#what was dipper even doing with the flashlight? who knows

[sunburstsandmoonshadows]

the answer is no, obviously

[ckret2]

Editing's going faster now. Here's chapter three of The Mystery Shack Takes Human Bill Cipher Prisoner. (Real title TBD.) Edited 7/31/2024 for TBOB compatibility!

####

In the middle of the night, Ford knocked on the attic door: "Eye check!"

Mabel and Dipper groaned.

"No complaining! This is for everyone's safety." Ford opened the attic door. "This will be the last one before Stanley and I take over guard duty, you can get some uninterrupted sleep then."

Mabel squinted up at Ford's flashlight with her blanket pulled up to her nose. Dipper groggily sat up as Ford inspected his eyes, but then he snatched the flashlight. "You too."

"Good thinking, Dipper. I know I'm me, but the rest of you shouldn't take my word for it." Ford crouched by the bed and let Dipper shine the flashlight in his eyes.

"Okay, clear." Dipper handed it back.

Mabel yawned. "What if Bill got colored contacts? We wouldn't be able to tell he's in someone's head, right?"

Ford froze halfway out the attic doorway. "Nobody go back to sleep! I need to do another eye check!"

The entire household groaned.

####

Once Soos reassured the Pines that Bill was "Still sleeping like a creepy, tied-up baby," he and Melody went to bed as Stan and Ford took over guard duty.

Usually, the cellar was one of the least interesting rooms in the shack. A water heater, a washing machine, storage for some old furniture and electronics. But when Stan and Ford opened the cellar doors, the first thing Ford's flashlight beam fell on was the body of Bill's puppet, face covered in a cloud of hair, curled up small on the bare mattress at the bottom of the stairs. The bright yellow and purple in the dull room was as shocking as a scream.

Ford quickly turned his flashlight off. He stood stock still on the top step.

Stan locked the doors behind them. "So, uh. Do you wanna just... stay up here?" 

Ford nodded stiffly. "That seems wise. It keeps us between him and the only exit." 

"Yeah. Smart thinking." 

They sat on the stairs together.

Even with the flashlight off, Ford couldn't stop seeing the figure curled up below—invisible in the dark but nevertheless vividly, dreadfully imagined. It changed the room, transforming it into a tomb. The walls seemed to tilt in on the unconscious, unseen silhouette, forcing Ford and Stan toward the thing that wanted them dead.

Ford tried to remind himself of how he'd seen Bill last fall, when his family had found Bill's book and laughed over his pathetic attempts to wheedle them into helping: as a dying has-been, a dimming light. It was harder to cling to that dismissiveness in the same room as Bill. From this close, Ford felt like the thing he was in the presence of was less like a light bulb about to burn out and more like a neutron star about to collapse into a black hole.

After about fifteen minutes, Ford was on the verge of being driven insane by his own heartbeat pounding in his ears (and was "We'll Meet Again" playing in his head for the first time in over half a year because Bill put it there or because he was thinking about Bill?) when the cellar's silence was interrupted by a soft shuffling-creaking on the mattress below.

Ford elbowed Stan. Stan snorted and started awake. "Huh—what—?"

"Shh!"

There was more shuffling—then a gasp that turned into a sharp, strangled scream.

Stan and Ford simultaneously put a hand on each other's shoulders to keep each other from doing anything rash.

For several seconds, there was nothing but heavy, shaky breathing; it steadied; and a high, fearful, feminine voice called out, "Wh... where am I? Am I tied up? What happened? What—"

Ford turned his flashlight on. The person on the mattress flinched, blinking heavily at the sudden light. "Hello? Wh-who are you? How did I get here, what do you want with me?"

"All right, calm down," Ford said brusquely. "Tell me, what do you remember?"

"I..." The person on the mattress frowned in concentration. "It's a blur. The last thing I remember is... is... a book about a golden triangle?"

Ford exchanged a glance with Stan. "What did the triangle do?"

"I think he offered me some kind of bargain? After that, I'm not sure... I think I remember sleepwalking—"

"That was Hebrew," Ford said. "You speak fluent Hebrew?"

The person below blinked. "Jewish school?"

Stan snorted.

"Fine," Ford said. "Where are you from?"

"You mean, before all this? Arizona—I'm from Sedona—how far am I from home—?"

"And," Ford said, "that was Latin." Stan wheezed.

Open mouth. Shut mouth. Open. "I... majored in classical studies—"

"Give it up, Bill."

The expression of innocent fear melted away into a tired, almost bored look. "Ha. All right, I'm too tired to talk my way out of this one." Bill's natural voice wasn't much deeper than the affected one he'd put on, but it sounded somehow harsher. "It was worth a shot." He struggled in his restraints to roll over. "Turn off the light, would ya? My head's killing me."

"Leave it on," Stan said.

Without looking at them, Bill said, "I can make my voice very annoying."

Stan said, "Leave it on, and I'll get a sock and duct tape."

Ford turned off the flashlight.

When Bill had been unconscious, he'd been a vague, undefined threat. The dark seemed different now. Less frightening. Knowing Bill was awake made it easier to remember what he was:

A pest. A nuisance. A pain in the keister.

Stan quietly pantomimed chucking something at Bill's head, then muttered under his breath, "I don't know why he's tired. He's almost got a full night's sleep."

"I don't know if he's ever controlled a human body for this long," Ford said. "Much less been magically trapped in one by a unicorn belt. Maybe prolonged psychic puppetry drains his energy—"

"Or maybe he's a wimp," Stan cut in. "That's what I was going for, I'm suggesting he's a wimp."

Ford snorted quietly. "Or he's a wimp."

There was no sound from below. Either Bill had already fallen back asleep, or he was doing a darn good job of pretending he had. For a moment, Stan and Ford remained silent, listening.

Then Ford stood, unlocked the door, and quietly left.

####

There was a clatter at the attic window. Dipper and Mabel both bolted upright, fully alert—they'd never quite gotten back to sleep—and exchanged a terrified look.

There was a second sharp tap. They scrambled out of bed, peered out the window—and then flung it open. "Wendy!"

Wendy froze in the middle of winding up to throw another stone. "Hey! Dipper, Mabel! I couldn't sleep, I was worried about you guys. Is your secret weird paranormal thing over?"

Dipper and Mabel leaned out of the window. They were wearing pajamas and matching tin foil hats.

Wendy stared at them. "I'm... taking that as a no." She bit her lip to keep from laughing. "You guys look exhausted."

Mabel groaned. "It's been keeping us up all night. It's impossible to lay down with tin foil on your head?"

"And we've been getting checked on every couple hours," Dipper said.

"Plus it might not be safe to sleep!"

"And—" Dipper grimaced. "And we can't even talk about it until it's over..."

"Okay, yeah, got it," Wendy said. "Secret family business, it's cool. Just—tell me you guys are safe? I don't want you to get eaten by a T-Rex-nado or something before we get to hang this summer."

Were they safe? They exchanged a look. Mabel tilted her head and shrugged uncertainly. Dipper said, "The threat... is... securely contained."

That time, Wendy did burst out laughing. "Okay! I'll accept that. I already told Soos, but—call me if you need backup, all right?"

Mabel stuck a thumbs up out the window. "You got it!"

"Thanks, Wendy."

"I'll see you in the morning if the Mystery Shack's open," Wendy said. "If not... I dunno, my day'll be free, maybe we can do something? If you don't have to deal with the contained threat."

"Yeah, that sounds great," Mabel said. "I'm gonna see Grenda and Candy sometime tomorrow, buuut I don't think Dipperhas anything planned—"

Dipper kicked her ankle. She kicked his back, grinning.

"Awesome. See you tomorrow, then."

When Wendy had biked away, Dipper said, "You're not gonna spend all summer teasing me about last summer's crush, are you?"

"Nooo, I'm not, I promise! But I had to get one in." Mabel laughed and flopped heavily on her bed. The old mattress springs wheezed. "Besides! I know your heart belongs to that girl at the judo club who likes you."

"Mabel, I don't—" Dipper paused. "Do you really think Kelsey likes me?"

Mabel laughed again. "Good night, Dipper."

Dipper shut the window. They both got back in bed, slid under their covers, and stared at the ceiling. And stared at the ceiling. And stared at the ceiling.

"Pssst. Dipper."

"What is it?"

"I can't sleep. Can you?"

A heavy sigh. "No." Voice low, as if afraid they could be heard all the way from the cellar, Dipper said, "I just keep wondering—did we really trap him in that tourist before he escaped? Or did he escape as soon as he fainted?"

Mabel kicked off her covers, sat up, and turned to face Dipper, hugging her knees. "Actually, I think we did trap him. I... kinda think Bill can't escape?"

Dipper sat up as well. "What do you mean?"

"The last time we saw him, he was stuck in that weird fleshy book or something, right? And he was trying to get our blood, not to shake the book's hand or something."

"Books don't have hands."

"You could draw a hand on one! I'm saying what if he used all that blood to make a body or something?" Mabel asked. "Remember how I wrestled him when he was you? Your body was really, really cold. Like, dead-cold. But when I was drawing on Bill's face, his skin felt..."

"... Normal." Dipper had spent six hours tackling Bill. When he'd been trying grip Bill's arms and ankles so he couldn't flail free, Dipper hadn't noticed anything unusual about Bill's body—but not noticing anything unusual was unusual, wasn't it?

"Yeah. Normal. So—what if he's not controlling somebody? What if he, I dunno, used somebody's blood to magically turn into a human or something? Like a unicorn."

"Unicorns don't do that."

"Unicorns can turn into humans if a wizard helps! That's not the point. The point is..." Mabel struggled to put her mountain of emotions into words, and finally, simply finished, "...what if he's just a human now?"

They both had to sit with the suggestion, waiting to see if it filled them with relief or dread. A human was less powerful than whatever Bill had been; but in some way, the human body shielded Bill, too, making it impossible to properly confront and defeat him.

"What if his human body is like a Trojan horse?" Dipper asked. "And this was all a big trick, and he's just—waiting inside it? For one of the remaining micro-rifts to the Nightmare Realm to widen, or for somebody to finish some ritual with his book, or—or the perfect moment to return to his real body?"

Mabel hugged her knees a little tighter. "But if he could leave the body any time he wants, do you think he'd just wait?"

"He was patient enough to wait billions of years to get into our universe."

"I don't think that counts. He would've gotten here sooner if anybody else made a working portal, right?"

"Then... I don't know."

That was just it. They didn't know.

They didn't want to talk about the dread pooling in their stomachs and creeping up the backs of their necks. They didn't want to talk about their anger—the injustice that he was back, that this wasn't over, that even after he died he just kept finding new ways to harass them, that another summer was going to be overshadowed by him.

But if they weren't talking about that, what else could they talk about? It was all they could think about. For a moment, they just sat together in silence.

Which was when they heard Ford yelp in alarm.

####

Soos had answered the knock on his bedroom door holding a baseball bat.

Ford drew back, hands raised. "Soos, it's me! What's this for?"

"Sorry. It's been a crazy night. I keep having dreams about the Roman Senate assassinating Bill? Like, Julius Caesar, except he's a triangle?" Soos put the bat down. "Anyway, what's up? Is it time for another eye check?"

"Yes, but that's not the main reason I'm here."

Still in bed, Melody groaned, "Are all these really necessary?"

Soos had to use his fingers to hold his eyes open for Ford's flashlight. "'Fraid so. Bill's really good at taking over people. He's got Dipper, he's got Ford... One time he got me! That doesn't really count though, it was in a dream. Not my dream, Stan's. Also, he didn't exactly take over me—?"

"All right, you're clean." Ford looked at Melody, decided that since he'd had confirmation that Bill was still in the body in the cellar it might be a little too rude to examine a half-asleep young woman in bed, and offered the flashlight to Soos so he could check his fiancée instead. "What I really came up here to say is that Bill woke up. Now we know he's still in that body."

("Melody, have I told you lately that you have really pretty eyes?" "Awww, Soos.")

