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yamayuandadu · 8 months

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Consulting the convoluted history of supernatural foxes, or why is Tsukasa like that

I know I said you should only expect one long Touhou-themed research article per month, and that the next one will be focused on Ten Desires, but due to unforeseen circumstances a bonus one jumped into the queue. For this reason, you will unexpectedly have the opportunity to learn more about the historical and religious context of the belief in kuda-gitsune, or “tube foxes”, as well as their various forerunners. Tsukasa is clearly topical thanks to Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost, and I basically skipped covering Unconnected Marketeers in 2021 save for pointing out some banal tidbits, so I hope this is a welcome surprise. The post contains spoilers for the new game, obviously.

Obviously, in order to properly cover the kuda-gitsune, it is necessary to start with a short history of foxes in Japanese culture through history, especially in esoteric Buddhism. Early history: the Chinese background Early Japanese sources pertaining to foxes show strong Chinese influence. There was an extensive preexisting system of fox beliefs to draw from in continental literature, dating back at least to the Han dynasty (note that while the well known story of Daji is set much earlier, its modern form only really goes back to the Song dynasty). This is way too complex of a topic to discuss here in full, sadly, so I will limit myself to the particularly interesting tidbits.

A multi-tailed fox in the classic Chinese encyclopedia Gujin Tushu Jicheng (wikimedia commons)

It will suffice to say that historically the fox was perceived in China as a liminal being, and could be associated with pursuits regarded as ethically dubious, ranging from theft and banditry to instigating rebellions and promoting divisive religious views (so, for example during the reigns of firmly pro-Taoist emperors, Buddhist monks could be associated with foxes). Literary texts focused on supernatural foxes emphasized their shapeshifting abilities. In contrast with some of the other well attested supernatural beings in Chinese tradition, they could take a range of human forms, appearing as men and women of virtually any age. Often they favored mimicking people who lived on the margins of society, like bandits, courtesans or migrant laborers. It was also emphasized that they displayed a considerable degree of disregard for authority. The fact these animals lived essentially alongside humans without being domesticated definitely played a role in the formation of this image.

A contemporary statue of Bixia, a deity in the past associated with fox beliefs (wikimedia commons)

At the same time, foxes enjoyed a degree of popularity as objects of semi-official cult, still practiced here and there in China in modern times, for example in Boluo in Shaanxi. The religious role of foxes was reflected in, among other things, the development of terms like hushen (狐神) “fox deity”, or huxian (狐仙), “fox immortal”. The belief in such “celestial foxes” (tianhu, 天狐) was relatively common, and there is even a legend according to which there was a formalized way for the animals to transcend to higher states of existence, with the goddess Bixia making them undergo the supernatural fox version of the well known imperial examinations. If they failed they were condemned to live as “wild foxes” (yehu, 野狐) with no hope of transcendence. There are also accounts of foxes pursuing the status of a xian through illicit means, through a combination of praying to the Big Dipper and draining people’s energy, as documented by He Xiu in the 1700s. Note foxes were already portrayed as worshiping the Big Dipper during the reign of the Tang dynasty, but back then it was only believed this let them transform into humans.

The ambiguity of foxes is evident in the Japanese perception of these animals too. Supernatural foxes are probably among the best known youkai, and especially considering this is a post about Touhou I do not think the basics need to be discussed in much detail. They were believed to shapeshift and to steal vital energy, much like in China. Their positive role as messengers of Inari, a kami associated with agriculture, is generally well known too. The earliest sources documenting encounters with supernatural foxes are obviously, as expected, the earliest chronicles like the Nihon Shoki, where they mostly appear as omens. By the Heian period these animals are well established in the written record. For instance, Nakatomi Harae Kunge includes “evil magic due to heavenly and earthly foxes” among phenomena which require ritual purification. In addition to the tales imported from China being in circulation, some setsuwa written in Japan involved shape shifting foxes. However, supernatural foxes only gained greater prominence in the Japanese middle ages due to the growth of relevance of two deities they were associated with, Inari and Dakiniten. The latter is more relevant to the topic of this article.

Foxes, Dakiniten and tengu

Part of a hanging scroll depicting Dakiniten riding on a fox (wikimedia commons, via MET; cropped for the ease of viewing)

The connection between foxes and Dakiniten reflected their associations with the dakinis, a class of demons in Buddhism. Originally the dakinis were associated with jackals instead, but Chinese Buddhist authors presumed that the animal mentioned in this context is basically identicial with more familiar foxes, and that belief reached Japan as well. It was strong enough for Dakinite, the dakini par excellence, to be regularly depicted riding on the back of a fox. Dakiniten was originally a regular dakini, according to Bernard Faure specifically one who appears in Heian period Enmaten mandalas (Enmaten is related to but not quite the same as the better known king Enma, for the development of two distinct reflections of Yama in Buddhism see here). However, she eventually developed into a full blown deva in her own right, and her prominence was so great that it basically resulted in the decline of references to the generic dakinis in Buddhist literature in Japan. She was particularly popular in the Shingon school of Buddhism, and at the peak of her relevance played a role in royal ascension rituals, developing a connection with Amaterasu in the process (Amaterasu acquired many peculiar connections through the Japanese middle ages, it was par the course). A Tendai treatise equates her with Matarajin instead, though. An interesting phenomenon related to Dakiniten is the occasional fusion of beliefs pertaining to foxes and tengu, which might have originated in the similarity of the terms tengu and the Japanese term for the already mentioned “heavenly foxes”, tenko. Its best attested examples include the inclusion of tengu in mandalas focused on Dakiniten as her acolytes. However, a different deity ultimately exemplifies this even better. Iizuna Gongen and "iizuna magic"

Iizuna Gongen riding on the back of a fox (Museum of Fine Arts Boston; link to the source is temporarily dead, the image is reproduced here for educational purposes only)

The indisputable center of the network of connections between foxes and tengu is Iizuna Gongen (飯綱権現), depicted as a tengu riding on a fox. As you can probably guess, he was a (vague) basis for Megumu, as evidenced by the similarity of the names. While many other aspects of his character aren’t really touched upon in the game, I’d hazard a guess he’s also the reason why ZUN decided to include a kuda-gitsune in the same game as Megumu - the evidence lines up exceptionally well, as you’ll see.

Originally Iizuna Gongen was simply the deity of Mount Iizuna (飯綱山), located in the modern Nagano prefecture. Near the end of the Japanese middle ages he spread to other areas, likely thanks to traveling shugenja (also known as yamabushi), mountain ascetics belonging to a religious tradition known as Shugendō. Two aspects of his character are particularly pronounced, his role as a martial deity and his association with foxes.

I was unable to determine when Iizuna Gongen’s connection to foxes originally developed, but it was strong enough to lead to the use of the alternate name Chira Tenko (智羅天狐; “Chira the heavenly fox”) to refer to him. Foxes also appear in a legend describing his origin. It states that he was one of the eighteen children of an Indian king, and arrived in Japan alongside nine of his siblings on the back of a white fox during the reign of emperor Kinmei (the remaining eight went to China and became monks on Mount Tiantai). His connection to foxes is also reaffirmed in an Edo period treatise, Reflections on Inari Shrine (稲荷神社考, Inari jinja kō), which declares that names such as Iizuna Gongen and Matarajin (sic!) are used in the worship of wild foxes to hide the true nature of the invoked entities. The author further states that the true form of “these matarajin (plural) and wild foxes” is that of a three-faced and six-armed deity, which curiously has more to do with early Matarajin tradition than with Iizuna Gongen as far as I can tell. The two were not really closely associated otherwise, but it’s worth noting that apparently shugenja perceived them both as similar tengu-like deities.

The key feature of conventional iconography of Iizuna Gongen, the fox mount, has nothing to do with Matarajin strictly speaking, and likely reflects the influence of Dakiniten. However, the animal in this context developed its own unique identity thanks to the presence of foxes in a type of ritual focused on Iizuna Gongen, which could itself be referred to as iizuna. The shugenja community centered on the worship of Iizuna Gongen was not very formalized, which led to poor understanding of their practice among outsiders, with the term iizuna basically acquiring the vague meaning along the lines of “magic”. and rather poor reputation. These rites are where the kuda-gitsune comes into play. Kuda-gitsune in iizuna magic and beyond

The kuda-gitsune, as depicted in Shōzan Chomon Kishū by Miyoshi Shōzan (Waseda University History Museum; reproduced here for educational purposes only)

At first glance, kuda-gitsune is just one of many local variants of the standard supernatural fox, similarly to the likes of ninko, osaki-gitsune or nogitsune. The etymology of its name is straightforward. I’m sure you can guess what the second half means, while kuda (管) in this context refers to a bamboo tube. You’d think the name would basically guarantee it was universally accepted that’s how one could carry such a critter undetected, but apparently there was an alternate explanation, namely that it was invisible. I have not seen any further discussion of this in literature, but I assume this might be connected to shikigami beliefs, as these quite often are described as invisible. Do not quote me on that, though. Even more bizarrely, there is no consensus that the animal meant was always a fox. According to Bernard Faure it is distinctly possible the term referred to a weasel. Kuda-gitsune could be described as a type of shikigami, but note that this term had a much broader meaning in real life than in Touhou, and referred to basically any supernatural being which acted as an extension of the powers attributed to “ritual specialists” (祈祷師) such as onmyōji, shugenja or Buddhist monks. In Buddhist context, the analogous term could be gohō dōji (護法童子; “Dharma-protecting lads”), though there are also cases where gohō and shikigami are contrasted with each other. The shikigami category didn’t just consist of animated papercraft and animal spirits typically designated as such in popculture. Even the twelve heavenly generals defending the “medicine Buddha” Yakushi could be labeled as shikigami. Obviously, kuda-gitsune is closer to the familiar meaning of this term than to Buddhist deities, though. People relying on kuda-gitsune were referred to as kitsune-tsukai (狐使い), which can be loosely translated as “fox tamer”, and it is said they were often shugenja. Given the popularity of the associated deity among them this shouldn’t really be a surprise. Various supernatural abilities were ascribed to the kuda-gitsune. The ability to possess people attributed to other supernatural foxes was the domain of kuda-gitsune too. Apparently people afflicted by it were compelled to eat nothing but raw miso. Purportedly they were bringers of wealth - but said wealth did not necessarily come from legitimate sources. That, in turn, could lead to distrust or outright ostracism of people allegedly relying on foxes to acquire wealth. They also provided aid in divination, and could supposedly reveal past, present and future alike this way. However, they could look into the soul of anyone using them this way and learn their secrets. Bernard Faure notes that occasionally it was said that they even could even be utilized to kill enemies who attempted casting spells on their owner. Shigeru Mizuki's kuda-gitsune

Kuda-gitsune, as depicted by Shigeru Mizuki (reproduced here for educational purposes only)

While there isn’t much information about kuda-gitsune in scholarship, especially scholarship available online in English, they received extensive coverage in various books about youkai written by Shigeru Mizuki, famous for arguably canonizing the modern concept of youkai. Note that while I am a fan of Mizuki's works, his encyclopedias are best understood as something closer to Borges’ Book of Imaginary Beings, complete with some dubious sourcing and possible fabrications. However, ultimately modern media about youkai, including Touhou, owes much to him, and arguably he continued the tradition of night parade scrolls which often invented new creatures wholesale, so it strikes me as entirely fair game to summarize what he has to say too. Shigeru Mizuki cited the Edo period writer Matsura Seizan as an authority on kuda-gitsune. He states ccording to the latter, certain ascetics (yamabushi) were provided with these critters upon finishing their training on Mount Kinpu and Mount Ōmine. In his account cited by Mizuki there are a lot of details I haven’t seen elsewhere. The storage tubes after which kuda-gitsune are named apparently had to be inscribed with a certain sanskrit phrase (left unspecified, tragically) so that the animals didn’t have to be fed. However, releasing them and giving it food was necessary to gain their help in divination. There was a downside to this - kuda-gitsune were apparently hard to place back in containment once released without the help of a seasoned specialist. Also, they refused to provide anything of value unless fed well, and they had quite the appetite. Mizuki cites the particularly disastrous case of an ascetic who kept multiple kuda-gitsune in a single tube, and eventually couldn’t pay for enough food for his collection since the animals kept multiplying inside. According to Mizuki it was believed that a kuda-gitsune could be gifted by its owner to another person, but the creature would come back if it was not satisfied with the food provided by the latter. If the original “fox tamer” dies before passing their kuda-gitsune to someone else, it will instead go to the Ōji Inari shrine located in what is now the the Kita ward of Tokyo.

