#several people have asked me how old these three are in relation to each other

[zeropro]

Who's the youngest between the three seekers?

[archives-of-a-hidden-writer]

Dog

Recruiter / Salesman X GN!Reader

》Typing... |

》 [Entry No.006 - Dog] |

》 Loading Archive Entry "Dog" |

》 Location of Entry: Archivial's |

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》 Summary: Where instead of meeting Gi-hun as expected, you got to him first in the motel, and now, you are the one playing his game. Though, you have your own cards up your sleeves. In which, instead of dying in his own game, you decided to change how the ending of his supposed life goes from this point and onwards. |

》 Warnings: SPOILERS TO SQUID GAME SEASON 2 EPISODE 1, Use of weaponry(guns), Russian roulette, large change of story, possible OOC, Implied Master/pet, degradation(questionable, reader tells recruiter same lines gihun did originally), Reader is observant of their surroundings, Implications of stalking. |

》 Archive Entry Loaded ◇

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You panted as you approach the pink motel, immediately taking notice of the light signage above emanating a pink hue. He's here, you thought as your phone ran with Gi-hun name written on the screen.

"He's here..." Is all you said as you slowly entered the motel, all you can here from your phone was Gi-hun saying okay and the sound what seemed to be him speeding up his car before the call was ended.

For context, three years ago, you were also one of the people who was recruited to be in the games. But unlike the rests and Gi-hun, you didn't took the over and discarded the card somewhere in your bag, completely forgetting about it until you met Gi-hun who's in seemingly stress trying to find a so-called salesman recruiting people to these games. The two of you knew each other due to relations with Gi-hun's former wife and kid, but also for helping him out at times like his friend does.

It was when he asked you to help him find this salesman once again, showing you the very same old card that he got before that reminded you of your own, trashed somewhere in your same old bag, in which you found again.

The look in Gi-hun's face when he realized you just dodged the very same bullet he and other players' hadn't, a look of utter shock and surprise that was soon changed as he realized he now could have an ally because you, too, was almost recruited.

■■■

Slowly, you opened the door to the room Gi-hun works around, his room, and was greeted by the very same recruiter you gave you the card those years ago. The man turned around to meet not Gi-hun but you. Your eyes didn't fail to noticed the slight widen of his eyes before quickly covering it under his facade.

"You two have been busy... Look at all of this," he whistled, smiling as he pointed the gun around the map Gi-hun had on the wall, several stations crossed out and marked. "... Real busy, thanks to you..." You muttered back, standing tall as if he and his gun doesn't phase you one bit.

As he wandered around the room, smiling all throughout, you remained silent, as if eyeing him down like prey before he sat down on the chair pushed onto the wall. In this room, the atmosphere between the two of you, between who is prey and who is predator, is in a blender of a mix.

"You know... We should be thankful for you... Or my friend, Gi-hun, wanted to thank you," you started, swinging your head back as you sat down as well, chair opposing to his, the only gap between the two of you is the small round table.

The man raised an eyebrow to this, "Yeah? For what?" He asked, leaning back on the chair he sat, a faint smugness on his face.

You can almost curse out loud at the small and silent actions he could pull at you.

Answering his question, you just shrugged, "Can't tell, not my tale to tell..." you answered, to which, he returned with another smile.

"All I did was extend the invitation. I'm just a delivery man," he said, to which you responded quickly, "And to which, my friend wishes to know who hired you to do this... He wants a little chat," you replied, leaning over as you glared at the man.

"Tell me what he wish to know or tell to them, I'll gladly share it with them" he replied, earning a no from you, "No, we're not doing that...." you said as you shook your head. "Well, even if I or he told you, an underling like yourself wouldn't understand it," you added, leaning back with a grin on your face.

He lightly chuckled, but there was an underlying sense of irritation in his voice. "How did you think I got to where I am?" He asked me, tilting his head as he looked at you dead in the eyes.

"I don't really give a fuck on how you become their damn lapdop," but one hell of a fine lapdog, you thought to yourself after you commented on his question, "And you know damn well, what we, no, he wants is your master," you added, pointing at the man.

He then hummed at this, bringing the gun he held back up, "Do you think your special just because you rejected playing and befriended the latest winner?" He asked, tsking as he takes in the loaded gun and checked its cylinder.

You didn't answer his question, of course, as the two of you had different views yet a similar understanding answer.

The gun clicked, its cylinder going back in as he pointed it at you. "Why don't we play a game?" He asked you, pulling the trigger only to came out empty.

You now knew what he wishes to play.

■■■

He smiled, he didn't get through you as you pulled the trigger towards your head.

Russian Roulette, a known yet dangerous game that revolves around gambling your life in the cylinder of the held gun.

You went first as the gun pointed at you when the man spun the weapon. You pulled the trigger, of course. Then, you both took turns pulling the trigger.

It was when something shifted in you when the man leaned forward during his turn, taking the gun and placing its barrel in his mouth. He looked at you straight in the eyes before pulling the trigger. Emtpy as he smiled with the gun barrel still in his mouth.

Despite denying, that action made you feel something, and you know damn well it isn't appropriate.

And now, at the final round, where the last two rounds would decipher who would die or live, rather than the expecting burst of anger to point the gun at him instead, forcing it to be his turn and yours next, you pulled the trigger at yourself, ignoring the underlying attempt to get your anger get the better of you. Yet that didn't happen as you tossed the gun back to him, the weaponry sliding across the table before stopping right in front of him as he slowly took the gun. And once again, you didn't fail to notice the slight shift in his eyes, the way they moved as he realized that he lost in his own game.

"What's wrong? Mind beginning to race?" you asked him, throwing his own words back at him.

"You really think I'm that easy to get, you must've thought I was a coward when I didn't participate the games, did you?" You started, mocking him as you leaned away, gaze eyeing him down like prey.

"... But the thing is... I listened to my gut, and my damn gut told me to leave it be, do not participate... And so I fucking didn't," you sneered, pointing and tapping your fingers at the table seperating the two of you.

"And you know what my gut tells me right now?" You asked, tilting your head. It was as if the way he acted transferred to you, and how you once was transferred to him. "My damn gut tells me how much of a damn fucking dog you are to them... You put your little mask on, and do whatever damn those masters tells you to... As. Their. Damn. Dog."

You stopped for a moment, taking in the unknown and unfamiliar emotion weitted across his features. One that you may tell as defeat, shame, and fear, not of you, but of death.

"And another thing my gut tells me..." you started again. Although, this time around, things are slightly different.

"Is that you're fucking in love..." you said, taking in the way his eyes twitched in shock, stopping himself to look surprised to no avail. "Don't even try to hide it, I've seen you and your dirty games behind my back," you started again.

Ever since that meeting at the station, you couldn't help but feel like someone is often watching you, yet you never tried to show that you're aware. But in the corner of your peripheral vision, he was there. No matter where or when, he would be there, watching you, whether it was from the sidelines, in cafes or stores, or in bolder times, passing by you.

You grew to notice him even more up to this point where in the past months, his seemingly stalking presence had been absent. This which somehow weirded you out.

And now, you knew why.

"I've seen you, until these months, where I've now known that you've been recruiting others again..." you said, shaking your head.

You spoke your words while he stared at you, a visible awestruck in his face. He didn't realised you were onto him this whole time, and he thought you were fairly easy to stalk around. Oh how wrong he was about you.

Noticing his face, you smirked, "So... Admit it, you love me, ever fucking since that meeting at the station," you said. And there, he smirked, you won and he lost in his own game.

Then, he finally spoke.

"I love you,"

Then, he quickly pointed the gun at his chin, a loud shot echoed in the building. Yet there was no blood. Now, you held him by the wrist, the same one that held the gun, with the item now pointing away from his chin and now at the ceiling. He was quick, but you could be as well.

A look of shock was evidently written all over his face as there you were, basically saving his life from the meant punishment of his game.

"Now, let's not go there... I have other things to do for you, dog..." You laced out a seemingly fitting nickname for him as you yet to know his actual name. You slowly removed the gun off his hand as you slide your own in his, intertwining the fingers as he somehow subconsciously does as well. Meanwhile, your other hand hovers over his face, fingertips lingering over the skin of his cheek and jawline before you leaned forward. With this, you whispered.

"Let's start over, shall we?"

■■■

"Are you sure you don't want to go also?" Gi-hun asked as he and some group of guys went into vans to execute Gi-hun's plan.

You shook your head at his question, "This is your plan and goal, not mine... I'm not the one who participated anyway," you answered, silently giving indication that I already have gotten what I went for in the first place.

Gi-hun nodded to this, patting my shoulder before entering the car and drove off, followed by the two vans which had the groups of men.

You watched as the vehicles drove away before entering the motel again, to which, Gi-hun gave you the building for the time being of their plan. You were fine about this of course, now that you have the wanted man with you now.

■■■

Head resting in your chest, the man remained in spiral. He was suppose to be dead, yet here he was, alive just because of you and the mutual feeling you both feel for each other.

"Still in thought?" You muttered, one hand on his back and the other on his hair.

He just hummed and nodded in return, earning a scoff from you, "What? Afraid shit like this with me would go on only for you to be killed by them?" You asked him, earning a shrug from his shoulders.

Despite only a day, if not mere hours, after that game, the man easily melted under you, not the facade he wore like before, no, this was somehow a raw version of himself.

"Got a tracker in you or something? We can easily remove it," you added, gaze up at the ceiling as you do so. He hummed to your words, feeling him fiddle over the hem of your shirt.

After which, both of you just decided to stay in and sleep, forgetting everything surrounding the two of you and worrying about them tomorrow.

For now, you wish to just spend the time with this loose screws of a man for now.

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》 Archiver's Notes: For any reader who is wondering, yes, this entry is slightly inspired by another writer. Though I can't tell who it was as I didn't manage to check the username, this is inspired by theirs. Feel free to tell their username or the entry(fanfic) name.

[thevoidstaredback]

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

"Hey, Babs,"

"Dick? It's late, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"I'm about to go on patrol, D, can this wait?"

A sigh. "No."

"What's wrong?"

"Blockbuster's after Oracle."

***

Gotham Proper is a thirty-three minute drive from Bludhaven. The drive to Bristol from Bludhaven is a fifty-one minute drive through Drescher, Burnside, Sumerset, Victoria Place, and Little Stockton before crossing the bridge over Gotham River into Bristol. Gotham Proper is made of four islands connected to each other and the mainland via several bridges. Technically, all of those cities and towns - as well as Charon and Brentwood - are sister cities like Bludhaven, but everyone counts them as a part of Gotham anyway.

Dick spent the entire drive alternating between sulking and panicking.

Danny would know. Ghosts, as he's come to understand, are beings made of emotion, meaning that he can sense emotions better than living beings. Though, he didn't need an empth ability to read the air around Dick.

'What if something happens while we're gone?" Dick asked for the nth time in the past few minutes, "What if Brutale decides to blow something up while I'm gone? What if Blockbuster starts something big?"

"Bigger than what he's already doing?" Danny didn't bother to look up from his conversation with Tim. "The fact that you can't even name specific examples proves that you're not actually worried about Blockbuster or Brutale."

"I'm worried about Brutale blowing something up, thank you very much."

"Yeah, 'something'. Who even is Brutale anyway? I don't think I know that name."

"No one you need to worry about." He moved into the right lane.

Danny turned his phone off and set it face down on his leg. "What are you really worried about, Dick? I've known you for five weeks now, and I've never seen you this worried about anything."

"You've known me for three weeks."

"No, you've known me for three weeks. I've known you for five weeks. And don't change the subject."

Dick sighed, running his left hand through his hair before dropping it back onto the steering wheel.

"Is it Bruce?"

"...yeah."

"You know he's at work, right?"

"Yeah, I- How do you know that?"

He waved his phone a bit. "I checked with Tim. So, it's just going to be Tim and Alfred at the Manor when we get there."

"You know Alfred?"

"I know of Alfred." Danny slapped his right shoulder, "Stop trying to change the subject!"

"I can't help it! Deflecting has worked pretty damn well for me up until this point!"

"Oh, yeah? Against who?"

"Literally everyone!"

"Everyone?"

A beat. "Okay, so maybe only most people, but that's not the point!"

"Doesn't matter what your point is because we're going back to talking about mine!" He huffed. "If you don't want to go straight to Wayne Manor, then stop by somewhere else. You had to have gained at least one friend in Gotham before you moved to Bludhaven."

Dick paused for a moment, eyeing the signs. They'd only been driving for twenty minutes. He could hang a right just before Sumerset to cross the New Trigate Bridge into Arkham Island, take another right onto Midtown and drive to Old Gotham to meet Babs/. Yeah, that'd be nice. But, the detour would increase the chance of running into Bruce later on in the day. Maybe he could have Bab's drive to the Manor?

"Is it too late to turn around?"

"Yes."

"Why are you even so insistent on going? You don't know anyone in Gotham!"

"I know Tim!" He argued. "Besides, healthy relationships are good in this kind of work."

Dick raised his eyebrow, glancing at Danny from the corner of his eye. "You wanna second to rethink that or..?"

Danny clicked his tongue. "Look, I know you don't want to talk to Bruce, and I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to apologize to Tim for snapping at him. If you end up with better relations here in Gotham, then that only works in your favor."

Dick groaned, ditching the turn onto New Trigate and continuing on through Sumerset. "Fine! But we're leaving before Bruce gets back. I can't stand him right now."

Danny smiled, a sad look in his eye. "Alright."

He knew very well that Dick's relationship was near irreparable. From what he'd gathered, from either overhearing or snooping, Bruce had been a pretty good dad and boss to Dick up until he'd turned seventeen. He hung up the Robin mantle when he was eighteen, appearing as Nightwing when he was nineteen. Bruce, apparently, hadn't taken this very well, but copped, adopint ong Jason Todd when Dick was twenty years old, giving him the Robin mantle a few months later.

According to Dick, when Jason was killed, he'd been off world. Bruce hadn't even called him to inform him, let alone tell him about the funeral. And, when Dick got back and heard what happened from Batgirl, he'd confronted Batman in the Batcave. Batman, apparently, though he's inclined to Dick's side, punched him the face and shifted the blame.

Danny doesn't blame Dick for being angry. Not for a second. He can't really relate, but he understands.