Ford cleared his throat. "Stan's 'friends' are waiting. Time to gag him and go."

Soos's expression hardened. (It wasn't terribly intimidating.) "I'll get the sock and duct tape."

Melody rubbed the spots from her eyes. "Are you up for this? You've got a long drive, and you've been up all night looking at everybody's eyes."

"I've lost more sleep than this thanks to Bill," Ford said wryly. "I'll be fine."

"You're sure? If you need someone to help drive..."

"Melody, you're an angel for helping as much as you have. Especially when none of this is your problem yet." Even though she occasionally spent the night with Soos, she wouldn't be moving into the shack until after the wedding and honeymoon, which they'd scheduled for after the summer tourist rush. She shouldn't have to worry about the shack's crises outside of work hours. "And I know you have reservations about—how we're handling this."  

Melody shrugged ruefully. "I mean—I don't like that you've got the demon triangle in your cellar, but Soos says you're some kind of insane space wizard and an expert on this stuff, so..." In the dim light, she flashed Ford a strained smile. "Just—I guess—tell me if there's anything else I can do to help prevent the apocalypse." 

Insane space wizard. Ford hoped that was a compliment. "Just hold down the fort while we're moving Bill. Thank you."

####

Dipper and Mabel pulled their ears away from the attic door. Dipper whispered, "Anything could go wrong while they're moving Bill. Do you think we should...?"

"Pfff!" Mabel rolled her eyes. "C'mon bro, is that even a question?"

Wordlessly, they put on their backpacks—already packed—and pulled sweaters on over their pajamas, and tiptoed downstairs with their shoes in their hands.

####

Ford inspected Stan's eyes again before he said, "Soos will be down in a minute."

Stan blinked the lights out of his eyes. "You'd better not keep doing that while I'm driving." He shut the cellar door so that if Bill woke back up, he couldn't listen in on their plans to relocate him.

"You're not going to drive. I am."

"Come on! It's my car!"

"It's night, you have cataracts, and you already fell asleep during guard duty."

"I wasn't asleep, I was resting my eyes!"

"In the dark?" Ford asked. "Would you prefer Soos or me to drive?"

Stan grumbled and crossed his arms, but decided he wasn't going to win this fight. He nudged Ford and changed the topic. "Now, that Latin was all Greek to me—but is it just me, or is his Hebrew better than yours?"

He was saying it to be annoying. Ford knew he was trying to be annoying. It worked. Ford was annoyed. "Well—of course he's better. He's probably been speaking it three thousand years. And his accent's probably just as old."

"Ah, excuses. Bet his Latin's better, too."

He was doing it on purpose. He was doing it on purpose. "You wouldn't know Latin from Latvian!"

"This isn't about me." Stan gave Ford his most annoying grin. "Hey—when did you pick up Latin, anyway?"

At least he wasn't teasing anymore. "I took it for an undergrad foreign language requirement."

"You just couldn't go for something useful that living people speak, huh?"

"On the contrary, Latin's been enormously useful in my study of weirdness. It's very popular with sorcerers and occultists alike," Ford said. "And it got us out of that bar brawl in Atlantis, didn't it?"

"That gobbledygook was Latin? I thought it was some kind of mermaid language. Or Italian," Stan said. "Good job going to the only college in the world teaching Conversational Latin, I guess."

Ford grimaced. "Actually... I only learned to read and write Latin at Backupsmore. The reason I can speak it... is Bill."

"Oh," Stan said. "Right."

An uncomfortable silence settled over them, the way it always did when Stan asked where'd you pick up—? or how'd you learn about—? and Ford had to say Bill. It was an answer that demanded more questions that Stan didn't really want to ask and Ford didn't really want to answer. Usually, when Ford said Bill, Stan changed the topic.

Ford didn't mind avoiding it. Sure, Stan already knew the most humiliating parts of Ford's history with Bill. How he had waxed poetic—called Bill divine, a deity, blessed, a miracle, a muse—been inspired to draw sunrises and sunbeams and constellations and nebulas because a mere drawing of an eye in a triangle couldn't convey the all-encompassing awe Ford's muse filled him with; how Ford had blindly trusted Bill with his body and mind; how he'd really thought that monster was his best friend. So it wasn't as though Ford had anything left to hide. Talking about Bill wasn't shameful anymore.

It was just... painful. It was hard to talk about just how enraptured Ford had been by an interdimensional grifter. Hard to talk about how nothing else had enraptured him so much since. All that for a two-dimensional two-bit con artist who'd been slumming it in the lawless no man's land between civilized dimensions, now chained up on a dingy mattress in Ford's cellar. Nothing sparkled quite like fool's gold.

But—it was also impossible to ignore a topic that was sleeping just a flight of stairs away. Stan shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his gaze on the weeds sprouting in the shack's parking lot. "So," he said, and Ford nearly flinched. "How are... uh..." Stan cleared his throat and tried again. "You good?"

Ah, the famed emotional sensitivity of Pines men. Ford tried to think of a way to express the tumult of negative emotions that running into Bill again had reawakened. "Eh." He made a so-so gesture with a hand. (He'd always been better at expressing himself in writing.) "I'm not as surprised as I wish I was. As soon as his book showed up, we knew this was possible."

Stan nodded. "I always kinda thought you were waiting for this." (Had Ford been waiting for it?) "You weren't... expecting it, right?"

"Wh—? No! Of course not! It just stands to reason—an indestructible book by a professional con artist, it only has to fall in the hands of one person ready to be manipulated—that doesn't mean I wanted—"

"Whoa, easy Sixer. I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just... you know—checking in." Stan put a reassuring hand on Ford's shoulder. "You're the one who's called yourself a recovering Cipherholic, gotta make sure my brother's not falling off the wagon."

Ford supposed that was warranted. He couldn't deny that even now, he didn't fully trust himself around Bill. "There's no risk of that." Especially not with Stan looking out for him.

"You sure? Not interested in asking him about the secrets of the universe?"

"Absolutely not."

"Maybe some time travel kung fu tips so you can go for your black belt?"

"As I recall, Bill claimed he was self taught," Ford said, with a tone of faint disapproval. "If I'm going to ask anybody for advice on time travel combat, I think it should be Dipper and Mabel." He could feel himself relaxing a tiny bit. It didn't make the whole situation better, but it was reassuring to remind himself that even with Bill right there, Ford wanted neither to follow him until the end of time nor to hunt him to the ends of the earth. "I just want to get rid of him."

Stan paused. "Yeah." His hand dropped from Ford's shoulder and he crossed his arms. "You and me both."

####

Apparently Bill really had fallen back asleep that fast, because he didn't stir as the Pines and Soos gagged him and carried him into the back of Stan's car. Soos sat in the back with the prisoner and his baseball bat, and Ford and Stan silently envied him for not having to turn his back on Bill. The car pulled away from the Mystery Shack with its headlights off.

Moments later, Dipper and Mabel followed on bikes.

####

(If you enjoyed, I'd appreciate a comment!)

[thefallenangel2008]

Evil Little Shooting Star AU: The deal

Mabel was in the woods. She had run away from the Mystery Shack and was now sitting against a tree. She couldn't believe her brother wanted to leave her behind...

"Only party chocolate can cheer me up now..." She muttered. She took off her backpack and searched through it, only to find a bunch of science-y stuff. "Nerd books?! To the pins! Ugh, wrong backpack." She rolled her eyes and pushed it away. "It's not fair... I just wish summer could last forever..." She pulled the neck of her sweater up her head and the hem of it over her knees. She hugged herself and she was officially in sweatertown.

It really wasn't fair. How could Dipper want to be away from her? Didn't he love her anymore? She didn't want them to end up like Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford, but... Maybe it was inevitable. Maybe that's a Pines curse, or maybe that's just what happens with twins everywhere.

She didn't want much. She just wanted to be with her brother. What if their parents ended up getting a divorce? She didn't want to go through that alone while Dipper was living his best life here.

"Awww, is little Shooting Star here all sad?"

"What? Who said that?" Mabel was sure she could recognize that voice. She slowly lowered the sweater neck. She glanced right and left before noticing the yellow triangle floating above her. Even without a mouth she could tell that he would have been grinning. "Bill!"

"Did you miss me? Admit it, you missed me!" He spoke in a happy and cheeky voice.

"Stay back! I have a flashlight and I'm not afraid to use it!" She got up and grabbed the flashlight. She turned it on and off repeatedly.

Bill rolled his eye. "Relax, Shooting Star, I'm not here to hurt you!" He snapped his fingers and the flashlight vanished from the girl's hands. "I actually quite like you! It'd be a shame for that chaotic mind of yours to go to waste!"

She raised a curious eyebrow. "R- really?" She sniffled and wiped her watery eyes. "Then why are you here?"

"A little birdy told me that good ol' Sixer wants to keep Pine Tree here! And from the looks of it you're not taking it very well!"

Mabel hugged herself and looked away. "It's just that... I've never been away from Dipper before, and, now that our parents are talking about a divorce, I thought that- I thought that we would stay together..." She fidgeted with a strand of hair and put it between her teeth.

"I know the feeling, Shooting Star." Bill sounded oddly empathetic as he put his hand around her shoulders. "I know what it's like being left behind, and being cast away for being... Different."

She sniffled again. "You- you do?"

"Of course I do! Every freak does!"

Mabel frowned a little. "You think I'm a freak...?"

"You say that as if it's a bad thing! Cheer up kiddo! Being normal is overrated. Like, do you really think you're normal?" The triangle waved his hand in a dismissive way. "Pfft, come on! I haven't seen many kids your age fight off gnomes, fist fight unicorns or straight up eat glitter! And I've seen... A L O T..." He slowly floated closer to her. It was like he was becoming bigger, his singular eye wide and making him look threatening. Mabel suddenly felt small and unsafe in his presence.

Bill suddenly backed away and laughed. "You'll fit right in with my Henchmaniacs! And I can help you stay with your brother for as long as you want! Easy peasy!"

Mabel stared at him curiously. "... Why do you want to help me?"

"Us freaks need to stay together, Shooting Star. In a world where we are outcasts, we need to have eachother. That's the only way we survive."

"Well that sounds depressing..." She muttered.

"But it doesn't have to be that way anymore! I can make the world a better place for us. Here's the thing. I can help you stick with your brother in exchange for an itsy bitsy thing..." He squinted at her in a mischievous way. Bill came close to her and put his hand around her shoulders again.

"What?"

He floated away from her and acted as if he was looking at his nails carelessly. "I just need you to get this thing for me from your grunkle." His eye suddenly acted as if it was a TV, showing something that looked like a snow globe. "With the Rift I will be able to get my plan to start."

She thought about it. "Huh... Maybe Dipper has something like that in his nerd bag." She knelt down and looked through the bag. She eventually pulled out the thing, the Rift. "Huh, that's... Odd... Is this it?"

Bill looked ecstatic all of the sudden, a bit unhinged, even. "Yes, that's it! Now come on kid, give it to me unless you want to leave Gravity Falls."

Mabel stared down at the rift in fascination. She then looked at Bill's eager expression. She frowned uncertainly and drew the Rift closer to herself. "But... What happens if I give it to you?"

"I'll fix the world! It'll be a world where freaks rule and a world where you'll stay with your brother no matter what! If you join my Henchmaniacs you'll be able to do whatever you want with no consequences! You can throw a gigantic party where everyone can join! You can even make your parents not separate! Just hand it over and I promise you your brother will stick to your side no matter what. So what do you say kid? Do we have a deal?" He extended his hand, blue flames coming out of it.

"Deal."

[fanficsiwillneverwrite]

Gravity Falls: See You Next Summer

What is the scariest part of growing up? Is it the process of you changing and growing, or is it seeing the people closest to you also change? I thought I had all this stuff figured out last year, but the world is chaos, crazier than I could ever imagine. Crazier than Bill could ever create. I’m terrified of what the future holds for me, for everyone.

