#rewired mabel

[dookiespooky]

More rewired mabel bc I <333 her, this one goes out to the pyronica lovers 🔥 EDIT: (pls click for better qwality T-T)

Closeups + bonus lore accurate size mabel under the cut

[snowfall-media]

Henchmaniac Mabel / Rewired Mabel design from @dookiespooky

[localcanadiancreature62]

Woe,the anxious children be upon ye. I decided to draw my anxious Genderswap Mabel/Inverted Falls Michael with @dookiespooky's Henchmabiac/Clown Mabel cuz i found it funny that they're both anxious versions of Mabel loll. Michael's Grauntie Annie takes Bill's place as the evil one that wants to start Weirdmaggedon btw.

[nostalgink]

So does Rewired Ford live in the Nightmare Realm? Was there any kind of portal incident? Does Weirdmaggedon happen?

I’m not really sure if Ford ever has to deal with the nightmare realm. Right now my thoughts are on weirdmageddon! It does happen, probably a little earlier than canon, but I still want Dipper and Mabel to meet their strange Grunkle Ford before hand. I’ll definitely have more for you at some point but I need to sit down and work out a timeline.

I left the crack out of his glasses because I don’t think he winds up in the nightmare realm, but that could change. Honestly as I’m typing this, the two having some one on one time in the other realm could be cool. By cool I mean fucked up because he can mess with Ford’s head more.

Anyways just some rambles. I really don’t know yet. I have so many ideas!!! There’s so many ways this could go honestly.

[ckret2]

Do you think Shapeshifter can make a new face for himself if Mr. What's-His-Face steals it from him? Or would Mr. What's-His-Face's magic somehow prevent him from recreating his face no matter how hard he tries?

That's a fantastic question.

Okay so we know that the stolen face and the body are still magically connected somehow. Mabel's body doesn't suffocate and die while it's missing a face, and it can see what's happening through her eyes and based on that information write messages or signal the people around her. And on the other hand, her face can speak (which needs vocal cords) and blink, look around, and make expressions (which needs a brain), so the connection's clearly going both directions here. The face isn't severed from the body.

We know that the Shapeshifter actively alters its DNA when it shapeshifts. And we know that embryos of different species look very similar early in development; their heads, torsos, and tails start out looking nearly identical before the embryos develop enough to look like their respective species:

which would mean that if the Shapeshifter is accurately altering its DNA to these target species, there would be a set part of its body that's always "the head"—which would mean "the face" is probably always in the same place.

But, it doesn't accurately alter its DNA. Most of the forms it takes are learned from pictures and illustrations—it has no way to know those creatures' DNA. So it probably doesn't work by reading and copying a creature's DNA, but by looking at a creature and rewriting its DNA on the fly to produce a body that outwardly resembles the target. It doesn't turn itself into a clone of its target, it simply mimics it. And so—like moths that mimic predators' faces by growing eyespots on their wings—there's no reason the physical features Shifty is mimicking should grow on the "appropriate" body part.

All the same, most of the time we see Shifty shapeshift, it appears to be converting its body parts into the target creature's same body part—eyes to eyes, head to head, arms to arms, legs to legs, etc. Unless motivated otherwise, it usually seems to rewrite its DNA similarly to how embryos work: rather than rewriting a body from scratch every single time, it falls back on a basic blueprint for body shapes (so that the head is always the head, etc) and then programs the details (pigmentation, texture, hair, clothes) to give it a more "specific" appearance. But, as we've seen, it's not strictly limited to such appearances:

So, here's what I think:

The part of flesh that Mr. What's-His-Face takes, he keeps. And if Shifty tries to transform, say, from human-shape into elephant-shape, then the face that Whatsis has will turn from a human face into an elephant face. This is because Shifty's first instinct is to keep using the same part of its body as a face.

But with deliberate effort, Shifty could turn a different part of its body into a face, and could transfer the part of its body currently serving as a "face" to some other part of its body, like, the back of a hand or something, so now Whatsis just has what looks like blank back-of-hand skin in his collection.

Internally, this would be like rewiring the nerve endings from your face and hand so that they swap places, and now the face part of your brain is receiving signals from your hand and the hand part of your brain is receiving signals from your face. Somebody pokes your cheek and it feels like they're poking the back of your hand. If you're some kind of alien with crazy DNA-altering powers you could do it, but like, it would be really confusing for a while. And I suspect for a while, Shifty would probably keep accidentally trying to use its stolen face as a face again and then going "dangit" and re-shifting its parts around to make something else a face AGAIN.

Shifty might have an easier time just walking around looking like Slender Man with Pale Man palm-eyeballs until it can track down Whatsis and steal its face back.

[honorarysimp]

ARUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

GODDDD THEY JUST DANCE AROUND EACH OTHER. I can tell they care but they’re young and stupid and the history just doesn’t help. You already know the person, you care about them but not enough to go back. Or maybe 👀

I hate Charlie, it’s jealously, but he’d be better for Mabel, maybe 😔 sobbing 😪😪

- 🍝

In a sense, they didn’t know how to stop loving each other so they rewired themselves just to try and move on. Two magnets stuck in limbo.

[arianwells]

hi i just finished mabel season 2 after you sent me an ask recommending it. how do i become normal again. how do i unbreak my heart (thank you it is really good but at the same time i am in complete shambles)

Congrats on rewiring your brain, it's like That now Forever.

[pizza-feverdream]

Wow these are actually good tag game questions. Gotta say reading through I agreed with a lot of your answers but I immediately forgot which ones lol

Here we go

1.) describe yourself through the eyes of a stranger? Scared looking or spaced out, quiet and maybe snippy (if stranger in particular is a customer)

2.) what is a quality you’d like to change about yourself? I wish I didn't get angry and mean when I'm overwhelmed, and I wish I didn't isolate myself instead of trying to make friends

3.) what is your worst potential fear for the future? That's I'll be chronically by myself. And that it'll be my fault for not having learned enough about how to be with people.

4.) which television series do you use as a form of escapism? I could watch Gravity Falls on repeat

5.) share a secret about yourself? I used to have a problem with maladaptive daydreaming, but then I learned I could write instead so I do that now. It feels healthier

6.) if you could choose any place in the world to visit, where would it be? why? I want to go back to Pennsylvania, for various reasons, but somewhere new? I wanna see what Canada is like. In the winter. Even though I'm 99% sure I'd hate it, I've seen snow about twice in my life, and I just want to see SO MUCH OF IT like in the movies? Idk

7.) what advice would you give your childhood self? Don't attach yourself to one person, and not try to interact with anyone else. Also, a lot of the time it feels like you've always been in a panicked, or depressed state, but you gotta remember that it's temporary and had a cause. You're not broken

8.) describe how you envision your ideal life partner? Just someone who is genuinely kind and loves me. Hope that's not too much to ask for

9.) what is your favorite environmental season? why? Winter. Cause that's the only time in Texas we have pleasant weather (60-70 degrees(or 15-20⁰, spiderlad)

10.) what’s one book you’d suggest every person should read? The giver series. Not everyone even knows its a series. It's very well-done, makes you think

11.) what is one song that’s able to bring you to tears? When love takes you in by steven Curtis Chapman. Havent listened to it in SEVERAL years, but that's something my mom used to play a lot and it hits me like a ton of bricks when I hear it in the wild.

12.) describe your best friend? :D Don't have one

13.) what was the premise of your last dream? I think I was at the dermatologist and she was looking at my head and telling me how dumb I was for coming in here, nothings wrong with you

14.) what’s your favorite warm beverage? Apple cider, next question

15.) name one musical album that greatly impacted your life? why? So just this year, I've made MAJOR leaps in like, differentiating myself from my family and figuring out what I like. This has included watching things like dhmis and toh and even anything on Cartoon Network that I previously wouldn't have thought to, or wouldn't have been allowed to watch. Thats also included branching out my musical tastes, and the first example of that was when I stumbled upon Jack Stauber earlier this year. It totally rewired my brain and I've been having so much fun finding things like that and discovering, Hey! I like this stuff! Me!