Entering Bristol, there was a shift in the air. Outside was stuffy and smelled like money. Inside the car, however, was tense. Dick's attitude shifted to his work smile. It was plastic.

This was going to be a long day.

He didn't say anything. Quietly, Danny messaged Tim, letting him know about the shift. Tim was quick to respond, letting Danny know that he was fully prepared for whatever was coming. Danny didn't think he was.

Danny knew that something was going to happen. The air was suddenly suffocating, the world fake manufactured to perfection.

"You alright there, bud?" Dick asked, his voice perfectly professional.

"Yeah, fine. I-I'm fine." Danny wanted this car to turn around.

Part 10 Part 12

[rosesradio]

Hi, do you mind if I pick your brain about the pro/antiship thing? I'd like to check first because it's a dumpster fire of a controversy in fandom spaces and I'd 100% understand not wanting to touch it with a ten-foot pole. But also cuz it mentions somethin triggering+disturbing.I've always wondered what another person might think but I usually try to stay miles away from fandom drama, but you seem like, not chronically online about it

lmaoo thank you, i try to make my blog a chill, safe space to come to despite me being. Not chill about anything ever 😅

so here’s the definition of each that i added to the poll:

Proshippers argue that shipping is all fictional, so there is no harm in shipping characters who shouldn’t be together in real life. Anti-shippers argue that fiction reflects and influences real-world beliefs and behaviors, so fans shouldn’t romanticize unhealthy relationships. You can be proship and not ship any problematic ships, or vice versa.

i got these definitions, with my own addition at the end, from a Reddit thread you might find helpful.

so i’ve been in fandom for many years, and up until around 2022 i was mostly what would be considered an anti-shipper.

within the (*gags*) sanders sides fandom, there was a ship called remrom. this was the ship between the characters roman and remus, canonically twin brothers. i never shipped it, not my thing, and it caused a lot of division in the fandom. people would often put on their wattpad (yeahhh wattpad era babey) profiles & even their fics “dni & leave if you ship remrom, go die” etc. i don’t think i put that on my own fics, but i was hostile & blocked people i found shipping it. because how could you ship twin brothers, that’s disgusting!!1!

…the funny thing about sanders sides, though, is that all of the characters represent fragments of one guy’s personality. roman is his creativity, remus is his dark!creativity, etc. the fandom shipped many other pairings with the (non-related) characters, the most popular being Roman and Virgil (anxiety). (Yes this is causing me physical pain to type out thanks for asking 🧍). so all that exposition aside…we were all shipping selfcest. and in a way, is selfcest any worse than incest? i suppose that’s subjective, but it just goes to show a bit of hypocrisy.

i also shipped some “problematic” pairings over the years, but changed them up to be “non-problematic”. for example, i had a billdip fic in which i made bill bodily 15 to match dipper & had him turn magically human (does this make the ship entirely non-problematic? hell no lmao, but as is the way of 15-year-old rose)

so that aside, i joined tumblr in 2022, in the cobra kai fandom. there’s a ship in the cobra kai fandom called silverusso, a ship between an insane(ly hot? don’t look at me 🫣) karate instructor named silver and the main character, daniel larusso. this ship is extremelyyy toxic on several levels. for one, daniel is freshly 18, while silver is assumed to be in his 30s(?) during karate kid 3 (please watch karate kid 3 but also be sure you’re sober when doing so because the movie is a trip, lol). for another, silver essentially seduces daniel into devolving into a violent robot, primed for silver’s command & corruption.

now for me…i’m not going to get into the details because i don’t want to, but i had experienced trauma somewhat related to the silverusso dynamic the previous year (only with minimal karate, lol). even three years later, i am still impacted by said trauma in small ways. i was honestly insulted by people shipping this ship, because it felt like they didn’t care about victims & were romanticizing and sexualizing situations i was having nightmares about.

that is, until i made some friends in the fandom. i bonded with them on our common interests, and then i got to see a bit more into the silverusso shippers’ heads rather than the horrible things i was hearing about them from others. i learned that they really weren’t that bad people at all, all well-intentioned & respectful of boundaries. some of them were even victims of trauma similar to my own, who used darkfic as a place to vent their emotions. considering i had told very few people of what happened, considering no one really understood, i felt safe.

not to plug, but this is a fic i wrote sort of in that space lol

so anyways, i learned more & more about proshipping ways, profiction, anti-harassment, & anti-censorship. i adopted the take that fiction can be a good place to explore complex emotions or even just compelling ideas.

(because you do not need to be traumatized to be interested in darkfic! in fact, the anti-ship take of “darkfic is okay if you’re recovering from trauma” is often harmful to victims, forcing them to out themselves for a stranger to judge if they’re “traumatized enough” to be “allowed” write darkfic. people should be free to write whatever with no explanation, just respect to others & proper tags/warnings).

i would like to think that the anti-ship ideals are in the best interest of others. they often do speak from a place of wanting to respect trauma victims (even if the hate messages they’ve sent me aren’t very respectful, lol). i can see how easy it is to be swept up into the moral quandary of it all because i’ve been there. in fact, if i saw trauma victims who were anti-shippers today, who felt the same resentment i did in 2022, i would feel sympathy for them and wish them the best in their recovery. darkfic has definitely helped me, though it is not for everyone. (though to those people i would also recommend they block bothersome tags and try to clear it from their mind).

i do wish people would approach actual proshippers to ask the way you are right now, anon. i think the spread of misinformation on how “being proship = shipping only problematic pairings” or god forbid “being proship = being a pedo” means a lot of well-meaning people obviously are disgusted and don’t bother to seek out the actual meaning of the term.

you don’t have to ship problematic parings or like darkfic to be considered proship. in fact, a lot of my mutuals here only like fluff & traditionally “healthy” pairings, but they support people’s right to ship and write whatever they want, provided it stays in its properly tagged lane. it’s just important to not push for censorship on sites like ao3 (one of the last safe spaces for every kind of fanfic), as well as not harass anyone in fandom for what they do with fiction. it’s not proper fandom etiquette, and it’s not a good thing to do.

fictional characters are dolls. real people are real, as are their feelings.

one last thing

i hope all of that answered your question, anon, and feel free to return with any more questions you might have 💌

[flatassthrowaway]

Passionately and Deeply

~Chapter Three, Other Edition~

I just wanted to thank everyone for engaging with my fanfic this far, and getting to the prologue over 70+ notes! It warms my heart that so many people like this series! I'll be putting out a masterlist when I release the fifth chapter.

Also there may be more than a few grammatical errors in here, feel free to ignore those.

Anyway, like always, I hope you enjoy!

New to the series? Read the prologue.

The air is warmer, the grass is greener, and my ties to this town are only becoming deeper.

Being with Ford on that fateful night took away nearly every fear I had. I felt like as long as I had him, nothing would stand in my way in life.

I think he pretty much confirmed the same thing with me.

And I couldn’t be happier about that.

Since then, we’ve been hanging out regularly. He’s shown me quite a few of the abnormal beings in this charming yet peculiar town. Among them were the plaidypus, the beard cubs (which were actually kinda cute), and the question quails (which were unquestionably adorable). Ford claims that there are dangerous beings that reside here, but the ones that I’ve seen have been rather innocuous. I actually scooped up the icicle mice from this winter and put them in my freezer so that they’ll live.

In other news, his grand-niblings are on their way to visit him and his family up here in a few hours. They’ll be staying for the whole summer.

Melody had her child, which was a boy. She named him Jesús Alzamirano Ramirez Jr., right after Soos.

They’re such a sweet couple, and now a sweet family. I hope they have a prosperous life.

Abuelita is smitten over her new bisnieto, or her great-grandson. He is quite adorable, after all. He was born on April 4th, and he’ll be two months old on the 4th.

I even got to hold him several times when I visited. My baby fever was hidden in the back of my mind, but that adorable baby boy brought it out again. On my days off of work, I would make my way to the shack and just tend to him while his primary familial unit rested up.

Ford seems to like the little bean, too. Although he doesn’t really strike me as someone who would like babies, he really took a liking to him.

“You’re so good with that little tyke,” he told me.

I smiled up at him while holding the little bean. “Thanks,” I said. “I always wanted children, and to be a mother.”

Ford’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Truly? You never mentioned it.”

I smiled back down at the sweet baby in my arms. “It never came up,” I told him. “Not until this sweet boy came into our lives. I truly believe that all babies are sent from Heaven.”

Ford smiled. “On an unrelated note, how old are you again?” he asked.

I playfully raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask about a lady’s age?” I asked, playfully indignant. “I’ll be twenty seven in seven days.”

“Ah, so you’re a gemini like me,” he said. “My great niece told me about the zodiac signs and everything related to them.”

“Oh really? When’s your birthday then?” I asked.

“Stanley’s and my birthday is in two weeks from today, on the 15th of June,” he said.

“The twins have the twins zodiac. How about that,” I said, chuckling.

“You wouldn’t happen to be a twin, would you?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“What a shame. I thought I would be able to set her up with Stanley,” Ford joked.

I playfully raised an eyebrow. “Who said my twin would be a woman?” I said.

Both of us just stared at each other before we softly broke out laughing.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open, and I saw two teenagers at the door, one boy and one girl.

The girl had medium brown curly hair that reached her mid back, the same copper brown eyes as Stan and Ford, and donned a purple headband with parted fringe bangs. Her sweater (why was she wearing a sweater in June?) was the same purple color as her headband and had spelled out MABEL, and wore a hot pink skirt that reached just a little below mid thigh, with dark purple almost black stockings, and some purple doc martens on. She was about average height.

The boy had a tan and dark brown lumberjack hat, the same medium brown curly hair and copper brown eyes as his sister, with long bangs that nearly covered his eyes. He wore a red flannel plaid shirt, blue jeans and timberlands. He was also about average height, which… kind of surprised me. Seeing that he was related to Stan and Ford, I thought he would be taller.

That doesn’t matter that much, though.

What matters is that this sweet baby boy started crying when both of them busted through the door. I shushed him, trying to soothe him.

“We’re here!” the girl yelled as Ford shushed her. She lowered her head. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“Who’re you?” the boy asked.

“Dipper, my boy, meet my good friend,” Ford said my name, introducing me to his great nephew. “Come here, Mabel, I want you to meet her, too.”

“Woah, nice to meet you! I’m Mabel! Grunkle Ford never said anything about his lady friend being so pretty,” Mabel introduced herself to me as I chuckled and Ford scratched the back of his head.

I can see where she gets her electrifying personality from.

“Nice to meet you too, dear,” I told her, this sweet baby finally settling down back into slumber.

“My name’s Dipper,” Dipper introduced himself. “Is that Soos�� son or is that your own child?”

I shook my head. “It’s his child. I’m just watching him while he, Melody, and Abuelita rest.”

“Woah, can I hold him? Please please please? I promise I’ll be extra careful!”

“Not yet, darling. Go wash your hands before you touch him. His immune system is very fragile right now,” Ford told Mabel. Mabel dashed to the sink, and Dipper walked, following her.

“So they are your niece and nephew,” I remarked.

Ford turned to me and nodded. “Yes. Besides this little tyke, they are the closest thing to being my own children.”

I smiled as I turned my gaze back to the sweet baby in my arms. “Did you ever want children, Ford?”

“Not particularly, no,” he said. “I was focused on my work. In a way, everything I’ve worked on, and currently working on are my progeny. But now… I think it’s far too late for me to be a father.”

“That’s a fascinating way to put it,” I told him. “And you never know! You might find someone to procreate with.”

Mabel and Dipper both entered the living room, and Mabel made grabby hands towards Jesús. “Lemme see him~!” she said in her baby voice.

I handed him to her, and she was completely enamored by his baby charm. “Hi buddy. It’s your cousin, Mabel,” she said softly.

I guess when the moment really calls for it, she can be quiet.

“So…” Dipper said my name. “Or do you prefer Miss? Ms? Ma’am?”

I chuckled. “You can say my name, it’s alright, Dipper,”

“Good!” Dipper cleared his throat. “I-I mean, good. I just have a few questions for you.”

“I have a few questions for you, too!” Mabel declared. The baby in her arms cried again.

“My dear, let me take the little tyke while you… speak,” he said, taking Jesús in his arms.

Mabel led me upstairs and Dipper followed us into the attic, where they were sleeping. It smelled like dust mites and moth balls.

They couldn’t have gotten something more appealing for these kids? Honestly.

I’m busting Ford’s ass about this later.

“So…” Dipper said my name. “What is your occupation?”

I told both of them what I did.

“What about before you came to Gravity Falls? What did you do? Where did you live? Did you graduate from university?”

Mabel rolled her eyes. “Jeez Dipper, it’s like you never had a conversation before! It sounds like an interview!”

“Mabel, these are important things I need to know about Great Uncle Ford’s new girlfriend,” he said.

I raised a finger to refute. “Well, actually-”

“Dipper, c’mon!” she whined before turning to me. “I’m sorry for Dipper, he doesn’t know how to have a proper conversation with a lady.”

“Wha- hey!”

“Aaaaanyway, I have more important questions to ask you than the stuffy questions my brother asked! I need to know: Do you like pigs or tardigrades?” Mabel said, narrowing her eyes at me comically.

“Well, I’d have to say pigs. Tardigrades are cute, but I never interacted with one,” I told her.

Mabel squealed. “Oh, this is great! Let me get Waddles!” she said, running out of the room.

“Oh great. Now you’ve set her off,” Dipper said. “Anyway, back to my questions. How old are you?”

I playfully smiled. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask for a lady’s age?” I asked, testing how strong his resolve was.

Dipper scratched the back of his neck. “I-I’m sorry, ma’am, I just-”

I smiled softly. “Listen Dipper, I understand you care for your great uncle, but speaking to me like this seems a little… out of character for you, if that makes sense,” I told him.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Just from the small amount of interaction I had from you, you’re clearly an intelligent young man,” I told him, his cheeks becoming a little red. “But your confidence is lacking. To make up for that, you overcompensate with a dour tone. I almost felt animosity coming from you in your questions, even though I know it’s not how you want to come across.”

“Wow… how did you get all of that?” Dipper asked.

I smiled. “I’ve been on this Earth for quite some time, dear. Most of the time, I can tell when someone isn’t being authentic.”

“Well… can I at least ask why you’re dating my grunkle?” Dipper asked.

