Zendaya’s/the model’s body rather than worked against it, not even necessarily as extremely as the Tom Ford breastplate but just a curve that followed Zendaya’s/the model’s tummy and hip rather than introducing its own random curvature that made the both of them look possibly pregnant?

I think I feel this way because the curvature was like a symbol for the whole ordeal lol. Because the overall impression I got of the dress and the commentary about it was that Law’s OBTAINING the dress just five days after it was introduced on the runway, and Zendaya wearing something so “new new,” was the major point. Sure it was excellent craftsmanship, but that’s true of most atelier work. I guess I come away from the look feeling like it really wasn’t about Zendaya at all. Like it was about Loewe’s vision and Law’s juice as a stylist. That makes sense if you’re putting it on a model whose point is to show off others’ work, but not if you’re putting it on ZENDAYA who was literally showing up to be personally honored. Girl couldn’t even sit comfortably onstage to give her inspirational answers!

Hope some of that made sense.

Darnell looks like he's got himself a new "friend" lol... 😏😏

I'm just happy for him honestly. :) I know he's been wanting some companionship for a while now, so hopefully this is promising for him.

RE: The Dress... Lol.... Maybe it's just me? But I didn't really have a visceral reaction either way to that dress Z wore a the WIF lol. 🤷 It wasn't my favorite look of hers, but it wasn't awful imo either. Idk, I was just kinda neutral about it honestly. My BIGGEST reaction is that it made her look preggers tbh lol!

I've seen Z pull of some crazy fashions in the past before lol, so this one was kind of tame imo. Most runway fashion is kinda ugly to me anyway though lol, so it's not usually about how "pretty" a dress is, but more so about the artistic factor, and I realize this. I agree w/you Anon, Z is Law's muse, so she is like his dress-up doll hahaha.... This look was more about the art than anything else.

I like that Z takes risks with her fashion tbh . It's the same reason why I love Rihanna. They are risk-takers. I have always said that I may not always love EVERY single look Zendaya brings, but I have always admired her courage to be a little daring and try new things.👏 I LOVE that! It's never the same old same old boring stuff with her. She surprises me a lot! I love it! 😃 There have even been some interesting fashions that she's worn that I personally wouldn't wear, but on her, they look fantastic! She usually nails it 90% of the time, so I'm not worried about a dress that was just so-so.

I'm not someone who feels that a woman's worth should be based on what they wear on the red carpet anyway, and so while I can understand not really feeling a dress/or a look (not everyone is going to like everything), I don't really see the need to harp on an outfit that wasn't your cup of tea. If you didn't like it, then cool. Just go on about your day lol. It's not the end of the world. I'm more concerned with her award and why she was being honored tbh lol.

Bottom Line: Hollywood has endured many many MANY fashion faux pas in the past, and will continue to endure them on many celebrities in the future. It's not really a big deal to me. 🤷

[qforqazaq]

Ninety One – Men Emes

Okaaaay, people, here comes a long-awaited comeback from Ninety One that screamed, no, shouted so much culturally significant meta at me I could barely handle it. Ironically, when I was watching reactions to this MV, most people were so bloody oblivious to anything that was happening on the screen that I was painfully restraining myself not to slam my head on the table, but then remembered "oh, right, that's why I'm running this blog in the first place."

Okay, let's start with the video, shall we?

The opening scene is obviously with Alem because if 91's song doesn't start with Alem there's something definitely wrong with it.

Anyway, we have Alem looking like a mo-fo mafia boss, a Kazakh Don, if you like, in an office that's practically littered with KZ references. First, your eyes might catch those weird looking symbols on the desk, which are actually Orkhon-Yenisei runes - a script of Old Turkic tribes aka one of the direct ancestors of Kazakhs - that I was going to talk about for ages, but didn't have a good excuse to. So thank you Ninety One for bringing that up, I can unleash my inner linguistics nerd upon people regarding the subject in a separate post. The runes are actually read from right-to-left (because that's how it works) as "l" and "r", although I'm not sure of their implied meaning here. My theory that means just that: "left" and "right", for whatever deep reason.

So, while you're admiring Alem's outfit and hairstyle as he's showing off his results of perfecting The Stare™ (I had a theory his stares are so intent because his contact lenses keep drying up and it's his attempts not to blink much when cameras are on), you notice not only that Samsung is the main sponsor of this production (is it surprising?), but also that there's a picture of random people on the background, and a funny-looking statue next to the window. Except for that is not a picture of random people, that is actually a photo of the leaders of the Kazakh national movement/autonomy against Communists in the 1910s - Alash Orda, which I'm probably going to elaborate on in another post. For now, I'll just say that these were the writers, poets, social and political activists, the Kazakh Intelligentsia™, who were later prosecuted and repressed by the Soviet regime. Very important addition to the set if you ask me, and very deliberately chosen.

As for the funny-looking statue, that is a miniature "Balbal" of Kültegin or Kül Tigin, who was the General of the Second Turkic Khanate of the same Old Turkic people who used to write in the aforementioned Orkhon-Yenisei runic script. We can talk about it later on, for now, I can only say that 10 seconds into the video and my inner history nerd was screaming very much delightedly at these references. Didn't expect that much meta in such a short amount of time, eh? And we didn't even mention how cigars are allowed now, along with the whiskey-looking tea in a tumbler.