Conclusion: Tsukasa and her forerunners

In theory I could’ve kept pointing out “see, it’s just like Tsukasa!” in virtually every single paragraph of this article. To answer the question from the title, evidently she is like that because that's how foxes have been in folklore both Japan and China for centuries. It is not really hard to see that ZUN is genuinely great at research when he wants to be, and Tsukasa's character is remarkably accurate to her real life forerunners, both as an adaptation of kuda-gitsune specifically and as a representation of the broader tradition which lead to the portrayal of foxes as supernatural creatures of questionable moral character. She engages in morally dubious “get rich quick schemes”, she definitely provides advice (of variable quality), and her self-declared ability from her omake bio pretty clearly reflects skills actually ascribed to the kuda-gitsune in folklore. In the newest game the ability to provide information is clearly in the spotlight - Tsukasa seems to be reasonably knowledgeable (she brings up Kojiki in a line aimed at Hisami, among other things), and other characters generally agree she’d be more useful doing something else than fighting. I do not think there’s any real reason to doubt this is what is meant. I think it can even be safely assumed that Zanmu’s decision to pressure Tsukasa to partake in her assassination bluff is rooted in genuine tradition. I’m obviously not going to say that Tsukasa reaches the platonic ideal of Okina, the quintessential character aimed at fans who like research, who largely seems to exist to get people to dig deeper for sources explaining the dozens of religious allusions in her dialogue, spell cards and design, but I do think it’s worth appreciating that the series reached a stage where even the minor animal youkai can be enjoyed as multilayered representation of centuries worth of genuine folklore and mythology. Bibliography -Bernard Faure, Gods of Medieval Japan vol. 1-3 -Michael Daniel Foster, The Book of Yokai. Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore -Berthe Jansen and Nobumi Iyanaga, Dākini (Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism) -Xiaofei Kang, The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China -Shigeru Mizuki’s assorted writings on kuda-gitsune (collected online here)

#touhou #touhou project #tsukasa kudamaki #kudamaki tsukasa

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fordtato · 10 months

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The Gravity Falls Timeline

All of this is based on my video, but I assume not many people will want to sit through 2.5 hours of me working this out, so here's a condensed written version.

Some rules I set for myself: If the actual name of an IP, a person or an event is referenced in J3/the Show, I included it into my math for my timeline (ex: references to Ronald Reagan or The Eurythmics, or other REAL WORLD figures). If a REFERENCE is made without the actual name being referenced (ex: in the Journal, Ford mentions Phantom Bustifiers, a reference to Ghostbusters, a movie that didn’t come out in our world until 1984), I did not put that into this timeline (I know what year Ghostbusters came out, but not which year Phantom Bustifiers came out).

With that in mind, let’s begin:

The Stans are born June 15 1951.

Evidence:

Their Bar Mitzvah happened when they were 12 (not 13, as is typical) and their birthday is on June 15th. Because a Bar Mitzvah is dependent on one’s birthday on the Hebrew calendar and not the Gregorian calendar, this means that their 13th Hebrew birthday must land on a date that is BEFORE their 13th Gregorian birthday, something that is typically more rare (the Hebrew birthday is usually AFTER one’s typically celebrated birthday).

The only viable year where this applies is 1951, when their birthday lands on Sivan 11, resulting in a 13th Hebrew birthday in May of 1964, BEFORE their 13th birthday on June 15th

The Stans find the Stan O War in spring of 1964 at age 12 (or 1961, if you think they were 10)

Evidence:

There are two viable dates for when they find the Stan o War, depending on if they’re 10 (the same age Stan was when he started writing Lil Stanley in the Lost Legends comics) or 12 (the same age as Dipper and Mabel). I think that the way the artist drew the young Stan twins in the Lil Stanley comic looks (age 10) looks slightly younger than how they look in the series (and they are designed a little differently than they look in the Jersey Devil comic, when we KNOW they have the Stan O War already), but there is evidence for both sides.

I lean toward them being 12 because they pull out a sharpie, which wasn’t invented until 64, but there is a reference to a Bruce Springsteen song in a magazine in Lost Legends, quoted by someone named “Brucey S, age 11” and Bruce Springsteen would have been 11 in 1961, so this might be 1961 (or the magazine Ford is reading from might be an old magazine.) I went with 1964, because I think 12 parallelled the ages of Dipper and Mabel better.

Stan gets kicked out in spring of 1969 right before they turned 18. Ford starts at Backupsmore in the fall semester.

Evidence:

Stan makes a reference to Jackie O, which means Jackie Kennedy already remarried to be Jackie Onnassis, and is also still in the public eye, something that would be progressively less common after 1969 (she also happened to visit New Jersey in spring of 1969 and that would have made state headlines, something which is probably a coincidence, but nonetheless very interesting).

Furthermore, there is a portrait of Nixon in the principal’s office, and he would have been sworn in in early 1969.

I think 1969 is more likely than 1970 because ‘69 gives more wiggle room for Shermie to be the baby (more on that later) and for Ford to get at least one PhD.

-Stan dates Carla “Hotpants” McCorkle,(reconnecting for another date after the one at the theater in their teenage years), probably in 1971 (if this “hallucinatey” date even happened at all; if you dont think it happened at all, disregard).

Evidence:

We know this is a later date, when stan is an adult, because his design matches the designs on one of his fake IDs from his years on the run. It was likely 1971 because that is when the term “hotpants” was used to describe those short shorts.

The hippie aesthetic also started dying down after 1972 after the Manson attacks, so I picked 71 for the Juke Joint date.

Ford graduated from Backupsmore at the very earliest 1974, MAYBE early 1975.

Evidence:

In the journal it says he went to Gravity Falls in 1975, but we know he couldn’t have graduated earlier than 74, because we know that he played DDnMoreD in college, and he says in the journal that it was copyrighted in 1974. He also says Stanley always mocked him for playing it, which literally isn’t possible, so he’s either misremembering Stanley mocking him for an EARLIER TTRPG, or this copyright is for a later edition (though I think it must be the former, since DDnMD is a clear reference to DnD which WAS copyrighted in 1974. Still. Up to you.)

This means he completed his PhD in 6 years (or, three years ahead of schedule as described in the series). I believe many of his other PhDs were honorary degrees, and didn't bother working them into this timeline. He got them later.

Stan joins Rico’s gang in the late 70s

Evidence:

Sometime in the late 70s, Stan gets tangled up in what is implied to be the Colombian cartel, which would have been most active in the late 70s, between 75 and 79. Following his trajectory on the map in ATOTS showing his path across the country, he headed below the border toward the end of that trackline, so it was probably later on.

Ford started Journal 3 in 1981, shortly after meeting Bill in 1981.

Evidence:

He says he discovered his muse in 1981 in J3. He also says he is starting J3 six years after he started investigating Gravity Falls (which he did in 75). He also says early on in J3 that he is in his 30s, and he would have turned 30 in June of 1981, three days before he started J3.

There is some fuckery here on how he’s known his muse for “two years” midway J3, and the way I explain that in the video is that the first part of J3 spans nearly 2 years, and there is ample evidence that he wrote many pages out of order. This might be a page from later on in 1982, early 83, instead of mid-81.

We know that Reagan was already in office at this point.

Fiddleford shows up in July of 1982. Fiddleford begins making the memory gun after the Gremloblin incident later that year.

Evidence:

We know at least a year has passed because if you track the months, they go from June, to August, and then later on down to July again when Fiddleford is called. As for the Gremloblin incident, it happened relatively close to the bunker incident (which would have been closer to summer, since it was still hot outside) but it was followed closely by the carnival, where they had squash for sale, and squash are in season after September, typically.

First Portal Test is on January 18, 1983

Fiddleford falls through the portal, his head poking through, on January 18 1983, the day after the confrontation he had with Ford in the diner.

Late February, 1983 - The Portal Incident

Evidence:

There are three many reasons I chose this date. Firstly, we know it is 1983 not just because it follows the trajectory of earlier dates, but because we know that Ford has heard The Eurythmics’ chart topper “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” because when he returns he says he is looking forward to their next one, and that came out in January of 83’, before he would have been sucked through.

Secondly, five weeks after January 18th, it would still be snowy in up-mountain Oregon where Ford is, but not that snowy in New Mexico where Stan is when he gets the post card.

Thirdly, we know at least 5-6 weeks have passed because Ford describes about this many weeks during his “paranoid era” in the journal (more than one instance of “a couple weeks, several weeks, a few weeks”, etc.).

In the year 2000, Dipper and Mabel are born.

Evidence:

I know most people think it’s 1999. And that is fine, but I have ample evidence that the show takes place in 2013, not 2012 (see below), so 2000 would have to work for their birthday.

But 2000 also gives a little bit of wiggle room to Shermie being the baby. (If you don’t think Shermie is the baby, disregard this section). If Shermie IS the baby, then if he was born in spring of 1969 (late 68 at the earliest), then you can barely fit two generations of Pines in the space between 1969 and 2000. It would mean that both Shermie and his kid would need to be 15 when they had a kid, which is … not great, but not impossible? I dunno man, take it up with Hirsch. (Or just assume the baby is Shermie’s kid. Follow your dreams).

In 2013, Dipper and Mabel visit their Grunkle Stan in Gravity Falls.

Evidence:

The Northwest ghost died in what is described in the journal as “The Great Flood of 1863”. The Northwests are trying to keep this flood under wraps in J3, because they don’t want people finding out about the lumberjacks killed in the flood. The Northwest Ghost swore with his dying breath to come back 150 yrs after his death. 150 years later from 1863, is 2013.

The 1040 form that Stan is filling out his Tax Fraud note on in the truth-telling ep is a 2012 form. To file tax returns, you use w2s 1040s labeled under the PREVIOUS year

Sevral Timez shouts "2013"

1983 is 30 years before 2013.

Note: This would mean that the Stans are 62 at the end of the summer, which might mean that they are "pushing 70" as Stan describes himself.