I laughed. “Oh, that is hilarious,” I told him. “Hon, I’m not dating your great uncle. We’re just really good friends,” I told him. “If you ask him, he would say the same thing.”

Dipper breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. It’s still kinda questionable, but that’s a lot better.”

I smiled as Mabel came back in with a lean yet rotund pink pig with a cute nose and round cheeks. She said my name. “Meet Waddles!” she said, as Waddles let out a happy squeak.

I smiled. “What a cute little guy,” I said, slowly moving closer to him. “Hey Waddles.”

He sniffed my hand, and then nuzzled his head into my hand. I scratched just above his ears, and he was panting like a dog.

I think he enjoys it.

“Wow! He loves you already! How did you know his favorite scratching spot?” Mabel asked.

“Mabel, all over his body is his favorite scratching spot. He loves pets,” Dipper said.

“True, true,” Mabel said, sitting in front of me and next to her twin brother, crossing her legs. “Now then, where were we in our interview?”

“Actually… I want to take a different approach,” Dipper said, looking back at me.

Mabel turned her head curiously, looking at her brother. “Yeah? How?” she asked, looking back at me.

“Let’s get psychological,” Dipper said, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Hell yeah! Psychological warfare!” Mabel exclaimed.

Suddenly, the door opened to the attic, and Stan was in the doorway. “Psychological warfare? Ya don’t gotta tell me twice!” he said, taking a seat on the bed next to his great nephew, looking at me.

I was starting to sweat a little bit. Hopefully, they didn’t see it.

“I guess the main thing I’m worried about is that… well… you and Great Uncle Ford seem so friendly. I’ve never seen him like that with a stranger,” Dipper told me.

“I am a stranger to you, but not to your great uncle,” I reminded him.

“And that’s fine and all, but… how long have you known him?” Dipper asked.

“It’ll be four months on our birthday. Or maybe the day before? I dunno, somewhere around there,” Stan chimed in.

Mabel gasped. “You’ve cracked our Grunkle Ford in four months?!” she asked incredulously.

“I wouldn’t put it that way…” I told her.

“Yeah,” Stan surprisingly agreed with me. “It was more like one week.”

Mabel stared at me, awestruck. “One week?!” she shrieked, making me jump a little.

I nodded bewilderedly. Mabel screamed as if she were fangirling. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh~!”

“Mabel, get a hold of yourself!” Stan said.

“But c’mon Grunkle Stan! She’s exactly what Grunkle Ford needs! Do you really want him to rot in his lab all day, with no companion?” Mabel asked him.

Stan rolled his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh brother.”

Mabel stood up and nearly lunged at me. I nearly jumped out of my seat. “But seriously! You need to teach me your secrets! If you were able to charm Grunkle Ford in a week, you’re on the same level as a succubus in terms of charm and seduction!” She exclaimed.

I raised an eyebrow, deciding to play along with her. “Why does a young lady like you need to know about seduction?” I asked.

Mabel cleared her throat. “I am sixteen years old!” she boasted proudly, puffing her chest.

Dipper raised his index finger. “Almost seventeen,” he chimed in. “But Mabel, c’mon. Let us have at least a semi-serious conversation without you trying to make friends with her.”

Mabel turned around and blew a raspberry at her brother. “Boo! You’re so boring sometimes, Dipper!”

She sat back down next to her brother, and crossed her legs again.

“Now then, where were we…” Dipper trailed off.

“We were talkin’ about how long my brainiac brother and her knew each other,” Stan reminded him.

Dipper’s eyes lit up before he snapped his fingers. “Right!” His gaze zeroed in on me. “My point in asking that question was because Great Uncle Ford didn’t really begin to trust us until Mabel got that unicorn hair for him.”

I looked at the three of them quizzically. Unicorns are real? Or was this just the overactive imagination of teenagers?

“Kid, she’s from a normal town. Unicorns probably are a myth where she’s from,” Stan told Dipper.

I nodded. “Or so I thought… but after seeing some of the oddities Gravity Falls has to offer, I’d say I believe in the existence of unicorns,” I told them.

Mabel had a super serious face on. “Then believe me when I say that they are so condescending,” Mabel said.

Holy crap. I thought unicorns were supposed to be pure hearted or whatever? Now I’m hearing the opposite?

Nothing really is as it seems in Gravity Falls…

“Mabel, focus!” Dipper said in a tone of frustration.

Mabel shook her head. “Right! Sorry…” she said. “The point Dipper is trying to make is that it took Grunkle Ford so long for him to trust us that he’s shook that Grunkle Ford was so friendly to you within a week.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, did you mean shocked?” I asked.

Mabel shook her head. “Nope. Dipper was shook,” she doubled down on her grammatically incorrect statement.

That must be the slang the kids came up with these days. Now that I’m an adult myself, I understand how my grandmother felt when I used slang terms.

“While you’re right, Sister, you know that ‘shook’ has been out for a while. No one except you uses it anymore,” Dipper said.

“Oh, you’re just salty that I finally used it right!” Mabel said.

“Oh, does that mean he’s weird?” I asked.

Dipper looked at me like I had three heads, but Mabel gave me a gentle pat on my arm.

“That was a good guess,” she said, before returning to sit with her brother.

“That… wasn’t even close,” he said.

I scratched my cheek as I felt both of them become hot. “I guess I’m showing my age, then.”

“Actually, speaking of which, how old are you? You look pretty young for someone trying to go after our great uncle.”

“Oh my gosh, Dipper!” Mabel exclaimed. “You can’t just ask a woman how old she is! That’s rude!”

“Actually, I wanna know how old this vixen is. How old are you?” Stan asked me.

“Grunkle Stan~!” Mabel whined.

“Can it, Mabel! We need answers!”

“I’ll be twenty seven a week from today,” I told them.

“Shit, kid… you’re a lot younger than I thought,” Stan said.

“Wow, that’s… controversial,” Dipper added.

“What do you mean?”

Dipper shook his head. “The fact that you’re friends with my Grunkle, and he’s in his sixties…”

“That shouldn’t matter. But with that being said,” I started. “I understand that you just want to make sure your great uncle is being safe, and I totally understand that. I haven’t hurt him, nor do I intend on consciously hurting him.”

“Bah! Your words mean nothing! How the hell are we gonna trust ya?” Stan asked.

Mabel stood up again, and stepped forward. “I’ll be the judge of that!”

“Mabel, sweetie, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Stan said. “This is a strange woman that you, I, and your brother don’t know.”

“So let’s get to know her, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel said, determination in her voice. ��If she’s so bad, you need to give me at least one reason why I shouldn’t hang out with her. If it's for a decent reason, then I’ll stop.”

“Well… uh… urm…” Stan stammered.

So why the hell doesn’t he like me?

“Then it’s settled!” Mabel turned to me, saying my name. “We’re going to be great friends! I can feel it!”

Seeing this vibrant young lady in front of me blazed in determination, I couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s be friends.”

“Yay! Friendship, friendship, friendship~”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get too happy, pumpkin,” Stan said, standing up. “I’ll find a flaw in her, and when I do, you’re gonna know that I’m right.”

Mabel smiled. “Okay, Grunkle Stan,” she told him. As he walked to the door, he opened it, and Ford was standing there, looking indignant.

“Oh… well, uh, shit,” Stan said. “How long ya been there, Poindexter?”

“Long enough,” he seethed in a low tone. He pushed past his brother, and entered into the attic and went towards Mabel.

“Thank you for giving her a chance, my darling,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Mabel gave a half smile.

He then turned to Dipper. “Dipper, my boy. Come with me to my laboratory. You too,” he said my name. We both stood up, then went down to his lab. The way to get down to his lab was so cool. I marvel at it every time.

Using a vending machine to hide the entrance way was so innovative, inconspicuous and just overall ingenious.

And using symbols that aren’t seen in everyday life? Brilliant!

Once we descended to the deepest level, we got off of the elevator. Ford then turned around and placed his hands behind his back.

“Dipper… do you not trust my judgement?” Ford asked him, hurt palpable in his voice.

“Great Uncle Ford, what do you mean? Of course I do!” Dipper reassured him.

“You must not,” Ford said. “You, along with my brother, think that I am not able to detect a bad person when I see them.”

“Wha- are you talking about-”

Ford cut him off. “Yes, I am.”

“Great Uncle Ford, it was never my intention to make you feel like your judgement was off… even though you trusted Bill… but that’s in the past. Your judgement has been sharp since then!” Dipper tried to assuage him.

Who is Bill? What did he do? What happened?

I have a mountain of questions right now, and I don’t think I’m gonna have any of them answered in the near future.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that, my boy. She is a good person, and I was able to promptly pick up on that,” Ford clarified.

“But how do you know, Great Uncle Ford? How do you know that she is a good person?”

Ford was about to open his mouth, but I stepped in front of him, then turned to face Dipper.

“Dipper… I know you don’t trust me now…” I started. “But the only way you’ll know for sure is if you spend time with me. Your sister has already put her faith in me, and it would mean a lot to me if you could, too.”

Dipper studied my face, searching for a trace of insincerity. Upon finding none, he finally nodded.

“Fine. I’ll spend some time with you, like my sister will,” he finally spoke. “But if I find that you’re using him just like Bill… I will never forgive myself.”

I nodded determinedly at Dipper. “You can trust me, Dipper. You’ll see in time. More importantly, you can trust your great uncle.”

Dipper sighed. “Yeah, I hope that’s the case, that I can trust you,” Dipper said, defeated.

“Chin up, my boy,” Ford said. “You’ll see why I enjoy having her around. For now, you can find some snacks in the cupboard before Soos makes dinner.”

Dipper raised a bushy eyebrow. “Soos is cooking now? He always ate burrito bites and anything instantaneous.”

Ford smiled. “Fatherhood really had him step up his game. Not only as a husband, but as a grandson.”

“Wow, I gotta catch up with him for sure!” Dipper then turned to me, saying my name. “I-I’m sorry about earlier.”

I shook my head. “I understand, Dipper. You just wanted to protect your great uncle from someone strange.”

Dipper smiled. “You’re anything but,” he said. “See you both at dinner.”

We both waved to him before I turned to Ford. He just had a look of mixed emotions on his face, somewhere from sadness to relief to anger, to even looking apologetic.

“I deeply apologize for the onslaught you had to endure on behalf of my family. I hope they weren’t too unrelenting in their questioning.”

I shook my head. “I told you many times, Stanford, and I’ll tell you again,” I said. “I really don’t mind. In fact, I find it heartwarming.”

Ford raised an eyebrow. “Heartwarming?” he said. “How on Earth did you find that heartwarming?”

“It’s so blatantly clear that you have a family that loves you. So much so to the point where they would ruthlessly interrogate someone who they thought could be a potential threat to you. If that isn’t a strong familial love and bond, I don’t know what is,” I told him.

Ford scratched the back of his head. “I suppose you’re right.”

I smiled coyly. “Of course I’m right,” I told him smugly.

Ford chuckled. “You’re such a cheeky girl. I never expected you to have a sly side.”

His praise made my heart skip a beat.

I maintained my smile. “That’s some high praise coming from you.”

“Oh, my dear, you should be used to me praising you,” he said in a deep voice, making me feel all hot inside.

Ugh, why is this happening? Have I really been so lonely that this man is starting to ignite a flame inside of me?

It’s been extinguished for a while, actually. I’m surprised it’s starting back up again. If it’s even starting up at all. This basement does tend to get hot.

“Gracious, are you okay? Please, say something!” Ford asked, his hands on my shoulders.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Ford. I got lost in thought.”

Ford sighed a breath of relief, I smelt the coffee he normally drank on his breath. “Thank goodness. I was just telling you that dinner is ready, so we can go get some food to eat.”

I nodded. “I think I need something inside of me.”

Oh, fuck! That came out so wrong! I hope Ford didn’t pick up on that!

“You certainly do. Come, dear. Let’s go eat.”

I nodded before following him onto the elevator. In somewhat comfortable silence, we rode the elevator up to the first floor of the Mystery Shack, and we went into the dining room.

Soos was nowhere to be seen, but the young twins, Dipper and Mabel, were at the table, plus Stan. I decided to sit next to Ford, but as I was sitting down, Stan decided to voice his displeasure.

“Uh-uh. Stand up,” he said my name.

“Stanley! Enough!” Ford thundered. “This is becoming utterly ridiculous! Leave her be!”

Mabel and Dipper exchanged looks as Stan muttered something underneath his breath before Soos came back out. He had a joyful look on his face, which dropped once he saw the table.

“Hey dudes! …what happened?” He asked.

None of us cared to verbally answer him, so he just shrugged and sat down. Apparently, he had made enchiladas, which I strangely craved.

The dinner itself was awkward, but it wasn’t the worst one I sat through.

I thanked Soos for the dinner, and said my goodbyes to Dipper, Mabel and Stan.

Before I left, Mabel gave me her number. Just for me to give her some tips on how to become a succubus.

Goodness, that girl is a hoot.

Ford walked me back to my home, and once I arrived, I turned to him.

“Thanks for walking me back, again,” I told him.

Ford smiled. “It was the least I could do after you had to survive the onslaught,” he said as I laughed.

“I told you, it’s fine,” I said. “But if you want to spend time together… you know how to reach me.”

Ford maintained his smile. “That I do,” he said. “Goodnight, dear. Get some rest.”

“You too. Rest well.”

As I entered my home and closed the door, he began walking back. Even though I was somewhat joking the first time we met at the diner, I’m kinda glad he’s walking me back home. It makes me feel safe whenever he’s with me.

As I got ready for bed, and laid in it, I couldn’t fall asleep right away like I normally do. What was happening with my body, too?

I normally wasn’t so hot and bothered around him. His voice is naturally deep, but at that time…

Shit. I think he turned me on by accident. I think my flame has been reignited.

I need a cold shower.

💚

Likes and reblogs are appreciated! Check back next Friday for another chapter! Next chapter here.

[lisbeth-kk]

May Prompts

Today's prompt is: secret

The Luckiest Girl in the World (chapter 11)

Summary: Uncle Myc has his eyes everywhere. Even at Rosie's school.