Anyway, then we are abruptly cut to AZ and, shortly after, ZAQ with an eagle. And no, it's not just a "lol, look, a bird", that's the Golden Eagle, a species that was trained and used for eagle hunting by the Kazakh nomads for centuries. Which is why we have it on our flag too. Btw, extra kudos to ZAQ for delivering his lines while having an eagle on his arm without its hood. I would have been more than slightly concerned if I were him.

If you don't know much about that aspect of nomadic life in Central Asia, I recommend watching the critically acclaimed documentary film The Eagle Huntress about Aisholpan - a 13 y.o. Kazakh girl from Mongolia being the first female mastering the art. FYI, it is narrated by Daisey Ridley aka Rey from Star Wars. Watch it.

The scene is black and white, and AZ and ZAQ are wearing suits which look very agreeable.

Then, we have the bridge that is delivered by very blond Bala, which isn't the best look on him in my opinion, but he's wearing a suit too, which is always a good idea. Bala, you must know, has perfected his camera acting and now successfully flirting with it without so much as breaking a sweat. Good job Juz, you know what you're doing.

Now, when we're done sharing niceties, can we, please, focus on the background - which is, of course, all lofty and fiery - specifically, on those symbols carved on the wall? And what are they? Yes, you guessed right: the Orkhon-Yenisei runes, yay. FYI, it says "QAZAQ", in its very palindromic fashion - the meaning here, I assume, is quite self-explanatory.

In one of the cuts we see that Bala is actually there with a dog. And, guess what, it's not just a dog, it's actually a Tazy - the Kazakh national hunting breed, of which, quite frankly, I did not know anything before researching for this MV. See, even I'm being educated here, I feel so enlightened.

After that, we have the chorus, and all five of them are first standing and then walking like a bloody band of gangsters, all suited and effortlessly cool, as if towards an important tét-a-tét with a competing band. My immediate association was Crows: Zero (I'm sure, my fellow Japanese weeboos get what I mean) - lots of shonen swag and badassery. I approve.

In the meanwhile, Bala is showing off his moves, again, very at ease, chill and relaxed.

Chorus moves to the second part of the song with another rap verse from ZAQ. Do you remember that set in the previous black-and-white scene with the rappers? This one is that same set i.e. a carcass and insides of a Yurt - a traditional nomadic portable house used by Kazakhs for centuries. We see ZAQ sitting in what looks like a Khan's throne with battle spears and fur skins of wild animals. And no, nobody is trying to offend animal rights activists and humanists, just trying to showcase the culture here, alright? As you've noticed hunting has always had cultural significance for Kazakhs, and, well, it's survival in the bloody Eurasian steppes we're talking about here, with windy -50°C in the winters you've got to wear something to protect from freezing over, you know.

ZAQ delivers his lines in his usual very efficient fashion, and we cut to Ace walking over to the race track, very stylishly so that it might as well be a car commercial, to a parked Ford Mustang (and, yay, we've got a budget for a nice car now!) that's drifting its tires out in the shots in-between. Did I mention Ace's wearing a suit? I'm telling you, a car commercial.

I have a feeling that a Mustang was chosen deliberately, a subtle shoutout to horses as another culturally significant symbol and animal for Kazakhs. They could've gone for a Ferrari for the sheer visual effect of it, but I suppose Samsung is generous, but not that much.

And then, we have a chorus with a dance break. Interestingly, despite the numerous cuts and camera angles, and even blinding background lights that obscure the view, I did not mind how the dance was shot. The choreography itself is nothing short of cool: very laid-back, effortless, with easy open moves and a masterfully feigned nonchalance. I know I'm using cool and effortless a lot, but what can I do, they are the keywords for this MV. I like those claps btw, remind me of hilarious dances in Kazakh weddings lol. Very ironic. In either case, my compliments to Asiya for her work, bravo.

While you're still getting over the choreography, you're introduced to AZ casually lying among many ladies in night gowns, and yes, we now are allowing this too along with cigars and whiskey-looking teas in tumblers. Don't get me wrong, AZ is wearing a modest pair of black silk shirt with black trousers (can't say the same about his wild tricoloured mess of hair), and evidently still can't take his hands off his nose (he does keep rubbing it), but the whole scene, the wide shot of it, looks so unapologetically hedonistic that it might as well be a Gucci Guilty commercial. Well, Ninety One definitely went all Gucci in this MV, so associations are unsurprising. Scrumptious.

The only cultural reference we've got here is the neon rune "r" on the background when AZ is sitting up.

Then, it goes back to the chorus with the guys standing with more fire in the background. There are other cuts from previous scene including the one with Alem throwing off 10000 Tenge bills with that photo on the back while staring into the camera.

Conclusion? A+ to the production team, especially set designers, Bibotta for the styling, and Yerbolat for knowing what looks good and what doesn't.

All and all, it was a good MV, a good break from artificially colourful secluded studio sets.

Now let's move to the music.