Anyways, here's the full video if you have 2.5 hours. Otherwise, enjoy this resource!

youtube

#gravity falls #stanford pines #stanley pines #gravity falls theory #gravity falls meta #Youtube

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pinesfamilyguidetotheweird · 4 months

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Stan Pines Headcanons Part 01

A Tight Squeeze

No doubt that he has some level of claustrophobia after being trapped in a trunk. I wanna say it was from an artsymeeshee post where a fic idea (a fic idea I still have and is still 95% finished…) that dives deeper into Stan’s quote of ‘chewing out of the trunk of a car’. When trapped in said trunk, the car it was attached to was pushed into a bog or something to sink (from I think Zeragii’s fic on AO3). With Stan in it.

Bi the Way

Because why the heck not? And, yes, I do think he dated Jimmy Snakes for a short while. Even so, Stan leans more towards women.

Hablo Español

I think it is canon that he knows some Spanish (The Last Mabelcorn). I do believe that he’s actually quite fluent in Spanish, something he picked up while in Colombian prison. Speaking of, it is said that he was imprisoned in three different countries. I’d take the guess that Colombia was one of them. As for the other two…still thinking on that, though I’d imagine the countries aren’t too far from the USA because I can’t imagine Stan being able to take a plane to, say, England. After some consideration, I think that the other two countries he was arrested in were Canada and Brazil. He knows some French and an exceptional bit of Portugal.

For Protection

Those ten guns he has? They’re for protecting himself (plus his family) from not only people from Stan’s past, but also from any aggressive anomalies that call Gravity Falls home. Or really anyone/anything else he deems as a threat to his family.

Love at First Sight

Stan claims that he’s not a fan of kids. He even wanted nothing to do with his nephew when he was born because he was all snotty and drooly. However, when Dipper and Mabel were born, it was like a switch was flipped and Stan adored the twin babies.

A Froggy Dream

Stan once had an occurring dream that he was the owner of some wax museum, which actually inspired him to get (steal) those cursed wax figures. The oddest part about the dream was that he was a frog instead of a human. And he swore that Soos was in it too.

Still Got It

He started going back to keeping in boxing shape some time after the twins were born.

Second Thoughts

There had been maaany times during those 30 years that Stan wondered if his brother was even still alive and if all this work was worth it.

Somewhat Sentimental

Similar to how Mabel has a section in her scrapbook of failed romance, Stan has a booklet that contains his own failed love life. Of the known partners he had, they were: Carla McCorkle, Jimmy Snakes, Marilyn Rosenstein, and Lazy Susan. There was probably more he tried to sweet talk over the years, but never panned out. Heck, Darlene the Spider Woman is probably in the book too. Also, I find it funny how three of the six known lovers are magical in some way (Jimmy is basically Ghost Rider, Marilyn Eda is a witch, and Darlene is...I guess a Jorogumo)

Former Biker

Pretty much a scrapped idea that is now in headcanon land, that Stan was part of a biker gang at one point, which was how he knew Jimmy Snakes, who was the biker leader. He still has his helmet and leather jacket. I wonder if he still knows how to drive a motorcycle.

#gravity falls #stanley pines #grunkle stan #stan pines #gravity falls headcanons

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ele-sme · 10 months

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Jake and Neytiri have adopted Spider when he was a baby, now they had Neteyam. and Neytiri doesn't know how human and na'vi biology is different

tw: only mention of breastfeeding

Neytiri has two sons close i age, but only one, the youngest, was hers by womb.

Her sons had only nine months of difference between eachother, that meant that her older son still needed her for everything especially food.

So when Neytri saw the occasion,she lost no time to give him her milk instead of the one the lab gave to her.

He always eated good and until he was full, which was not a na'vi baby size but was still something.

And Neytiri needs to admit it, she enojed giving the child milk, it was a different way to bond with him, a more natural way that she couldn't have because they didn't spent those important nine months together.

And everything was great, until it wasn't

The kid had developed a bad stomach ache, that meant, trip to the lab, dippers of the lab and wake up in the middle of the night to find, one dirty baby who was crying and the other who was crying for the bed smell.

"We are stopping it today" Jake said picking up Neteyam.

"What do you mean Ma Jake?" She asked him, the dirty baby in her arms crying for what he had done.

"I'm taking Neteyam to your mother, we meet at the lab" he said to Neytiri making her shiver a bit.

She already had to spend all day long with the sky people, once she was home, she wanted to be only with her mate and their kids.

So, a surprise visit wasn't really on her list, and she tried to much to persuade Jake to come back to bed, that she would have change Spider dipper, and that they would be okay for t night.

But once he was determined even, she couldn't persuade him, and when something was about the kids? That was automatically happening.

it was in this way that she was now in a lab surrounded by sky people at two in the morning.

"Max, can you please say what does he have?" Jake asked Max; he was a doctor, and that was all she knew and needed to know when it comes to her boy.

"Do you want me to be honest? this is the most horrible tummy ache i ever saw, did his diet change?" he asked

"no, he didn't change diet, right 'Tiri?" Jake now asked her.

"no i always feed him milk and we are starting on the fruits" she responded back

"Then i don't really know" Max responded "Better if he stays with us for some time guys"

Neytiri's heart felt like it was begging stab, over and over again.

Her baby couldn't stay with her, and for what? She couldn't understand it, she must have been the worst mother ever.

"wait" a female doctor next to Max said "you didn't come to get the milk in the last few weeks, what milk have you gave him?" she asked Neytiri.

"mine" he responded quickly, and all the room felled into silent.

Jake eyes were open to their extremes, his tail was also still.

everyone in the room looked at Neytiri "what?" she asked.

"Neytiri, you can't give him your milk, is bad for him." Max told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

it took her all night to understand that Na'vi milk was bad for humans, it was maybe the most embarrassing conversation of her life, next to the one when her father and mother explained her how mating worked.

in the end, they got home, but without Spider that needed to do a gastric lavage or something like that, she didn't catch the name well. What she caught was the laugh Jake did when they got out of the lab.

#avatar 2 #avatar spider #miles spider socorro #jake sully #neytiri #avatar #neteyam #spider sully #one shot

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five-rivers · 1 year

Text

Setting a Shattered Gem

AO3

@kawaiijohn

Danny knew things. He did. Plenty of things. He knew he was in the Ghost Zone. He knew all the stars in the Big Dipper (Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar and Alcor, Alkaid). He knew he was hurt.

He was hurt a lot.

The throbbing pain in the center of his chest was hard to ignore, and he felt that even if he didn’t know anything else, he would know that.

But… as much as he knew, there were, to be sure, gaps in his knowledge. Things like his name, how he got here, what had hurt him… He didn’t know.

He didn’t know. He felt like he probably should. That not knowing these things was unusual, and probably bad.

He didn’t know how to fix it.

Maybe if he remembered, he would.

What he did know was that he had to get away. He had to stay away. He had to keep moving.

But where? Where? Where?

He couldn’t keep going. An island presented itself to him. He fell, stones crunching and whispering ancient secrets under his knees. Tears dappled the purple rocks. Danny knew things. He did. He just didn’t know what to do.

He was scared.

#1: Ghost Writer

“What are you doing here?”

The words startled Danny out of his fitful half-doze and he skittered away.

“I’m sorry– I didn’t– I–” He was panicking. Hyperventilating. Something. He was looking up at the frowning face of a tall, gray-skinned ghost. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what he was sorry for.

The ghost stepped closer, leaning down to peer at him, and he cringed away.

“What happened to you?”

“I don’t– I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” asked the ghost, incredulously. “You show up here, right between my lair and Walker’s prison, and you say you don’t know?”

“I don’t remember!”

“You don’t–” The ghost cut himself off, still glaring at Danny. Slowly, the expression on his face softened. “Your core’s been injured.”

Danny hunched his shoulders, curling inward to protect himself.

“Do you really not remember? Do you not remember me?”

“No,” said Danny, softly, barely daring to raise his voice above a whisper.

“You–” The ghost huffed out a huge sigh. He was probably one of the ones that had been alive, once, then. “Fine. I’ll help you.”

“What?”

“I’ll help you. You can stay with me until your core heals, if you follow my rules. Randy’ll find you entertaining, if nothing else.” The glare came back. “What? Do you think I’m the kind of guy who’ll leave someone bleeding out in the wilderness? I’m not soulless.”

“O-oh.”

“Can you not move or something?”

“I’m sorry.”

The ghost gave another horribly put-upon sigh. “I suppose I’ll have to carry you.”

The carrying… did not go terribly well. While the ghost seemed big and tall compared to Danny, he was neither that big, nor that tall.

But despite the unwieldiness of the situation and Danny’s general inability to help with it, they managed, and the ghost flew off to his home.

Upon actually reaching said home, the ghost shrieked in agony and rage. Danny looked up blearily, trying to work out what had made the ghost so angry.

The ghost’s home, it turned out, looked like a library wrecked by a tornado, and maybe also a hurricane.

Huh.

Well, Danny didn’t have any room to judge the ghost’s tastes. As far as he knew, he didn’t have a home. So.

“What did he do? It wasn’t like this when I got arrested, and that was after all of you people decided to fight me.”

“Oh,” said Danny. “Sorry?”

“Sorry? Sorry? Sorry doesn’t put pages back into the books! It doesn’t put books back onto the shelves! If Randy wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him!”

Still fuming, the ghost stomped through the towering shelves of books until he reached a small cubby with a reclining chair in it. He laid Danny down on it.

“I don’t own a bed,” he said, shortly. “This will have to do. Are you dying?”

“I don’t… think so.”

The ghost grunted. “Then you should recover, eventually. I’ll get you food or something. Later. Just. Stay here.” The ghost, agitated, turned and hurried away, flying at speed through the stacks of books.

Well. It wasn’t like Danny could go anywhere.

The ghost did come back, with food, rants about his half-brother, pillows and blankets, complaints about how his latest writing project was going, long, winding commentaries about the history of the Dewey Decimal system. Between all that he even remembered to give Danny a name. Ghost Writer.

It was appropriate for the ghost, Danny decided.

Ghost Writer spent a lot of time trying to clean up the library. It was slow going, even compared to Danny’s recovery.

As soon as Danny was able to move around without agony, he decided to help. It was only right, after Ghost Writer had gone out of his way to help him. It wouldn't be much, just a little sweeping, a little shelving, Danny was still unwell, but it would be something, something that would help, something that might make Ghost Writer happier.

And the books themselves were fascinating. He spent as much time reading as he did cleaning, and each book made how much he didn't know, how much he had forgotten, clearer.

Bit by bit, the library was put back in order.

But as it was… as it was, it became more and more itself, more and more a library, with all of a library's rules.

Ghost Writer didn't seem to notice, but that was fine. The library belonged to him. He fit into and with it no matter what.

Danny, though…

Some of the rules he leaned into. The library had a sense of where each book should go, for example, which was very helpful given his weak understanding of the sorting system.

Other rules were less pleasant to follow.

The silence had started as a faint pressure on his jaw, his tongue, his throat, but that pressure built as the library was restored until it was very nearly a physical weight. Words became difficult. But Danny got used to it. As the effort required to speak grew, his desire to do so naturally faded. Ghost Writer didn't really want conversation when he came to rant. He just wanted someone to listen, and Danny was happy to.

But one day Ghost Writer stopped dead in the middle of a rant. He used his hands to lift Danny’s head up and tilt it back. He turned it from side to side.