Eleven Years Old

From time to time, uncle Myc picked me up from school in one of his black town cars. The questions were endless the days after, and I found it increasingly difficult to answer them truthfully. By now I knew that my uncle’s business was of a delicate and important nature. In my eyes, he knew everything my parents didn’t, and he obviously had eyes everywhere. Also, in my school it turned out…

I rarely visited him at home. When he picked me up, there were three possible destinations we’d arrive at. Baker Street, a café to have something sweet, or like in this case, his office at the Diogenes Club.

I greeted George, the man at the front desk, in sign language. The first time I did it, I was a bit disappointed that uncle Myc didn’t seem the least bit surprised by this. 

One of my classmates was deaf, so each week we learned new words. My uncle obviously knew this, because he remarked on my progress when we were safe inside his spacious office.

“You know everything, don’t you?” I said, which he assured me he didn’t. 

“I just prefer to keep a keen eye on things,” he offered.

“And sticking your long nose into matters that aren’t your concern!” I heard Papa murmur in my mind.

A chuckle escaped me, and he cocked an inquisitory eyebrow at me.

“Don’t tell me my brother has taken up telepathy,” uncle Myc said dryly, which made me snort.

“Papa doing anything paranormal related?” I asked incredulously. “Are we speaking of Sherlock Holmes, or do you have another sibling?”

I’d never seen my uncle like that. He was shaken, looked ashen, but was rescued by a knock on the door. Tea had arrived.

***

During tea, my uncle asked me about school, my progress in mathematics, science, biology, history, English and geography. He never asked about my friends or teachers. Other people than his family never seemed to interest him much, though he did sometimes inquire about Greg Lestrade.

“Something is bothering you, Rosamund,” uncle stated. “How can I be of assistance?”

I didn’t even blink at this. I might have a few years ago, but I was used to his and Papa’s “knowledge” when their loved ones struggled or had a problem that needed solving.

“Intrusive questions from classmates and other pupils,” I sighed. “Not my friends. They understand that I’m uncomfortable about answering everything about Papa’s and your work, but the others…I’m tired of coming up with constantly “new facts” you know.”

“Indeed,” uncle agreed. “I have something for you to help with that. It’ll be our little…secret.”

He walked over to a large cupboard and retrieved a black box. Inside were several files with suggestions to what I could answer my peers, without giving away any government or personal secrets. (Not that I knew any of the former…)

“Brilliant!” I exclaimed while I leafed through the sheets.

“You do realise that you are saying that out loud,” uncle Myc chided, but the satisfied smile and his pink cheeks gave him away.

Also available on AO3

Thank you all for the lovely comments so far. All the love <3

@calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @raina-at @helloliriels

More tags in the replies.

[angeldrawsstuffs]

Hi Angel back again to offer her unsolicited meta opinions about Lego themes (specifically Dreamzzz).

So, because of recent leaks, I’ve seen some speculation online Dreamzzz is going to come to an early end, possibly not making it past 2025. Now, before we go any further, let me make something extremely clear:

That is all rumors and speculation based on different rumors/alleged leaks about a canceled large set. To my knowledge, nobody who has actually worked on the theme in any capacity (show or sets) has said anything in relation to either of these. The information about the canceled big set came from leakers and the other speculation derived from that. This is ALL hearsay from the past 24-48 hours. Nothing is official, take it with a pinch of salt.

Ok now that we’re on the same page about the validity (or potentially lack thereof) of the claims/speculation, time to get into a mini rant/ramble I have so Buzzfeed-ishly titled:

Why Dreamzzz Being Cancelled Would NOT be a Good Thing AT ALL For Lego (and why even non-fans should care!)

So, you may ask: “Angel, why would you say this is a negative for Lego as a whole? Themes get canceled early all the time! In the hypothetical-and-currently-unsubstantiated-scenario Dreamzzz is canceled, it wouldn’t have that much of an impact!” well, nonexistent strawman I made up because I suck at making my point, it has to do with the way original Lego IPs are currently set up. Like it or hate it (or in between!), the beginning of Dreamzzz, even a before that, one could argue, was the start of a new era for how Lego handles their IPs. Gone are the days of getting multiple new themes a year, each lasting a planned 2-3 years, before entering a mapped out and anticipated retirement, maybe being cut short or extended a bit depending on sales. From what I’ve observed, it seems the priority is longevity of a theme over quantity of themes. Another factor is this is the ideas from those many themes over the past few decades have been slowly merged into other, larger themes like City, Friends, or even Ninjago. So, back in ye olden days of the 90s to the 2010s, a theme (specifically an original IP) being cut short was no big deal because there were like- 3-4 others running alongside it and several more in the foreseeable future. But, currently, that’s not the case because Dreamzzz is the only new IP to release and be running in the 2020s. Think about Lego’s currently running original IPs, not original themes as a whole (Icons, Creator, Ideas, etc.), but IPs (Ninjago, Power Miners, Atlantis, etc.). As of right now there’s really only four:

City, Friends, Ninjago, and Dreamzzz.

Take Dreamzzz out and you’re left with three. As much as it sucks, Dreamzzz being canceled won’t bring back the old format of IPs, in fact, I personally believe it would push back any return of that format or a similar one even further. Why do I believe this? Well, unfortunate as it may be, we’ve seen this song and dance before with plenty of other brands. New, original thing fails, executive people have to look at the “why”, and the conclusion is that people just don’t want new stuff and we should rehash the same stuff over and over and over again. Obviously that’s the very WRONG conclusion, but look at Disney and Pixar as a prime example of this. Of course I have a LOT (like- a lot a lot) more faith in Lego than I do the mouse, but do we really want to run that risk?

Also, circling back to my point about IPs being cut earlier than planned wasn’t as big a deal back then because there were a bunch of others already out and planned for release that could fill that void quick. But now? With the new formatting for IPs? As far as we know, there’s no new Lego IPs planned for the foreseeable future. Unless Lego’s somehow kept some new IP under such wraps that not a single person outside the company, not even online leakers, have found anything out about it, even its existence, (which very rarely happens to my own knowledge), there’s nothing currently planned. If Dreamzzz goes, there’s nothing to take its place or keep new IPs chugging along.

So then, hypothetically say Dreamzzz is canceled and doesn’t make it to 2026 (which, I am going to say I do not think will happen, I personally believe, if the big set being cancelled is true, it may be to make room for smaller, more affordable sets, since that’s the most consistent criticism of the theme as a whole). What then? Well, if the path most other companies have taken of “nobody wants new things” comes into effect, then that would probably mean not getting another new IP for a while. While Ninjago, City, and Friends all have a lot to offer, it’s clear people want something new. To be clear, it’s not the guaranteed path in this hypothetical-and-currently-unsubstantiated-scenario.

What’s my solution? Well, I’m a teenager on the internet with no business knowledge or expertise in any kind of related field so OBVIOUSLY I’m qualified to talk on this (/lh /s). But, in all seriousness, the best I can say is make criticisms known, but with the stipulation of that the theme should be able to continue and buff out the dents, as I would argue we’ve seen happening. I believe Dreamzzz has potential, a lot of it. But losing that potential to an early cancellation could possibly spell trouble down the road for Lego’s original IPs.

Once again, this is just a sleep deprived Angel spewing her opinions onto the internet. Hope I made my point clear enough and that this isn’t a totally incoherent mess of a post. Also, I’m personally not looking to debate/have to defend my thoughts here, as shallow as that may seem, so if you disagree vehemently with every word: that’s alright! I’m just not interested in an online back and forth about it (especially cuz I’m a terrible debater, lol-). Anyway, thanks for reading this long-ass post if you’re still here, have a wonderful rest of your day/night, and wear your seatbelt! /ref

[happyk44]

hermes is on vacation so nico gets some mortal substitute familiar with demigods and the greek pantheon as his doctor and when he calls him up for a visit, dude's like "well hermes didn't really tell me what was up with you because. you know. doctor/patient confidentiality. but he did tell me that if my gut instinct is "you're too young to have that" i should remember that you are apparently over a hundred years old, and if i don't believe that, i should remember he looks like a 25 year old twink but is old enough that he can describe my great grandfather's penis to me in detail. so! what's up with you"

and nico just pulls out this binder from his backpack, slaps it onto the desk and opens it up. the first page is a print out from a powerpoint presentation, the title reading "What Is Wrong With Nico", a subtitle of "aka the old man bones are old man boning", with a smaller subtitle several spaces below reading "current as of: right the fuck now"

the next page is four tables under the title "Ways He Is Broken". the tables depict:

his current diagnosis and the date of diagnosis

his current medications, the amount, and to what problem they correspond

things he's already been tested for that didn't pan out and why he was tested for them

previous medications he was on, the amount and why he was taking them (also includes current meds where the amount was changed)

the next page is titled "How The Fuck Is He Not Dead" and then a bullet pointed list summarizing all his traumas and other minor shit he's been through that has been attached as the cause(s) behind his issues, so like sandwiched between "nearly suffocated to death while trapped in a jar" and "had to shadowtravel across the atlantic ocean with a giant statue and two other people (prior limit was myself going from new york to illinois)" there's a point stating "fell over on the crows nest of a flying boat and dislocated my wrist". next to each bullet point there are coloured dots going to the left. some bullet points only have one, some have two - they are all colour coded to correspond to the ailment(s) in which they apply.

the next page is called "What Is He Up To These Days" and it's just a long list detailing all his diagnosed symptoms - again little circles beside each point to colour code to the corresponding ailment. the column next to it is labelled "new symptoms" and consists of three bullet points: getting dizzy when i stand up, started two months ago once a week, now every time i stand; migraines are back, made me cry in the shower last night, need new meds probably; and, got hit in the rib by a hydra's tail last month, reset my rib myself and eating ambrosia squares, but still hurts really bad, don't think it's healing right

the next page is "What Could Kill Him So Don't Use It*" and it's just a few columns labelled "pet allergies" "food allergies" "drug allergies" "magic allergies" "other allergies" and the only one that has something included is food allergies and it's just the bullet point "garlic intolerant but he's fucking italian so he doesn't care". in the footnotes at the bottom of that page is the asterix relating back to the title saying "Don't fucking give him cigarettes. he is an idiot and he will ask but they do not work and they never worked and he refuses to listen to me when i tell him this. DO NOT LET HIM HAVE CIGARETTES"

it is very clear this page was filled out by Hermes himself

his interim mortal doctor reads carefully each page, glancing once at nico when he gets to Hermes' footnote, before closing the binder. "you're how old?"

"technically 17, chronologically one hundred and something, i dunno i can't do math and i don't remember what my dad put on my cake this year"

"Right. okay." the mortal doctor presses his hands together and to his lips watching nico carefully then lowering his hands to smooth across the desk "have you ever thought about maybe just sitting on a couch and never leaving your house again"

"yeah, i tried that but i get restless, and also i like helping people if they need it and they ask. hermes tells me i should be more selfish then locks me to a chair, but he's also the one who taught me how to pick locks so i can get out pretty easily. honestly don't know why he keeps trying. even if i didn't know how to pick the lock, i'm pretty good at dislocating my joints on purpose too so i can always just get out that way."

the increasingly stressed out doctor just hums quietly. then, "okay! first i'm going to check your rib, and then we're gonna talk about you getting a 24 hour caregiver because you clearly do not understand limits and need someone who does"

[aingeal98]

Cass or Tim for the ask game

Gonna do Cass because she gets favourite blorbo privileges

three facts about them from my personal headcanons

-The dip in the Lazarus Pit removed a few of her latest scars. She's still covered in scars, it's not enough that anyone would notice, most of them look at Cass and are horrified by the bullet exit wounds covering her skin. But Cass knows what each scar is from, and the loss of even a few of them hurts her afterwards for reasons she doesn't quite understand. She got stabbed through the chest by her brother and yet there is no evidence of it. Some nights she gets tempted to scratch at where the scar should be, digging into her skin until she catches herself and snaps herself out of it.

-Her favourite music genre is metal and rock. She doesn't care about the differences between the genres despite Stephanie as a fellow Metallica fan eagerly trying to explain it. Cass just likes "Mosh pit music."

-Due to being homeless as a kid she got used to sleeping anywhere and everywhere. Her favourite place to curl up and hide was inside a washing machine, normally ones that were old and abandoned. She stopped as she got older but the washing machines in the manor are huge so she started doing it again when she felt low. This has given Alfred several near heart attacks when he goes to put clothes in and finds his grandchild curled up fast asleep.

a reason they suck

Batgirl issue 37 is one of my favourite issues and highlights some of the reasons I find Cass a compelling character but it also does objectively show one of the ways she sucks. Projection can be helpful or it can make you too self absorbed so you end up making bad choices. In this case it was the latter.

a reason they are great

Literally everything that makes Batman cool and compelling but with none of the downsides. Her downsides are different from his due to not having the narrative protection of being the white male lead. Her downsides are also deliberately and competently written. For further information see my entire blog.

a reason I relate to them

Autistic, mentally ill, used to be suicidal, awkward socially but enjoys violence not for malicious reasons but purely for the fun of it (I like boxing and martial arts.) Just everything about how she expresses herself and thinks and interacts with other people it's like wow. For a character with such a ridiculously comic book fantasy backstory she sure is incredibly relatable in down to earth ways!

(what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

Stephcass. Steph is the Lois to Cass's Clark, the MJ to Cass's Spiderman. But Steph is also a vigilante in her own right and that adds extra flavour. If DC would give me one of those six issue mini runs they're so fond of I could do so much with it.

five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

-Her Batgirl run should have had a proper conclusion not pushing her towards character assassination evil turns

-She should have become Batman.

-She should have been a part of the family from the beginning of the New 52 era. An essential part, closer to everyone than Jason and with more years in the family than Damian.

-She should have gotten to kiss Steph by now but I'll accept it if DC makes it happen this year.

-She should have gotten one final confrontation with David Cain where he comes back to life for 24 hours to remind DC of why her original run hit so hard and center her more on those themes than on being random Batgirl number 2.

five people that character never fell in love with and why

-Kon El. He's a good friend but she's a lesbian.

-Tai'darshan. He was a valuable part of helping her understand what she liked and didn't like romance wise but unfortunately he fell on the "didn't like" side in the end. Also she's a lesbian.

-Zero. He was her first fun civilian romance and while it wasn't serious it was nice while it lasted. It never would have been able to get serious though for multiple reasons. One of which being that she's a lesbian.