I thought I’d be happy being back. And I am. I’ve actually been counting the days. The guys back home are still and will always be brutes (bullies, despite everything) and the girls want nothing to do with me. But now going back, I don’t know. I can’t explain it. I can’t wait to see everyone. But…

Who will I become, even after everything? And is it wrong for me to admit sometimes I do want to see this world burn? I’m not going to… obviously I don’t actually want to

In my worst moment can I still trust myself to make the right decision? I don’t know.

Grunkle Ford says not to worry, about him coming back. I’m not sure I believe him. I’m not sure he believes himself. I think, maybe…

Well, think of it this way:

Like the sun is meant to set and then rise again the next morning, like a flashlight is meant to give you light when there’s only darkness, Bill is always going to find a way to come back.

—

Dipper stops his shaking hand, deciding to look out the window before the thought consumes his mind. Sometimes he obsesses over it. He dreams about shaking his stone hand and seeing the world collapse into utter chaos. It’s always a trick. He never means to actually do it. But he can just get so angry sometimes…

“You seem so quiet,” reflects Mabel beside him, a glue stick in one hand and a polaroid picture of a blurry tree in the other. She’s scrapbooking their journey back to Gravity Falls.

The song Mr. Rager starts on the radio. Dad turns it up, nodding his head to the beat. He remains unaware of the weirdness that is Gravity Falls. He remains unaware of Grunkle Ford and the truth behind the Stan brothers. It’s safer this way, Ford says—Dipper isn’t too sure. It feels wrong keeping everything from him.

He closes his journal. “It’s just–”

“We’re winding down here, kids,” dad tells them as they pass a sign saying, ‘Gravity Falls: 5 miles,’ and Dipper adjusts Wendy’s hat. It reeks of sweat and generic men’s body spray. Just another part of growing up. All perfectly natural, dad tells him after Mabel teases him about it.

The thought is already gone. He moves on, no longer dwelling on the world’s impending doom, and him being the possible cause of it. They’re one year older, which means one year wiser. Right?

“It’s… nothing,” he tells her.

Mabel, not quite believing him, continues scrapbooking as Dad starts singing along to the song, even though he doesn’t know the words. And Dipper looks down at his journal: the big dipper is glued onto the cover to embrace his own anomaly, like Ford.

A nervousness settles within him. He pictures Bill tipping his top hat and holding up a martini glass in his honor. Here’s looking at you, kid, he says.

Dipper shivers, blinking the thought away. His attention returns to the window. The blurry trees are all that he sees. He begins nodding his head to the beat of the song with his dad. It’s all in his head. It’s all in his head…

[a-gil-rebel]

People have been leaving some really nice comments on my Reverse Portal AU X C!GF fic "Wrong Twin" on AO3, so I wanted to share some of my favorite scenes I wrote in chapter 1!

"Mabel!" Dipper scolded, "Sorry Mason, I didn't mean to." Mason just laughed, waving away puffs of flour and rolling up his left sleeve to get the flour away from his hands.

"No worries, I can change later." Dipper stared at his arm, and couldn't help but blurt out.

"Is that the telescopium constellation??" Mason jumped a bit before looking down at his arm and laughing.

"Oh right- yeah, I started getting more constellations appearing when I hit puberty, so that might be something you can look forward to. Theyre all down my left arm for now, though I'm sure more will show up later."

"That's so cool!" Dipper flapped his hands and Mason laughed.

"Yeah, scared the hell out of our parents at first but, just more Pines Family weirdness. Honestly, I'm glad I got to keep the Big Dipper in the end, I guess facial reconstruction on a child is pricier than just removing the extra fingers."

Mason jumped at crash that followed, everyone turning quickly to Ford, who had the remains of a coffee mug at his feet.

"Wh...what did you just say?"

Mason blinked, and even Mabel looked confused. "The... wait, were you two born without polydactyl hands?" He asked Dipper, who was looking at him like he grew and extra head.

"I mean, in our family Ford is the only one with six fingers." Mason shook his head a bit in disbelief.

"Thats.... huh. I mean it is a dominant trait but I'm not too surprised you don't have it."

"What do you mean, removing them?" Ford almost demanded, and Mason and Mabel came over to show him his left hand, and her right, where along the pinky on each hand, there was a small surgical scar from the base of the knuckle to the wrist.

"We didn't really find out we even had them until we were older and Stanley found out what had happened." Mason shrugged as Ford looked over their hands.

"He tore mom and dad a new one that night. It explained why there were no baby pictures of us till we were almost a year old." Mabel added.

"Woah woah, wait. So you two were both born with six fingers, and your parents cut them off!?" Dipper exclaimed. Mason scratched his neck with his free hand.

"Were they... double jointed? Conjoined?" Ford asked, still looking down at their hands. Mason frowned.

"No... they were healthy, just like yours. Our parents just saw a flaw, I'm not even sure they knew you well enough to know you had six fingers too.... Ford I'm sorry."

Ford looked up at them both and finally let their hands go, hiding his own behind his back again. "You have nothing to be sorry for... excuse me." He rushed past them, and Mason felt something like guilt settle in his stomach. Dipper and Mabel started to go after him, but Stanley told them to stay put, and went after him himself.

------------‐------------------------------------

Mabel woke up to the room being silent, which wasn't good. Even though they had their own rooms back in California, she could usually still hear her brother snoring through the wall. A silent room meant he'd walked out. Groaning, she heaved herself off the bed and slipped into her shoes. The makeshift gag he had on was on the floor by the door. If she was lucky, he only made is as far as the kitchen, but she'd definitely found him outside before. Sneaking out the door, she whispered for Mason, just in case he'd somehow woken himself up. No reply, and no creaking, not good. She looked around a bit still, expecting to find him facing a corner like some kind of horror movie, finding nothing until she heard a creak of wood above her.

No.

Theres no way.

The shuffling sound continued above her, and she bounded outside to look up at the roof, the almost full moon illuminating the house better than any flashlight could. Her stomach dropped when she saw a figure swaying, stumbling toward the tip of the shack.

No.

Nononono!

"Shit Dip, how the hell did you get up there!?" She whispered, quickly running around the house to figure out how he got up there. Finding a drain pipe that looked somewhat sturdy, she used the window next to it to try and shimmy up it, but once she got a grip on the edge of the gutter, the whole corner fell off, and she fell back onto the damp grass, groaning.

------------‐------------------------------------

Is this a shameless plug? Maybe. Maybe I just like sharing my writing. 🤔🤷

[lkfarrout]

What Happened Last Summer (18+) Chapter 10

Last chapter of the main story but there's still more to come :)

Start with Chapter 1 here if you're new and read Chapter 11 next

Enjoy! Thank you to everyone who has stuck through with this series, it's been super encouraging!

“Can I put the code in, Grunkle Ford? I’ve never gotten to do it.”

“Go ahead, Mabel. Do you know it?”

“I think so,” Mabel tiptoed to see the panel on the vending machine in the dim light of the closed gift shop. With a few beeps, the large machine swung open to reveal a passageway, and Stan’s grip on Kathy’s hand tightened slightly. Ford led the way with the small flashlight he always kept in his pocket, with Dipper and Mabel close behind.

“Watch your step, pumpkin.” The light wasn’t quite bright enough to be useful for Kathy and Stan, who brought up the rear. Still, he confidently led her along, as if he knew the passageway like the back of his hand. 

____

“Don’t get too close,” Ford held an arm out in front of the twins, “it still isn’t completely stable.” The sheer enormity of the thing was incredible. Kathy stared in awe at the massive chasm that surrounded her, and the giant triangle that stood as the focal point of it all. Even with chunks missing, and cables strewn about the concrete floor, it was still impressive.

“You built all of this, Stanford?” She asked.

“Hardly,” Ford placed both hands into his coat pockets, “Bill designed it, Fiddleford assembled most of it, and Stanley here perfected it. My job now is just to clean up the mess I started.”

The group fell quiet again as they all gazed around the cold room.

Ford broke the silence once again, “I could use some help, you know, Stanley. Removing some of the larger pieces will require both of us.”

Stan scoffed at him, “Sixer, you got ‘em up there yourself.”

Dipper cleared his throat and stared at Ford, as if to remind him of something they’d previously discussed. The latter sighed, defeated, “And, I suppose things would go faster if you could explain to me a few of those final calculations you did.”

Stan perked up. He slapped a hand onto his twin’s shoulder and leaned an ear in, close to his face. “Sorry, didn't quite catch that. You said you need my help with what?”

“With math,” Stanford rolled his eyes, “I need your help with some math.”

Kathy and the kids giggled.

Stan continued to relish in the moment, “Oh, I know what’s goin’ on. You got me confused with my brother – see, he’s got all these fancy degrees, but I never made it through high school.” He inspected his fingernails casually. “Course, that wasn’t my fault.”

Ford took the hint. “Stanley, I’m sorry I got you kicked out, but I could really use your help. I’m a little… rusty after thirty years.”

Stan slapped his brother playfully between the shoulder blades, “Why didn’t ya say so, Poindexter? Course I’ll help you.”

[isabel3710]

Haunted location for 'bad things happen bingo'

This one is a tad shorter than other prompts are/going to be. But I was in a hurry and didn’t know how to take things

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Prompt: Haunted Location

Masterlist

--------

Dipper Pines was laying on his bed in his college dorm room, staring at a computer screen. But for once he wasn’t doing homework. Instead he was on a random form in the backlogs of the internet.

The form was full of people talking about a bunch of different haunted locations. Or at least places they thought were haunted. 

“Been there.”

“That’s fake.”

“That place was torn down.”

Dipper muttered to himself under his breath as he went throught the list. Most places on this so-called ‘list’ he had already heard of or been to himself. Dipper paused when he came across a message about an old warehouse not too far from his apartment. 

“That one’s new.”

Dipper pulled out his phone, he should have some time tomorrow to check it out. Even if it was fake it still would be interesting to look into.

—--------

The warehouse was old and rundown looking, Dipper slipped around the back and found a slightly open window. He pushed it open and was able to get inside. According to the chat form this place had been abandoned after a workplace accident and was now being haunted by the spirit of the person who died here. 

Dipper hadn’t been on a proper mystery hunt since the last time he saw Mabel over the summer. It felt strange to be doing one without her but he decided he couldn’t wait. As much as Dipper loved college he was feeling a little stir crazy and a good old ghost hunt was just what he needed. 

Walking around, flashlight in hand, Dipper couldn’t find much to suggest that this place was haunted, there were some crates and a few old pieces of machinery but that was it. Most Ghost Possesed places had things thrown around and broken glass or something. There wasnt even any graffiti on the walls. 

Dipper pulled out his Journal and made a few notes, maybe the ghost was a lower category. Perhaps a level one. Not much of a threat and Dipper couldn’t really do anything to get rid of it. A bit disappointed, he was hoping for a good fight. 

(Unknownth to him there were hidden cameras following Dipper’s every move) 

He kept poking around and looking at stuff. It was a bit strange, Dipper thought this place was supposed to be abandoned but except for some dust there really wasn’t much evidence to prove it. 

Most of the abandoned or haunted sites Dipper has explored were run down and falling apart. “Maybe this place was abandoned more recently.” He mused. 

Dipper stopped, what was that sound. It sounded like creaking floor boards, like someone was walking around. He tightened his grip on his flashlight and began to move slowly and quietly to the sound. 

As Dipper walked he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him. Maybe it’s the ghost he thought, maybe it’s toying with me. 

Wouldn’t be the first time a paranormal being decided to mess with him, Dipper just needed to be on guard and be careful. 

Maybe he should have brought someone with him…

No matter, Dipper could handle this on his own. 

(Dipper didn’t hear the sound of a car pulling up outside)

He turned a corner and saw a shadow moving in the distance. Dipper quickly ducked behind some crates and tried to catch his breath. He waited and listened, but the sound had stopped.

Dipper took a deep breath and slowly peeked out from behind the crates. He saw nothing but darkness. He turned his flashlight on and shone it in the direction of the shadow he had seen.