"You haven't looked in a mirror lately, have you?"

Danny’s head was held still. He couldn't shake it. "No," he said, with effort.

Ghost Writer smiled and patted Danny's cheek. "You know, I think I misread you, before. You would fit in anywhere, given the chance, wouldn't you? I think– I think I've changed my mind about kicking you out, once you've healed. You've been very… helpful." Ghost Writer chortled and left soon after.

Danny, of course, went to go find a mirror.

It wasn't easy. Neither bedrooms nor bathrooms were a priority for a ghost library. Eventually, he found one being used as part of a decorative wall hanging.

He didn't see anything amiss with his reflection, but maybe that was just because of the way he was becoming more and more nearsighted, lately. Which was fine by him. He didn't need to see very far to be able to read.

#2 Undergrowth

“Oh, my, what do we have here?”

Danny woke from his fitful doze to the sensation of roots and vines wrapping around his limbs. He struggled, of course, and kept struggling even as something frigid and wet dripped from his nose and lips.

“Calm yourself, child, little seed,” chided a voice that was all sugar and nightshade. “You wouldn’t want to injure yourself even more than you already are.”

The island had, while Danny slept, become a jungle, and something huge and dark moved through the trees.

“What has happened to you? A little accident with your core? It must hurt terribly.”

Danny tried one more time to pull away, but the vines wrapped around him squeezed and the fight went out of him all at once.

“There, that’s better, now, isn’t it? Now, let’s see… Last time I had taken your friend as my daughter…” Danny felt something creep up the back of his neck, feather-light. “I wonder… What kind of son will you make?”

There was a stab of pain.

When he finally stirred from the soil, healed and in full bloom, it was to do his father’s bidding.

#3 Walker

The sound of sirens woke Danny from his troubled sleep. His first thought was ambulance, but when he got his eyes open, he saw that he was wrong. His little island was completely encircled by ghostly police cars.

A ghost in white loomed over him.

“Take him to the medical wing as soon as you get him to the prison.”

Danny, not seeing any way out of this, decided to pass out. For real, this time.

He woke in a bed with glowing yellow bedsheets in a room with glowing pink walls. His wrists and ankles were chained to the railing on the bed and something heavy weighed on his neck. Being tied up was… bad. But, somehow, the colors of the room soothed away some of his panic.

In the room with pink walls and yellow beds, Danny learned new things. First, he was a criminal, a dangerous one. Second, the prison he was in was ruled by a ghost named Walker. Third, Walker was very happy that Danny was back in prison like he belonged.

Hearing Walker was happy and, more specifically, happy because of Danny made him feel disturbingly giddy. Hearing how upset Walker had been about his escape made him feel… not quite remorseful, because he didn’t remember doing that, but it put a sort of tightness inside him.

That wasn’t all, though. Before long, Danny knew that the prison operated on a strict and fair set of rules, which were the same for everyone, that the chains and cuffs used on him were ‘special’ and different from all the other prisoners’ chains and cuffs, that meals were served on a regular, evenly-spaced schedule entirely divorced from the days of the ‘real world,’ that meals consisted of unappetizing green slime that died his aura green and made him feel both weaker and more stable, spooned into his mouth by a ghost wearing a SWAT uniform. He learned that when he healed, he would be released into ‘solitary confinement’ and if he behaved, he might be rewarded by being introduced to the ‘general population.’

That was a lot of things to know for someone who had hardly known anything just a short while ago.

One day - or night - or ‘interval’ - Walker himself came into the medical wing.

“You really don’t remember anything, punk?” he asked.

“No, sir,” said Danny. He wanted to be good. He wanted to behave. He wasn’t sure about general population, but he wanted to make people happy.

“Sir, huh,” drawled Walker. “I suppose I can buy the amnesia story, but you’re still serving your full sentence.”

“Yes, sir,” said Danny. He wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. He didn’t know anything else.

“But I’ll consider taking some of it in community service provided that you demonstrate good behavior.”

“I’d like that, sir.”

“He’d like that,” said Walker, giving his head a little half-shake. “Guards! Take him to his new cell in solitary.”

The guards came and unfastened Danny from the bed. It was the first time anyone had done that, and he had no time to react before they had rebound his wrists and ankles with new manacles. They were made of the same material as the ones that had held him to the bed, so he suspected these were special, too. They were all connected to each other with a chain that also looped around his waist and linked to the heavy thing around his neck.

The chains were short enough that, when he was placed on his feet, he couldn’t walk and stand upright at the same time, so he had to shuffle forward while bent over, even as the ghosts prodded him along. They walked out of the medical wing and into hallways that became narrower and narrower and lower and lower. Danny got the distinct sense that they were traveling deeper into the prison, although he couldn’t say how or why.

They stopped in front of a small, violently magenta door, which they unlocked before pushing Danny in. The door closed behind him with a satisfying clunk.

Inside the room, the cell, was a tiny toilet, an equally tiny metal bed, and, on that bed, a lunch tray with a helping of the green slime. Danny sat down on the bed and picked up the tray. There were no utensils, so he ate the slime with his hands. It was as disgusting as ever, and finishing the portion left him feeling lethargic, but peaceful. Even if it left him feeling weak, it seemed to ease the injuries he’d sustained.

He smiled, faintly. This would be his home until he showed enough good behavior to get into the general population and then, oh, community service sounded wonderful. He couldn’t wait to serve the community.

#4 Vortex

Danny woke for just long enough to be thrown into the storm. Then, nothing.

#5 Frostbite

“Great One!”

Before Danny was fully aware of his surroundings, he was being cradled and wrapped in something soft and fuzzy. No, furry. Some kind of blanket or skin rug, maybe? He cuddled into it.

“Great One,” repeated the voice. “Can you hear me? Do you understand me?”

Danny groaned, weakly.

“Don’t worry, Great One. We will be to the Far Frozen in no time.”

Danny didn’t know what the Far Frozen was, but it sounded nice. Cool.

“He’s burning up,” said the voice, only moments later. “Get him into a cooling tank as quickly as possible. Snowfall, we will need to seal off the island.”

“But Chief Frostbite–!”

“It is the only sensible option. We don’t know what did this. It could be looking for him, and we are known to be his allies.” Something shifted, and Danny was transferred to something that was neither as soft nor as pleasant to lie on. “Great One, I know you would prefer it if your friends could find you, but they are clever, they are loyal, and they would want you to be safe, as I do.”

That was the last thing he remembered for a while. His next memories were of floating in bubbling liquid and basking in the cold. A cooling tank. Very important for ice cores, from what little Danny understood of the conversation beyond the tank’s glass walls.

But he did not truly wake up until he was ensconced, quite cozily, in a bed, ice blocks chilling his feet and a cold fire burning in a nearby fireplace.

“You truly do not remember anything?” asked Frostbite, again.

“Well, a little bit? I was running from something. But that’s it. I don’t know what it was.” He shrugged, then smiled. “I must have been running towards you guys, right? Since we’re friends?”

“It seems likely,” said Frostbite. “In light of that… I must insist that you stay here until you are fully recovered.”

“Okay,” said Danny. There wasn’t really any reason for him to leave, as far as he knew.

Frostbite looked surprised, but Danny didn’t know why. “Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “While you are here, on the days you feel up to it, I think you may like joining the other children in their lessons.”

“Okay,” said Danny, again.

“In the meantime, you can read any books from out library you might be interested, or we can have someone come and read to you.” Frostbite grinned a little. “It would be helpful for some of the younger children.”

“Okay, that sounds good,” said Danny. He might not know much, but he did know he was being a real drain on the resources of the Far Frozen. He wanted to repay them as much as he possibly could, even if it was only in little ways.

The first reader came later that day. The young and extremely fluffy yeti, Feathersnow, was smaller than Frostbite, but still head and shoulders above Danny. She was older, too. At least, Danny thought she was probably older. He felt like he was in his teens, and she was nearly a hundred. The book she read to him was a fairy tale about young yetis falling through thin ice and going on a journey to get home.

She was far from the last. More young yetis came, in between checkups and procedures to make sure Danny was healing properly.

Eventually, though, Danny was healed enough, by the doctors’ estimates, to go outside.

“Danny,” said Frostbite, while they made sure Danny was properly equipped for the snow and wind. “Promise me you won’t try to leave, yet. You still have a great deal of healing left to do, and we haven’t been able to determine what injured you.”

“I promise,” said Danny, “I won’t go anywhere until you and the other doctors say I’m all better. I don’t know where else I’d go.”

Frostbite’s face did something complicated. They’d all been awfully cagey about who Danny had been and what Danny had done in the past, presumably out of a worry that they’d be tempting him to flee, but Danny rather thought that they didn’t have to worry about it so much. Whatever had come before, he didn’t have any connection to it. He did have connections to Frostbite and the other friends he had made here.

But regardless of what Frostbite was feeling, they did go outside.

For the most part, outside was what Danny had expected. Low, stone buildings, rolling snowdrifts, icevines, iceflowers, and icewheat, towering glacial mountains… But there was also a huge dome overhead made of glittering green ice.

“Is that what you meant when you said you’d sealed the Far Frozen?” asked Danny.

“Yes,” said Frostbite. “There are very few things that could bypass it. Even Pariah Dark could not.”

Danny wondered if he’d learn about Pariah Dark in any of the books he was reading. He probably would, if it was important.

Time passed. Slowly, because he was still very fragile, Danny was introduced to the lessons the other children were learning. The lessons were dynamic, taught outside in the snow as often as they were indoors, and all the yetis in the Far Frozen participated from time to time, sharing wisdom learned over the span of several human lifetimes. Danny was invariably the smallest, youngest, and furthest behind in those lessons, but the teacher said that could be a helpful thing, because it let the other students learn how to teach.

In-between lessons, check-ups, and other things, Danny didn’t exactly grow, but he did change.

His hair grew long and thick, until he had to learn how to braid it just to keep it out of the way. Before long, it hung at his ankles, and he had to periodically chop it off to make sure it didn’t trip him up. The young yetis were fascinated by it, and it made for an interesting and very cheap gift.

Over a very painful and traumatic two weeks, his fangs grew in. They were nothing compared to those of the yetis, but they were sharp and had a tendency to spill out past his lips when he wasn’t careful. They gave him a tiny lisp that all the yetis seemed to think was adorable.

He learned. He never quite managed to catch up to his older classmates, but he could and did see where he had made progress. One of his favorite things he’d learned was ice claws, which was a way to form ice around his hands so that they looked oversized and each of his fingers seemed to taper to a point. He liked how they made him look just a little bit more like Frostbite and the other yetis.

One day, while he played with the other children, Frostbite took Danny aside. “I know it has been quite a long time,” he told Danny, “but we have been thinking about unsealing the Far Frozen, and… Do you recall when you first came here?”

Danny fiddled with the long end of his braid, threading his ice claws in-between the strands. “When I first came here?” he echoed. “No. No, I don’t think so. I’ve more or less always been here, haven’t I? I mean, I know I’m not a yeti, obviously, so I must have been formed somewhere else, but I don’t remember anything from then. I think… the first thing I remember was Feathersnow reading to me. I must have been really young, then.” He tilted his head. “I don’t know what that has to do with the great dome, though?”

“It was just a passing thought,” said Frostbite, patting Danny’s head. “Don’t let it trouble you.”