The song starts with, what I thought, those weird sounds from some Japanese instruments, but upon hearing the chorus my immediate reaction was "wait, is it a hip-hop beat from the early 2000s?"

Honestly, it isn't a very pop song. It screams hip-hop, and I dare say, this song was meant to be performed by the rappers only, which was somewhat proven true given that AZ and ZAQ were both writers and composers of Men Emes. Its hip-hop nature shows even in the structure: there are no vocal verses, only a bridge and a chorus performed by the vocalists, and everything else is just rap. And oh my, that's some rap, indeed.

First, can we just address, that once again the rappers of 91 managed to sneak up another controversial line bordering with vulgarity? I am talking about the first two lines of AZ's rap here, those who don't know what I am talking about, ask me about it later. The audacity though, huh. In either case, that got an incredulous chuckle out of me upon realisation. Congratulations, boys, mischief's managed.

AZ was his extravagant self in general, wouldn't say he brought a lot of literary value in this track, to be honest. Well, especially compared to ZAQ (and it is always difficult to compete with ZAQ's lyrics), who's just unleashed the study of "how many words and rhymes with "u" and "ü" sounds I can shove into one rap verse while making it sound intelligible and meaningful." And did so successfully, I must say. Personally was always astonished how masterfully he manages to use the vowel harmony - one of the linguistic traits of the Kazakh language - weaving syllables to the whole other level of wordplay. Lyrically, all cultural references in the MV seem justified, given how ZAQ is lamenting over how "his nation is moving with a snail speed" and such. With this, he is brushing the socio-political problems in the country, it seems. And it is very promising, as in this country high profile artists don't risk doing that.

(Btw, a mention of Surtur was another delightful nod to my inner nerd who loves Norse Mythology, and a reference to Cthulhu was rather amusing. Lovecraft wouldn't've minded.)

I had many problems with voices in this track. For some reason, I couldn't recognise half of them. I only clearly heard Bala, Ace's voice became obvious only when he moved to an octave higher, and I didn't even realise it was Alem singing in the beginning. Was very shocked to know that it was ZAQ, not AZ, rapping with that higher voice in the second part before switching to his usual old school style. We're trying different things, I see, though I wouldn't mind them toning down their tuner game a bit. I know who's singing what now only thanks to the MV.

To sum up, it's a very different 91 song. Not that it's very astounding in its originality with blending different genres in one as you'd expect, but it's probably refreshing to hear something bold, audacious, yet simple, very hip-hopesque circa 2001 from them. It seems they're deliberately trying to diversify their audience throwing a track like that. Which isn't bad at all, I rather enjoyed it. (By the way, those drums in the bridge section sounded almost tribal. Just saying.)

Despite the MV and song screaming "WEALTH", "SWAG", "COOL" and "SUAVE", I do not actually think it was only about showing off. Well, of course, a part of the message was a la "look what I've got in the end, despite all your judgement" with "you're not me" and all that. However, I think it was also targeting and mocking the spoiled kids of corrupt government officials or just corrupt rich "bosses" in general who always act as if rules and law are not made for them. "Yeah, you're cool, but not the coolest, might be rich, but not the richest, and even good-looking but not really. Don't be so full of yourself, you're not the centre of the universe" kind of message. And that imagery of Alem as a mafia boss in his office is juxtaposed with all those cultural artifacts hinting on what is actually more important and valuable, especially with the Kazakh cultural leaders of the 20th century watching from the picture on the wall. And Alem throws those bills as if saying "yes, I'm doing that, but it's just money, so what." Even AZ looks somewhat lost and empty-eyed lying there among girls when he's not trying to convince you how envious you should be right now.

Probably it's me reading too much into this, I don't know, but the MV only amplified the feeling that you've got to read between the lines, it isn't all about bragging.

For now I'll give the MV 9 out of 10, and the song is a solid 7.

Peace out ✌️

[minijenn]

You know, something I thought might be interesting for an Alternate Universe Falls drabble, (either written by you or someone else wouldn't have to be you) would be crossing over into the Drifting Stars AU, the one where Mabel falls through the portal, trapping her with Ford on the other side. It would be interesting, I think, if in the UF universe, that both Mabel and Steven fall in, leaving Ford to suddenly have to take care of them both. (1/2)

So then, of course, there's the angst fest on the Gravity Falls side of the portal, not just with Dipper losing his sister, but with Stan losing yet another family member to this portal, and then also the Gems losing Steven would have them in fits, they can't find him and Mabel because there's no way of telling which dimension they landed in and if there's even a warp pad to it (i lied, 2/3)

But then on the other side of the portal Mabel and Steven have no other way of getting back home 'cause they don't have Lion with them and now Ford's got not one but two kids to look after when he's barely making it day-to-day on his own. But it's not all bad Steven and Mabel get Ford to loosen up just a little and not take himself quite as seriously and Steven's optimism that they'll find a way home is admittedly infectious. idk where exactly i was going with this it just kinda spewed out. (3/3

Ooooo the added SU angle onto this AU is quite interesting! I feel like it would be even more interesting once Ford realizes that Steven is Rose’s son like for reals I feel like he’d just be even more baffled by that in an AU like this than in UF itself lol but still interesting stuff.