16.) what’s your favorite form of flattery? When I'll be rambling on (rare) about something I love and the other person is actually listening (extra rare)

17.) what’s your favorite painting? and describe how it makes you feel? I don't remember the artist, but did you happen to see the post circulating about the guy who's paintings looked like bad cgi or something? Those were cool

18.) describe your personal style? This is something else I'm just starting to learn about myself! Just... not enough to describe it yet! :D

19.) what was the last concept that inspired you? This is gonna sound really stupid, but seeing brother sister relationships in media, especially dramatic ones (think dipper and mabel or something similar) is making me want to, and kinda helping me, improve my relationship with MY brother.

20.) who was your very first artistic inspiration? I think the thing that finally REALLY got me into drawing was watching the Loud House, actually. It's not even a style I've ever used, but idk. Made me want to draw (also several different animation youtubers, you know which ones I'm talking about)

21.) how long have you used tumblr for? how has your style changed over the years? I got it this July lol

22.) what was your first cell phone? A little flip phone my mom had to buy minutes for off of cards. Well... is that a smartphone? If that doesn't count, then it was an IPhone 5s. I had that thing for years. It has all sorts of good pictures on it. It's in my room, but the screen is unresponsive, after the little boy I used to tutor went to toss it to me when we were playing online pool together, and it dropped on their concrete floor

23.) what is your favorite fruit flavor? Blackberry or cherry

24.) whom would you resurrect from the afterlife? which 3 questions would you ask them? I would love to meet Bob Ross. I don't want to ask him anything, just vibe

25.) if you could choose only one meal to eat for the remainder of your life, which would you choose? In all honesty, I'm very tired right now and this question is stumping me. Maybe I'll think of something tomorrow (she lied)

26.) which of the 7 deadly sins do you struggle with the most? and which the least? Most, envy. Least, sloth (mostly just cause I feel an all-encompassing, choking shame if I'm not being productive in some capacity)

27.) your latest obsession? and why? The song Mary on a Cross. I've heard it on tiktok ofc, but I actually LISTENED to it the other day and audibly said "oh, this is fantastic" I've listened to it at least 3x a day since. I'm not okay

28.) if you could domesticate any animal as your pet, which would you choose? A squirrel. That would be fun

29.) what’s your least favorite smell? So a couple years ago for my biology class we did a bunch of disections, but even those weren't as bad as the time in that class we blended up peas and mixed them with hand sanitizer. That was 3 years ago and it still haunts me.

30.) favorite mythological creature? and why? It's been a long long time since my pjo days, but I remember liking satyrs

31.) name a scene from a movie that makes you cringe? Anything family related, especially siblings. They CANNOT WILL NOT ever be able to replicate what that's like. It's impossible.

32.) favorite piece of memorabilia you own? I don't really have any? I made a Red Guy crochet little doll thing a while ago but idk if that counts

33.) your personal favorite oddity about yourself? One time a mutual told me in one of those "is the person you rb this from" polls that I was star coded, they said "cause she sees media she likes and NYOOOM she's off to go make fanart" and that has stuck with me

34.) favorite concert/show you’ve attended? I haven't been to any concerts, but when I was like 10 I went to see Frog and Toad the musical. That was fantastic (or I remember it being fantastic)

35.) what’s one thing you would tell to the last person who betrayed you? So far, luckily, no one had betrayed me, but there's someone who thinks they did, and I want him to know it's okay. Really.

36.) your favorite mantra to live by? Adam Savage said in Mythbusters one time "I reject your reality, and substitute my own!" Which I started saying as a joke, not actually taking a second to think about what it means. Then I thought about it, related it to mdd, got scared of it, then realized it didn't have to be about that. I still live by that, but now to me it means that yeah, the world is a shitty place, but I can make it nicer for myself.

37.) do you have any strange habits? When I come back from bringing a customer their food, I'll slap the little number tent thing against my hand, between my thumb and finger. Also, when I put socks on, if I don't turn the socks inside out and shake them off, and dust off my feet, my feet will feel dirty all day. Also I excessively flex my wrists when I get stressed.

38.) what’s your favorite white-noise to fall asleep to? I sleep with a powerful box fan every night, even in the winter

39.) what is your favorite gemstone? why? I've only seen a little bit if Steven Universe, but it made me look up what bismuth looks like irl and. I mean. Look

Wizard of Oz type shit. Lovely fantastic 10/10

40.) how do you choose to cope when you’re upset? I isolate myself, shut out sounds with headphones if possible, and if I feel up to it try to draw

41.) what are you currently trying to accomplish? I need to buy a car, and apply for a different job.

42.) what’s your favorite item you’ve purchased secondhand? I don't do a lot a thrifting, but I've found some decent things at goodwill

43.) describe your personality is only 3 words? Anxious, funny, tired

44.) how is your relationship with your parents? Very good, fortunately

48.) which animal would you be the most terrified to encounter? Polar bears. We watched a docu-series called Soemthjng Bit me. They're TERRIFYING

45.) an instrument you aspire to learn how to play? I don't actually see myself learning, but I used to play the piano and I would like to do that again

46.) relate yourself to one movie character? Paul blart, next question

47.) least favorite music genre? why? Country. You meet people who make it their whole personality down here and it sours it for me

49.) name a public figure you find to be overrated? why? Mr. Beast. I think he exploits people in low places for clout, under the guise of "charity"

50.) what purpose do you get out of using tumblr? It lets me connect to people when I otherwise never have the opportunity to

Let's see.. @mackthecheese @sebwritesstories it's a lot a lot so no pressure

50 Q’s

1.) describe yourself through the eyes of a stranger? 2.) what is a quality you’d like to change about yourself? 3.) what is your worst potential fear for the future? 4.) which television series do you use as a form of escapism? 5.) share a secret about yourself? 6.) if you could choose any place in the world to visit, where would it be? why? 7.) what advice would you give your childhood self? 8.) describe how you envision your ideal life partner? 9.) what is your favorite environmental season? why? 10.) what’s one book you’d suggest every person should read? 11.) what is one song that’s able to bring you to tears? 12.) describe your best friend? 13.) what was the premise of your last dream? 14.) what’s your favorite warm beverage? 15.) name one musical album that greatly impacted your life? why? 16.) what’s your favorite form of flattery? 17.) what’s your favorite painting? and describe how it makes you feel? 18.) describe your personal style? 19.) what was the last concept that inspired you? 20.) who was your very first artistic inspiration? 21.) how long have you used tumblr for? how has your style changed over the years? 22.) what was your first cell phone? 23.) what is your favorite fruit flavor? 24.) whom would you resurrect from the afterlife? which 3 questions would you ask them? 25.) if you could choose only one meal to eat for the remainder of your life, which would you choose? 26.) which of the 7 deadly sins do you struggle with the most? and which the least? 27.) your latest obsession? and why? 28.) if you could domesticate any animal as your pet, which would you choose? 29.) what’s your least favorite smell? 30.) favorite mythological creature? and why? 31.) name a scene from a movie that makes you cringe? 32.) favorite piece of memorabilia you own? 33.) your personal favorite oddity about yourself? 34.) favorite concert/show you’ve attended? 35.) what’s one thing you would tell to the last person who betrayed you? 36.) your favorite mantra to live by? 37.) do you have any strange habits? 38.) what’s your favorite white-noise to fall asleep to? 39.) what is your favorite gemstone? why? 40.) how do you choose to cope when you’re upset? 41.) what are you currently trying to accomplish? 42.) what’s your favorite item you’ve purchased secondhand? 43.) describe your personality is only 3 words? 44.) how is your relationship with your parents? 45.) an instrument you aspire to learn how to play? 46.) relate yourself to one movie character? 47.) least favorite music genre? why? 48.) which animal would you be the most terrified to encounter? 49.) name a public figure you find to be overrated? why? 50.) what purpose do you get out of using tumblr?