“Okay,” said Danny. “Can I go back to playing, now?”

“Yes, of course,” said Frostbite. Then, more quietly, almost too quietly for Danny to hear, he said, “Yes, of course, Great One.”

#6: Box Ghost

Even half-conscious, even mostly unconscious, Danny had a sense of what was happening to him. That sense was, to be clear, also a sense of extreme embarrassment.

Somehow, being found by someone calling himself the ‘Box Ghost’ was just… a little much.

But he was found by the Box Ghost, and the first thing the Box Ghost did was put him in a box. Then he put that box inside another box. Then he put those boxes inside yet another box, and…

#7: Nocturne

Danny did not wake up. Instead, he dreamed.

His dreams, too, were dark and painful, but the pain was the pain of dreams, held at one remove. He traveled beneath flowers and between inverted towers. He skirted rooftops and bubbling vats. He moved with the wind and fell with it, too. He slunk through a jungle so cold he could see his breath when he breathed. He walked up stairs made of liquid ink towards a moon that was a grinning face. Based on what little he remembered of the Ghost Zone, he got the sense that his subconscious was borrowing more liberally from his real experiences than he would otherwise expect.

The dream of steps became more persistent.

At first he trudged up them, heavy footfall by heavy footfall. Then, when the pain grew to be too much, he crawled, heaving himself up one step at a time. Finally, he fell still, and stayed that way.

“Hello, child,” said the moon. Danny looked up. It was clothed in the night sky and all the stars. “You’re in pain.”

“Is it that obvious?” asked Danny.

“What wit!” exclaimed the moon, mirroring Danny’s sarcasm. “What verve! What vitality!” The moon leaned down. “Would you like it to go away? The pain?”

Danny’s fingers clenched on the lip of the stair, moving smoothly through the dark liquid. “Yes.”

“I can help you with that,” said the moon. “But you have to help me first. I need you to let me in.”

“Let you in where?”

“To your core, of course. I can’t fix it if I can’t access it. That’s what’s giving you all this pain. All those little cracks in your core.” The moon trailed fingers up Danny’s spine. “All you have to do, though, is say that you’ll let me in. Easy, isn’t it?” The moon drew closer, close enough that Danny could feel its gravity. “Just do that, and I’ll make sure you won’t be in pain anymore.”

Danny didn’t know what to do. He wanted the pain to stop, but this felt… wrong. He started to shake.

“I suppose you do always have the choice of letting yourself fade. Simply say the word, and I will leave–”

“No!” said Danny, grabbing for the edge of the moon’s robes. “No. Don’t go. I’ll let you in. Please.”

The moon’s smile grew sharper and broader, and the stairs flexed underneath him. He now realized that the stairs were simply folds of the moon’s cloak and–

–And the ink rushed into him, filling the gaps in his core.

–And he fell, the stairs no longer supporting him, into the deepest sleep of his life.

Nocturne had told the truth. Danny wasn’t in pain anymore. And he never would be again.

#8: Clockwork

When Danny woke up, he wasn’t in pain anymore and his bones vibrated with the sonorous ticks and tocks of a massive clock. His eyes eased open to see a ceiling made of slowly moving brass gears.

“Time heals all wounds,” said a deep voice. Danny flinched into a sitting position to see a blue-skinned ghost floating at the foot of his bed. “Or so they say.” The ghost’s form shifted as Danny watched, growing younger. “To answer the question you were about to ask. I am Clockwork, Master of Time, and this is my lair.”

Danny blinked in surprise, processed what was said, and then opened his mouth to ask–

“Time may be bought, spent, or wasted, but no matter the idiom, it is precious. It has a price.”

“What was the price to heal me?” asked Danny.

Clockwork was silent for a long moment. He grew from a child into an old man. “Steep,” he said finally. “However, failing to do so carried an even steeper cost. I looked through the available timelines and all were… unpleasant. For others, if not for you, yourself.” He grew young again, hovering around middle aged. “I can show you who you used to be. That, too, has a price. Remaining ignorant also has a price.”

“For me?” asked Danny. “Or for you?”

“Yes.”

“What if I found out on my own?”

“No,” said Clockwork. “There are certain risks I will not allow you take, and that is one of them. If you choose to leave, I will tell you what injured you and why. If you stay, you may refrain from learning what injured you and who you once were, but you may also reweave yourself with as little influence from the previous pattern as possible.”

“I was running from something really bad.”

Clockwork inclined his head, minutely.

“Can I… Is there anything I can help you with, while I decide?”

“There are certain projects that might benefit from your assistance,” said Clockwork. “You understand this is also a decision.”

“Yes,” said Danny, swinging his legs out of the bed. “When can I start?” Something inside his chest ticked in time with the clockwork heart of Clockwork’s lair. He briefly raised his hand to feel it. It wasn’t his heart. It wasn’t his core. It was something lower.

He didn’t remember it from before, but… He’d been hurt. Maybe he’d just missed it.

He shook his head and followed Clockwork out of the room. They went to a workshop crowded with gears, lenses, pliers, wires, tiny models of things, spinning wheels, clocks, snow globes, music boxes, looms, tapestries, and other things Danny could not name. There were great windows on one wall, showing a garden enclosed in a courtyard. The trees were in various states of pruned and unpruned, picked and unpicked, flowering and bare, and the plots weren’t much better.

“As you can see,” said Clockwork, his shoulders slumping somewhat and his voice tinted with amused embarrassment, “I have many projects.”

Over the next weeks Clockwork and Danny worked their way around the room, Clockwork explaining every item and why he was making or repairing it. They went outside, then, and Clockwork did the same thing with each plant. Only then, did they actually start to work on the projects.

It was slow going, sometimes, as Danny had to eat and sleep, and Clockwork often had to be called away for his ‘official’ duties. Danny would have liked to help with those, too, but these smaller tasks were important to Clockwork and, in some cases, the timeline. Still, object by object, the projects were finished. The clocks were fixed, the lenses ground, the trees trimmed, the books rebound, the tapestries woven.

Danny polished the last tool he’d used, cleaning off every bit of oil before putting it back on the shelf. “I think it’s time,” he said.

“Yes, I thought it might be,” said Clockwork. “Have you decided what you are going to do?”

“Yes,” said Danny. “I need to know what happened, and then… Then I want to find out who I was. And who I am.”

"That is very mature of you, Daniel."

"Thanks," said Danny. "It's just… You said there were other options, other timelines." His eyes lingered on the books, the wisteria, a spare length of chain, the tapestry of a storm-tossed sea. "They were bad, too, weren't they? Sometimes, staying here, I think I see glimpses…"

"They were not all bad," said Clockwork, patting a snow globe they had repaired earlier that week. "Not for you. But they were not the way things were meant to be. Are you ready?"

"Yes," said Danny, his hands curling into fists on his knees as he braced for the worst.

Clockwork sat down on the stool across the worktable from Danny and folded his hands on the table. "What happened was…"

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2023

249 notes · View notes

phantom-dc · 1 year

Text

Dad Hood - part 6

‘Here?’

‘No! It needs to be a little higher! Right there!’

Following Danny’s instructions, Jason glued the glow-in-the-dark star on the ceiling. Stepping of the chair, he sat down next to Danny on his new bed.

‘How’s that kiddo?’

Danny jumped on the Martian Manhunter themed blankets.

‘It’s perfect! It’s the big Dipper!’

Sitting down on Jason’s lap, Danny started pointing out which constellations Jason had put up. Jason had to ask Kori for a space rock or something if this got Danny so happy.

‘I had stars like that in my old room! But they weren’t in the proper place, so this is better! Thank you Jason!’ said Danny happily. Jason wondered how much Danny remembered.

‘Hey Danny? What was your old home like?’ Danny put on a thinking face, which was absolutely adorable. Danny remembers a lab.

Jason is concerned: ‘A lab?’

‘Yeah! And lot’s of green goop in jars and stuff!’

Jason is worried. That sounds like Lazarus water. He tries to get more information:

‘Green goop? That sounds scary!’

Danny cuts him off. ‘Yeah! It was haunted!’

Jason is surprised. Haunted? He thinks for a bit. With how Lazarus Pits work, thinking the place was haunted was probably how his little kid mind coped with seeing people being brought back from the dead. It must’ve been a scary thing for a kid to see. He asks more.

‘Do you remember something else? Like the people that worked there?’

Danny says he does.

‘A big man, really big and strong! He wore orange! And there was a lady, she was really good at fighting! They made me!’

Jason ruffles Danny’s head. ‘Did they now?’

Inside he is comparing the description to people he knows. The lady who is good at fighting must be Talia. But the strong man in orange, could It be Slade? He is quite tall and his uniform does have orange in it. It would also confirm his Respawn 2.0 theory. Danny says he also remembers a girl, who wanted to talk his feelings al the time. He liked her. Jason thinks she must’ve been his therapist. The last Respawn was filled with resentment towards Damian, so maybe they were trying to prevent that for their second attempt. Jason starts to wonder if there are more.

‘Hey Danny, did you ever see other kids like you in the lab? Like, kids that looked like you?’

Danny says he did, but that was a different lab.

‘They all melted into goop. It was really scary. Do I have to talk about that?’

Jason can see that the conversation is starting to affect Danny. He decided it’s enough, at least for today. He now knows that Danny was made in a lab, by 2 people that match Talia’s and Slade’s description. They made more attempts, possibly at a different location, but those attempts failed. He is glad Danny is the only clone he needs to worry about, but he still doesn’t know how Danny got here. Picking Danny up, he asks if the boy wants a snack. After hearing Danny’s joy, he figures he will continue his investigation tomorrow.

The next day, Jason is gearing up for patrol. Even with Bill and Sandra taking care of things, he needs to checkup some things himself. He can’t tell Bill to jump from building to building and stop a mugging after all. Jason was pretty sure the guy missed a few bones, and that would certainly break the ones he still had.

As he puts his guns in his holster, he suddenly hears a BANG! Grabbing the gun, he runs to the living room. There he sees that one of his paintings and the wall around it are scorched. He looks for the source, and finds Danny, with a hand that emits green smoke. Danny just looks at him.

‘There was a roach!’

Jason sighs.

‘So you can shoot fire?’

Danny shakes his head. ‘Nope! I shot a laser!’

Jason puts his gun back. ‘Of course you did. I didn’t know you could shoot lasers out of your hands?’

Danny gets excited. ‘Yeah! I can also shoot them out of my eyes! Once, I shot one out of my butt!’

Jason grits his teeth. ‘Great! One second, buddy!’

He picks up a pillow and screams in it. Of course the kid can shoot lasers! Why not? Danny laughs. Jason is being silly! Jason puts the pillow down.

‘Actually, screaming in a pillow is a great way of getting rid of big feelings. You should try it if you need it.’

Danny giggles. ‘If I scream loud like that it would flatten a building! Wanna see?’ He asks innocently.

‘NO!’ yells Jason immediately.

‘I believe you! But we like this city and we don’t want to destroy, right?’

Danny apologizes and agrees. He won’t scream. Jason sighs again and gets his black notebook back out. He writes down what he has so far:

Accelerated healing

Invisibility

Cryokinesis

Flight

Soul-pulling-out-powers???

Destructive scream

Lasers

Jason thinks the list is quite long. Looking again at Danny he suspects he hasn’t even seen most of them. Putting the book back, he puts Danny to bed.