-Tim Drake. Shockingly being a lesbian is not the only main reason for once. Here it's also due to them being adopted siblings. While he loves Cass and was canonically mildly attracted to her at times during the early days, by the time they became adopted siblings they'd been through enough that any potential had fizzled out into pure platonic sibling menace energy.

-Harper Row. Being a lesbian is not an issue here at all actually. The issue is that in Harper's universe Cass killed her mom and in Cass's main universe she killed someone else and never met Harper until the world rebooted. Cass is not emotionally mature enough to wade through all that for a relationship. Especially when she can choose to wallow in guilt and stare awkwardly and painfully at Harper when Harper doesn't notice instead.

[sephirthoughts]

Hello! I would love to have your Tseng x Vincent headcanons for any of these! no pressure! Who falls for the other first or is it always mutual? Who makes the first move? How do they confess? Do they have any pet names for each other? Do they keep their relationship a secret? Thank you!! 💕

and i love any excuse to infodump my current hyperfixation so let's DO THIS

Q: Who falls for the other first or is it always mutual?

A: Tseng. It's Tseng. Vincent is canonically pretty oblivious and even without the high-context culture upbringing, and being naturally shy, he's also 57 years old and…severely traumatized is how i'd phrase it if i wanted to grossly understate the matter. he probably has a difficult time even relating to himself as a human being, let alone a sexual being, let ALONE someone who might be loved and deserving of love. Tseng is just…a lot less fucked up. not that he's normal, it's just hard to compete with Vincent in the totally shattered and clumsily glued back together psyche sense. also Tseng has a legend-worship thing about Vincent already and Vincent doesn't even know who Tseng is. in fact i bet Tseng had a little crush on him already that blooms into full on down-bad syndrome after they start interacting. not that anyone would ever know because it's Tseng. he's a cast iron refrigerator (except Reno can tell for some reason unexplainable by science).

Q: Who makes the first move?

A: knowing these two? no one. they just silently stare into the middle-distance once in a while which for them is tantamount to writing epic pining love poems. but for real it's probably something they mutually blunder into, after months of flirting (shooting at each other from long distances) and sexy banter (nodding silently at one another when they happen to meet in a non-hostile capacity).

tseng: vincent: tseng: vincent: reno: GET A FUCKING ROOM ALREADY

in order for anything to progress they'd have to a) be trapped somewhere in close proximity b) have access to a ton of liquor and c) one of them has to be injured to create an excuse for physical contact reno: i gotcha tseng: ow! why the hell did you shoot me! reno (shoving Tseng into the Shinra Manor basement and bolting the door): it's for your own good boss!! you'll thank me later! vincent (sits up in coffin): what are you doing in here? where did all this liquor come from? tseng: tseng: -passes out from blood loss- Q: How do they confess?

A: this is where their whole cool as a cucumber in an icebox stoic tough-guy act falls apart because they're both painfully awkward when they're not playing mr. badass in front of the kids. they'd probably kiss once, get all flustered and apologize profusely to each other, and then be too embarrassed to speak to one another for months. which would result in Reno and the other Turks engineering scenarios like the above so often that they pretty much start having regular dates in various basements and wine cellars and bunkers and vaults

Q: Do they have any pet names for each other?

vincent: No. tseng: No.

A: i guess not

Q: Do they keep their relationship a secret?

A: not intentionally but they're them. Tseng actually thinks he's been far too free in advertising it. he made eye contact with Vincent in the presence of other people three times this week like some kind of shameless whore

thank you for the asks this was so much fun!!! ❤️‍🩹🖤

[mcalhenwrites]

If the fathers from some of your stories (Vivian, Humphrey and Willie) were to meet each other what would happen. Just stuck in a room together. Would they get agree or disagree with each other (about their families or whatever topic you think they’d talk about) Think one’s style of parenting is better than the other?

Oooh, this is such an intriguing situation to pose to me, thank you!

The answer for this is incredibly lengthy, because I imagined several topics they might address, parenting included.

These three also have similar technology, although it has progressed further in SGH/Rascal’s steampunk world, so Vivian will only be a little behind. I will assume they’re all generally meeting when they’re the ages they are in their stories, since Humphrey and Willie exist in the same world, and Willie is older in Rascal than Humphrey is in SGH, but he’s young enough to be his son in their timeline. So they’re going to be early-in-the-story ages for this little experiment. ;)

Not sure what would trap them. Maybe an elevator ride, because otherwise Vivian would be the first to find a door and go through it.

Anyway, let’s start~

I know Willie would bring up cars, and Humphrey would nod along and hum in agreement with a few points, while Vivian would be baffled by Willie’s eccentricity. He’d politely decline to participate in the conversation and sit far away by himself, I bet, but Willie… Well, he’s not one to be ignored.

Willie is the conversation-starter, the lead of said conversations. He’d ask most of the first questions. He’d brag, which both of the other men would find tactless, but they’re both initially too polite to call him out on it. It doesn’t hurt that he has some charisma, he’s chatty, and he’s an extrovert. Friends aren’t hard to make when you’re Willie the Rascal, which is why this is an awful situation for Vivian.

Humphrey is generally a polite man who can speak when he needs to speak, and he’s good at responding. It’s good for his business—people don’t want to bury their loved ones while dealing with someone who shows no compassion or sensibilities. That doesn’t mean Humphrey’s less introverted, though. And he makes a fine mortician, since the cadavers don’t require much conversation.

(For the record, he does chat with them. He’s actually warm and caring in a lot of ways, he’s just also a product of his upbringing, which is why his parenting sucks but is exactly how he was parented.)

Humphrey’s temper is still terrible, but almost all of his temper is related to job stress and children not obeying as he demands. Other people don’t usually see that angry side. If they did, they’d say “children should be seen and not heard” or “children must obey their parents” or some shit like that.

Willie doesn’t have much of a temper except when he’s humiliated.

And Vivian’s temper is downright dangerous.

Willie would assume that since he’s in a room with two men, surely they must love cars!

Willie: “Yes, I actually happen to make parts for cars. I drive an Odelli, and my company provides some of the parts that make those lovely automobiles. Otis Odelli is actually a dear friend of mine. Do either of you have cars?”

Humphrey: “I do, but it’s in poor condition. I’m afraid it’s rather old and beaten and not always reliable, but I can’t afford anything fancy. I’m just grateful to have one.”

Vivian would not answer, Willie would push.

Willie: “And what about you, Mr. Liddell? Do you drive an automobile?”

Vivian: “I have one.”

Willie: “Oh, what kind? You should both try to get an Odelli—and don’t worry, I could even get Otis to give you a discount.”

(At this point, Humphrey just nods along with a smile because he’s not about to start something over cars, and Vivian is already annoyed but holds it in.)

Willie: “I bought both my children Odellis. My daughter uses hers all the time, but my son thinks he still needs to ride a bike around town. I don’t get it.”

Vivian: “Isn’t that quite practical? Car maintenance is expensive. I only use mine in extreme circumstances, but it’s far too hot in summer to drive it.”

Willie: “Why not get a model with a hood that lowers? Why, I know just the model you could buy!”

So it goes, and eventually, Vivian would mention cars are only convenient for driving his children around to appointments and whatnot. Otherwise, he walks.

Humphrey and Vivian then find out they both have three children, because Vivian lies. Willie, of course, only has the two—“A shame, really, I’m such a doting daddy!”—but they’re both sharp kids! “My son doesn’t always know what’s good for him, though.”

Willie may not like being humiliated by Hazel, but he has no issues being the one who humiliates Hazel. (Even then, he’ll still play up how much of a great daddy he is.)

Humphrey would say his wife only agreed to the three children they have, and he would have gladly had more if she’d been keen on the idea. But she’s the one who has to carry them, and he’s grateful to her for going through three pregnancies. He imagines it can’t be easy.

Willie will lose a lot of respect points with Humphrey when he laughs and says, “Well, isn’t that what a woman’s body is made for?”

Misogynistic asshole. :)

Willie: “Oh, but Edith Anne is happy with the two she has, and she’s a fantastic mother.”

(Humphrey immediately worries for Edith Anne, since he now imagines her being quiet and meek with her overbearing sexist husband, but he bites his tongue. Willie also doesn’t disclose that he’s a womanizing piece of shit who has countless affairs with mostly younger women, and if he had, I think both Humphrey and Vivian would devour him.)

Humphrey does express some disappointment in his youngest son, but admits he might not understand Ambrose very well. As for Eugene and Christine, they’re good kids, reasonably mischievous when younger, but they’ve grown up to be fine young people. He hopes Ambrose will get there too.

This is never addressed in SGH, so this isn’t exactly a spoiler, but Humphrey was the middle child of three: an older sister, a younger brother. The youngest brother had a tendency to be like Ambrose. He daydreamed often, he was sensitive, etc. Both Humphrey’s siblings died when the pandemic hit. Humphrey used to cover for his brother a lot to keep him out of trouble. He wonders if that was best, since his brother only seemed to upset the adults even more.

Vivian doesn’t say much, but he does mention he has three boys. (Early Seasons, so he doesn’t know about Bee.)

Willie is immediately impressed—“Three boys! You must have your hands full with those scamps!”

Vivian expresses that his oldest child is quite the opposite of a scamp, though his youngest can be one, and he doesn’t “know what to do with” his middle son.

Humphrey nods, because Eugene is the reliable oldest child, but he has similar troubles with Ambrose that Viv has with Howie. (Or so Humphrey thinks.)

Willie chimes in with his own agreement, because Opal is his brilliant little girl, even if she’s a woman expecting her own child—“a grandson!”—and she’s going to take over his business. Maybe even build it up and make his company better than ever.

Then Willie raves about Opal for a while. Talks about how clever she was as a little girl, how she got rid of her toys at a young age and took to mechanics right away. Helped him with his cars. She makes strange jokes, and he can’t always tell if she’s kidding, but—“She’s a riot, really!”

(This all reminds Vivian of Sophie, which makes him bitter. He misses his little girl, even if she could be ill-tempered. But he can’t say this, he left out his two older children.)

Willie: “I wish Hazel had been as easy to raise as Opal. That one is in his mid-twenties, and he’s still a bit of a rascal. I guess we all are—it’s a family thing. Our last name is Raston, and it’s been a public nickname for us. We’re the Raston Rascals.”

This is how they reach the topic of parenting. Because Willie tells one of his favorite stories about Hazel. The one where Hazel wandered off in a park on vacation when he was six, had the whole park searching, and when he turned up acting as if he hadn’t done a thing wrong (he followed a mama duck and her ducklings and forgot to stick with his parents), Willie spanked him on a park bench in front of everyone. It even made the newspapers.

Willie: “I can count on one hand how many times I spanked that boy! I wish I’d done it a bit more often. Never had to do more than reprimand Opal—and barely that—but I wish I’d been strict with Hazel. You’ve got to be tough with boys.”

Humphrey then agrees some children need a good spanking, and all three of his kids knew what to expect if they get into significant trouble or act disrespectful. (And still know, in Ambrose’s case.)

Vivian doesn’t engage in the conversation, although he secretly thinks Willie sounds far too soft, and he imagines Hazel is a terrible spoiled brat who doesn’t work. He has dealt with spoiled rich people as clients and has a special hatred for them.

Now, Vivian isn’t going to detail how he punishes his children, but even Humphrey would consider him abusive. Fucking. Humphrey. (Willie would too, given that he’s the most lenient parent in the room, and he spent half of Opal and Hazel’s childhoods talking his wife and the nurses out of punishing them. “Oh, they’re just babies having a little fun!” He’s mostly pissed at Hazel, but if he went back in time, he probably wouldn’t have the heart to go through with his threats of being tougher on Hazel.)

Humphrey doesn’t know the children in question, so he doesn’t have any opinions on Opal and Hazel, and given Willie’s personality so far… Well, he’s not sure he believes Hazel is all that bad or that Opal is all that perfect. (She is, Humphrey. She is. I will not hear a word against Opal.)

Then it comes out in one of Willie’s talkative rants that his primary reason for being angry at Hazel is that he’s a “shafter” who “runs around with a man on his arm!”

Vivian doesn’t bite his tongue this time. Humans may have certain weird societal rules they follow compared to spirits, but they’re as queer as anyone, and no one has ever considered it odd. The only reason he ever called Graham his brother-in-law was to cover up that he birthed Shannon, and he panicked on how to explain to others how he became a father. He could have just said that they both lost their wife in childbirth in a polyamorous relationship.

Vivian: “I raise my children with my husband. Do you find that offensive?”

(They would if they knew how you were raising them, and they’re both pretty shitty fathers, Viv!)

Willie balks. He wasn’t expecting that. Then he blurts something stupid because he’s in shock, but also he’s been secretly bothered by it since he saw Vivian.

Willie: “Well, you’re pretty enough to be a woman. It must confuse some men, your husband included.”

Vivian is pissed enough to retort, “By those standards, aren’t you too short to be a man?”

And the conversation is mostly killed. Willie’s mustache twitches as he huffs to his own little corner of their hopefully-large-enough-not-to-kill-one-another elevator, but he’s surprised and dismayed that Humphrey doesn’t join his side.

Humphrey eventually shuffles over to Vivian and says softly, “My sister dated women, and I think my oldest son is attracted to men, but he’s marrying a girl so I could be wrong.”

Just to let him know he’s not judging Vivian for being gay.

I don’t know how it would eventually be brought up, but Vivian and Humphrey have one thing in common: they are terrified of their loved ones getting sick and dying.

Vivian doesn’t want anyone to leave him, doesn’t want things to change, and has nearly watched a child wither away. He has seen people and animals die, and he knows he’ll live on, because so little poses a fatal threat to him. The unknown ailments of a season make that strange territory to wander into, so he takes no chances, but Graham? Graham is fragile, like Gideon, and could die someday.

Humphrey lost everyone he loved to an illness that ravaged his home city while he was staying in the dormitory at his university. All his family and any friends he had outside of university died while he was far away. He dropped out and spent the rest of his life trying to keep his family’s mortuary in business. Trying to afford to keep every acre of his family’s home.

Doesn’t help that he’s a mortician. He sees death every day. That cannot be healthy, always having that reminder.

I don’t think Willie can relate to that. Death is terrifying, but it doesn’t cross his mind much. He has lost friends and his father died a few years before Rascal starts (though they had a difficult relationship), but he’s also insulated. Illness? He can afford the best doctors and luxurious vacation homes in the countryside to keep quarantined at. He did care that the children got fevers sometimes when they were little, and he fussed over them, but he never worried they’d die, because he has access to the most modern medicine out of the three men trapped in this room together.