[shadowofthelamp]

ford from gravity falls! for the character ask meme :3

How I feel about this character

Ford… my love… I love this brilliant idiot, who doesn’t have the common sense god gave a slug but can rewire a lightbulb to make your skin softer. It’s also one of those ‘fave because I relate’ characters. His issues with having to rely too much on being the smart one because you were seen as a freak by your peers so you tried to impress adults who often didn’t listen? I Feel That. He was so consumed by trying to be ‘the smart one’ that he made it his entire identity, and that’s why he fell for Bill’s tricks so easily. For someone who’s got… idk, maybe an hour and a half of screentime (of the eight episodes he’s in, in one he only gets two seconds of screentime and in another he only gets a few minutes) they pack a LOT into a short amount of time

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Bill. Bill/ford is fascinating as a character study for me, and it was useful as a ‘vent ship’, so to say.  Oh, and Mcgucket!

Also, me. Fight me.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I love content with him and Stan! And Mabel. And Dipper. Just the whole family.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Just liking him as much as I do was a whole Discourse of its own back when the show was still airing because people thought he was abusive. He’s got his head up his own ass, but he had absolutely no manipulative intent towards Dipper. Yes, he shouldn’t have done what he did, but he was trying to do what he thought was right.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

M O R E. I almost wish that the portal reveal HAD been a season 2 finale so we could have gotten a whole season with him, instead of about six episodes.

[dookiespooky]

Idk man i just wanted to draw these two together shdhhsjsjs

Rewired au ford belongs to @nostalgink

[lesbiansanemi]

Ahhhhh ty @girlscience This was so fun!!!!

Doctor Who (listen it just.... nothing better encapsulates the human experience and also it rewired by brain at age 12 it's just Part of me)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (I just recently bought the entire series on DVD and I'm gearing up for a rewatch and reread of the manga and I cannot wait, greatest story ever told fr)

Chainsaw Man (It's one of those stories I can feel in my guts and that's how you know it's a good one I just lakdjflaskjlk)

Demon Slayer (I just relate to so many of the characters and am so so so passionate about them, it genuinely encapsulates the effects of trauma and grief so well, I think)

Madoka Magica (will sob scream cry throw up the tragedy of all tragedies I have a tattoo from it inject it into my veins it makes me feel the full range of human emotions)

What We Do In the Shadows (this one I think will just really showcase my exact sense of humor, not really anything super deep lmao)

Jujutsu Kaisen (Just filled to the brim with some of my favorite themes and characters of all time, and the style of it is something I strive for in my own writing/art)

Gravity Falls (I just loved it a lot when I was younger and it's something that still brings me a lot of comfort, I also connected with it very deeply growing up as a "weird" kid, watching Dipper and Mabel develop and connect with others was very important to me at the time)

And tagging @enevera @girlbossminerva @leggy-grimm @charlottewritesall @jaci-serigala and @revlischarm if you feel so inclined! No pressure ofc

Thanks for the tag @handwrittenheroes 💕Here's 8 shows to get to know me!

Grey's Anatomy

Friends

Schitt's Creek

The Sex Lives of College Girls

The Bold Type

Shoresy

Pitch

Modern Family

Tagging @introvertedperson16 @donttelltheelff (no pressure to play!)

[crossroadsdimension]

Didn’t think I was gonna leave things where I did, did ya?

Putting the chapter under the cut for people too lazy to go over to AO3.

Chapter 3 -- Fishy Stalker

Stan knew that something was up again when Ford came in from the deck for breakfast and was wearing that coral rebreather over his face.

“Disappeared for a midnight swim?” Stan asked dryly.

Ford blinked a couple times, the haze leaving his eyes. He frowned at the rebreather on his face and took it off, then set it on the table and sat down before starting to gnaw on his breakfast -- eggs and pancakes, maybe a tad overcooked but still edible.

Stan put down his fork. “Ford.”

“Hmm?” Ford looked up.

“Midnight swim. Again?” Stan motioned to the rebreather.

Ford sighed, then looked down at his breakfast and started poking it absently with his fork. “I can’t resist it, Stanley. The enchantment’s...rewired my brain somehow. Or-or caused some kind of muscle memory reaction to override anything that I happen to be thinking at the moment or--”

“Hey. We’ll think of something. We’re almost to Gravity Falls; if anyplace is gonna have what we’re gonna need, it’s there.” Stan picked up his fork again. “Now, come on. Eat up. Not exactly gonna be able to do this magic thing on an empty stomach.”

Ford nodded in agreement, then went back to his meal as Stan finished off his and put the plates in the sink. “We should be able to reach Gravity Falls this afternoon. Are the kids already--”

“Two days ago,” Stan replied. “Got a call from ‘em when you were takin’ your nap.”

“Ah.”

“I think Mabel’s torn between thinking your situation’s adorable or terrible.”

Ford’s brow furrowed. “And Dipper?”

“Terrified for you. He’s been digging up myths and books on sirens and it sounds like he doesn’t like what he’s been finding. Nothin’ yet on a reversal spell.”

“Hopefully there will be something in my library that will give us hints as to what could be done.” Ford sighed. “As..grateful as I am that Adeline’s kept the sea monsters in this part of the Pacific at bay, I…I don’t want to think about the fact that I know she can pull me under her enchantment at any time and affect the way I think and act with just her voice, and that when she does...nothing else seems important. It’s terrifying.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Stan repeated. “I’ll take care of steering the ship for a bit.” He moved out of the cabin and onto the deck, patting his brother on the shoulder reassuringly on the way out.

Adeline was leaning over the side of the ship again, near the helm. “Is my pet going to go to sleep?”

“Probably, since you woke him up in the middle of the night. Again.” Stan frowned at her disapprovingly.

Adeline swung herself up to sit on the railing. Instead of the octopus lower half, she had the fish tail that Stan had been expecting to see the first time. “Good. Because I told him to go sleep. I like having him awake when he’s with me.”

Stan grumbled something under his breath that caused the siren to frown. She flicked her tail at him, causing water to sprinkle against his face. He didn’t give her even the slightest hint of a reaction.

She’d done that every few days for the last few weeks; it wasn’t hard to get used to something Stan had grown to expect.

“You’re lucky I’m here to protect my pet,” Adeline said pointedly. “There was a small kraken here last night who wanted to make a snack out of your boat.”

“Uh huh.” Stan double-checked the instruments around the helm. Good weather, good wind, and nothing was being picked up on the sonar. Course, a big thing would end up appearing there later, but Stan was expecting that -- the siren had to go back underwater sometime, and she hadn’t shown that she could grow a pair of legs to stay on the ship.

Not yet, anyway. If she could change from octopus tentacles to a mer tail, she could probably walk around like a human, too.

“I’ll be expecting a thank-you later.”

“Uh huh. Right.”

Stan felt more water get flicked at him. “I mean it, human.”

“Did you really think we wouldn’t have been able to handle that thing on our own?” Stan turned and gave Adeline a pointed look. “My brother’s survived for thirty years fighting off monsters in other dimensions; I spent ten evading the mafia and avoiding getting killed here on land. We’re two grown men who can handle ourselves.”

Adeline frowned at that. “That I find hard to believe.”

“Well, it’s the truth.” Stan turned back to the wheel. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a brother ta get home so that we can reverse whatever ya did to him.”

He was half-expecting the siren to answer, but when he heard the splash off the side of the ship instead, a satisfied grin crossed his face.

Just a few more hours, and they’d be able to get to Gravity Falls and see about fixing Ford’s head.

Time Break

Ford knew there was more going on than just the siren’s song constantly running through the back of his mind. When he woke up hours after breakfast, he felt a strange need to be petted that instantly sent a wave of alarm through him.

Adeline’s spell was working its way into the times when he was aware, and if they didn’t do something about it before it became too late--

Ford shook the thought out of his head and pushed himself out of his bunk. It was something that he would have to discuss with Stan and the others, when they were safely back on land and back in the Mystery Shack.

The thought of solid ground under his feet shouldn’t have caused the chill of worry to run down his spine like it did; some part of his mind silently begged him to stay at sea, to let the rocking waves soothe him.