It looked like a person. 

He went to move closer but heard a voice speak behind him. “And who are you?”

Dipper turned around to see a human (definitely not a ghost) woman looking right at him. 

Oh no. 

---------

Author's Note:

Another day, another prompt.

IRUFLEOB VWLSSHG

---------

Tag List:

@badthingshappenbingo

[feferipeixes]

I think it is nice how, even though Dipper is clearly the nerdier one of him and his sister, he’s not portrayed as a super genius like Dexter from Dexter’s Lab or Jimmy Neutron. He is just a 12 year old boy who likes books and mysteries, and he does a lot of silly stuff that shows that he and his sister aren’t too different.

Like, his first instinct upon learning that a triangle is the alchemic symbol for fire is to literally set fire to the only copy of the map that he’s trying to decipher. Then there’s how -- when confronted with a locked laptop -- he spends an absurd amount of time trying to enter every possible 8-character password (which, by the way, proves that he doesn’t know anything about computers. or math). And you cannot tell me that it’s not absolutely batshit of him to bring a Gremloblin into the Mystery Shack and then happily tell a pair of tourists “guess what if you look this fella in the eye you’ll go insane!” as if they aren’t going to do it.

Dipper always talks about trying to unravel the mysteries of the town, but a lot of what he gets up to is comedic mischief aided by the knowledge in his book. He’s not a genius for making the growy/shrinky flashlight. He’s just a dork who, when confronted with his twin being a millimetre taller than him, had the extremely silly reaction of “i’m going to use magic to make myself taller”.

The show places a lot of focus on Dipper being the smart one and Mabel being the silly one, and I think that’s partially because a lot of the plot is from Dipper’s POV and he sorta has this idea of himself as being a serious mystery hunter -- which itself is such a classic 12 year old behaviour. But there’s so much evidence that neither of those things are totally true, and it’s so wonderful because it really makes them feel like believable, likeable characters. You can see their depth and their motivations and the things that make them serious and the things that make them silly. They aren’t caricatures.

meanwhile, Ford Pines made a perpetual motion machine at age 17.

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @gravityfallsauzine! I think the twins would make fun superheroes with the most eye-catching (blinding) costumes.

…

…

…

…

This was weird. That was Dipper’s only thought as he stood in his socks in the middle of the attic he shared with his twin sister. There was no other way to explain why he was dressing up in what could have been a Halloween costume, ready to go fight crime in the middle of the night.

 Or, well, the late evening/early night, because despite being almost thirteen, Dipper couldn’t stay up past eleven even if his life depended on it. Which was a problem when one’s fighting crime—often his life did depend on it.

 “This is really weird,” he uttered aloud now, unable to shake off his unease. Dipper turned to Mabel. “You see how this is weird, right?”

 “What do you mean, weird?” Mabel hummed some made-up song obliviously as she rifled through her drawers, tossing sweaters over her shoulder in her search.

 “This?” Dipper gestured at his slightly baggy black clothes. Or ‘uniform’, as his Grunkle Ford put it. Admittedly, despite not fitting him quite right, the costume was quite nice for being homemade. There were pockets everywhere, big enough to carry magnifying lenses and flashlights and everything else his paranoid brain thought of. “We’re dressing up to go fight crime at night.”

 “Well of course it’s at night.” Mabel shot him a disparaging look over her shoulder. “No one does crime in the day.”

 “That’s…not true. You know that’s not true, right?” Dipper asked worriedly. It was hard, sometimes, to tell when Mabel earnestly believed in something and when she was just getting caught up in the romance of it all.

“Well, duh, but no one fights crime In the day.” Mabel rolled her eyes, turning back to her sweater search. “Have you seen any hero do that?”

 “Have you seen anyone fight at all?” Dipper asked incredulously. Before she could say anything, he clarified, “Besides us?”

 She deflated slightly at that, plopping on the ground and scratching her chin as she thought about it. The moment her eyes lit it up, he could almost see the lightbulb going off above her head. Confidently, Mabel lifted her finger and opened her mouth—

 “Or our Grunkles,” he added, rolling his eyes when she groaned. She was so predictable sometimes. “Someone outside of our family.”

 “Okay, fine. Maybe you can fight in the day,” she reluctantly agreed. “But it’s really uncool.”

 “Good—that wasn’t my point!” One day, he was going to go bald because of his family. Dipper was certain of that. He just managed to resist the urge to tear out his hair. “Isn’t this really weird? We’re dressing up in costumes and fighting crime! It’s like we’re in a comic book.”

 “Maybe we are,” Mabel cheerfully retorted, clapping her hands together excitedly. “You think I could marry Bruce Wayne and get his batcave?”

 The image was too impossible for him to even imagine. Dipper wasn’t sure what scared him more—Mabel sitting in the batcave or the fact that he couldn’t shake off the feeling that she could date Batman if she tried. Even his Grunkles had a hard time saying no to her. Shaking his head clear of these thoughts, he crossed his arms and frowned. “Mabel, come on. Be serious.”

 “I am,” she protested. Seeing the look on his face, she clambered to her feet and approached him. “Dipper, come on, this isn’t the weirdest thing that’s happened all summer. It’s not even in the top five. I mean, yeah, the Grunkles are kinda weird about everything, but that’s just who they are.”

 Dipper bit his cheek. It was hard to disagree when they were spending the summer in a renovated villain’s lair, complete with enough villain props to compete with any comic book’s rogue gallery. Dipper couldn’t even be certain on which props were fake—he’d seen enough obscure villains to utterly believe there was one called the Jackalope. “But that’s an ordinary weird. Grunkle Stan scams people and Grunkle Ford doesn’t leave the basement. It’s weird, but not super weird. Not like being a superhero.”

 “Oh, you worry too much.” Mabel sighed, picking up a trench coat off the floor. She draped it around her shoulders and pulled the collars up. “Don’t look at me, I’m totally just one criminal and not a whole family of them.”

 Dipper smiled slightly at the reference, remembering the first villain they’d taken down together. It had been a group of five identical brothers, stacked on top of each other as they pretended to be a giant. It was hard enough having one twin—he couldn’t imagine having three more.

 Sensing he was softening, Mabel scampered around the room, picking up random discarded souvenirs she’d picked up during their adventures. Donning a witch’s hat, she cackled. “All the halloween candy shall be mine!”

 “I think he was a little creepier than that, Mabel,” Dipper snorted. Her imitation was terrible.

 “As creepy as the zombies?” she drawled, shambling towards him.

 “That was a poisonous gas.” Despite her inaccuracies, Dipper chuckled. It was hard not to; for however ridiculous Mabel could be sometimes, she always knew how to make him laugh. Picking up a top hat, he said in a falsetto, “I’m Gideon, and I’m going to hypnotize you.”

 “Ugh.” Mabel grimaced. “Not him!”

 “Sorry.” He wasn’t sorry. Well, not entirely. Dropping the hat, he walked over to the half-open window. A warm breeze wafted in, stirring the curtains. It’d be a hot night. Which meant his costume was going to smell again. Honestly, he’d thought that being a superhero would be more fun, and not…so mundane.

 Just outside the window, the sun had started to set. Unlike the city, the stars here were in the sky, not the ground. The citizens were so scattered, it was hard to spot their neighbour’s lights, let alone the whole town’s. Unfortunately, that made patrolling really long and difficult; there was just so much space to cover.

 “Hey,” Dipper asked quietly, “Do you think they’re hiding something from us?”

 Mabel stood next to him, looking at him seriously. “What do you mean?”

 “Remember we found those two mysterious books, with the handprint on them?” Dipper explained, rubbing his forearms.

 “Grunkle Ford just kinda took them.” She leaned against the window. “I wonder why?”

 “I saw Grunkle Stan with one of them. I think he took one.” Dipper frowned. It felt like he had almost all the pieces as to a bigger mystery, but he was missing a key one. “There must be something important in them.”

 “When we get the third one, we keep it, and then we can ask them anything,” Mabel suggested confidently, hand on her hip. When she said it like that, he didn’t doubt her words for an instant.

 Dipper nodded. It was a solid enough plan. “I just don’t get why they keep wanting us to work alone, and not together.” He gestured out the window, at the tops of the buildings in the distance. “We can’t patrol all of that on our own. Can you imagine fighting Gideon or someone else by yourself?”

 Mabel didn’t say anything, for a long moment, before turning to him. “You know, the Grunkles don’t talk.”

 “Huuh?” Dipper stared at her blankly, not following. He dropped his arm. “They talk all the time.”

 “They don’t, not like we do.” She played with the hem of her sweater. It was a nervous gesture completely unlike her. “They don’t even like staying in the same room.”

 Now that he thought about it, that was true. Whenever one walked in, the other would walk out. Dipper rubbed his chin, “Even when we’re training, they keep insisting on different times.”

 “Yeah.” Mabel sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Superheroes are supposed to be partners, why aren’t they partners?”

 Dipper couldn’t handle a sad Mabel. It just wasn’t right. Wrapping an arm around her, he squeezed her tight. “We’re partners.”

 “Yeah.” She smiled at him, perking up at the thought. “We’ll be like Batman and Robin or Captain and Bucky.” Getting into it, she spread her hands in front of her as though to show the grandness of the name she picked out. “Mabel and Dipper.”

 “Wouldn’t that make me the sidekick?” Dipper replied dryly, letting go.

 “The cool one is always the leader.” Mabel winked at him as she slipped back to her dresser.

 “You’re not cool at all,” he mumbled under his breath.

 Still, this could work. Unlike the Grunkles, he and Mabel would work together. And maybe, just maybe, they could figure out what happened between them and protect the town at the same time. Dipper hadn’t been sure about this whole superhero business—they’d constantly flopped from one danger to the next—but they could do it. Besides, they were helping people, what could go wrong?

 “What do you think of this sweater?” Mabel asked, picking out a neon green sweater from her pile. Her smile was only outshone by how bright her sweater was. It was almost blinding.

 Dipper didn’t know where to begin. “Aren’t we supposed to be stealthily?” He paused. “What, Grunkle Stan isn’t giving you a costume?”

 “Nah.” Mabel shrugged her shoulders as she dropped the sweater and picked up another one that looked like the setting sun. At least it was kinda toned down. “He said a real hero makes their costume from scratch.”

 Dipper had a big feeling that it had less to do with character-building and more to do with Grunkle Stan being really lazy.

 Either way, he was going to go out patrolling with a partner that could blind their enemies. Maybe he should start stuffing some flashlights and other survival gear into his many pockets. They were definitely going to need it.

[minijenn]

Keys to the Kingdom Preview

So I'm having... a fucking week. Between the Smash reveal and a number of other IRL things, focusing on this chapter has been a bit... tricky. But here's a bit of what I've managed to write so far, enjoy more of Sora interacting with the Mystery Twins idk why but these interactions are really easy and really fun to write ahahah ^_^

***

“Ok,” he says, much to the twins’ shared relief. “I… guess I can make some time to stick with you guys a little while longer.” A little while longer before he can give the heirloom back to Bill, before he can get the reward he so desperately craves. Before he can finally be free.

And really, after waiting this long for that freedom, certainly he can afford to wait just a little bit more.

“Thanks, Sora!” Mabel exclaims warmly, bounding ahead to join her brother. “See, Dipper?” she whispers to him, aside. “I told you we could trust him!”

“Seeing as how he’s the only person we know who can actually get rid of those monsters, it's not like we really have too much of a choice…” Dipper says, though he wears a smile all the same. “But… I guess you weren’t wrong. This time, anyway.”

Sora swallows hard when he happens to overhear this, the sizable knot of guilt already settled in his stomach tightening to an almost oppressive degree. Whatever trust either of the twins might have for something is something he knows he hasn’t earned, something he definitely doesn’t deserve after what he’s just done. As he trails a few paces behind them, his hand drifts down to his pocket, to the heirloom, to reveal his crimes and come clean like he knows he should. And yet… at the same time, he knows he can’t. Not when this is perhaps the last and only chance he has at turning the tide, at undoing what’s been done, at saving his own life. Certainly, if Dipper and Mabel knew just what he’s up against, if they knew everything he’s already lost and still stands to lose, then they’d understand the lengths he’s taking to finally stop it all… wouldn’t they?