‘Ok buddy, now remember our promise?’

Danny nods: ‘Try to sleep, and if you can’t only make snow in the bathroom, no touching the weapons, don’t eat too much candy and if you really can’t sleep, watch tv and fall asleep on the couch!’

Jason ruffles his head. ‘Good boy.’

Jason leaves. He knows the rules are probably lacking, but a kid that can do what Danny can is helped more with gentle guidance that strict rules. Jumping out of the window and landing on the roof, Jason starts his patrol.

It’s been a few hours, and Jason is taking a break. He’s on the edge of Crime alley, the border of his territory. Suddenly he hears a voice next to him.

‘Hey, I need your help.’

Recognizing the voice, Jason looks up. Red Robin is coming over. Jason is surprised that he isn’t feeling that pang of anger that he usually felt around him. Guess that scrub really did the trick. He’ll bring Danny a treat on the way home.

‘Earth to Red Hood? C’mon, I’m desperate here!’

Tim is waving his hand. Jason rolls his eyes.

‘What do you need, RR? You don’t normally come to me for help.’

Tim gets a determined look, saying that’s exactly why he is here. Jason knows that Tim will only come to Jason for emergencies, which means…

‘Please let me stash my coffee at your place! Alfred cut me off and I can’t lose my last stash!’

There it is. Only coffee will convince Tim to go to Jason. No way he would risk Jason’s demands otherwise. Speaking off, Jason wonders what he can ask of Tim in return. Tim gets desperate.

‘Let me hide my coffee, or I’ll.. I’ll… I’ll throw all your books out of the Manor library!’

Jason knew those threat were empty, but it did give him an idea. His mind went to the black notebook in his pocket, and the ever growing list of powers. If he can figure out which people Danny was made from, he might get a list of powers he could anticipate.

‘Ok, RR. You can stash your coffee in the safehouse near the Bowery. But in return you’ll help me with my case.’

Tim asks him what he needs. Tomorrow Jason will bring him a DNA sample. He needs Tim to figure out who it’s from. He warns Tim that he is suspecting a second Respawn, so multiple people might pop up. When they part ways, Jason is hopeful. He might just get a handle on this situation.

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#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp x dc #dc x dp #batman #red hood #jason todd #dad jason #dad hood

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piss-pumpkin · 5 months

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🌹“Just as friends”🌹

(Older)Dipper pines x reader, Chapter 3 of Douce amere

~4.5k words

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Tw for those who need it- food/eating, several awful sex jokes 💀

You jolted awake. Pacifica’s alarm was loud, and she did not silence it soon enough. She rolled out of bed beside you, falling to the floor before standing up. “Food?”

You rubbed your eyes, “Got an extra tooth brush?”

”Yeah,” she muttered, voice hoarse. “Then food.”

…

Pacifica led you to the main foyer, where housekeepers and maids were setting up tables. Some held food, others simply face table cloths for people to mingle at.

“And you lied to me and said this was small and unimpressive,” you said, staring in wonder at the scene. There was a rather large dessert table, complete with a chocolate fountain and strawberries on sticks.

”Yeah, whatever I guess. It’s a little big if you aren’t used to better.” Pacifica showed you to the kitchen, where a cake of at least five layers was sat, completely iced in orange and pink frosting. “Anyway, there’s breakfast if you want it,” she said, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard. “Are you a morning eater?”

You yawned, “Eh, I can be. What do you got?”

She opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of strawberries, and started to wash them. “Pretty much everything,” she said, pouring her berries into the bowl.

You squinted. It was far to early to think about what you could possibly want, if anything. “I’ll just have what you’re having, I guess.”

Pacifica poured the other half of the strawberries into a second bowl, and handed it to you. “Let’s get out of here, it’s too busy.”

You started back upstairs with her to her room, trying not to get in the way of preparation. As you walked, you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. Pulling it out as you ascended the stairs, you saw it was Dipper. You smiled.

“Dip is asking the dress code, he apparently didn’t bring anything fancy,” you laughed. “He wants to know if he can just wear his normal clothes.”

Pacifica smirked, “he can’t be serious, right?” She flopped onto her bed, and held the bowl of strawberries by her chest.

You followed behind, and sat down with her. “Man, you know he’s fucking serious,” you said, looking down at your phone and beginning to make fun of him over text.

”Well tell him we’ll supply him with something, I guess,” she said, looking at her closet. “You know I have guy clothes.”

You looked down and idly typed the message. “We’re making him wear a suit right?”

Pacifica smiled, “Yep. Tux, I think. probably bow tie?”

”I was thinking regular tie, I feel like that’s a better look.”

Pcifica thought a moment, and popped a strawberry in her mouth. “I dunno… maybe you’re right,” she pondered. “We could make him try both and decide which is better?”

You nodded, “sounds good.” You ate a strawberry. Quite sweet. You let the leafy tops collect at one side of the bowl. “So do you still like… like him?”

Pacifica looked up, “I mean… kind of. The same way i would after not seeing him in person for like, a year.” She pursed her lips, as if straining her mind for the thought. “I dunno. I think about him less when he’s away. But the feeling is still there, kind of?”

You nodded. Her feelings were a little different then yours, but the same sentiment.

“What about you, you still-“

”Yep. Awful, too,” you shook your head, eating another strawberry. You squinted your eyes, and sucked a breath in through your teeth, “I am absolutely down bad.”

“My condolences,” Pacifica sighed. “We’ve all been there

You laughed, “At least we agree he’ll look really cute in a suit.”

Pacifica threw her head back on the pillow. “Ugh, right? We gotta dress his ass up.”

You smiled, “I’m also curious about what Mabel is doing, I think she is making her own dress.” You plucked your last strawberry off its stem. “I think she made it in like, a night. She could be cooking.”

”Or it could be a disaster, and we have to find her a last minute dress.”

”That is an equal possibility, I think.”

…

Pacifica and yourself were waiting by the door as the party was starting. There were people, standing, mingling. Nobody interesting, not yet. Though by the way Pacifica was talking, you weren’t sure there was anyone interesting on the roster besides you and the twins.

Much to both of your surprise, Mabel’s dress was fine. Good, even, shocking as it was. She came in first, wearing a blue dress with a shocking amount of sequins for how little time it took.

Dipper followed behind his sister, dressed in nothing fancy, and looking rather out of place among the few guests that had arrived this early. You and Pacifica waved the pair over. Mabel bounced closer, running ahead of Dipper and greeting you both with a wide smile, “Wow, you guys look amazing!”

You pumped your fists in the air with excitement. “You too, I can’t believe you made that!” you exclaimed, looking her dress up and down. “You’re insane!”

Mabel giggled, and twirled in a small circle, letting her skirt lift and spin. “Just insane enough,” she laughed.

Pacifica snickered, “That’s highly debatable.”

Just as Mabel was about to retort, Dipper came up beside her, and leaned his arm on her shoulder. “It’s true Mabel, she’s right.”

Pacifica eyed up Dipper, “Yeah, Dip, hopefully you know you’re not going to be wearing that, right?”

Dipper sighed, “yeah, I know, I know.”

Pacifica looked to you, “We take him to get changed before the rest of the guests arrive?”

You nodded.

Mabel laughed, and hit Dipper on the back. “Alright, you go get prettied up, bro.” She smacked him once more before bouncing off of him, “I’m gonna get punch, and get a date.” With that she was off, as Dipper was giving her a mildly annoyed look.

You and Pacifica led him to the back, where Pacifica handed him a hanger with his clothes. “Okay,” she looked to you, “Y/n, help him if he needs it, change room is on the right, and I need to go greet people.”

You nodded, “Godspeed.”

”And good luck,” Dipper added.

And then you were alone with your just as friends date. “Alright, you get ready, there’s a tie and a bow tie, too, your pick.”

Dipper entered the change room, and closed the curtain behind him. “Mmmk,” he said.

You leaned on a wall, waiting. “Did you read ahead without me, last night?” you asked, idly looking around.

”No, actually, I wasn’t sure if we were reading it together, so I played it safe,” he said though the curtain. You could hear faint rustling sounds from the other side. “Are we?”

You nodded, despite the fact that he couldn’t see you, “Yeah, it’s book club.” You straightened your back against the wall, and tapped your foot on the ground. “Thanks for waiting for me,” you smiled, “Also hurry up.”

”I am hurrying.”

You laughed, shaking your head, “This is not was hurrying looks like.”

You heard faint grumbling from him before Dipper emerged from the change room in a suit. With a black tie. The one you had chosen… but he didn’t know that. You smiled, “Well, you look good, all fancy like.”

He adjusted the sleeves and fiddled with the cuffs. “Uh- thanks,” he said, smiling softly. He closed the curtain behind him, and looked away from you, to the floor. “Y-you too, I forgot to mention earlier…”

You raised your brow, smiling. He was still looking at the floor away from you, so you moved in front of him, and leaned over slightly, forcing him to see you. “Why thank you,” you snickered. “I better look good, it took Pacifica all night to style me.”

Dipper stepped back slightly, face pinkish. “I assume she’s responsible for this, too?” he said, gesturing at his own clothes.

You stood back up tall, “I want to say you were a team effort, actually.” You took his wrist in your hand, and turned it over so you could see the sleeve. “The cuff links were my pick,” you said, tapping them. “Same with the tie”

Dipper instinctively moved is hand to his chest, and thumbed over the tie. “Well chosen, it’s really soft,” he said.

You smiled, spinning away from him and offering your hand. “I’m actually surprised you were able to tie it without help, I was ready to call Pacifica in to do it for you.”

Dipper took your hand, and gave it a slight squeeze. “I actually looked it up while I was in there,” he laughed, pulling your hand closer to him, and linking your arms.

You both started out to the main room, “God, that’s why you took so long in there?” you asked. You came to the foyer, which was now filled with a substantial amount of people, and you knew even more were set to come.

“Wow, lots of people…” Dipper said, trailing off. “Where did Mabel and Pacifica go?”

You looked around, taking in the scene. The tables you’d seen the staff setting up before were now filled with food, or set with chairs for dining and mingling. Gentle orchestral and piano music was playing, and several people were dancing a waltz. “Pacifica is gonna be busy for a while, she has to socialize,” you said, scanning the room for your friends. “And it appears Mabel had been lost to the party.”

Dipper sighed, shaking his head. “Of course she is, we’re not gonna see her for a while, are we.”

”No we will not,” you said, walking with him along the edge of the room. “I bet she’s looking for somebody to dance with,” you pondered. “Hey, we should dance.”

Dipper looked at you, curiously. “Y/n, neither of us know how to waltz.”

You took Dippers hand, gliding your fingers up his palm before lacing them together. “Come on, it can’t be that hard, right?”

His hand was sweaty, and his face was slightly red. “Y/n, I think you are seriously underestimating my awkwardness,” he said. Despite it, he let you lead him to the floor, where people were dancing in step.

”I’m sure your fine, nobody really knows how to dance,” you laughed.

Dipper closed his eyes and shook his head, curling his face into a perplexed expression when he opened them. “What the actual fuck do you mean?” He used his head to gesture around the room. “Literally everyone here knows how to dance, that is what they are all dancing.”