(I have no idea how they’re trapped.)

Willie would probably find out Humphrey’s a mortician and say something like, “Oh, that’s a grim line of work, but someone has got to do it!” And smile.

Vivian would be glad he looks at numbers all day, not at bodies, and say nothing. He thinks Willie’s job sounds disgusting, though he doesn’t know why he hates it so much. (It’s the Cosmos in you, Viv. It hates pollution. Willie’s factories are everything spirits hate and fear.)

Both Humphrey and Willie would respect Vivian’s occupation. They both have accountants, although Humphrey is married to his, and this is the one time he’d brag—that he’s got the best wife, since she takes care of all the numbers for him.

I fear that might be their most civil conversation: Vivian’s career.

Now, I wonder what would happen if you put all ten of their children in a room together. Just how much trauma have these three men caused? :’)

I think if these fathers had to listen in—with no way to retaliate because it would be post-orchard, post-airship, post-Stargazers’ Hill tragedy—they’d probably go from disliking one another to hating each other. Humphrey would be the most ashamed of himself. Vivian and Willie would try to blame anyone but themselves at first and for a long while, which is exactly what they did in their stories.

[pjsandapony]

This is a true story, maybe it could help someone somewhere..

There are a few people involved in my story who are still on their own paths of healing, and we are all connected in different ways so parts of the story are intentionally vague. I don’t know how one goes about telling stories that involve others, but I’m going to do my best to be respectful.

My husband and I had three children very close together, each two years apart from 2012 to 2016. We were loving being parents and had experienced no major hiccups aside from some job changes during those four years. But the year of 2017 just after our third baby was born, just ended up being a full breakdown for us on so many levels, work betrayals and relational betrayals and pain upon pain. Almost month over month it felt like a crisis was happening. That spring, when our third baby was just a few months old, I started having hallucinations triggered by a couple different things. A combination of the MTHFR gene mutation and a UTI. I was exhausted and struggling to take care of myself as well as I needed to. After three babies back-to-back and nursing all of them, my body was really depleted nutritionally and I didn’t know the depth of it. It ended up that I became fully convinced I was dying and got to a point where I was terrified to go to sleep at night and so mostly stopped sleeping except for a few hours during the day when I could hear the reassuring sounds of people and movement. I had severe postpartum anxiety and didn’t know that either until later. I was completely manic and hearing and seeing things that weren’t there. It took a full year to eventually begin to trust my senses again, just out of fear, although the hallucinations stopped as soon as I got on the right supplement regimen.

Fast forward about 4 years, our third child was now 5 and life was beginning to feel smooth. We were renting a quiet house in the country, and enjoying all of the phases of a growing family.

In this house, we also had a precious relative living with us. There were some struggles that this person was having that my husband and I weren’t sure how to handle. One night, after one particularly challenging round of conversations, I got into bed and pulled the sheets up over my head. My husband was sitting in the corner working on his computer. Then I audibly heard a man’s voice ask “are you ok?” I pulled the sheets down and asked him if he had just asked me that. My husband said no, he hadn’t said anything at all. Internally I answered the voice back and said “yes I’m just tired” and then asked in my mind, “who spoke to me?”

Several nights later it was storming quite loudly outside and, as my oldest son was never fond of heavy storms, had come into our room to sleep. All of the sudden he popped his head up and said “did you say something?” I said “no I didn’t, what did you hear?” He said, “someone said, ‘the Son.’” He was so frightened and shaking and climbed into our bed for the rest of the night.

A week or two later I asked him some questions. I asked him if the voice sounded friendly or scary and he said friendly. And I asked him if it was a male or female voice. He said male. It became clear to me that the Father answered my question through our son, because He knew I would not trust my own experience, due to the health situation we went through years before. He knew I would question if I was hallucinating again.

In mercy, He confirmed the care of His Son through another person, my own son. I say all of this to encourage you, towards belief that God cares about your inner world and your responses to the events of your life.

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Laura I can’t believe that it already has been three years! It’s so incredibly how quick time goes by. <3

For your event may I ask for your opinion on Marx friendships for the under appreciated favorites option? I mean we already talked a bit about his friendship with Julius but what do you think about his friendship with the other former grey deer members like Yami, William and Morgan? 💕

Hiya Melissa!

Yeah I know T^T <3 ! It's incredible how time has really flown by!

Ooo! Marx! He really doesn't get enough credit. So let's see...

It's true that Marx's friendship with Julius is emphasized because it's his closest one, and the one that is most easily portrayed due to the working circumstances. But I do think that he ought to be quite good friends, or at least get well along with the others due to them being of similar age, and been around the Grey Deers at the same time. Julius is old enough to have "moved on" and have had his own circles in the squad by the time the others came around. But also Julius has been shown to be a mentor/father figure to Yami and William, so I don't really see why he wouldn't have been a mentor of a kind to Marx as well back in the day. But nowadays their relationship has become more of a friendship than a mentorship.

We really don't know much about Marx's past, other than him being a noble, but I do wonder if he was, at least a bit, of an outcast. I mean, someone with Memory Communication magic, which could translate in the minds of people into him being able to read your mind at will just like that, could be shunned because... do we really want people to read our minds? Not really.

Granted that I don't think that any shunning that Marx might have experienced to be as ... severe as Yami's or William's. However, I do think that because of this, Yami, William and Marx could have had their little group in the Grey Deer.

Marx and Morgen might have had most similar personalities. Soft, formal, calm and collected, while William was the shy one and Yami was the rambunctious one. Which makes me think that Marx and Morgen probably spent some evenings, just drinking tea and talking about life, noble circles, things that they both could relate to.

William, as nobility himself, probably provided some insight as to how shallow the noble circles can really be, which probably resulted into a lot of good conversation between the three, and Yami was the one to keep their feet on the ground, ironically, since him I see as the most rascal out of them all.

Do I see Yami and Marx going out for tea? Not really, but are theu good enough friends to be able to reach out to each other if the situation calls for it? Absolutely. They're just different in terms of personalities, which I think makes it more difficult for them to connect on such a level that they'd enjoy spending a lot of their (scarce) free time together. Maybe once a year, but not a lot more. But it doesn't mean that they'd have hard feelings about it either. You just click better with some people than others.

Morgen would probably have been Marx's first choice as a friend though, but... life had other plans.

And William? Will I think had his own plans and a course of action, which "separated" him from Marx even more. But also, I think that Will put on a kind of a front, an emotional mask if you will, from ever since he was little, which makes it difficult for people to connect with you. So, I think that Marx, too, found it little difficult to really connect with him.

I do see all of them as palls. People who spent time together while in the Grey Deer, and they did have good laughs and stories to tell about what they did as a group, but it's similar to old school friends.

But I could see Marx and Yami having a drink at a bar, just reminiscing the "good old times". Share a few laughs again and just... be. Catching up.

[dangerpronebuddie]

hi!! you said in tags on a recent post that they were foreshadowing something happening to eddie! could you pls tell me when you thought this, as i’m intrigued lol

Hello anon! 🥰

You're going to think I'm delulu by the end of this. If you don't already lol 😅

For starters, 9-1-1 loves playing the long game when it comes to foreshadowing. Eddie's shooting and the lead up to his breakdown started in his first episode.

I mean, we had "I've just done it while people are shooting at me is all" in 2x01 and "At least nobody's shooting at us" in the crossover. And! Eddie's insistence that the universe does not scream.

All the military related accidents and the entirety of the Shannon arc and 3x15 and... pretty much everything that happened to that poor man lead to his breakdown.

But the foreshadowing for what I thought was going to happen (which didn't 😕) started in 4x14 with none other than the legal guardian conversation.

I mentioned that I thought something was going to happen to Eddie and/or Chris. Like with the shooting, whatever that something is has been building for a few seasons.

Now, I love the legal guardian thing. There's so many layers to it, not to mention how they look at each other through the whole thing. It's a declaration of love. However! It's also a bad omen.

Eddie Diaz, Mr. Prove To Me Something Is Real And I'll Believe It, keeps jinxing himself. Even speaking the will into existence is a bad idea™. These writers don't normally bring something up and then forget about it. And I would say making your best friend the father of your child if you aren't there is a pretty big thing to just leave hanging!

Eddie didn't even plan on telling Buck about it until the shooting. He waited an entire year??? For something that important? In short, the writers included it for a purpose beyond an aborted love confession.

Anyhoo. That's sign one.

Season 5 we can put aside, because it was a whole other thing.

Season 6 was where the most foreshadowing came in. I think it all really started in 6x07. Even Eddie, by the like third(?) accident Felisha had, commented on the fact that he might be cursed. At the end of the episode, at the beach, he gets a call from Abuela. The framing of that shot (I really wish I could make gifs right now. Thankfully I found a set) shows Eddie in focus with Chris at the forefront. As Eddie asks "what does she say about my future?" in regards to Abuela's curandera, the focus shifts to Chris. To me, that meant something would happen to Eddie and have the guardian thing come up again.

Then, in 6x15, Eddie and Chris go to see Shannon (I thought that was really nice, btw, it was sweet). Then his mother is pestering him to come visit. He talks to her twice I believe (haven't rewatched that episode in a while, the cemetery scene haunts me 😅). Anyway, when he talks to her at the end of the episode, he says "we'll figure something out. Okay? We got time."

Refer to my earlier statement. Eddie keeps jinxing himself!

The entire episode, there was something ominous about it. The old lady, "we're all gonna die alone," Shannon, etc. It just felt... eerie, I suppose.

I expected the season 6 finale to satisfy the foreshadowing. I heard they rewrote the ending thanks to them not being sure if the show would be picked up by another network (THANK YOU ABC!) Anyway. Something tells me that the original plan was to severely hurt the fathers on the team. Chim, Bobby, and Eddie were all in serious danger.

The time jump at the end kinda sucked. To me, the finale felt a little... discombobulated. I think that maybe, even though 911 doesn't do this, they intended for season 6 to end on a cliffhanger. Any or all three of them could've still been in danger or clinging to life when the episode ended. It would've been more satisfying, honestly.

Anyway.

I just think they hinted a little too much at this. It could be that it just hasn't happened yet and there's still more foreshadowing to go. Maybe in season 7, Eddie could be missing and presumed dead or injured badly enough to have Buck step in for Chris (in a much more concrete parental role.)

[flatassthrowaway]

Passionately and Deeply

~Chapter Three, Childfree Edition~

I just wanted to thank everyone for engaging with my fanfic this far, and getting to the prologue over 70+ notes! It warms my heart that so many people like this series! I'll be putting out a masterlist when I release the fifth chapter.

Also there may be more than a few grammatical errors in here, feel free to ignore those.

Anyway, like always, I hope you enjoy!

New to the series? Read the prologue.

The air is warmer, the grass is greener, and my ties to this town are only becoming deeper.

Being with Ford on that fateful night took away nearly every fear I had. I felt like as long as I had him, nothing would stand in my way in life.

I think he pretty much confirmed the same thing with me.

And I couldn’t be happier about that.

Since then, we’ve been hanging out regularly. He’s shown me quite a few of the abnormal beings in this charming yet peculiar town. Among them were the plaidypus, the beard cubs (which were actually kinda cute), and the question quails (which were unquestionably adorable). Ford claims that there are dangerous beings that reside here, but the ones that I’ve seen have been rather innocuous. I actually scooped up the icicle mice from this winter and put them in my freezer so that they’ll live.

In other news, his grand-niblings are on their way to visit him and his family up here in a few hours. They’ll be staying for the whole summer.

Melody had her child, which was a boy. She named him Jesús Alzamirano Ramirez Jr., right after Soos.

They’re such a sweet couple, and now a sweet family. I hope they have a prosperous life.

Abuelita is smitten over her new bisnieto, or her great-grandson. He is quite adorable, after all. He was born on April 4th, and he’ll be two months old on the 4th.

I even got to hold him several times when I visited. I forgot how soft they were, and how good they smelled. On my days off of work, I would make my way to the shack and just tend to him while his primary familial unit rested up.

Ford seems to like the little bean, too. Although he doesn’t really strike me as someone who would like babies, he really took a liking to him.

“You’re so good with that little tyke,” he told me.

I smiled up at him while holding the little bean. “Thanks,” I said. “It’s ironic, since I never want to be a mother or have children.”

Ford’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Truly? You never mentioned it.”

I smiled back down at the sweet baby in my arms. “It never came up,” I told him. “Not until this sweet boy came into our lives. Having a set amount of time with him is fine with me.”

Ford smiled. “On an unrelated note, how old are you again?” he asked.

I playfully raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask about a lady’s age?” I asked, playfully indignant. “I’ll be twenty seven in seven days.”

“Ah, so you’re a gemini like me,” he said. “My great niece told me about the zodiac signs and everything related to them.”

“Oh really? When’s your birthday then?” I asked.

“Stanley’s and my birthday is in two weeks from today, on the 15th of June,” he said.

“The twins have the twins zodiac. How about that,” I said, chuckling.

“You wouldn’t happen to be a twin, would you?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“What a shame. I thought I would be able to set her up with Stanley,” Ford joked.

I playfully raised an eyebrow. “Who said my twin would be a woman?” I said.

Both of us just stared at each other before we softly broke out laughing.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open, and I saw two teenagers at the door, one boy and one girl.

The girl had medium brown curly hair that reached her mid back, the same copper brown eyes as Stan and Ford, and donned a purple headband with parted fringe bangs. Her sweater (why was she wearing a sweater in June?) was the same purple color as her headband and had spelled out MABEL, and wore a hot pink skirt that reached just a little below mid thigh, with dark purple almost black stockings, and some purple doc martens on. She was about average height.

The boy had a tan and dark brown lumberjack hat, the same medium brown curly hair and copper brown eyes as his sister, with long bangs that nearly covered his eyes. He wore a red flannel plaid shirt, blue jeans and timberlands. He was also about average height, which… kind of surprised me. Seeing that he was related to Stan and Ford, I thought he would be taller.

That doesn’t matter that much, though.

What matters is that this sweet baby boy started crying when both of them busted through the door. I shushed him, trying to soothe him.