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, back to the music it had originated from, and made his way out onto the deck.

Stan was alone on deck, standing at the helm. He looked back as Ford approached. “Glad to see you up. I was about ta go in there and wake you up myself when we hit port.”

Ford grunted in response, looking up and down the coast. The song at the back of his mind tried to make him feel uneasy, but he pushed it out of his focus.

“I hope you didn’t think I was going to sleep the day away,” Ford said instead.

“Well, that siren chick said she was gonna make ya sleep; she just didn’t say fer how long.”

“At least I’m able to choose when I want to wake up.” Ford frowned at the sea disapprovingly, and when the song strengthened in his mind, he shuddered.

“Hey. You feelin’ okay?”

Ford pulled back from the railing a couple steps. “I think there’s more going on in my mind than just what she said.”

Stan looked over at his brother worriedly. “Still think we can find that reversal?”

“I should hope so.”

Stan frowned at Ford’s comment, but he said nothing as he brought them up to the docks they were approaching. Three familiar figures were already standing there waiting for their ship to pull up.

Ford dropped the anchor as Stan threw the ropes down and leapt off the side of the ship; only after tying the ship down did Dipper and Mabel leap at Stan for a hug as Ford leaned over the railing on the ship, contemplating leaping off onto solid ground.

The song at the back of his mind once again tried to make him feel uneasy about the idea, but he ignored it in favor of reaching his niblings and leapt off himself.

“Grunkle Ford!” Dipper instantly ran to him. “Are you feeling okay?”

“As...as well as I can be,” Ford replied carefully. He heard a splash somewhere on the other side of the ship and fought to ignore it.

Dipper noticed Ford turn his head slightly at the sound; he took his grunkle’s hand and practically dragged him to the car -- Stan’s old Diablo. It looked like it had been fixed up. “Come on; we can talk about getting that stuff out of your head.”

“An excell--”

Ford winced as the song suddenly went discordant as he left the dock and got onto more solid ground. He gritted his teeth, a part of him wanting to move back and dive into the ocean just so that he could get the damn noise to shut up.

He felt someone push him from behind as he was forced into the back of the Diablo; Stan sat on one side and Dipper on the other as Mabel climbed up into the front next to Soos.

Ford clapped his hands over his ears and gritted his teeth as Stan kept a tight grip on him; the further they moved from the ocean, the more discordant it became; he found himself unable to think other than needtogetbacktotheseaneedtogetbacktotheseaneedtogetbacktothesea--

And then suddenly the discordant sounds stopped, and it settled back into the siren’s song he was used to hearing as Ford came back to his senses with a gasp.

“Grunkle Ford?” Dipper asked, hesitant.

“She’s following us,” Ford said.

Stan stiffened. “You have got to be kidding me. How do you--”

“It doesn’t sound like nails screeching on a chalkboard in here anymore.” Ford pointed at his head. “And I don’t feel like I need to punch and kick my way out of this car to get back to shore.”

The others stared at him.

Mabel chuckled nervously. “Um. O-okay. Grunkle Ford, when Grunkle Stan said you were met and hypnotized by a siren, I didn’t think this would happen.”

Ford sighed irritably, rubbing his temples. “I should have expected something similar. Being dragged underwater and drowned or something similar, yes, but not being considered a pet with a mental leash attached to the sea.” There was a growling rumble in his voice.

“You said the siren’s name was Adeline?” Dipper was paging through a book he’d pulled from his vest.

Ford felt a shudder run down his spine at the name. “Yes.”

“Mermando said she was a recluse who saw humans as creatures that didn’t know what they were doing.” Dipper looked up. “The fact that she’s following us kinda goes against her usual MO.”

“Considering she seems pretty attached to Ford, I think that she just wants him back,” Stan said flatly. “So we gotta get this song outta Ford’s head before it does who knows what else to him other than turn him into a pile of putty every time she shows up.”

Ford didn’t look too happy at the comparison; he sighed irritably instead.

Mabel and Dipper exchanged worried looks.

“That doesn’t sound good, doods,” Soos said. “Hey -- you think this siren is gonna need water sometime?”

“They can’t live outside of water for long, so yeah,” Dipper replied. “She’s basically like an amphibian, but...more fish-y.”

“And human-y,” Mabel added.

“Yeah.”

“So, hypothetically, she could follow the river backwards up the coast to the lake in Gravity Falls?”

Ford heard the song in his head change key.

“I think that’s more than likely,” Ford muttered.

The others looked at Ford again.

“Lock Ford in the basement when we get back to the house?” Soos asked.

“Yup,” the others in the car responded at once.

Ford sighed. “So long as we can get this song out of my head, that’s fine. But we need this spell reversed, or else….”

“Or else?” Dipper repeated nervously.

Ford swallowed. “Or else even without Adeline nearby, I fear her enchantment may overtake me completely.”

The fact that Ford had just admitted Ford was afraid made the tension in the car increase tenfold.

“We’ll figure this out, Grunkle Ford!” Mabel exclaimed with determination. “We beat a dream demon last summer who set off the apocalypse, we can get this fixed too!”

Ford really hoped that they would be able to. Because otherwise, things could end up getting far worse.

[siodymph]

Fiddlefest! Friendship/Family

And here is my last prompt for Fiddleford's month! I just want to say real quick all the stories and art I've seen for this event have been so cool and amazing! Go check it all out on the official blog it you haven't already!

And one last reminder all day today and tomorrow I'm accepting any Fiddleford requests if you have them (I'm also happy to write any fiddauthor or fiddlestan if you like those ships!) After the 7th though I'm moving on!

Thank you so much fr reading all my stories for Marchgucket and I hope you enjoy this last addition! (you can read it under the cut or over on my ao3)

Time seemed to be a fickle thing for Fiddleford McGucket. Years he spent without a memory sometimes only felt like it lasted a few months and now in his first year of remembering it felt like things went so painfully slowly. It might have been due to his recollection perhaps now that he had a stronger grip on time he was more conscious of it.

Or maybe it was because of how much he missed the Pines family. Just before leaving he and Stanford had admitted their feelings for one another still existed and now they were having a long-distance relationship over phones and screen monitors. Stanford and his brother, niece and nephew all promised to be back next summer and Fiddleford found he kept counting down the days no matter how much he tried not to. Today marked the final month before Stanford and Stanley would be back, and a month and a half until the kids came back. It was so close yet so far off.

He thought himself lucky at least, that he had so many people in his life now. To not only miss and know they would be back soon, but also living here with him and visiting all the time.

Every Sunday evening since last summer he’d always been invited down to the mystery shack for dinner and anime with Soos and his girlfriend, Melody. They made a sweet couple and ran the old mystery shack together as a team. And while Fiddleford didn’t often visit the Shack during their working day there was an energy, a welcoming vibe that grew there now that hadn’t really existed before under Stan’s ownership. As for their anime get-togethers, they had started a little pattern after a few happy accidents that had become a tradition now. Melody and Soos would make one half of their dinner and Fidds would bring the second half. If they made sandwiches, Fiddleford would whip up soup to dip’em in. They made meatballs, he’d bring over the spaghetti and sauce. One time they’d cook some pork chops and Fiddleford had brewed up an apple sauce to spread on it. That had been a good one. They’re weekly meet ups were always something he could look forwards to and enjoy. They reminded him a lot of the old family dinners he would have as a kid, potlucks where everyone cooked together and ate together.

Mabel’s two friends, Candy Chiu and Grenda Grendinator, also became frequent visitors. Both of them loved to admire his work with giant fighting robots, Candy had even told him she wished to become an engineer too when she grew up. Fiddleford had been all too happy to start teaching her everything he’d learned over the years. And Candy proved to be a wonderful student, a prot��gé actually. Her photographic memory was amazing to see in person, rewireing panels on her robot purely from memory of how Fiddleford had showed her over a week prior. And she had Grenda both had such wonderful, vivid imaginations it was never dull having a conversation with the two. There wasn’t a single doubt in Fiddleford’s mind that the two girls wouldn’t shake up the world when they got a little older, they had such amazing ideas and he couldn’t wait to see how they made their ideas possible realities in the future.