“Hey, Sora?” Mabel pipes up, pulling out of his fretful thoughts as they venture back into the woods. The dark path ahead is only sparsely illuminated by the flashlight Dipper had grabbed back at the shack, though that light does little to chase away the oddly ominous aura the forest carries at night. Or at least, an aura that’s even more ominous than the one that had filled it during the day. “I’ve been wanting to ask you for awhile now: what’s that Key thing that Xamnams guy wants you to get so badly?”

“Oh yeah, I was wondering about that too,” Dipper glances back at the older boy. “Is it the same key you fought those monsters with, or is it something different?”

“Oh, um, yeah, it’s different,” Sora nods, more than happy for the distraction this kind of conversation can serve his troubled mind. “It’s a special kind of Key that’s one out of thirteen that my--I-I mean his master has been looking for. And if they get their hands on it first… let’s just say something really… bad could happen.”

“Wait, so that guy isn’t actually your boss?” Mabel asks.

No, of course he’s not, Sora thinks, though the words refuse to leave his mouth. A small burst of pain constricts around his heart, one that feels far too familiar to the point that he doesn’t even think twice about where it could be coming from. That same pain bars him from saying what he really wants to, though this time, it doesn’t force him to say something else against his will. What he’s able to get out instead is still far from anything substantial though. “Uh… w-well, he’s my… I-I, uh… It’s-”

“Let me guess,” Dipper cuts in knowingly. “It’s something else that’s ‘complicated’, isn’t it?”

The most Sora can do is nod, rubbing his arm as he apprehensively glances away from the twins. Mabel’s quick to fill in the newfound silence, however, with a small coo of curious fascination. “Ooo, Sora, you’re such a complex guy!” she grins, a smile that turns a touch coy as she twirls a lock of her hair playfully. “Ya know I’ve always had a thing for men of mystery.”

Naturally, Sora still isn’t quite sure of how to respond to the younger girl’s persistent brand of “unique” flirting. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to as Dipper dryly interrupts. “What, you mean like that ‘mysterious’ guy you dated who turned out to be a bunch of gnomes stacked on top of each other?” he asks, flashing his sister a bit of a teasing smirk.

“Yeesh, I accidentally go out with some creepy gnomes one time and suddenly I never hear the end of it,” Mabel huffs, rolling her eyes. “At least I didn’t spend the entire summer desperately crushing on someone who’s waaaay too old for me.”

“Says the girl who’s literally doing that right now,” Dipper retorts, catching Mabel in the middle of the affectionate wave she’s sending Sora’s way.

“...And your point is?”

As the twins’ next round of insincere bickering kicks off, Sora does his best to try and focus on it, only for his thoughts to drift internally once more. As far as he knows, Xemnas, or any other Organization member for that matter, isn’t anywhere in the immediate vicinity, so how does their power still have such a restrictive hold on him, to the point that he can’t even speak freely? Has he really fallen so far under their sway that he can be forced to do their bidding from a distance? Does he really have so little freedom left that he’s bound to obey them even when not a single one of them is around?

It’s a grim, downright horrifying thought, a reality he knows he ultimately can’t escape from, at least not on his own. He draws in a steadying breath as he gently pats the pocket the glass globe is resting in, shuddering as he feels another wave of its palpable power wash over him. Regardless of whatever it is that globe actually holds, right now, it also holds all of his once-faded hopes, his nearly-dead dreams, his last chance at living the life he longs to lead instead of the life that’s fallen apart all around him. And all it’ll take for him to finally get that life is to take that globe back to its rightful owner, to give it back to Bill so that Bill can give him back everything he’s lost in return.

So that’s exactly what he’ll do. No matter how uncertain his mind and heart alike still are of whether or not he should.

[asterkiss]

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” Mabill, please. 😊

Zombie AU, anyone? 

- VULNERABILITY

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

Mable Pines evaded another flesh-hungry zombie as she ran through the abandoned streets of Gravity Falls. A lot can change in a couple of days, and having a zombie apocalypse explode out of nowhere certainly changed a lot.

For one thing, she was currently all alone.

Wendy was currently incapacitated back at the Shack with two broken legs (long story); Dipper had been unfortunately kidnapped by a cult (an even longer story); and to top it all off their newfound ally Bill Cipher was fucking dead. 

She’d probably need several hours to explain that last part.

But to give the short version:-

It had only been a couple of months since the demon had taken on a human vessel and shenanigans had ensued between him and their family. A lot had transpired but to cut to the eventuality of it all, Mabel had actually grown close to the demon and considered him sort of, well, a friend.

(But that was it. Just a friend. Nothing more―no matter what he might suggest otherwise).

Despite that, even until the end Mable found herself continuing to question whether he really had changed. 

Apparently his way of proving that was to throw himself into a hoard of zombies so that she could escape unharmed.

Talk about making a point, huh?

(But seriously she was very upset about it).

Using her grappling hook, Mable equipped the ever useful device to scale the  building of an abandoned warehouse. Breaking an already cracked window, she climbed inside. Mable had the feeling people wouldn’t be bothered too much by her trespassing when there were bigger fish to fry in town right now.

Her reason for coming here to begin with was because she had bumped into Tambry who had apparently caught size of a group fitting the description of Dipper’s kidnappers visiting this place yesterday morning. 

So it was, Mable cautiously searched the abandoned warehouse, eventually making her way up a flight of stairs and into a room that oversaw the entire building. There didn’t seem to be any sign of Dipper, only remnants of abandoned supplies and machinery. 

Her foot tapped against something and she lowered her flashlight only to gasp at the sight of a body. Unfortunately, this was only one of many she had seen in the past couple of days. He didn’t even look that old either as he stared ahead vacantly.

Mable paid him a small blessing in her mind as she turned to continue searching.

Except something then grabbed her foot.

Ah.

Dropping her head down she found the dead body suddenly wasn’t so “dead” anymore as the light haired corpse groaned into movement whilst its cold fingers grasped at her ankle. Oh hell no. Mable quickly yanked her foot free and backed away, rushing for another door that lead out onto the walkway.

Luck was not on her side however as Mable flung the door open only to find another zombie stood loitering outside, its head hanging to one side. This one was older, probably a middle-aged gentleman as it turned its head to regard her arrival, eyes alighting with hunger.

Oh crap.

She retreated away from the door, peering behind her to find the first zombie was now standing. That way was blocked. Her head snapped back around as the older one lurched forward too close for comfort. She quickly held out her grappling hook and released it, the metal portion firing and hitting it square in the chest which caused it it to stumble. Score.

Mable turned on her heel only to freeze at the sight of shot gun directed her way. Her eyes wandered past the barrel of the gun and towards the individual holding it only for her gaze to land on none other than the zombie itself. Wait, what? 

The gun fired and she flinched as the shot rang out loudly throughout the room and building. When she turned her head, she found the other zombie directly behind her, apparently having recovered from her attack. What it couldn’t recover from however was the the fresh bullet hole in its skull as it slowly toppled over onto the floor. Dead for good this time. 

When she peered back cautiously towards the other undead in the room and met its gaze, its lips slowly stretched into a lazy grin.

‘Sup.’

‘Wha― Wait, Billl!?’

‘In the flesh,’ he shot back with a laugh, tapping his chest as he lowered the weapon. ‘This flesh to be more precise.’

‘Oh my god are you possessing a dead body right now?’ she cried, regarding him ludicrously. 

‘Well yeah, my old vessel got torn to pieces by those rabid cannibals―you’re welcome for that by the way―so I decided to shop around for something fresher. Lucky me, I found this one right by ya.’

‘You have part of your throat missing.’

‘I’ll hide it with a scarf.’

‘And I can see part of your intestines hanging out.’

'That can be patched up,’ he replied breezily, clearly having no qualms about his actions. 

Mable sighed as she regarded his new "form”. The body he inhabited couldn’t have been dead for that long as it still had some colour left in it and didn’t stink yet. Also, whilst it pained her to admit it, had this body been alive and intact its definitely a guy she would have considered hot. So in a way she was thankful he had part of his organs hanging out, it sobered her up and made her less inclined to think Bill was attractive.

‘See something you like?’ he asked, wiggling his eyebrows as she continued to stare.

Mable rolled her eyes. ‘That’s creepy coming from a dead body.’

‘Would you rather I possess a living one?’

‘Why do you have to possess anybody at all?’ she protested. ‘Are you really that desperate to cause drama, even during a zombie apocalypse?’

He frowned. ‘That’s not why I’m back.’

‘Oh yeah?’ she gave him a flat look, clearly in disbelief.

‘It’s true!’ he retorted. ‘Hand on my― well, this guy’s heart!’

When she continued to side-eye him, Bill released an aggravated sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. ‘Urgh, you never make things easy. You’re seriously gonna make me be honest and crap? I hate that stuff.’

‘Yeah, how awful,’ she deadpanned.

He released a grumble, looking very much uncomfortable as he muttered something.

‘What?’

‘...d... ou....’

‘You seriously need to speak up dude, I can’t hear a thing.’

‘I’m fond of you!’ he snapped, eyes flashing as he pinned with a glare. ‘There, I said it. Are you happy!?’

Mable blinked in surprise at his admission. Well that she certainly hadn’t expected. She could tell he was uncomfortable at his own words and though she wanted to make a witty comment or joke, the girl knew that wouldn’t be fair to the demon who had clearly displayed some vulnerability to confess such a thing.

‘Really?’ she asked.

‘I just said so, didn’t I?’ he huffed, folding his arms. ‘Why else do you think I scarified my old vessel to rescue you? I’ve no idea what I’d do if I lost you.’

Oh wow. Mable felt her heart actually skip a beat and quickly reminded herself that this was still Bill even if he was saying the first sweet thing in probably centuries.

‘You like me,’ she stated, feeling the words on her own tongue. It felt nice to say them. Slightly funny, even. 

Bill grumbled some words, refusing to look her way. Was he embarrassed? Seriously? 

'Well, I like you too,’ she admitted, feeling she could show a little vulnerability in front of him if he was. His gaze wandered in her direction, a look of suspicion lacing his expression. 

‘You do?’

‘Yeah. I don’t really know why,’ she added, offering a wry smile. ‘But I was upset when you died so I’m kinda happy to see you again.’ Even if it was by possessing a dead body during these drastic times.

Mable could have sworn she saw the hints of a genuine smile beginning to form on his face at her admission, only for it to be quickly dampened as he unfolded his arms and straightened up. ‘Hmph, well luckily for you the main hero has returned to this mess of a show.’

‘Oh yeah?’ She watched as he tucked away his true feelings behind a facade once more. Looks like feelings time was over. And she was okay with that. It made her feel weird too. They could go back to being snark and comfortable.

‘Yep. So let’s go and save your dumb brother, for if my name ain’t Bill Cipher! All powerful and omnipotent demon, destroyer of dreams! Mwahahaha!!!’

‘Hey, Mr Destroyer of Dreams, you dropped one of your kidneys.’

‘Wait, what?’

‘Blehh, that’s so gross. I think I might seriously throw up.’

‘It’s fine, I’ll shove it back in! No harm done. See?’

‘No, keep it away from me! Bill!!’

[crushing-on-nico-di-angelo]

Okay, here's the actual chapter 3

7 Nights in Cabin 13

Nico took a small step backwards. “I’m sorry,” Will hesitated. “I shouldn’t have asked you, I know you probably don’t want to and--”

“Hey, woah, I never said I didn’t want to. I was just shocked. Not everyday I get asked to sleep with someone-- I- I mean… you know what I mean.”

Will giggled. “So does this mean you do want to?”

“...Yeah. I guess it does.”