You sighed, still smiling. “Come on, all you need is rhythm, I think.” You placed his hand on your waist, and your in his shoulder. “I think this is how it goes, yeah?” You looked around, scanning the other dancers in the room. They were mostly adults and old people, all of whom looked rich. But they did have the same positioning as you. “Yeah, I think we’ve got this.”

”Y/n, I have no rhythm,” he said. You could feel the warmth from his palm on your hip. It was light too, like he was afraid of putting the weight of his hand on you. “Plus this is a rich old person song.” He was stiff, as if his knees were locked. The hand you still held was shaky, the vessel for his anxious movements. You rubbed your thumb over his to try and calm him. Or at least offer some courage.

“Then let me lead,” you said softly. You started to move, and pull him along to the music. You looked around and tried to mimic the dancing of others. “Hey, this isn’t that bad, you’re fine.”

He was still apprehensive, stiff. “I, uh-“ he almost tripped, stepping on your foot. “Sorry.”

You shook you head, “Don’t be, probably my fault,” You smiled a moment, “you see, not so hard.”

“Not what your mom was saying last night,” he spat quickly.

You shook your head, hiding your tired smile. “Just couldn’t resist, huh?” You said, gliding across the room, still leading. You saw an old man dip his partner, and gained an idea.

As you led Dipper, you started to take more control. You knew if you tried to dip him out of the blue, he’d resist. You wouldn’t be able to. Unless…

You moved toward the edge of the dance floor, in case it went wrong, and to both fell on the ground. As you did, you stood straight up and tall, and swept the leg.

”Augh-“ Dipper tried to form a word, but was too late. You swept one leg, leaving him vulnerable to be pushed down with the free, non catching hand. As he fell, that hand slipped under his back to stop him before he hit the ground.

You smirked down at him, holding him there for a moment before pulling him up.

His eyes were wide, and face slightly red. Though that could have been from fear. “You realize my life just flashed before my eyes, right?” He blinked a few times, as if reacquainting himself with standing.

You started again to the centre. “Whaaaat?” you laughed. Across the floor you saw another move, a spin this time.

Dipper noticed too though, and followed your eyes across the room, landing in the same couple. “Oh, don’t even thing about it.”

You snickered, “you know me too well.” You still intended to do it. As you subtly moved your hands across his to reposition to spin him, he caught you off guard. He must have been watching the motion of the dancers too, because he threw his arm out to try and spin you. Unlike you, he didn’t have the tactical skill to force the spin, like you did the dip, but you were one to play the game. As he led you, you spun out, then back in close, placing your chest nearly against his. “Hey, man’s got moves!”

”Heh, thanks,” he stuttered, intensely aware of the new closeness.

You were aware of it too. You smirked, almost feeling the heat from his face. Your hands glided smoothly away from his and to the back of his neck, where you laced your fingers together. “And you were worried,” you smiled.

He was looking at you with wide eyes, and slightly parted lips. They caught your attention, your gaze flickering from his big brown eyes down to his slightly pink lips. Fuck, you were not subtle today. Dipper swallowed, “Yeah… nothing to worry about. You wouldn’t let me fall.”

You snickered, “Oh, I’d let you fall, alright.” You looked at him with an almost shit eating grin. A pun-smile, so to speak. “Get it, it has a double meaning.”

Dipper flushed. “Uh, I mean-“

You were blushing too, you could feel it. To close. To much, to hard. You backed out, pulling away from his chest. ”Or maybe it just means I’ll do this,” you say, sweeping his leg again and barely catching him on the way down. He let out a startled sound again, having been caught only inches from the floor. Just as you were leaned over him, about to pull him up, you let him fall to the floor. “Like that.”

Dipper grumbled, laying with his back on the ground for a moment, as if in protest. “You know,” he started, exasperated. The blush wasn’t completely faded from his face, but it was close.

As he moved to get up, you put a hand out in front of him to help him. He looked at it a moment with pursed lips before taking it. You pulled him up. “But hey, who could ever resist falling in love with me,” you said, punctuating your claim by putting your hand beneath your chin to frame your face.

“Literally nobody, you’re so effortlessly charming,” he said, sarcastically. He took your hand again, and pulled you close to his chest like before, and started to dance again. Looks like you got through to him? Or he’s humouring you. Either way. You moved your feet with his, letting him lead. It didn’t seem like he even realized it was you following him now.

You shrugged, “Hey, your words.” Your hands found their way back to his neck. You felt the brush of his hair on your fingers, and lingered on the feeling. His hair was soft.

“Are they really though?”

”That doesn’t even make sense, Dippin dots,” you shook your head.

Dippers face flattened, “oops,” he said, stepping on your foot.

“Hey!” you exclaimed playfully.

“Deserved,” Dipper sighed. The song ended. Come to think of it, it wasn’t the song you started on.

“Those are fighting words, Dipstick.” You thought for a moment as Dipper led you along the floor. He wasn’t all that bad at this. “I could…” you hesitated, and laughed at yourself as you said it. “Pull your hair, or something,” you said, fingers trailing up his neck to brush against his locks. Smooth.

Dipper laughed immediately, and then feigned shock and horror. He gasped, “You can’t! What if I cum!”

You stifled a laugh, pulling away, and gut punched him playfully. “Jesus Christ, you are awful. Like downright terrible, that physically hurt me.” You shook your head, and turned away from him to hide your smirk. Fucking terrible.

“Obligatory masochism joke?” He questioned.

You turned back to him, “Nah, that one’s a stretch.”

Dipper shook his head, “You’re just a critic, I swear.” He folded his arms at his chest. “Honestly, your comedy is lacking,” he scoffed with faux condescension.

You sighed, smiling despite yourself. “Yeah, whatever, you absolute comedian.” You shook your head, looking at the floor to avoid his eyes. You snaked your arm around his, unfolding it from the other, “You can tell me all about how funny you are on the way to the snack table, yeah?”

Dipper easily linked his arm with yours, “Good plan.”

…

You lingered with him near the chocolate fountain, showing dessert strawberries in your mouth. There was no getting sick of strawberries, was there?

”Y/n, Y/n, look over there,” Dipper said, poking you. You followed his eyes, and landed on Mabel across the room, flirting with a rich looking guy. You squinted, trying to read the reaction of the guy.

“Mabel? What, who is that?” You said, curious.

”What? No,” he said, shaking his head. He pointed this time, and moved your head to direct your eyes in the direction. “Cheese fountain.”

”Cheese fountain?” You asked, unsure where he was going. The phrase cheese fountain did not evoke a good feeling from you. The concept didn’t seem appetizing.

“Cheese strawberry, I dare you.”

You opened your mouth, in some sort of surprise. “Oh, you bitch, why would you dare me that?”

He snickered, “cuz you‘ll do it.”

You pursed your lips, turning to him, pointing to him with malice. You sighed, “you’re right, I ain’t no pussy, come on.” He smiled, taking your arm again to move tables, a few sticks of strawberries held in his free hand.

The two of you stopped just short of the table, and stared down the cheese fountain. You almost wanted to out your hand in it, just to feel the texture. You held back though. “Looks kind of gross,” you muttered.

”It sure does,” Dipper said, handing you a skewered strawberry, bowing his head slightly as he did.

You held the strawberry under the drilling and flowing cheese, drenching it. You weren’t no bitch, despite the fact that the texture was strange.

“Damn, you’re drowning it,” Dipper commented, watching.

You stared at the strawberry after you pulled it out. A droplet of thick and slightly warm cheese fell to the floor at your feet. “Only way to go is all in,” you said, about to pop it in your mouth.

You vaguely heard footsteps come closer beside you. “What are you doing?” Pacifica said, approaching.

”Uhh,” You and Dipper both stammered in unison. You looked down at the cheese berry, then at him. Sharing a moment of contemplating eye contact, you decided to speak first. “Chesee strawberry, any thoughts?”

Pacifica scrunched her face, and receded into herself. “Yeah, just one. Why?”

You wordlessly pointed at Dipper, and you both could see Pacificas face change as she realized it was a rather stupid dare. It changed from mild disgust to a tired disappointment. “Yeah, maybe don’t do that,” Pacifica said, sucking in a breath though her teeth.

Dipper crossed his arms, “Dude, it’s liquid cheese, it’s nasty.”

Pacifica sighed, “Yeah, I know, but the old people like it.” She tilted her head up and looked around the room, scanning the crowd of her parents friends and their children. “Can’t imagine why,” she said.

You perked up, “Oh speaking of, are you done with your parents friends?”

Pacifica clapped her gloved hands together, “For now, yes!”

You gasped, and leaned over to offer her a hand. “Then may I be the first to offer you a dance,” you said, doing your best impression of a snobbish voice.

She took it, “Why, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She led, much more skillfully then you or Dipper ever did. At the centre of the foyer, she swung you and spun you with a practiced perfection you might envy.

“You’re good at this,” you said, in slight wonder.

“I’ve had to go to these parties since I was like, three,” she laughed. “If have to be a good dancer by now.”

You got a few looks from the guests, some of which said a quick hello or happy birthday to Pacifica. She tried to keep it brief, not even slowly the dance to speak with them.

As you were gliding around the floor, she looked back to the food table. ”So, do I have your blessing to dance with Dip?” she asked coyly.

You laughed, “yeah, of course. I’ll tag him in soon.” You may be his just as friends date, and have feeling for him, but you wouldn’t be a bitch about it. Who were you to try and stop her? You were friends with both of them first and foremost. “I should probably find Mabel anyway, make sure she’s not being weird to anyone.”

Pacifica snickered, “I’m almost a hundred percent sure your late on that, I can feel it.”

”There’s no harm in trying though, yeah?” You said, gliding closer to where Dipper was collecting snacks on his plate like he was a starving man on death row getting his last meal. You waved at him to try and catch his attention, “Dipshit! Tag in for me!” you called.

He looked over, holding a bun in his mouth. You could see his expression fall slightly, reliving his hesitancy to dance from earlier.

You got closer with Pacifica, so nobody had to yell. Pacifica let go of your hands, and stopping in front of him. “Come on, I actually know how to dance, and won’t let you make a fool of yourself.”

Dipper snickered, and nudged you slightly. “You’ll let me keep my dignity? Y/n could learn something from you,” he said, taking her hand.

You smiled, “hey, I didn’t do you that bad, did I?”

“Ehhhh,” he said, squinting. “Up for debate, I think.”

”Yeah, whatever nerd,” you laughed. You snapped a finger gun at the two of them before they moved away from you. Off to find Mabel.

Unsurprisingly, she was trying to flirt. You found her trying to kabedon a rich looking guy about your age. She didn’t see you as you approached, but he did, and made pleading eye contact with you. Yikes.

You scrunched your face, and shook your head. You leaned on the same wall as the guy, and looked to Mabel. “May I cut in for a dance?”

Mabel squinted, “with whom?”

You bowed, and offered a hand, “The lovely lady, of course.”

She gasped, “Why, I’m enchanted.” She spoke in a posh British accent, “of course, I’d love that.”

She released the guy and took your hand. You glanced to the fleeing rich dude, who offered you a nod of thanks. You nodded back, happy to save him. Gliding to the dance floor with her, you sighed, “Girlie, he was not into you.”

”I think he was warming up,” she said, leading the dance.

“Dude, you gotta learn some boundaries.”

She pursed her lips, “Are you sure he wasn’t into me?”

You laughed, “dude, yes. He looked terrified.”