“We’re here!” the girl yelled as Ford shushed her. She lowered her head. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“Who’re you?” the boy asked.

“Dipper, my boy, meet my good friend,” Ford said my name, introducing me to his great nephew. “Come here, Mabel, I want you to meet her, too.”

“Woah, nice to meet you! I’m Mabel! Grunkle Ford never said anything about his lady friend being so pretty,” Mabel introduced herself to me as I chuckled and Ford scratched the back of his head.

I can see where she gets her electrifying personality from.

“Nice to meet you too, dear,” I told her, this sweet baby finally settling down back into slumber.

“My name’s Dipper,” Dipper introduced himself. “Is that Soos’ son or is that your own child?”

I shook my head. “It’s definitely not my child. I’m just watching him while he, Melody, and Abuelita rest.”

“Woah, can I hold him? Please please please? I promise I’ll be extra careful!”

“Not yet, darling. Go wash your hands before you touch him. His immune system is very fragile right now,” Ford told Mabel. Mabel dashed to the sink, and Dipper walked, following her.

“So they are your niece and nephew,” I remarked.

Ford turned to me and nodded. “Yes. Besides this little tyke, they are the closest thing to being my own children.”

I smiled as I turned my gaze back to the sweet baby in my arms. “Did you ever want children, Ford?”

“Not really, no,” he said. “I was focused on my work. In a way, everything I’ve worked on, and currently working on are my progeny. Even if I wanted to… I think it’s far too late for me to be a father.”

“That’s a fascinating way to put it,” I told him. “And I completely agree. My work is my baby.”

Ford chuckled as Mabel and Dipper both entered the living room, and Mabel made grabby hands towards Jesús. “Lemme see him~!” she said in her baby voice.

I handed him to her, and she was completely enamored by his baby charm. “Hi buddy. It’s your cousin, Mabel,” she said softly.

I guess when the moment really calls for it, she can be gentle.

“So…” Dipper said my name. “Or do you prefer Miss? Ms? Ma’am?”

I chuckled. “You can say my name, it’s alright, Dipper,”

“Good!” Dipper cleared his throat. “I-I mean, good. I just have a few questions for you.”

“I have a few questions for you, too!” Mabel declared. The baby in her arms cried again.

“My dear, let me take the little tyke while you… speak,” he said, taking Jesús in his arms.

Mabel led me upstairs and Dipper followed us into the attic, where they were sleeping. It smelled like dust mites and moth balls.

They couldn’t have gotten something more appealing for these kids? Honestly!

I’m busting Ford’s ass about this later.

“So…” Dipper said my name. “What is your occupation?”

I told both of them what I did.

“What about before you came to Gravity Falls? What did you do? Where did you live? Did you graduate from university?”

Mabel rolled her eyes. “Jeez Dipper, it’s like you never had a conversation before! It sounds like an interview!”

“Mabel, these are important things I need to know about Great Uncle Ford’s new girlfriend,” he said.

I raised a finger to refute. “Well, actually-”

“Dipper, c’mon!” she whined before turning to me. “I’m sorry for Dipper, he doesn’t know how to have a proper conversation with a lady.”

“Wha- hey!”

“Aaaaanyway, I have more important questions to ask you than the stuffy questions my brother asked! I need to know: Do you like pigs or tardigrades?” Mabel said, narrowing her eyes at me comically.

“Well, I’d have to say pigs. Tardigrades are cute, but I never interacted with one,” I told her.

Mabel squealed. “Oh, this is great! Let me get Waddles!” she said, running out of the room.

“Oh great. Now you’ve set her off,” Dipper said. “Anyway, back to my questions. How old are you?”

I playfully smiled. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask for a lady’s age?” I asked, testing how strong his resolve was.

Dipper scratched the back of his neck. “I-I’m sorry, ma’am, I just-”

I smiled softly. “Listen Dipper, I understand you care for your great uncle, but speaking to me like this seems a little… out of character for you, if that makes sense,” I told him.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Just from the small amount of interaction I had from you, you’re clearly an intelligent young man,” I told him, his cheeks becoming a little red. “But your confidence is lacking. To make up for that, you overcompensate with a dour tone. I almost felt animosity coming from you in your questions, even though I know it’s not how you want to come across.”

“Wow… how did you get all of that?” Dipper asked.

I smiled. “I’ve been on this Earth for quite some time, dear. Most of the time, I can tell when someone isn’t being authentic.”

“Well… can I at least ask why you’re dating my grunkle?” Dipper asked.

I laughed. “Oh, that is hilarious,” I told him. “Hon, I’m not dating your great uncle. We’re just really good friends,” I told him. “If you ask him, he would say the same thing.”

Dipper breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. It’s still kinda questionable, but that’s a lot better.”

I smiled as Mabel came back in with a lean yet rotund pink pig with a cute nose and round cheeks. She said my name. “Meet Waddles!” she said, as Waddles let out a happy squeak.

I smiled. “What a cute little guy,” I said, slowly moving closer to him. “Hey Waddles.”

He sniffed my hand, and then nuzzled his head into my hand. I scratched just above his ears, and he was panting like a dog.

I think he enjoys it.

“Wow! He loves you already! How did you know his favorite scratching spot?” Mabel asked.

“Mabel, all over his body is his favorite scratching spot. He loves pets,” Dipper said.

“True, true,” Mabel said, sitting in front of me and next to her twin brother, crossing her legs. “Now then, where were we in our interview?”

“Actually… I want to take a different approach,” Dipper said, looking back at me.

Mabel turned her head curiously, looking at her brother. “Yeah? How?” she asked, looking back at me.

“Let’s get psychological,” Dipper said, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Hell yeah! Psychological warfare!” Mabel exclaimed as she pumped her fist in the air.

Suddenly, the door opened to the attic, and Stan was in the doorway. “Psychological warfare? Ya don’t gotta tell me twice!” he said, taking a seat on the bed next to his great nephew, looking at me.

I was starting to sweat a little bit. Hopefully, they didn’t see it.

“I guess the main thing I’m worried about is that… well… you and Great Uncle Ford seem so friendly. I’ve never seen him like that with a stranger,” Dipper told me.

“I am a stranger to you, but not to your great uncle,” I reminded him.

“And that’s fine and all, but… how long have you known him?” Dipper asked.

“It’ll be four months on our birthday. Or maybe the day before? I dunno, somewhere around there,” Stan chimed in.

Mabel gasped. “You’ve cracked our Grunkle Ford in four months?!” she asked incredulously.

“I wouldn’t put it that way…” I told her.

“Yeah,” Stan surprisingly agreed with me. “It was more like one week.”

Mabel stared at me, awestruck. “One week?!” she shrieked, making me jump a little.

I nodded bewilderedly. Mabel screamed as if she were fangirling. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh~!”

“Mabel, get a hold of yourself!” Stan said.

“But c’mon Grunkle Stan! She’s exactly what Grunkle Ford needs! Do you really want him to rot in his lab all day, with no companion?” Mabel asked him.

Stan rolled his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh brother.”

Mabel stood up and nearly lunged at me. I nearly jumped out of my seat. “But seriously! You need to teach me your secrets! If you were able to charm Grunkle Ford in a week, you’re on the same level as a succubus in terms of charm and seduction!” She exclaimed.

I raised an eyebrow, deciding to play along with her. “Why does a young lady like you need to know about seduction?” I asked.

Mabel cleared her throat. “I am sixteen years old!” she boasted proudly, puffing her chest.

Dipper raised his index finger. “Almost seventeen,” he chimed in. “But Mabel, c’mon. Let us have at least a semi-serious conversation without you trying to make friends with her.”

Mabel turned around and blew a raspberry at her brother. “Boo! You’re so boring sometimes, Dipper!”

She sat back down next to her brother, and crossed her legs again.

“Now then, where were we…” Dipper trailed off.

“We were talkin’ about how long my brainiac brother and her knew each other,” Stan reminded him.

Dipper’s eyes lit up before he snapped his fingers. “Right!” His gaze zeroed in on me. “My point in asking that question was because Great Uncle Ford didn’t really begin to trust us until Mabel got that unicorn hair for him.”

I looked at the three of them quizzically. Unicorns are real? Or was this just the overactive imagination of teenagers?

“Kid, she’s from a normal town. Unicorns probably are a myth where she’s from,” Stan told Dipper.

I nodded. “Or so I thought… but after seeing some of the oddities Gravity Falls has to offer, I’d say I believe in the existence of unicorns,” I told them.

Mabel had a super serious face on. “Then believe me when I say that they are so condescending,” Mabel said.

Holy crap. I thought unicorns were supposed to be pure hearted or whatever? Now I’m hearing the opposite?

Nothing really is as it seems in Gravity Falls…

“Mabel, focus!” Dipper said in a tone of frustration.

Mabel shook her head. “Right! Sorry…” she said. “The point Dipper is trying to make is that it took Grunkle Ford so long for him to trust us that he’s shook that Grunkle Ford was so friendly to you within a week.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, did you mean shocked?” I asked.

Mabel shook her head. “Nope. Dipper was shook,” she doubled down on her grammatically incorrect statement.

That must be the slang the kids came up with these days. Now that I’m an adult myself, I understand how my grandmother felt when I used slang terms.

“While you’re right, Sister, you know that ‘shook’ has been out for a while. No one except you uses it anymore,” Dipper said.

“Oh, you’re just salty that I finally used it right!” Mabel said.

“Oh, does that mean he’s weird?” I asked.

Dipper looked at me like I had three heads, but Mabel gave me a gentle pat on my arm.

“That was a good guess,” she said, before returning to sit with her brother.

“That… wasn’t even close,” he said.

I scratched my cheek as I felt both of them become hot. “I guess I’m showing my age, then.”

“Actually, speaking of which, how old are you? You look pretty young for someone trying to go after our great uncle.”

“Oh my gosh, Dipper!” Mabel exclaimed. “You can’t just ask a woman how old she is! That’s rude!”

“Actually, I wanna know how old this vixen is. How old are you?” Stan asked me.

“Grunkle Stan~!” Mabel whined.

“Can it, Mabel! We need answers!”

“I’ll be twenty seven a week from today,” I told them.

“Shit, kid… you’re a lot younger than I thought,” Stan said.

“Wow, that’s… controversial,” Dipper added.

“What do you mean?”

Dipper shook his head. “The fact that you’re friends with my Grunkle, and he’s in his sixties…”

“That shouldn’t matter. But with that being said,” I started. “I understand that you just want to make sure your great uncle is being safe, and I totally understand that. I haven’t hurt him, nor do I intend on consciously hurting him.”

“Bah! Your words mean nothing! How the hell are we gonna trust ya?” Stan asked.

Mabel stood up again, and stepped forward. “I’ll be the judge of that!”

“Mabel, sweetie, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Stan said. “This is a strange woman that you, I, and your brother don’t know.”

“So let’s get to know her, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel said, determination in her voice. “If she’s so bad, you need to give me at least one reason why I shouldn’t hang out with her. If it's for a decent reason, then I’ll stop.”

“Well… uh… urm…” Stan stammered.

So why the hell doesn’t he like me?

“Then it’s settled!” Mabel turned to me, saying my name. “We’re going to be great friends! I can feel it!”

Seeing this vibrant young lady in front of me blazed in determination, I couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s be friends.”

“Yay! Friendship, friendship, friendship~”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get too happy, pumpkin,” Stan said, standing up. “I’ll find a flaw in her, and when I do, you’re gonna know that I’m right.”

Mabel smiled. “Okay, Grunkle Stan,” she told him. As he walked to the door, he opened it, and Ford was standing there, looking indignant.

“Oh… well, uh, shit,” Stan said. “How long ya been there, Poindexter?”

“Long enough,” he seethed in a low tone. He pushed past his brother, and entered into the attic and went towards Mabel.

“Thank you for giving her a chance, my darling,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Mabel gave a half smile.

He then turned to Dipper. “Dipper, my boy. Come with me to my laboratory. You too,” he said my name. We both stood up, then went down to his lab. The way to get down to his lab was so cool. I marvel at it every time.

Using a vending machine to hide the entrance way was so innovative, inconspicuous and just overall ingenious.

And using symbols that aren’t seen in everyday life? Brilliant!

Once we descended to the deepest level, we got off of the elevator. Ford then turned around and placed his hands behind his back.

“Dipper… do you not trust my judgement?” Ford asked him, hurt palpable in his voice.

“Great Uncle Ford, what do you mean? Of course I do!” Dipper reassured him.

“You must not,” Ford said. “You, along with my brother, think that I am not able to detect a bad person when I see them.”

“Wha- are you talking about-”

Ford cut him off. “Yes, I am.”

“Great Uncle Ford, it was never my intention to make you feel like your judgement was off… even though you trusted Bill… but that’s in the past. Your judgement has been sharp since then!” Dipper tried to assuage him.

Who is Bill? What did he do? What happened?

I have a mountain of questions right now, and I don’t think I’m gonna have any of them answered in the near future.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that, my boy. She is a good person, and I was able to promptly pick up on that,” Ford clarified.

“But how do you know, Great Uncle Ford? How do you know that she is a good person?”

Ford was about to open his mouth, but I stepped in front of him, then turned to face Dipper.

“Dipper… I know you don’t trust me now…” I started. “But the only way you’ll know for sure is if you spend time with me. Your sister has already put her faith in me, and it would mean a lot to me if you could, too.”

Dipper studied my face, searching for a trace of insincerity. Upon finding none, he finally nodded.

“Fine. I’ll spend some time with you, like my sister will,” he finally spoke. “But if I find that you’re using him just like Bill… I will never forgive myself.”

I nodded determinedly at Dipper. “You can trust me, Dipper. You’ll see in time. More importantly, you can trust your great uncle.”

Dipper sighed. “Yeah, I hope that’s the case, that I can trust you,” Dipper said, defeated.

“Chin up, my boy,” Ford said. “You’ll see why I enjoy having her around. For now, you can find some snacks in the cupboard before Soos makes dinner.”

Dipper raised a bushy eyebrow. “Soos is cooking now? He always ate burrito bites and anything instantaneous.”

Ford smiled. “Fatherhood really had him step up his game. Not only as a husband, but as a grandson.”

“Wow, I gotta catch up with him for sure!” Dipper then turned to me, saying my name. “I-I’m sorry about earlier.”