Read (and maybe give kudos?) on ao3

~~~~

Lying in Nico’s bed, side by side, wasn’t as awkward as Will thought it would be. The comforter was very comforting and warm. The warmth of Nico made his heart beat faster, he hadn’t slept next to anyone since he was about seven years old having a nightmare about goats and crawled into his mami’s bed.

Nico turned to him, so Will made the necessary adjustments.

“I hope you don’t mind that I kept the window open. The light… helps.”

“I’m the son of Apollo, Neeks. I don’t mind at all.” Nico’s face softened. Will stared at his eyes, and he swore there was a universe of activity and stars in a dark brown expanse. He was lost in trying to pinpoint every constellation that he didn’t notice Nico’s hand reaching for his hair until he felt the tentative ruffle.

“Ah, sorry. I can stop if you’d like. Bianca…” Nico cleared his throat. “Bianca used to do this to me when I was having trouble sleeping.”

“Don’t stop,” Will murmured, once again feeling the effects of sleepiness. “Please.”

Nico closed his eyes and continued softly playing with Will’s hair. Will was simultaneously hyper-aware of how nice it felt to have someone play with his hair and extremely at peace, letting sleep overtake him.

<i> A wedding. Drinking gasoline. Pain in his right leg. Silence; eternal, deafening silence. </i>

When Will opened his eyes, he was acutely aware of the hand resting on his head. A bit of drool was pooled underneath his chin, but how could he move when Nico was still asleep holding his head? Nothing to do now but stay still and think.

<i> Alright Solace… I’ve been putting it off too long. How did I get here? …Nathan is how. But I don’t want to think about him. Which is fine, because I haven’t seen him in years, so I can’t exactly pin this on him. How did I get here <b> now? </b> ...I got into my head again is how.</i>

He remembers it, his relapse, but not exactly.

He was showing Clarisse how to complete an advanced archery move. He may not have been the best in comparison to his siblings, but he and Clarisse had been best friends after the Battle of Manhattan. They had gotten clean together. He had to help her with the archery.

But then. The way he positioned Clarisse’s arm. He remembered that was exactly how Fletcher positioned his. He remembered Michael doing the same for other campers. He finished teaching Clarisse the move and left to go to the showers.

He pushed the thought out of his mind-- or, he tried to. He couldn’t think of anything at all, and his breathing was getting so, so heavy. He turned on the water to hide the noises he was making, hyperventilating. They were dead, they were dead, and he <i> knew</i> they were dead. Why couldn’t he get it through that thick skull of his? He knew they were dead he saw it happen, saw the bridge collapse. But it was all he could think of, all just looping through his mind, over and over and over. No release. No end in sight to the looping thoughts. Breathing breathing breathing only not in the way he was supposed to. Suffocating on too much air and not enough oxygen.

And then the dysphoria kicked in.

His chest hurt. His chest hurt so fucking much. In addition to the binding he was doing, he was breathing so, so hard. He wanted to take the binder off, but his clothes were too wet and it was stuck. Thoughts looping, never stopping. Dead, dead, dead. Never going to be a real man. The sound of the explosion being nothing and everything to him all at once. Losing the first person to help him. Wanting so badly to hurt himself but having nothing to do so with. And then remembering what he did in the following months.

He let the water of the shower run over his soaked clothes while he focused on what he did after they died. The Hypnos cabin, they helped him forget it, but in the wake of his panic attack he remembered where he put them.

The last of his stash.

The next thing he knew, he was frantically searching for pennies with a flashlight in a camp that didn’t even use American currency-- his mind finally off his dead siblings-- at midnight outside of the Hades cabin. And thank Zeus for that.

...He was a weak person. As soon as things got tough, he went with the convenient solution. He’d always been a bad friend and a bad son because of it, and he likely always would be. Things got better for a bit, but looking at himself now? How could he ever think of himself as a good person after this, when it’s clear that he’ll always be fucking… <i>weak</i> like this….

This wasn’t something he was going to forgive himself for anytime soon. Not at all. Especially not for concerning Nico like this. He could have handled himself.

<i> Could I have handled myself?</i> he wondered. Nico shifted in his sleep, his arm now draping over Will’s shoulder. <i>Does it even matter right now? It’s too late to change it.</i>

He tried to settle into sleep again, but he found that he couldn’t. He also didn’t want to think anymore about what happened to get him here in the first place, when he could be messing around with his friends and cabin-mates while canoeing. He could be trying for the camp record on the lava wall. He could be doing a million things… but he fucked it up. Gods, he already said he didn’t want to think about it. So why was he?

He sighed softly, not wanting to disturb Nico. He snuggled into Nico’s embrace, not realizing how close they had gotten when they were asleep. His nose was nearly touching Nico’s and he noticed the faint freckles splashed over his nose and under his eyes. They were so light that you had to be inches away to notice them, but Will suspected that he would <i>only</i> notice them from now on. Just like his eyes, Will felt compelled to trace out constellations.

Will had posters and posters back in his home in Austin about stars and space exploration. He memorized constellations and had a hyperfixation on planets from ages seven to eleven. He still had all of that knowledge in his head, and it was remarkable to him how many constellations he found on Nico’s face. He pulled one of his hands from under the covers and started going over them, trying not to touch Nico’s face. He did lightly trace Nico’s nose, and was surprised when Nico didn’t even stir. He started feeling more and more relaxed, tracing what was almost the big dipper; he eventually fell asleep again with his hand cupping Neek’s cheeks.

He dreamt rough dreams, but was fortunate enough to wake up not remembering any of them.

~~~~~~

Will woke up and felt an absence of warmth. He saw Nico leaning against the doorframe, his silhouette framed by the hall light. He stood there, unmoving. Will would have wondered if he had fallen asleep again if not for the fact that he was standing fully upright. Nico knocked gently on the wood of the frame before walking away. Will wondered what that was all about but didn’t want to ask. He stood from the bed and walked to Nico’s bathroom to splash his face. He stood up and was hit with dizziness. There was a clock by Nico’s bed which read ‘8 P.M.’

“Ah,” he murmured himself. “That’s it.”

He fell asleep with Nico at around noon, which meant he hadn’t eaten in nearly 8 hours. He shivered from the cold. He grabbed a jacket hanging from the bed and walked out.

“Hey, Neeks,” Will felt a bit odd. They had been so intimate with each other earlier, he wondered if that would make things awkward between them.

“Hello, William. How’d you sleep?” Nico seemed to not mind, so Will decided to play it cool.

“Alright. I dreamt, so…”

Nico chuckled. “So not the best it could have been. I made us pot pie, it’s in the oven right now.”

“Holy shit, deathboy. You always cook so much?” Nico smiled and shook his head.