And then there was Tate. His dear lil’ Tate. He gotten some forgiveness from his son at last. They had a long talk face to face. It had been awkward, uncomfortable and made Fiddleford relive some shame he’d made himself forget for years. But it was an important step in them rebuilding their relationship, no matter how painful it might be. Talking came much easier for both of them the more they tried. And now he lived here in his new home, something which Fiddleford never could have dreamed of before and was grateful for. To truly have this second chance with his son. Tate had grown into a man that reminded him a lot of his own father and uncles growing up. Blunt but honest ad content with their crafts and tasks in life. Them with their farming and hunting, and now his son with his fishing. He loved going out to the lake and watching his son work, listening to him talk about fishing. It was no lie Tate loved what he did.

Tate would always be his son. But he’d found in a way he’d gained another child, almost like a granddaughter to him, as the year crawled by. He’d met her in the shack along with the other girls, held her hand during the Oddpocolypse. But afterwards, after that had bought the Manor from her father he hadn’t seen hat or hair of Pacifica Northwest. That was until one day while he was gardening on the front lawn he saw her milling about the front gate, attempting to spy on him. He invited her in for some tea which Pacifica had begrudgingly accepted. At first she claimed she was only “checking up to make sure he hadn’t burnt the mansion down to the ground yet.” Much to his surprise Pacifica came back for more teas after that, she’d even offered to help him in his garden. He only became worried when like clockwork as soon as the middle school was out she would be at his house and would put off leaving until the sun was in the brink of setting. He’d asked her once if her family was wondering where she was but she’d avoided the question, though she did admit she hated being home alone with either of her parents and she didn’t have any friends in town.

After that Fiddleford kept his home opened to her, though he did try to gently nudge her into at least joining a club at her school. That ended up not working so steadily he’d tried to introduce her to Candy and Grenda when one day all three of them ended up at his house one weekend. At first he’d feared he’d over stepped his bounds when she saw Pacifica grow defensive against the other two girls, walling herself off and putting up the snotty persona she seemed to put on and take off like a mask. But then the three found out the things they had in common rather then all the things that made them different and slowly but surely Pacifica pulled off her mask again and the three became an unlikely trio to visit his house and hang out around town.

One day they were all talking about boy bands and Fiddleford showed them the boyband he first fell in love with decades ago, the Beatles. At first the girls hadn’t believed him, Beatles were a cool hipster thing, not something for geek girls to freak out about according to them. So Fiddleford showed them he few relics from his Beatle-mania days and they’d found it absolutely hilarious. Grenda had joked that in a few years maybe Sev’ral Timez would be a musical revolution too. That had been a fun day, the four of them had tried tracking down the Sev’ral Timez boyband in the woods, they’d even recruited Wendy’s help in tracking them down.

They didn’t find the boyband that day, but instead they found two children who looked identical to Dipper Pines, only their caps had numbers on them instead of blue trees. They told him that they were photocopy clones of Dipper from last summer and the two boys had made a water proof shelter for themselves out in the wilderness. They joined in the hunt for the boyband and later Fiddleford had offered his home to the boys. He knew they were only brief flashes of Dipper’s consciousness, but it appeared that the two had developed their own awareness, something he couldn’t ever remember from his and Ford’s old experiments. They both even developed distinct personalities that had altered not only from each other but also their original Dipper. He felt this urge to protect and care for the boys after that and the two became like adopted kids to him much like Pacifica had become.

The open halls had become much less empty and yawning now than when he’d first moved in with just a knapsack and his raccoon wife to his name. And now on the first Sunday in May he was holding a special Sunday anime dinner, this time in his own manor. In the theater room he recently renovated he was surrounded by friends and family he’d invited over. Excited happy voices all surrounded him and a warm plate of home-cooked food sat on his lap. He closed his eyes, feeling everything all around him.

He couldn’t wait for his boyfriend and his family to come back next month and get to feel this too.

[nostalgink]

Did Rewired Ford use keep Stan alive?

Stan, Dipper, and Mabel are alive, yes!

[dubsdeedubs]

A Diverging in the Wood [2/3]

hi sorry

Summary: Events shift.  History rearranges.  Another horror beyond human comprehension joins the fray during Weirdmageddon. 

Good thing they're on the side of humanity.

[A/N:  I Honestly don’t know how to explain the context to this and it’s been literally half a year since I’ve posted anything for it, but.  Canon Divergence AU for this fic which is just sleeping, I promise.  Features eldritch abomination Stan - it makes sense in context. Kind of.]

[AO3]

To Stanford's complete lack of surprise, hell was freezing cold.

Though a revolutionary discovery to be sure, he had doubts it would stand up to any reputable academic committee. The main issue was, his current location was more accurately described as "Ford Pines' Personal Pyramidal Hell" than the classic Judeo-Christian equivalent. Specifically, traits of demons present were more "horns and cloven feet" than "sixty-degree angles."

Unfortunately, that fact narrowed down the field of concerned individuals significantly. To two, actually - him and his fellow captive, the rather perturbed looking child (?) dancing frantically in a cage hanging from the ceiling. 

Not Ford's oddest roommate experience, but it did make top five.

It was just one of those days. Weeks? Months? Extra-temporal periods of existence?

The worst part about the death of linear time, Ford thought to himself sadly, was the language involved.

He hung there in his chains for a moment that could have been a minute or a year, or anything in between. Not that it would have mattered. There was the occasional squeaking and click-clack of tap-dancing from above, but nothing here changed or grew or learned. This was his personal hell, after all.

Then on a day that could have been any other, a massive black hand reached through the opening to the chamber.

A moment afterwards, the rest of Bill Cipher followed through, folding out like a model ship in a bottle. His single large eye stared Ford down with evident glee.

"Heya, Fordsy!" He chirped. "How's it hanging?"

Bill snapped his finger, and a deafening rimshot echoed throughout the room. Stanford stared back at him blankly, his tongue limp and leaden in his mouth.

The demon let out an exaggerated sigh. "Tough audience, huh? Man, I miss the good ol' days. Just you, me, a meddling research assistant to drive insane, and a world-ending interdimensional portal to build.

You would've laughed at my jokes then," he said sulkily. "Heck, you would've done anything I told ya to do. Anything for your blessed muse - right, Sixer?"

Ford made no reply. There was a dull metallic taste in his mouth, his mind felt dazed and woolen, and there was something inexplicably funny about - well, everything. Who had come up with the interior design scheme for the Fearamid, anyways? Was being a fan of neon rainbow highlights another black mark on the long list of Bill Cipher's sins?

Somewhere on the fringes of Ford's awareness, Bill Cipher narrowed his eye in realization. He poked Ford with one smooth, black finger. The old man shifted slackly in his chains. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me I messed up on rewiring a few synapses or 7,283! How am I supposed to torture answers out of you if ya get to duck out of the consequences?" His glare turned thoughtful. "...Don't suppose you have anything to share about the barrier around this hick town now?"

Ford might not have been in his right mind, not anything close to it, but he knew there was only one way he could respond to that.

"No," he muttered hoarsely. His throat felt sore and his voice came out in a rasp, like he had been using it a lot recently. "Not to you."

"Oh, what a pity!" Bill said, his cheerful tone making it clear that to him, it was anything but. He snapped his fingers with obvious relish, the sound echoing sharply across the otherwise empty chamber.

Sensation rushed into his numb limbs, bringing with it the burning chafe of chains and a bone-deep exhaustion that washed over him with all the force of an ocean wave. He could hear a dim ringing sound in his ears now, and Ford swallowed down a sudden burst of nausea. His entire body felt like one unholy amalgation of bruise and electrical burn.

The briefest of moments later, so came logical thought. Bill was here, in front of him, for the first time in... a while. Their last meeting had ended especially - brutally, which explained Ford's previous - condition.

The most logical reason for the demon's long absence was that, at that point, Bill must have realized that torture by itself was pointless.