I shook my head. “I understand, Dipper. You just wanted to protect your great uncle from someone strange.”

Dipper smiled. “You’re anything but,” he said. “See you both at dinner.”

We both waved to him before I turned to Ford. He just had a look of mixed emotions on his face, somewhere from sadness to relief to anger, to even looking apologetic.

“I deeply apologize for the onslaught you had to endure on behalf of my family. I hope they weren’t too unrelenting in their questioning.”

I shook my head. “I told you many times, Stanford, and I’ll tell you again,” I said. “I really don’t mind. In fact, I find it heartwarming.”

Ford raised an eyebrow. “Heartwarming?” he said. “How on Earth did you find that heartwarming?”

“It’s so blatantly clear that you have a family that loves you. So much so to the point where they would ruthlessly interrogate someone who they thought could be a potential threat to you. If that isn’t a strong familial love and bond, I don’t know what is,” I told him.

Ford scratched the back of his head. “I suppose you’re right.”

I smiled coyly. “Of course I’m right,” I told him smugly.

Ford chuckled. “You’re such a cheeky girl. I never expected you to have a sly side.”

His praise made my heart skip a beat.

I maintained my smile. “That’s some high praise coming from you.”

“Oh, my dear, you should be used to me praising you,” he said in a deep voice, making me feel all hot inside.

Ugh, why is this happening? Have I really been so lonely that this man is starting to ignite a flame inside of me?

It’s been extinguished for a while, actually. I’m surprised it’s starting back up again. If it’s even starting up at all. This basement does tend to get hot.

“Gracious, are you okay? Please, say something!” Ford asked, his hands on my shoulders.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Ford. I got lost in thought.”

Ford sighed a breath of relief, I smelt the coffee he normally drank on his breath. “Thank goodness. I was just telling you that dinner is ready, so we can go get some food to eat.”

I nodded. “I think I need something inside of me.”

Oh, fuck! That came out so wrong! I hope Ford didn’t pick up on that!

“You certainly do. Come, dear. Let’s go eat.”

I nodded before following him onto the elevator. In somewhat comfortable silence, we rode the elevator up to the first floor of the Mystery Shack, and we went into the dining room.

Soos was nowhere to be seen, but the young twins, Dipper and Mabel, were at the table, plus Stan. I decided to sit next to Ford, but as I was sitting down, Stan decided to voice his displeasure.

“Uh-uh. Stand up,” he said my name.

“Stanley! Enough!” Ford thundered. “This is becoming utterly ridiculous! Leave her be!”

Mabel and Dipper exchanged looks as Stan muttered something underneath his breath before Soos came back out. He had a joyful look on his face, which dropped once he saw the table.

“Hey dudes! …what happened?” He asked.

None of us cared to verbally answer him, so he just shrugged and sat down. Apparently, he had made enchiladas, which I strangely craved.

The dinner itself was awkward, but it wasn’t the worst one I sat through.

I thanked Soos for the dinner, and said my goodbyes to Dipper, Mabel and Stan.

Before I left, Mabel gave me her number. Just for me to give her some tips on how to become a succubus.

Goodness, that girl is a hoot.

Ford walked me back to my home, and once I arrived, I turned to him.

“Thanks for walking me back, again,” I told him.

Ford smiled. “It was the least I could do after you had to survive the onslaught,” he said as I laughed.

“I told you, it’s fine,” I said. “But if you want to spend time together… you know how to reach me.”

Ford maintained his smile. “That I do,” he said. “Goodnight, dear. Get some rest.”

“You too. Rest well.”

As I entered my home and closed the door, he began walking back. Even though I was somewhat joking the first time we met at the diner, I’m kinda glad he’s walking me back home. It makes me feel safe whenever he’s with me.

As I got ready for bed, and laid in it, I couldn’t fall asleep right away like I normally do. What was happening with my body, too?

I normally wasn’t so hot and bothered around him. His voice is naturally deep, but at that time…

Shit. I think he turned me on by accident. I think my flame has been reignited.

I need a cold shower.

💚

Likes and reblogs are appreciated! Check back next Friday for another chapter! Next chapter here.

[sunniedesi]

Future Diary Revolution

Even though Future Diary has pretty obscure merch and spin-offs to its name, most of the stuff related to the show is still relatively easy to find with enough research. After all, even though the franchise is almost 2 decades old, most of its media has been recorded quite thoroughly…

Emphasis on most. There’s actually one piece of media related to this franchise that I’ve never seen any English source cover, and it pains me to say that it is now lost media… or sort of. This is the audition show “Future Diary Revolution,” produced by Kadokawa and sponsored by Newgin (same company that made the pachislot and panchinko for the show), that first aired on the platform “Ustream” (now known as IBM Cloud Video) back on November 16, 2012. It finished airing on April 7, 2013. As previously mentioned, I haven’t found any English sources about this show, or any other language for that matter, except for a Spanish post on Facebook, though I wouldn’t really call it a source as it mistakes the show for being a second season.

Now with that being said, even the Japanese sources are scarce on this one. Currently the only sites that hold information about the show are the official Future Diary site, Japanese wikipedia, the japanese wiki and a blog post from one of the contestants. The information that the first three provided allowed me to understand how the show went, and it was basically an “audition game show” comprising ten stages. Now, what I mean with “audition game show” is that the point of the show was to test out the contestants’ ability at voice acting, singing and presenting to select new voice actors for Kadokawa projects. Each stage had a particular task that the participants had to clear in order to move to the next stage. The contestants would receive a message on their phones indicating whether they were eliminated (a DEAD END) or if they passed (DEAD END Avoided). Also, because of the large number of contestants, the first four stages had to have several rounds in which they divided the participants. We know what these first four stages were like thanks to the official Future Diary site; however, the site stopped providing updates on the tasks after stage 4, and stuck to reminders of when each stage was going to be uploaded to Ustream. The following is a list / description for each stage:

Stage 1 (three rounds with 294 contestants in total): 

First round: Contestants were asked to introduce themselves, what their best and worst traits were, and what they saw themselves doing in the future. From 79 people only 43 passed.

Second round: Contestants were asked to introduce themselves, and tell an anecdote of something good that happened around them. From 105 people only 39 passed.

Third round: Contestants were asked to introduce themselves, and what activity they excelled at. From 110 only 34 passed.

Stage 2 (three rounds with 116 contestants left): Contestants had to read out lines of Future Diary characters and act them out.

Round one: from 36 only about half passed.

Round two, from 40 only 18 passed.

Round three, from 40 only about half passed.

Samples of the scripts they were given:

Stage 3 (two rounds with 58 contestants left): Contestants had to present merchandise from the show

First round: They presented the Future Diary Blu-ray and DVD, as well as the music CDs. From 28 only 19 passed.

Second round: They presented the Gasai Yuno RAH figurine, as well as the book publications (manga, guidebook and spin-off manga). From 30, only 17 passed.

Stage 4 (two rounds with 36 contestants left): Contestants had to choose one song from a pre-selected list and sing it. The men could choose either Yukiteru’s theme, Kousaka’s theme or the 12th’s theme. The women could choose between Yukiteru’s theme, Yuno and Yukiteru’s shared theme, and Minene’s theme.

Round one: from 15 only 10 passed.

Round two: from 21 only 12 passed.

Stage 5 (22 contestants left): From 22, only 13 passed.

Stage 6 (13 contestants left): No one was eliminated.

Stages 7, 8 and 9: numbers on these last stages are unclear to me, as the chart on the wiki says that zero people participated in stages 7 and 8, and that in stage 9, only five people passed out of zero… which clearly doesn’t make sense. What we do know is that by stage 10, only five contestants remained.

Stage 10 (5 contestants left): Out of the five, only one winner was selected.

The winner was Kotoe Kawasaki; however, all of the five contestants left were chosen to participate in the Ustream 2013 spin-off of Lucky Star titled: “The Miyawaka Family’s Hunger.” Kotoe won the role of Hikage Miyawaka, a main character in the show. It’s unclear to me whether she won something else for being first place, but as far as her IMDB and MAL profiles show, this was her only voice acting gig. As for the rest of the contestants, here are the roles they got (real name on the left, character on the right):

Madoka Sowa - Yukina Utsumi

Kanae Iwasaki - Erika Koike

Karin Oda - Daisuke Mizushima

Natsumi Yamada - Marina Koizumi.

Despite not winning first place, all the other girls went on to work on one or more shows after this spin-off. Though I want to focus on Kanae and Natsumi here, because we do have a little more insight on them. The blog post that I mentioned earlier was from a contestant named Saya Kamide, who as far as I know was eliminated on stage 3. From her blogs, I can gather that she aspired to be a voice actress for Kadokawa, though moved on from voice acting on 2014. With that being said, the blog post about Future Diary Revolution introduced the two other girls mentioned before, and it also gives us a little more insight on stage 1. Here’s the translation of her post:

Yahoo (・∀・) ♪ It’s me, Kamide, Kamide Saya ヾ(´ω｀＝´ω｀)ﾉ(hello, hello).  Today I participated in Future Diary Revolution (｀･ω･´)!  We made our own name tags, and I put on my numbered bib as I was told hehe. ↑ And there (pointing at her photo), that’s my smug face （ ´,_ゝ｀）. And here’s a little introduction for my fellow war buddies, who participated with me ☆. First war buddy ☆ “Put some love to your ponytail ♪” It’s Natsumi Yamada (*･ω･)ノ Lately we’ve been spending a lot of time together, so I think I’ll soon be able to master an impression of her (ﾟ∀ﾟ) Ahaha. My good friend ☆ Koyoshi Team "Fluorite" In her idol activities☆ (tl note: not sure what this means, it might be referring to a team she participated in within an idol show.) It’s Kanae Iwasaki (*･ω･)ノ Kanae-chan, it's been a long time since I last saw her, and she's become so pretty that I didn't know who she was at first. She’s a good one（´∀｀*). ・‥…━━━☆・‥…━━━☆・‥…━━━☆・‥…━━━☆ There were so many participants >< I felt like I was about to burst from the start… *sigh* We did a 30 second interview... Kamide: "Nice to meet you" my heart was beating so fast (*'-'*) Judge: "Please introduce yourself in one sentence." Kamide: “Σ(=ﾟωﾟ=;)I’m… I’m like squid! The more you eat me… rather-! Just like dried squid, the more you get to know me, you get a better taste of who Saya Kamide is! (I’m the one eating myself alive *sighs*). Judge: "What's the nicest thing that happened around you recently?" Kamide: Oh, a-a good thing?! … Ah! A new manga from a certain publication with a bu-butter (I’m screwing over my words)... butler protagonist is out! Judge: “Do you like manga?” Kamide "Yes! I love manga, anime, and the internet!" (I got a sprout of confidence all of a sudden haha) Judge: “You spend a lot of time at home?” Kamide “No!” (I-it’s not like that! (((( ;ﾟдﾟ)))) Judge: “Do you like outdoor activities?” Kamide "Yes! Come to think of it, I recently climbed a mountain!" (´∀｀) Judge: "With how many people?" Kamide: "... I was alone, actually" (Ah, I’m making it worse!!) Kamide: “Since there were no lights around, the stars and the night sky looked so beautiful! The city lights looked like a river, and the sky like a planetarium!" (That was the time for my excuuuuuuuuse haha) Judge: "Thank you. Please wait on the 3rd floor." Kamide: “Thank you very much.” *Judging ends* hehehehehe ↑ Why do I feel so worn out? I tried to collect my thoughts, but then… oh god, I felt like it went terrible ( ・Д ・) Though fortunately all three… brilliantly cleared stage 1 .｡ﾟ+.(･∀･)ﾟ+.ﾟーーー!! I'm a miracle haha That’s right: "The future can change if you believe in it." That was a line in the story… right?! Σヾ(￣0￣;ﾉ I’ll believe in the future and do my best next time!! (￣∠￣ )ﾉ And there’s one week left till Ani☆yume. Please support Future Diary and Ani☆yume (tl note: Ani☆yume is a Japanese idol show by Kadokawa. If you’re familiar with Kpop, I believe it’s kinda like the show “Kpop Star.”) 

Link for the original post:

http://blog.livedoor.jp/sayakamide/archives/1720045.html

Also a little fun fact about Saya, Kanae and Natsumi is that they all seem to still be friends (I found their Twitters while looking up information about the show and they all seem to follow and retweet each other). But even more interesting, I realized that Kanae and Tomosa Murata (Yuno's VA) also appear to be friends currently, since Kanae appears in some of Tomosa's photos on Twitter.

As far as this show now being lost media… the Ustream link provided by the official Future Diary website is now down, and when I try to run it through the Wayback Machine, I can see the page, but even with a browser that supports flash I’m unable to view the content of the video. I could be wrong, but I believe that it is not possible to run flash content on the Wayback Machine, because the snapshots don’t preserve the actual code for it to run. I’ve had first-hand experiences trying to play old Disney flash games from the Wayback Machine under a flash emulator, but it always returned a blank screen, just like the Ustream videos. I also tried to see if it was possible to recover Ustream videos in any way, but from the looks of it, the platform doesn’t store deleted content for more than 30 days. In other words, the episodes are lost… 

save for one.

The official Future Diary site kept the videos for the second round of the second stage of the show, though they were also in flash format. Just like the other episodes on Ustream, these ones returned a blank screen every time I tried to run them with my flash emulators, so I had to get creative. Eventually, after downloading a new browser and an old version of flash, I managed to get the videos to work. They’re now uploaded on my youtube channel as a single video. It doesn’t have subtitles, but I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on. The contestants go up, say a few lines from the script they were given, and at the end they receive a message of whether they passed to the next stage. It may not be much, but hopefully this is enough to preserve the memory of this very obscure show.

Below is the Ustream link in the Wayback Machine (you can’t see the video or anything relevant for that matter, but I thought I’d link it anyway)

https://web.archive.org/web/20150630165221/http://www.ustream.tv/channel/%E6%9C%AA%E6%9D%A5%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98%E3%83%AC%E3%83%9C%E3%83%AA%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3

And here’s the link of the official FD site’s entries about FD Revolution (the link is of the show’s initial announcement, but on the left-hand side you can see the rest of the entries from latest to newest. Also, they’re all in Japanese, but translating the pages to English with Google is enough to understand them.)

http://www.future-diary.tv/revolution/121109revolution.html