“Just felt like it lately, I suppose. It’s almost ready, grab a seat.”

~~~~~

After about an hour of eating and delirious laughter, it suddenly came to light that Nico had never played 20 questions.

“What the hell do you mean you’ve never played?” Will was incredulous. “Didn’t you used to go to boarding school?” Nico was still grinning from the laughter.

“Well, yes but I was around 10 years old! I didn’t play games like that.” Will shook his head in disbelief.

“We’re remedying that today, di Angelo.”

“How do you play?”

“I ask you a question, you answer it, and then you ask me and I answer. The cycle continues until we each ask 20 questions.”

Nico hummed to himself. “Is anything off-limits?”

Will knew what he didn’t want him to ask, but instead said, “On my end? No. Is there anything you don’t want me to ask you?”

“...I suppose not.”

“Alright. Feel free to say ‘skip’ for any question. No big deal, I’ll just ask a new one.”

“Alright. Do you go first or me?”

Will always liked to ask the same question during 20 questions. “If you had the chance to have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?”

“Hm…” Nico took a deep breath. “Does my mother count?”

Will’s breath hitched. “She-- she does,” <i> Treat it normal, Solace.</i> “She seems like she’d be a good choice. She died in the 50’s?”

“30’s, actually. Right before I was moved to the Lotus Hotel.”

“...Oh. I’m sorry, Nico.” Nico waved him off.

“It’s fine, I was little. There’s just… so much I wish I knew, you know?”

“For sure…” <i> Gods, this poor kid. </i> “Still, I’m sorry. You were just a kid.”

“Yeah, well. Anyway. My turn, right?”

Will could tell that conversation was over, so he nodded.

“What’s your tattoo?” Nico asked, to which Will smiled.

“It’s… here.” He pulled down his shirt enough for the sun to show. Nico leaned forward to get a closer look.

“It’s really pretty. I saw it on that first night after you showered. Why did you get it?”

“Lee Fletcher.”

“Lee Fletcher? Who’s that?”

And who was Lee Fletcher? Lee Fletcher was the man who meant everything to Will. He had a mom and two sisters, and no father. Lee Fletcher was the first guy in his life to act as a guardian to him. He was four years older and always acted as an older brother even before Will knew that Lee was a guy. Lee taught Will archery and how to talk to girls. Later, Lee would teach him to talk to boys. Lee was powerful and smart. He was so, so brave. He would heal people just by <i>singing</i> to them. He was everything that Will wanted to be.

After he died, Will was inconsolable. Of course, during the war he was fine. He was cool and collected: a healer, the child of Apollo. But after? He started sneaking out more, trying to escape everything and everyone. Started drinking more… that’s when he met Nathan. He knew that wasn’t the question, though. Lee Fletcher, the memory of Lee Fletcher, is what kept him going through the darkest time in his life. He owed the world to him.

“Lee Fletcher… well…”

[evabellasworld]

Storm of the Republic

Chapter 24

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

——————————————————————————————

Summary:  When Tup murdered General Tiplar during a battle, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex dispatched Ahsoka, Fives, and Yara to solve the mystery that was plaguing the Clone Army. Meanwhile, Senator Padme Amidala contacted Commander Fox, Commander Tori, Riyo Chuchi, and Dipper to help her continue investigating the death of Palpatine, suspecting that Dooku was behind the evil plot. But when Dooku send an ISB agent to stop them, the team had to race against time to search for the truth, which could alter the course of the galaxy.

————————————————————————————

Holding a flashlight, Dr. Urakchaevy checked her patient’s eyes and noticed her eyes squinted towards the flare. Maria, the Rodian lady, felt her sight were blurry as the doctor found halos around her sparkling eyes, making her frown. This is unusual for a Rodian’s eyes to look like that, she thought, as she jotted down on her datapad.

Dr. Urakchaevy took a deep breath and sat back at her desk, facing Maria with a frown on her face. “I’ve checked your eyes, and it’s terrible. I can reach to the conclusion that you are having cataracts in your eyes.”

“I’m not surprised,” Maria hung her head low, her hands clutched together. “Is there anything you could do to cure my cataract from my eyes? I don’t think I can survive without my eyes.”

“I agree, nobody wants to lose their sight, but as you get older, issues like eye problems and chronic pains are inevitable. Do you have any history with diabetes before?”

“I’m afraid I do. I have been on insulins for years and I had my leg amputated because of gangrene, so maybe this could be the reason my health has worsened over the years. I guess I’m not as young as I used to be.”

Dr. Urakchaevy pouted as she bobbled her head before scribbling a prescription on a piece of paper. “Your appointment date for your surgery will be on Friday. The sooner we get your cataract removed, the sooner you can see clearly like a young woman.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” said Maria, as she got up from her seat and left her office, leaving the doctor alone. Grabbing a tablecloth and a sanitizer, Dr. Urakchaevy wiped every single part of her office as part of standard procedure, making sure her office was hygienic enough for her next patient.

Having worked in a hospital on Coruscant before, the turquoise Theelin had to sanitise both her equipment and patient’s seat to prevent infections. Medical centres treated various diseases, such as common flu, chickenpox, and the infamous Shining Death, which killed hundreds and thousands of patients two decades ago.

At some point, Dr. Urakchaevy was contracted with the virus, but recovered for a month in the hospital. Her wife, Thando, was pacing up and down back home, wondering when she would return. Nobody could visit the hospital ward back then, as doctors and nurses did not want the Shining Death to spread and kill more people.

Tossing her disposable gloves into the bin, the doctor groaned and stretched her back as she stepped out of her office, only to find Fives and Yara seated on a blue chair, with Tup still inside his gurney, breathing through his ventilator. She wasn’t expecting their company, but she was ready to help anyone who stepped into her clinic.

“Good afternoon, Doc,” Fives greeted her with a smile. “I’m Fives, and this is Tup and Yara. I believe you could help us with our situation right now.”

“I’m guessing Liana Halls had sent you here,” estimated Dr. Urakchaevy.

“Who?” Yara raised her eyebrows, gazing at the doctor.

“The medicine lady earlier. Did she send you here?”

“She did, Doc,” she grinned. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Dr. Urakchaevy stood there in silence and eyed Yara and Tup, taking a mental note of their current condition. The former was next to her brother with a dazed eye, munching on her cookies that Thando had baked while holding her forehead. She then glimpsed at Tup, who seemed to be in a critical condition and in a need of medical care.

“How long has he been inside?” she asked the ARC Trooper, agitated.

“Over 5 hours,” he told her. “Can you save him? He looks like he’s dying.”

“Yes, I can,” Dr Urakchaevy nodded, as she gestured to them to hurry inside her office.

Putting on another set of rubber gloves, Fives put down Yara on the doctor’s desk, helped the doctor to unstrap Tup and carried him towards the patient’s bed, before placing a new set of ventilators and a heart monitor beside him. The latter was beeping rapidly as Dr. Urakchaevy squeezed some oxygen for Tup, hoping to stabilise his heart rate.

“How is he, Doc?”

“He’s getting weaker,” she answered him. “Is he having a heart attack or something? He looks pretty young to have these health conditions.”

“It’s complicated,” Fives stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “We don’t know to explain this.”

“If you don’t tell me, it would be very difficult for me to save your brother. Besides, I’ve dealt with strange diseases throughout my entire career. I’m sure this isn’t as bad as the Shining Death.”

Taking a deep breath, Fives explained everything that happened earlier on Ringo Vinda. From how Tup was acting strange before the fight, how he shot Master Tiplee to death, and how he acted aggressive when he stared at another Jedi, without sparing a single detail about the incident. “We think it was a virus developed by the Separatist, but we couldn’t find anything through the scans. That’s why we came to see you instead, since you’re the best doctor in town.”

Dr. Urakchaevy blinked as she slumped on a black chair and crossed her legs. She stared at the floor for a moment, processing what she had heard from Fives. Out of all the patients she had treated, she had never thought she would come across a clone trooper until today. “Are you sure Tup isn’t having a case of PTSD, cause aggression is part of the symptom, you know.”

Fives shook his head, crossing his arms. “Tup, Yara, and I have been through many battles together and he never acted this way before, really. He’s been through a lot with us since Umbara. It was the deadliest battle for a rookie like him.”

“I see. Well then, I’ll have to apologise since I have never treated a clone trooper before, hence I’m only observing based on my experience.”

“No worries, Doc,” he assured her, lowering his voice. “I’m sorry for shouting at you. It’s been a stressful day for all of us, inclusing you.”

“Apology accepted,” Dr. Urakchaevy gave a slight smile. “Did you see a medic before you came to me?”

Fives gave a nod. “We did, Doctor. Apparently, the Jedi and the medic said that it could be a virus developed by the Empire to control clones like us. There were rumours about it, and I think it could be true.”

Dr. Urakchaevy could only burst into laughter as she heard his statement before composing herself. “This is the first time I’ve heard of a virus that can cause aggression in a patient. Honestly, it is the most absurd thing someone has told me, really. I don’t remember learning that in medical school.”

“You mean a virus doesn’t do that?”

“No, they don’t. I’ve studied and treated viral infections on patients and I have never seen a patient acting aggressive solely for that reason.”

“Well, maybe the Empire developed one in their fancy lab. It could be possible, considering they tried to take Tup away.”

“Even if the Empire had produced a virus in their lab, the first symptoms of any virus would be runny nose, coughs, fever, and lethargy. Did Tup have those symptoms before the battle?”

Fives denied. “He was perfectly healthy. It was unlike my brother to kill a Jedi General, you know. He’s not the kind to get into bar fights easily.”

“Yeah, he seemed like a sweet man,” Dr. Urakchaevy chuckled, before moving on with the next question. “What about his brain? Does he have any brain problems?”

“Not that I know of, though it could be possible. After all, he was rubbing his head before the fight, so that could be it.”

“In that case, I will start a brain scan for Tup,” she stood up, along with Fives. “What about your sister, Yara? Is she having the same problem as well?”

“She broke her left arm and hit her head after the ship crash,” Fives said. “I had to carry her all the way here since she looked dizzy.”

“I’ll get my wife to deal with her. In the meantime, you need some rest for yourself. It’s been a long journey for all of you.”

“What about Tup? Will he be okay?”

“He will,” Dr. Urakchaevy comforted him, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll do everything I can to save him.”

[beetlesstuff]

Request by an amazing person who will remain unnamed.

🌌Constellations 🌌

Warnings: light swearing, other than that just fluffy nonsense

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If someone had asked you how the hell you got here, in the middle of the woods, with a demon. You'd go full computer shut down. Hell you didn't even know how he convinced you to wear a BLINDFOLD.

You stumbled through the woods, giggling with Beej each time you almost tripped and fell. "Mind reminding me why I have to be blindfolded, bug?" He simply gave your hand a squeeze as he continued to help you around. "Well, it'd ruin the surprise sweets." You sighed in response and continued walking for a few minutes before you came to a halt. You searched empty air for his hands before you heard him laugh. "You can take it off now babes." He said through a gravelly purr. and you did, looking around all you saw was him, and his flashlight. He sat you down on the damp grass happily, and before you could even question it, he turned his flashlight off. "Beej, what??-" he held his hand to your mouth then directed your face upwards. You fell completely silent.

The stars, twinkling and almost blinding, the milky way barely visible and....shooting stars. Every part of you started to relax as you stared up into the deep black sky. An endless abyss of glittering wonder, rainbows of colors you couldn't even describe.

The night went rather smoothly after that, at some point you ended up leaned against beej while staring at the big dipper. You really didn't want this to end, but you'd been there for hours...and maybe if you just closed your eyes for a moment...

The comfort of your bed was what woke you, you looked around, slightly panicked, and something sparkly caught your eye, along with a note in poor handwriting. "Heya babes, sorta stole this necklace of the big dipper for ya, if you could do me a favor and come pick me up from my mom's office, that'd be great, thanks -BJ"

God what a miraculous mess.

[youngdumbamericanteen]

Mabel bad?

Oof sorry for never answering you nonnie! I’ve been pretty busy lately haha. But the post you’re responding to is a bit...old. I now understand Mabel a bit more now as a person, however I do still dislike her as a character because her flaws I was talking about in that post are never meaningfully addressed. 

This might get a wee bit long, oops. Click for a big Gravity Falls writing analysis/essay/thingy.

It’s good for characters to have flaws. Flaws that actually affect them and have consequences. Otherwise you have something of a Mary Sue that isn’t relatable and has a story that’s too easy and boring for the audience. The narrative punishes or addresses those flaws and they present a challenge for the character.

But at the opposite end, you have characters who have flaws that the narrative never addresses, which means the characters never have to grow. There’s two reasons this is bad. One, that you can have the same issue where they don’t face any struggle or grow as characters and it’s a boring story, or two, people don’t generally like to root for characters who they’d want to punch if they ever met them irl. You can have a story with main characters who are bad people, but you have to either make the character likable in other ways, present the situation so that the audience can gather that they’re in the wrong and either be rooting for their downfall or their growth, or have their actual story be compelling enough that the need to know what happens next outweighs dislike for the character. (And all of these things often require the story to be told from said bad character’s point of view.) Gravity Falls doesn't really do any of these things. Or rather, it tries but is ineffective for around 50% of the viewers.

Mabel is often presented as a pure soul, good of heart and just overall a good person. But she’s got flaws. She’s selfish and a bit inconsiderate, which is normal and not an unforgivably terrible thing, especially for a 13 year old girl figuring out her place in the world. All the Pines are a bit selfish, I think it runs in their genes. But the thing is, the show will treat her selfishness as perfectly fair and normal, with anyone her selfishness affects being shown as in the wrong. She often guilts people, mainly Dipper, into sacrificing things for her while rarely making any sacrifices of her own. She does it to other characters as well, but here’s a brief list of times Dipper has sacrificed something for Mabel (which I compiled with the help of this post on Quora):

 Tourist Trapped: Dipper spends almost the entire time worried about Mabel’s safety and trying to protect her, while she just brushes him off and laughs at him.

The Hand that Rocks the Mabel: Dipper agrees to break up with Gideon for her.

Time Traveler’s Pig: Mabel insists that Dipper give up the reality that doesn't break his heart so that she can adopt Waddles, and when he initially refuses she purposely endangers the space-time continuum as retaliation. 

Little Dipper: Mabel is very angry about Dipper making himself taller, even though Dipper would not have resorted to it if now for her teasing. She immediately demands and fights for the magic flashlight, causing it to fall into Gideon’s hands.

Summerween: Mabel drags Dipper out to go trick-or-treating in a costume he dislikes because she’d planned on them having a duo costume.

Boss Mabel: I shouldn’t even really have to explain this one, the whole episode is about her going on a power trip.

The Deep End: Mabel embarks on a rescue mission for Mermando, doing and using things that would lead to Dipper being fired from the pool job he loves, without consulting him at all. She hears his concerns and instead of just explaining she’s saving Mermando the first time, she completely ignores him and speeds off, destroying more pool property and ensuring he’ll be fired.