Which meant.

Bill would not have returned if he did not have new information, new bargaining pieces, new -

The list of reasons with which Ford could be convinced to bargain at all was short. Specifically, it was limited to three people. The thought of any of them in the clutches of the malicious, capricious chaos god before him chilled him to the core.

There was nothing funny about his situation now, not anymore.

"Why are you here, Cipher?" Ford asked with forced calm, every bit of restraint he could muster used to keep the dueling emotions of fear and fury from his face. "What do you have planned? You know that I -"

Bill let out a shriek of laughter. "You wound me, Sixer! Why can't I just have a nice conversation with an old friend?" The creature leaned closer, eye shining. "Geez, does everything have to have an ulterior motive with you?"

"There is no conversation I want to have with you, Cipher," Ford said shakily, voice barely a whisper. "Do not mock either of our intelligences by pretending I was anything close to a friend to you."

"Eh, friend, unwitting pawn…" Bill waved a large, spidery hand with calculated nonchalance. "Po-tay-toh, po-tah-toh. Don't be so sensitive, pal!"

"You have held me captive, kept me in chains, have tortured me to the brink of death -"

"Brink of? ...Ooh." The triangle winced exaggeratedly. "Oh right. I never told you!

"...W-what?" Ford asked hesitantly, before logic chased him down, pushed him to the ground, and poured a cold bucket of regret over his head and down his shirt. "No, actually, I don't ="

"Yea-ah, about that last part - tell ya what, Fordsy." Bill batted his eyelashes. "I've decided to turn over a, hah, new leaf. Call it making up for having you wait for so long!"

"I said I don't -"

"It's honesty hour here in the Fearamid, folks!" The triangle flung his hands up and out, practically beaming despite a lack of a mouth or real facial features. Glowing confetti burst from the air and scattered all over the landscape.

Then just as suddenly, he was close - too close, his solid black pupil inches away from Ford's flinching face.

"Oh, don't pretend like you're not INTERESTED, Sixer! You've always been a real smartypants, but I KNOW you've got mysteries ya can't figure out. So, HOW ABOUT IT? A little secret to start with, just to give omnipotence a test run?"

There was no doubt for Stanford that - whatever Bill was building up to - was not something he wanted to know. His tongue had already gone instinctively to the roof of his mouth, ready to form the harsh consonant sound of the 'no' that he wanted to, had to say.

But there was a dangerous glint in the demon's single eye, one that made it clear that his question was no question at all.

He sighed. There was a time and a place for everything, and 'enraging a chaos god' was no exception. He still had no idea where or how Dipper and Mabel were. (Or Stanley.) His pride was not worth the safety of his family.

"Fine," Ford said blandly, determinedly keeping all emotion from his face. He refused to give Bill the pleasure of watching him squirm. "A little... secret."

Even without a mouth, Bill gave off the distinct impression of a smirk.

"Weeeell," he drawled, spinning his cane casually. With no apparent process of transformation, he was suddenly dozens of times smaller than before, around the size he maintained in Ford's memories of past dreams. "So. I, uh, miiiiight have taken it a bit too far a time or two with these things."

Electricity sparked around Bill's raised hand in demonstration. Ford flinched back instinctively.

"Y'know. Used a little too much juice, sizzled an organ that shouldn't have been sizzled. Beginner's mistake."

Bill shrugged nonchalantly and stretched out his thin arms in placation. "Hey, but I fixed ya back up, didn't I? Even made a few tweaks, free of charge!"

Ford stared at him silently, expression slack with slow dawning horror.

"What's with the long face? Focus on the big picture here for once," the demon said crossly. "You're alive! C'mon, no thanks for your favorite muse?"

No, this had to be another trick. Gods knew how many of those Bill Cipher had up his metaphorical sleeves. He was trying to - unnerve him, shake him, get him into that precarious mental place where he might actually be thrown off enough to make the mistake Bill had been waiting for all this time.

And the worst part was, it was working.

Already, his thoughts were going places where they shouldn't. Was resurrection even something Bill was capable of? How did that interfere with existing processes for death and life, if they even existed?

And yet... it would make a great deal of sense. Not only did Bill have little to no concept of human limits in regards to survival, Ford highly doubted he cared - not if he had a way of circumventing his mistakes. And, given that most of his own memory consisted of pain and occasional flashes of blue light, there were more than enough gaps in it to draw... damning conclusions.

But… if Bill was telling the truth, what did that mean for him?

Was he just a copy of a copy, ad nauseam, of an original, deceased Stanford Pines? Or was he just a reanimation, not much different from a simple -

Bill was looking at him now through a single half-lidded eye, both hands resting on the handle of his cane, his stare uncomfortably knowing. "Well, Sixer? You, of all people, should know how much I hate it when people make me wait."

As if struck, Ford straightened his back suddenly - and heard, disproportionately loud to his ringing ears, the familiar crackle of aged paper.

Like breaking through a trance, he held one trembling hand to pat the general location of his heart, and there it was - that slightest resistance pressing reassuringly against his chest. It was still there. Despite the decades, despite whatever had happened to him in his current captivity, it was there. He blinked rapidly, trying to dissipate the burning at his eyes.

And just like that, his previous concerns were wiped from his mind.

Ford let out a breath. Of course. He had been being ridiculous.

Bill would not have known about the tattered photograph he kept hidden under his clothing, strapped to his chest - nor would he have understood the significance of it.

Therefore, if Ford really had been remade in a way that departed from who he was before, into something Bill wanted him to be... then the picture would not have the same effect on him. It certainly wouldn't have this effect on him.

"I'm disappointed, Cipher." Ford's voice sounded distant to his own ears. "That bit of information is a waste of omnipotence. But then again, perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised - you also made the decision to tear down the walls between dimensions, effectively end an entire universe, and for what? To have a party?"

Bill bristled, visibly affected by his gibe. "I'll have ya know, Sixer, we've got more time punch here than any other point in existence. This ain't just a party, bucko! It's the party!"

"You're right," Ford said hoarsely. "I am an idiot, Bill."

His captor turned slowly, single eye open in pleasant surprise and baited anticipation -

"But not because I trusted you." He wet his dry mouth. "I'm an idiot because I thought you were ever worth worshipping."

The triangle demon was quiet for a long, long moment.

Regardless of exactly how long it went in linear terms, it was definitely enough time for Ford to review his words and mentally curse himself for mouthing off. There was nothing Bill could do to him that he hadn't done previously. But with his family's survival in the balance, it was an extremely stupid move of him to push an already erratic, capricious creature into -

"Well," said Bill slowly, "well, WELL."

There was a note of deep anticipation in his voice, obvious even as the volume of it climbed to deafening levels. "GOOD OL' SIXER, HUH? I knew there was a reason I liked you more than the other fleshbags. Always jumping the GUN. And here I thought you'd APPRECIATE the build-up! BUT HEY, I SURE DON'T WANNA KEEP YA WAITING!"

He snapped his fingers and the chains holding Ford up disappeared suddenly from around his limbs. There was a heart-stopping second or two of freefall as the world around him blurred and reformed -

- then he landed, inexplicably enough, on what looked to be an oversized therapy chair that - he noticed blearily - matched the neon color scheme of the Fearamid.

Ford lunged forwards on an instinctive attempt at escape before bands of eerily glowing blue substance shot out from the handles and wrapped themselves around his wrists, holding him tightly in place.

"LEMME TAKE A WILD GUESS, SIXER! All ya wanna know about now is how that squishy little family of yours is doing." Bill sat on a stool next to the chair, squinting at a little notepad and pencil he held in his hands. After a moment of deliberation, he burnt them both in blue flame. "BOOORING! WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE GUY I USED TO KNOW, HUH?"

"You did."

Bill ignored him. "I can't even interest you in the solution to the Hodge Conjecture? What about the Computational Theory of Mind? You're KILLING me here, FORDSY!"