Carpet Diem: Dipper informs her of the the issues he has with her roommate habits, and she completely denies any fault, even though she and her friends had legitimately destroyed the room and the mini-golf course the twins had built. The two of them both overreact, and act selfishly throughout the entire episode, but she absolutely refuses to listen to him.

Boyz Crazy: This one isn’t Dipper but I still wanted to mention it because she is so ridiculously selfish throughout the whole episode, to the point where it’s to her and the people she loves’ detriment.

Dreamscapers: Again not Dipper or a sacrifice, but her worst nightmare is apparently losing her cuteness and becoming ugly. I dunno if that’s exactly selfish or anything but God did it make me wrinkle my nose in distaste.

Sock Opera: After promising to help Dipper with the laptop, she almost immediately abandons him for her crush of the week, then proceeds to ignore him for, and inconvenience him with, her puppet show, taking his things without asking and expecting him to be completely cool with all her actions. Bill literally mentions her selfishness to manipulate Dipper and it completely works.

The Love God: Dipper leaves Wendy and her friends in chaos to help fix Mabel’s mess.

Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons: Mabel, her friends, and Stan all make fun of Dipper and Ford and insist they should have full use of the living room.

Dipper and Mable vs the Future: This is one of the big ones that people talk about. Mable finds out that Dipper might want to stay as Ford’s apprentice and becomes incredibly upset because she dreamed of the two of them having fun in high school together. She sees Dipper and immediately makes it about her and her feelings, treating something he’d been dreaming of all summer (being The Author’s apprentice) as some direct attack on her happiness. She proceeds to literally give Bill the ability to start the apocalypse to avoid being separated from Dipper, all without having any sort of meaningful conversation with Dipper or considering his feelings.

Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape From Reality: Out of all of these, this might be the one that gets to me the most. Mabel, seemingly knowing full well that she’s trapped by Bill, creates an imaginary fantasy land and refuses to leave just to spite Dipper for considering taking the apprenticeship. And despite doing all this, and attempting to convince him to stay with her, she creates an alternate “better” version of Dipper who’s “cool” and supportive and very, very, different from the real Dipper.

And this isn’t even mentioning all the times she just assumed she was completely in the right about something or had the moral high ground. Mabel frequently makes rush decisions because she thinks everything should be her way or how she thinks is right. 

And I want to say again, none of these things are unforgivable. Honestly, a lot of the things on the list are pretty standard sibling things, and like she isn’t even always in the wrong. The issue is that I’m naming at least 15 times where Mabel has been selfish or forced someone to give something up for her, and she almost never learns her lesson or is punished by the narrative. There are also only 2 or 3 times I can think of where Mabel sacrificed anything for Dipper, and they were all times he was in actual danger or someone had to talk to her and say she messed up and needed to fix her mistake. 

Dipper, on the other hand, sacrifices things for Mabel, faces consequences for his mistakes and his flaws, learns substantial lessons, apologizes, and rarely, if ever, repeats said mistakes. Now, this doesn’t mean that Mabel is awful and Dipper isn’t. I mean, Dipper does some pretty crumby things and has to be told he’s in the wrong or to apologize. And Mabel isn’t a bad person. Like legitimately, that is not what I want anyone to take away from this. She does genuinely love her brother and care about his wellbeing. She’s just a little selfish and unthinking sometimes, like anyone else.

Like I said, my issue is that it goes unpunished, and she repeats the same type of offense wayyy more than any other character. She’ll disappoint Dipper enough that he’d make a deal with Bill and then everyone will still say she’s the best and most caring person ever. That’s just annoying, honestly, or it is to me at least.

This isn’t dunking on her, this is dunking on the writers. And they aren’t unforgivable either, I mean Gravity Falls was a masterful web of foreshadowing, character building, lore, plot work, and incredibly intelligent humor mixed with jokes kids would love too. I don’t blame them for dropping the ball on Mabel, and I don’t hate her or the show or anything because of it. I just want us to acknowledge this flaw of the show, and also have people get it when Mabel gets on my nerves a little bit.

[mysterykidscasefiles]

Mystery Kids and the Case of the Whispering Rock

Summary: Norman, Neil, Coraline, Wybie, Raz and Lili arrive at Grunkle Stan’s Summer Camp with the hope of having a summer of fun, or in the case of the two Psychonauts, with the intent of investigating a psychic disturbance. When they meet two twins that seem to be experts on the secrets of Gravity Falls, they find themselves reluctantly teaming up. But how much can they actually trust each other? There are secrets in this town, but more surprising are the secrets being kept from each other.

Table of Contents

Chapter 23: Lost and Found

“What? B-but that’s not possible!” Wybie exclaimed as he stared flabbergasted at the old cabin in the giant tree. “We walked away from it! In a straight line! How can we be back here?”

Coraline placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I know, Wyborn, believe me, I know.” Coraline looked miffed, but not quite as freaked out as her friend. 

“This doesn’t make any sense!” Wybie continued in frustration. “I built this compass myself and we only traveled east! We couldn’t have made it back here!”

Dipper rubbed the bridge of his nose. “This happens sometimes, but don’t freak out. Actually, we’re lucky. In this forest, we could have ended up in worse places than here.”

“What do you mean?” Norman asked. “Has this happened to you before?”

“A few times,” Mabel said with a shrug. “It happens sometimes when we get lost or when we go too deep into the forest. It’s like the forest doesn’t want us to leave.”

Mabel’s tone was as cheerful as always and it seemed out of place for the situation. Raz wasn’t sure if it was comforting that she wasn’t worried, or if the girl just had an underdeveloped sense of danger. 

“You two talk like the forest is alive or something,” Wybie said.

“It is alive, genius,” Lili said while rolling her eyes. “The forest is made out of trees and trees are alive.”

“That’s not what he meant, and you know it,” Coraline said, jumping to her friend’s defense. “He meant the twins talk like the forest has a conscience.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Dipper said, “But sometimes it sure seems like it… wants to keep us here.” 

“What do you guys think we should do?” Norman asked the twins. “You two know the forest better than we do.”

“Well… we have to stop relying on our eyes,” Dipper said. “It’s only going to confuse us more.”

“And forget about common sense,” Mabel added. “It's useless here. Right is left and left is right. Backwards can be forwards and going in circles might as well be going straight.”

Dipper nodded. “The best thing to do would be to wait for nightfall so we can use the stars to guide us out. If we try and get out the conventional way then we’ll end up wandering around the forest until we pass out or get lost somewhere worse. We're lucky we keep coming back to this tree. One time Mabel and I wondered so far it became dark in the middle of the day.”

Mabel's smile faltered. "It wasn't a normal kind of darkness. There were no clouds or stars."  

"How did you guys get out?" Neil asked with rapt attention.

Mabel glanced at Dipper, who has a far-off look in his eyes. “We’re not sure…” Dipper admitted. “To this day we still aren’t sure what happened. It was so dark that I couldn’t see Mabel even though she was standing right next to me. Luckily we had flashlights so we could walk without running into the trees. We were walking for about an hour, probably getting even more lost, when we heard a scratching sound coming to our left. When I shined the flashlight on where the noise came from we saw a small arrow scratched into the bark of the tree. It was fresh, so we knew something had just been right next to us when it had made the arrow.”

Did you follow the arrow?” Neil asked. 

“We didn’t have much choice,” Dipper admitted. “Up to this point we were wandering aimlessly and I don’t think we could have gotten more lost. A few minutes later, we heard another scratching sound off to the side, but when we turned our flashlight towards it, we couldn’t see anyone. When we looked closer at the tree, there was another arrow carved in the bark. This continued to happen and we kept following the arrows until the sky started to lighten again and we could see the sun. No matter how hard we tried, we never saw who…. or what helped us.”

“I saw fur!” Mabel exclaimed eagerly. “I’m pretty sure whoever helped us had fur...I think. It was pretty dark.”

Dipper shrugged. “Those are the only things we have to go on. It might have had fur and it was obviously agile enough to avoid our flashlight.”

“You guys have seen a lot of strange things, haven’t you?” Raz asked thoughtfully. 

“It’s this town,” Dipper admitted. “It’s weird… really weird. Mabel and I have seen things we can’t explain. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can, but I didn’t want to drag you guys into it. As you can see, it can get dangerous.”

Raz entertained the possibility of searching through Dipper’s memories the way he had Coraline’s. There may be something in Dipper’s memories that would lead them to the disturbance they were searching for. However, something gave Raz pause.

He was still feeling guilty about the way he rummaged through Coraline’s memories and caused her to have a nightmare the previous night. He had wanted to find information that might lead him to the psychic disturbance, not to retraumatize her. 

In addition, Raz didn’t really know what he was looking for. He knew Dipper and Mabel had seen weird things in the town, but would they really have information about the psychic disturbance they were looking for? There were also restrictions around looking through civilian memories, especially minors, Unless Raz had reason to believe they had information related to his mission, he wasn’t supposed to go through a civilian’s memories. 

Raz decided that he would first try to ask Mabel and Dipper more questions about the mysterious things they have seen in Gravity Falls, as well as try and look around the town. If Raz discovered that Dipper or Mabel might know something related to the disturbance, and refused to share, then he would search through one of their memories.  

“So, assuming we aren’t going to be saved by a potentially hairy monster that carves arrows into trees, what should we do?” Coraline asked. 

“We are just getting ourselves more lost by wandering around,” Dipper said. “As much as I hate to be in this forest at night, we might have to wait for the stars to guide us out. That’s usually the safest way once we’re already lost.”

"We have to stay out here until it gets dark?” Wybie asked nervously, glancing around. 

“I know it’s not the best plan,” Dipper agreed, sounding just as worried. “But it’s the only thing I can think of that wont get us more lost.”

“Actually, Lili is really good at reading a forest,” Raz spoke up. “The tree’s look different the farther you go in, and Lili can notice little differences like that. We don't have to wait. We can follow her out of here. After all, she was the one that knew we were going in the wrong direction from the very beginning.”

Lili didn’t react to Raz’s vote of confidence, but he could tell she was pleased. Raz knew Lili could use her herbaphony to get them back home easily.

At least, he hoped it would be easy. They had used a compass, gone straight, and still ended up back where they started.

“Hold on, it’s because of Lili we’re out here in the first place,” Coraline pointed out. "How can we trust her not to get us more lost?"

"Listen, Blue." Lili sneared. "I'm the only one that can get us out of here within the next few hours. So unless you want to wait until it gets dark and the Little Dipper can use the Big Dipper to get us home, then you'll shut your trap and follow me."

Coraline raised an eyebrow at Lili at the same time Mabel broke into a fit of giggles.

"Mabel, it wasn't that funny," Dipper said in annoyance. 

"No Dip, it was hilarious!" Mabel choked out, barely able to breathe. “Little Dipper!”

"Well then..." Coraline said, a smile tugging on her lips. "I guess anything is better than nothing. Lead the way."

Lili turned around and walked past the giant tree. She was heading in the opposite direction they had been traveling in. There was hesitation from the group at first, but then everyone began following her. Raz tried to suppress the feeling inside of him that told him they were going the wrong way. He  trusted Lili and she knew what she was doing.

Lili led them west, then north. Raz swore they passed the same trees that they had seen just minutes ago, but he kept quiet. There was one point where Lili led them around in what he thought was a definite circle only for them to end up in a completely new area. 

Lili was frowning the entire time, a confused look on her face. She looked as lost as everyone else, but she seemed to put her faith in something other than her sense of direction.

They were traveling for a half an hour, but even Coraline held back her sarcastic commentary. Raz knew what Coraline was thinking without having to read her mind: Lili had either gotten them closer to home, or twice as lost.

Finally, the trees began to thin and Dipper let out a squeak of excitement. "I know where we are!" he shouted. "We're almost to the town!"

“How did you do that?” Neil asked Lili in awe. 

“Like Raz said, I’m just really good at understanding plants,” Lili explained with a shrug. 

“Man, it’s going to be so easy navigating the forest with you around!” Dipper said with a laugh.

Lili glanced at Dipper from the corner of her eyes, her eyebrows twitching upwards in surprise. 

“Yeah, not bad Plant-girl,” Coraline said, nudging Lili with her shoulder playfully. “Looks like you are useful for something.”

“At least one of us is,” Lili said with a smirk. 

Coraline rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. After a moment, Coraline’s expression faltered. “So umm…” she began awkwardly. “I guess I should have trusted you earlier when you said you knew the right way to go.  That was my bad.”

Raz had a feeling that was as close to an apology that Lili was going to get, but from the look on Lili’s face, that was more than she had been expecting. 

Lili shrugged. “Whatever, Blue. One of these days you’re going to figure out that I’m always right.”

Rax placed his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders. “And if she’s ever wrong, we’ll get the bravest or the most gullible person we know to break the news to her, so the rest of us can run for cover.”

Lili gave him a shove. “Shut it, Raz!” 

Raz chuckled, stumbling a bit. He grabbed Lili’s hand in his own as they walked, and she allowed him to. This was the first time Raz noticed that Lili was slowly starting to relax around the other kids. 

Raz glanced at his girlfriend and then back at the other kids. Raz knew this mission wasn't anything like what he and Lili had expected. They went into this thinking it would be a simple recon mission. They were just supposed to find the psychic disturbance and report back to Agent Nein. 

Now, they were no closer to finding the psychic disturbance, but they did find a ghost of a psychic kid with false memories, a blue haired girl who was being hunted by a terrifying otherworldly creature, a magic cabin that used to belong to witches, and an even stranger forest. 

Raz hoped that whatever happened next, he and Lili would be able to handle it on their own, and the other kids wouldn’t get themselves involved. However, with this group’s track record for seeking out dangerous and unusual situations, Raz wasn’t holding his breath. 

End of Act 1

I actually finished act 1? It’s been how many years and act 1 is finally complete?! I’m still having trouble believing it. This story still has two more acts to it. I have a lot of Act 2 written, but it was written a while ago, so I have to do a lot of rewriting. But at least I have a pretty good outline.

Thank you all for all your comments, they really keep me going and inspire me to continue to work on this story. Let me know what you guys thought of act 1.

If act 1 is all about meeting each other, then act 2 is about learning to trust each other, and act three… well, I wont say too much there.

If you want to support me, here is the link to my ko-fi

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