"Either tell me what happened to my family, or -"

"Or?" The triangle asked in anticipation, leaning forward. "OR? Tell me, Fordsy, what exactly is it that you wanna do to me? Got another dimensional gun hidden up your sleeves? A muicide detonator strapped to your left ankle?"

"Or bring back the chains," Ford spat. "I'm tired of your games, Cipher. I know what you want from me, and no amount of sidestepping will make me forget it."

Bill leaned back again. If Ford didn't know better, he would have said he looked disappointed. "Oh, don't give yourself a heart attack, Sixer - that doesn't come for a few more decades! 'Sides, honesty hour's still on, and what with me killing linear time, you've still got…" He checked a watch-less wrist. "...eternity!"

Ford licked his stinging lips. There was no question that he had to play along. Especially with Bill dangling his family's fates in front of him like this. There was no doubt that there was something unsaid - something that the triangle was positively raring to share.

He thought through his words for a long time.

"Are they hurt?" Ford asked at last, still wary, unwilling to even consider the other alternative. Dipper had the Journals with him, though in hindsight, giving those books to him was a decision Ford deeply regretted - it was the equivalent of a bright red target on his back. And Mabel had been outside when Weirdmageddon had began, lost somewhere in the woods (and there was another burst of guilt there, because he shouldn't have done… that. Why did he possibly think it would have ended well? This was the second time he had made the exact same mistake.) "Are they… safe?"

"Oh," Bill said dismissively, "Pine Tree and Shooting Star are just fine. From a certain point of view! But they're alive and breathing and doing everything you humans do… just a whole lot less of it."

Ford jerked forward, a movement aborted by the thick bands of cosmic material holding him down. The triangle waved a placating hand. "I'm kidding, Sixer! Geez, talk about not bein' able to take a joke! They're both holed up in that Shack of theirs, and I have to say… real good job on the unicorn hair barrier. Very…" His voice darkened. "Clever. But you always were, weren't you, Fordsy?"

Realization dawned. "...You can't see inside the Shack at all, can you?"

"Never tried!" Bill exclaimed, and Ford knew he wasn't imagining the fact that the dream demon had responded a little too quickly. "Bunch of dinged up humans, huddled up and marinating in their own fluids like time sardines in a can… can I say booo-ring?"

Despite his best efforts, Ford sagged in relief. For all his age and near-omnipotent knowledge, Bill was at his core a childish being. His family was safe, hidden away in the Shack. Maybe powerless, unable to fight back at all against the extradimensional creatures rampaging through the town… but alive and uninjured - because if they were otherwise, Bill would certainly have mentioned it.

"Hey, what's with the hurry?" Ford blinked in slow confusion. "Aren't ya forgetting someone, Sixer?"

Bill shrugged. "Actually, can't say I'm surprised! I mean, you sure have had a lot of experience forgetting about him in the past -"

Ah. Ford frowned. "My brother is safe in the Shack," he said coldly. "Try another one, Cipher."

No, there had been no forgetting involved. Just the simple fact that the kids had been in direct danger and therefore, had been at the foreground of Ford's panic. Stanley, on the other hand, had been inside the Shack the last Ford remembered, and at any rate, could not have gotten far enough from shelter in the few minutes before the start of Weirdmageddon to be in any real danger.

And... while his brother made indubitably unwise decisions, he doubted that even Stan would casually venture out into the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

(...without reason. Which meant, unless the kids had not made it to the Shack immediately and Stanley had noticed their disappearance. Or unless... no, it was stupid - but then, this was Stanley - his brother had gone outside to look for him -)

"Sounding a bit too sure there," Bill remarked, leaning back and swinging his black cane in one fluid motion. "But you've been doing some assuming over there, haven't ya? And... we both know what that does - don't we, Fordsy?"

He wants me to ask him, Ford thought distantly. He wants me to ask him about Stanley.

There was an obvious answer to the question of 'why' - his brother had been captured, or injured, or. But he also understood - as much as anyone could, really - the spiteful polygon of overgrown immaturity before him, enough to know that there was something more here. Bill wanted to enjoy this game, and he was drawing it this long to make up for -

"Well?"

Ford, on the other hand, was sick of playing games. "Cut to the chase, Cipher. What did you do to my brother?" He demanded, rising as much as he count against the binds holding him down to the cartoonishly oversized therapy chair.

"What an accu-sation! I haven't done anything, Sixer." Ford flinched, despite himself. "...For once. Nah, Fordsy, the question you should be asking is, what has your brother done to himself?"

"I don't understand," he said carefully.

"Oh come on - you're smarter than this!" Bill bemoaned, sounding almost disappointed. "You spent ten years in this dump of a supernatural hot spot, you know what kind of things are lurking about in its corners. You knew what you were getting into - oh, don't give me that look, I saw your cute little handwritten guide on fae technical wording." Ford flushed red. "Stan-o, however…"

His tone turned contemplative. "All that knucklehead had was one of your little cryptid diaries and good ol' fashioned desperation. And we both know how dangerous that is in Gravity Falls - don't we, Fordsy? How many things out here would be all too willing to take advantage?"

"My brother isn't an idiot," Ford said flatly. "He wouldn't have fallen for the tricks of - creatures like you. He's better than that."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure - you know what they say about birds and feathers! Tell me, Fordsy - how has your brother been, since you've made it back? Does it feel like coming back home? Or… "

Bill prodded at Ford's chin with his cane, a thoughtful look in his single eye. "Is he different? Not how you remembered him? A - stranger?"

"It's been thirty years," he said dully, leaning his face back and away as much as he could. "People change. He changed. I changed."

"Oh, is that all it is?" Bill exclaimed in mock-surprise. "Or is that just what you're tellin' yourself?"

Ford was quiet.

"C'mon, Six Fingers. I know all about your habit of lying to yourself, but this is ri-di-culous. Before this summer, you haven't talked to - heck, seen - your brother for forty years. And that hour of beating the crud outta each other doesn't count! What's the difference to you between Stanley Pines and some guy off the street, huh?"

Ford refused to meet his eye. "You wouldn't understand," he muttered raspily. The demon went still. "You've never had a fami -"

"I don't NEED to understand!" Bill said loudly - shrieked, really, his one eye wide, as if he was shocked at his own vehemence.

"...No, y'know what, Stanford? I think you're the one who doesn't understand. In fact, I think there are plenty of things you don't understand. ...Good thing I'm here to get you up to speed."

The triangle's physical size hadn't changed - at least, not by Ford's own reckoning - but now, he loomed, his single unblinking pupil narrowed into a nearly imperceptible slit.

"Don'tcha know? Your real brother hasn't been around for a very, very long time, Fordsy."

"...What?" It sounded lame and ridiculous the moment it left his mouth, but there were no words that could be used for the current stunned confusion of Ford's mind. "I don't -"

Bill sighed once, for obvious effect. "Lemme tell ya about an old - pal of mine. Seems a bit overdue for an introduction, considering what they've been up to for the past -"

Then, just then, there was a deafening crunch.

The entire Fearamid shook in a massive jolt of movement. Several chunks of glowing extraterrestial building material cracked off and fell haphazardly from the ceiling, and Bill went abruptly quiet as he dodged to the side to avoid a hit to the eye.

Distantly, Ford heard the sound of demonic screeching and - human shouting?

Bill blinked once, slowly and disbelieving. Then, he swelled, growing twice - thrice - a dozen times his original size, bright crimson red and glowing like a supernova, his eye a glaring gold on black.

"WHAT IS IT N̮͍̠̠͓̻̝͖̬̗̅̄̂̽̀̂̓͊̍͠O̴̪̬̪̬͍͈̐̂̎̌̍̒̿͜W̶̭̹̝̟̱̑͆̉͑̿̇͋̕ͅ?" he demanded to no one in particular, bass voice loud enough to vibrate the leather under Ford's fingers.

The pseudo-therapy chair dissolved like mist, but a massive and inhuman black hand grabbed Stanford from mid-air before he could even mentally register the lack of physical reinforcement underneath his body.

He flinched. Around the two of them, the world distorted and reshaped itself into a room he had long mentally associated with the crackling of pain through his limbs and the odor of burnt cloth (and hair, and flesh, and -)

The walls had holes in them now, brutish and irregular, and through them Ford could just barely catch the occasional blur of fast-moving color beyond them. Color, and something he simply could not make out for the life of him.

Bill hummed in thought, vibrating like a naked wire. "...Huh. Would ya look at that?"

"P-please." Ford hadn't realized it was him who had spoken before his mouth was already open and he was babbling again, words rolling down his tongue and spilling out despite himself because who else in this damn town would storm the stronghold of a chaos god? Who else but - "Bill, please, don't do anything to them -"

"Looks like Truth or Dare's gonna have to wait a few," the demon said, tone light as a feather. Dimly, Ford realized he could see himself in Bill's huge dilated pupil. His reflection's mouth was open in a silent scream. "I've got a rebellion to crush into bonemeal! And who knows… Maybe I can find myself a Shooting Star or a Pine Tree, and then you can finally start making some Independent Decisions - starting with, choosing which one of 'em gets to take your place!"

His fists landed uselessly on the smooth black surface of Bill's cartoonishly simple hand as Ford struggled in his grasp, screaming and shouting and shaking, barely registering the telltale movement of air across his face that meant Bill was moving elsewhere.

Then, somewhere on the fringes of his awareness, he registered the clink of metal - then, the loosening of his bonds as Bill deposited (dumped, really) him onto a hard surface.

Within seconds, Ford had flipped onto his feet. He immediately lunged at the bars that held him back, his six-fingered hands futilely clawing at the huge unblinking eye staring at him in amusement, just a few inches away from his fingertips.

"Calm down, Fordsy," Bill admonished with a sigh, voice loud over a stream of obscenities that had never before been uttered on the surface of this particular version of Earth. "That heart attack creeping on isn't supposed to happen till you're 92, remember? So why don'tcha sit back, make a new friend, and I'll bring your family right back to ya - just like you wanted!"

"If you hurt them," he said hoarsely, "if you touch a single hair on their heads - I don't care what I have to do, what I need to bargain with -"

Bill shrieked with ear-splitting laughter. "Birds and feathers, Stanford!" He exclaimed cryptically, and - unfolded, for lack of a better word, his single eye bursting into flame and a dozen legs emerging from his now pyramidal frame. By the time Ford could react, Bill had already clambered through and out of one of the larger cracks like some oversized demonic arachnid.

He stared forward for a moment, one hand still loosely holding the metal bars of the hanging cage, adrenaline draining as quickly as it had came and leaving behind aches and strains in its wake. Ford felt sick, nauseous, a burning sensation somewhere in his throat that felt nothing like 500 volts of electricity yet hurt just as much.

There was nothing he could do but wait, wait for the world to end because he would not watch those children suffer for his mistakes.

It was… quiet now, without Bill's deafening voice and his own screaming in his ears. Just him and his thoughts, the latter of which were so deafening that he would not be surprised if they had somehow crossed into physical reality.

...As well as, he realized slowly and dimly and with more than a little confusion, the sound of expert tapdancing.

The sound of expert tapdancing, coming from… approximately two feet behind him?

Ford turned around. After a brief moment of quiet confusion, he looked down.

The dancing figure - short, squat, and inexplicably clad in a sailor suit - let out a terrified squeal.  

[drlindamilesblogs-blog]

Moving Past Despair by Embracing Everyday Miracles

by Dr. Linda Miles

“Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.” –Seneca

Do you spend too much of your life trapped in the past or the future?

Are you able to hold the present moment before it slips through your fingers?

Do you experience gratitude for everyday indications that you are alive and well?

The Healing Awe of Nature

In her touching novel

The Snow Child

, Eowyn Ivey explores universal themes of love, loss, faith, and gratitude. She tells the poignant story of a middle-aged couple, Jack and Mabel, torn by their grief after losing a baby and despairing that they’ll never have a family. In a desperate desire for a fresh start, Jack and Mabel move to Alaska. The harsh yet exquisite beauty of the raw Alaskan wilderness inspires them to cherish moments as they rediscover the magnificence and everyday miracles of life.

In one of the book’s most quiet yet memorable scenes, Mabel pauses to appreciate a moment as she expresses her gratitude for life’s “miracles.” She likens “the present” to a snowflake, given its intangibility, temporary nature, and exceptional beauty.

“She could not fathom the hexagonal miracle of snowflakes formed from clouds, crystallized fern and feather that tumble down to light on a coat sleeve, white stars melting even as they strike. How did such force and beauty come to be in something so small and fleeting and unknowable? You did not have to understand miracles to believe in them, and in fact Mabel had come to suspect the opposite. To believe, perhaps you had to cease looking for explanations and instead hold the little thing in your hands as long as you were able before it slipped like water between your fingers.”

The tale follows the couple’s growth and re-connection as they rediscover the beauty of the world surrounding them, illuminating a powerful and stirring message of the power of mindfulness and faith. In the beginning of the story, Mabel is preoccupied by the past and by the loss of her child; her healing begins once she becomes aware of the intoxicating landscape that surrounds her—and of the appearance of a lovely fairy-like child who appears from the woods, apparently sculpted out of snow, and who reappears and disappears like memories do.

How Mabel Did It

Mabel fights and ultimately overcomes her grief by practicing mindfulness, albeit inadvertently, and by training her brain to see, hear, and sense everyday miracles. Her path towards healing and fulfillment parallels the points of our NOW acronym.

Notice. As Mabel began to notice the beauty of her surroundings in the present moment, she actively opened her mind to perceive the miracles of nature and life.

Opportunities. Mabel seized an opportunity to strengthen her character and heal her heart by opening her mind to the possibilities of the present moment, choosing consciously not to dwell on the past or to be tormented by the uncertainty of the future.

Within. In doing so, Mabel was able to go within herself to see how her past tragedy prevented life in the present.

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”                                                                           –Charles Dickens

The Path to Mindfulness

Your brain is what constructs your reality, based on the input from your senses. Sound waves and light waves, for instance, are converted into inner images and processed as experiences. If you are preoccupied by inner images from the past or of the future, you miss the sentient present. Although you think that your brain is providing you with a vision of an objective reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Neuroscientists have shown that we mold and decipher what we see according to our personal preconceived notions.

The good news? The brain constantly rewires itself—so you have the power to reframe and reshape your reality.

Through the practice of mindfulness, we can train our brains to consciously filter in everyday miracles through our senses—such as the sight of blooming flowers, the fragrance of the ocean, or the caress of the wind. The deliberate focus on the present moment through your senses signals to your brain that it can feel safe and grounded—and this in turn helps it secrete “happiness chemicals” like dopamine and endorphins.

Your Turn

One of the easiest and most effective ways to reconnect with life is simply to take a stroll through nature. But not just any sort of stroll. Not a preoccupied, walking-but-not-really-seeing-ahead-of-me stroll. A mindful stroll. A conscious, 100%-in-the-moment stroll.

Spend some time each day enjoying a mindful walk. Let your attention drop into your senses and absorb the abundance of sensations bombarding you. As you walk, notice what you see, hear, feel, and even taste. Instead of focusing on your racing or interrupting thoughts, deliberately choose to notice your present surroundings. Gently return to the details of the now.

Raindrops... sunlight... flowers... leaves... snowflakes... the feel of the ground beneath your feet... the sensation of your arms swinging as your walk... the feeling of the fresh air against your face.

These are the little things in life, which are truly the magnificent and big things. You will find that the more grateful you are, the more you will have to be grateful for. Open up your mind to the life around you. Take time to inwardly express gratitude for the miracles of nature. By practicing this faithfully, you will master the art of attuning your senses to pay attention to the present.

“We never know what is going to happen, do we? Life is always throwing us this way and that. That’s where the adventure is. Not knowing where you’ll end up or how you’ll fare. It’s all a mystery, and when we say any different, we’re just lying to ourselves. Tell me, when have you felt most alive?”                                                                           –The Snow Child