…

The party went on. Cake was cut, dances were had, as it stretched deeper into the night, the music shifted from waltzing classics to more current songs. Songs you could actually dance to, competently this time, with Mabel by your side immediately, Pacifica quick to follow, and Dipper reluctant to join. But you made him. And he danced endearingly awkwardly, much worse without the clear and define steps of a waltz to guide him.

And unfortunately, despite what you felt in the moment, the party did eventually end. When it was just you and your friends left, and you all crashed.

And in the early afternoon when you all woke, you, Mabel and Dipper did not want to stay and help clean up. Pacifica was quite understanding.

And so, you were started home. The instructions Stan gave you were simply to borrow a car and drive the twins yourself illegally. He was a great driving instructor. So you loaded them into the car, drove them to the shack.

”You coming?” Dipper asked, seeing how you weren’t getting out after you pulled in.

“Fuck no,” you laughed, “I’m taking a nap at home man.”

A flicker of disappointment crossed his face. He looked back at the door Mabel already disappeared through, then back to you. “Then do you want the book club book, so you can catch up before we read next?”

You smiled, “yeah, actually. I think context might help my understanding.”

”Okay, hold on, I’ll grab it from my room,” he said, starting to the shack. “Don’t go anywhere.” You leaned back in the seat, and waited. Soon enough Dipper was scurrying back out, book in hand. “Alright, here, now we’ll be on the same level,” he said, leaning against the open car window.

”And this is a series?”

Dipper nodded.

”Then I’m excited for book club going forward,” you said, yawning. “Anyway, I’m fucking off, see you later?”

Dipper waved slightly, pushing himself off the car, “Alright, see ya.”

You blew a kiss at him, making an exaggerated mwah sound while winking. He shook his head, hiding a smile as you drove off.

Next chapter

Man I wrote this in like March it’s weird looking at it again.

#x reader #dipper pines x reader #gravity falls x reader #my writing #dipper pines #dipper x reader #douce amere #gravity falls

60 notes · View notes

divorcedfiddleford · 8 months

Text

10+1

last year this show turned 10 years old. i didn't do anything to celebrate and it made me feel really shitty, so i promised myself i'd do something this year, no matter how small. so here it is. it's pretty sloppy, but i think it's ok.

i was 12 when gravity falls first aired. i still remember seeing promos for the upcoming series on disney channel. to this day, i have a hard time describing what it means to me. mabel pines was like nothing i'd ever seen before. she was confident. she was unabashedly herself. she said the wrong thing but she still had friends. she was everything i wanted to be. dipper pines was someone i could talk to. he was scared, insecure, and sincere. i felt like i had known him all my life.

being 12 years old sucked. i was a loner at school. i had one real friend but we would fight all the time. nobody else seemed to like me. i took out my anger on my brother, who had been my best friend for my whole life. i pushed him away. i distinctly remember speaking to my guidance counselor, asking what i needed to do to make more friends. she suggested that i was being "too weird" and that i should try to be less intense.

i grew up with mabel and dipper. we were both 12 in 2012 and i could not have asked for better peers. even as they stayed 12 and i turned 13, 14, 15, and then 16, they never left my side. they helped me remember that it's more than just ok to be strange - it's the best thing in the world. the people who love you and care about you love you because you are strange. they love you because you are like nobody else in the whole world. they love you for making jokes that aren't funny, for pointing out irrelevant details, and for knowing too much about specific topics. my brother is amazing and talented. he is also strange, and i love him very much. i keep this love in my heart and i allow it to make me a kinder person to him and to others.

i don't really know how to finish this. happy birthday, mystery twins. you made it past 10 years. thank you for sticking with me. let's go for another 10.

#whoops got way too sincere in the readmore. sorry #caution guys.... this one will make you cringe #gravity falls #dipper pines #mabel pines #artwork of the damned #posting late at night so as to avoid the embarrassment of having to read this in the light of day #my boy #mabel #mystery twins

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incomingalbatross · 4 months

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Five times Stan saw Ford in Dipper

(and one time he saw somebody else)

To be honest, Stan didn't think there was that much to see, at first. Sure, Shermie had said more than once how much the kids reminded him of Stan and Ford, but Shermie remembered them as a pair of gremlins under his feet. Of course another little pair would bring back those memories. Stan...remembered Ford as his own size, so it didn't work the same way for him. And Dipper, with his snark and his cynicism and his general attitude, was a fun little pain-in-the-neck, but not much like Stan's brother at that age. On the other hand... finding him glued to the Used To Be About History Channel and taking notes within his first few days at the Shack brought back some memories.

Yeah, okay, so Stan felt a little bad brushing off Dipper's rants about wax murderers, or old-timey conspiracies, or living arcade characters, or whatever the kid had tracked down this week. So maybe that burning enthusiasm in his eyes when he tried to convince everyone around him to care about the world's weirdness was a little familiar. It was fine. The kid had Mabel glued to his side (sometimes literally, after crafting accidents). And the kids had friends! Wendy and Soos and... Mabel's girl-posse... and honestly most of Gravity Falls, it seemed like, had their backs. Dipper didn't need his Grunkle's validation.

And then the whole Wendy musical-mind-control debacle came up, and that one Stan did jump into with both feet because hey, that wasn't Gravity Falls-level Weird, right? This was something he could admit he found plausible. Probably. And Mabel was obsessing over her boy band and Soos was out, and he liked Wendy and hated Robbie and somebody had to back Dipper up on this. Even if the kid was wrong, Stan could handle plain old Girl Problems. And... and it was kinda fun, maybe. Backing up the kid on one of his conspiracy projects. It wasn't exactly a Ford thing, because Ford didn't have friends who were girls, let alone get close enough to a girl to have her "stolen" from him. But supporting Dipper through the rejection part, after, reminding him he wasn't alone... that was maybe more familiar than he realized. Until Dipper looked up with a grateful, almost-shy little smile of appreciation at the reassurance, and Stan had to stop for a split second because Oh. Holy Moses. There he could see Sixer.

Things had gotten better, in some ways, since the zombie thing. He and the kids weren't hiding any of the general weirdness from each other, so he didn't have to pretend not to listen to stories about tiny golf-people or infinite pizza. He could do crazy things with them, even. That was fun! It was refreshing. The family that fights monsters together stays together, or...something. On the other hand, he was still hiding other stuff from the kids, and it got more important every day. And he was pretty sure they were still hiding Other Stuff from him, too. Which made it kind of a race. And it also meant that even while he was seeing more Pines in both kids than ever, in good ways, he was also seeing Dipper staying up all night and muttering into his Journal and wandering around with bags under his eyes that you could use to smuggle contraband. The stubbornness? The refusal to let go? That, Stan could relate to. The obsession and the twitchiness and the occasional haunted look, though... He'd really never wanted to see that Ford when he looked at Dipper.

Good news! Dipper's paranoia and skittishness had, in fact, gone way down since he'd met Ford and heard the full explanation of Stan's secrets. Bad news: It felt like everything Stan saw when he looked at Dipper nowadays was some kind of funhouse mirror of Ford, like all they were was the same person - the science, the schemes, the nerd games, the enthusiasm, just two brains on the same wavelength forever and ever - and that wasn't right, was it? Stan wasn't crazy, right, Dipper hadn't always been a total mini-Ford, so why did it seem that way now? It felt wrong. Felt unfair, somewhere, to somebody. But Stan couldn't pin down anything concrete in Dipper that wasn't in Ford - this Ford, anyway, and this Dipper. Maybe he was going nuts. Or maybe he hadn't known either of them quite as well as he thought he had.

+1:

"Hey, Grunkle Stan?"

"Yeah, what's up, kid?"

Dipper looks hesitant. "I... had a question. But it's okay if you don't remember the answer."

"Eh, lay it on me," Stan shrugs. It's near sunset, out here on the porch. Ford and Mabel are in the kitchen - he might have heard something about refining the Mabel Juice formula, but that's terrifying, so he's not gonna think too hard about it. They'll be out soon anyway, or he and Dipper'll head inside, and then they can check on any potential abominations.

"When... Okay. You know we were in your head, right? Before Gideon took the Shack?"

Stan squints. That was... yeah, that was a weird memory, but it was there. "Yeah."

"Okay, cool! We, uh. Never actually talked about that, so good to know. Anyway." Dipper takes a deep breath. "I sorta saw some memories when we were in there, but obviously you were still hiding some big childhood stuff then, so I was wondering now..." He fidgets. "Were you really a wimp as a little kid before you started boxing? Was all that true?"

Stan looks down at him, blinking. Dipper's head is ducked, face hidden by his cap. This matters to him, for some reason.

"...Well, yeah," he admits. With a laugh, he hurries to add, "I know I seem like I must've been born this awesome, but turns out, no! I was a pretty wimpy little kid to start out. 'Course, then I figured out punching meant I could take out anyone who looked at me and Ford funny - still, took a while to get good at it, even then. So yeah, there's your Grunkle Stan's deep dark secret, kiddo: he started out as a bona fide weakling." He flicks up the kid's hat brim, still a little nervous about why he even cares -

And Dipper looks up, beaming at Stan. He's bright-eyed and happy, and he says quietly, as if he's just been given a present, "Kinda like me."

Oh.

Okay then.

Stan squishes Dipper into his side with one arm before the kid can comment on all the dust that's suddenly in Stan's eyes. "Like you were, maybe," he corrects him gruffly, knuckles rubbing into his hat. "I think you're comin' along pretty good, you know that?"

Dipper, squirming and laughing, shamelessly hugs him back. "I hope so," he says, apparently because this is Honesty Hour. "I guess - I guess if you didn't start out awesome, there's hope for all of us, right?" And it's probably still the laughter that's making the kid's breath hitch but - either way, Stan realizes he means it.

Seeing Ford in Dipper was just a thing that happened. It's probably never gonna stop happening - they're nerds, and they're family, and they're Stan's family, of course he's gonna see when they echo each other. He knows - he's always known - that they're alike, and also that they're two different people, and that he likes them that way.

But it's maybe been a while since he looked head-on at the moments when he can look at Dipper

(snarky, sarcastic, always ready to mouth off, latching on to every friend he made, stubborn, scrappy, insecure, throwing himself like instinct between his family and anyone who looked at them funny)

and see, uh, well. Somebody. Who isn't Ford.

And getting faced with the idea of Dipper apparently... a little bit... looking for himself in that-somebody-who-isn't-Ford?

These kids are gonna give Stan a heart attack in the few days left between now and their birthday. Seriously. It's gonna happen.

"Shut up, squirt," he sniffs for now, and decides to stop pretending this isn't a hug. "Didja not hear me the first time?" Months ago, inside his own head - yeah, okay, so he could probably stand to say it to the kid's face. "I'm already proud of you."

#my stan & dipper feelings have compelled me #i can't decide where to put the readmore blargh #gravity falls

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naquey · 1 year

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Trans Twins Headcanons

-They swap clothes that their grandparents get them and even some of the gifts depending on what it is

-Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford along with the Mystery Shack team are their biggest supporters

-Mabel started knitting herself clothes because originally she couldn't find fem clothes that fit her very well, hence the sweater were born

-Dipper binds a lot which concerns his sister very often so she convinces him to take breaks very often, to hydrate, and always makes sure he eats properly

-puberty had already set in by the time they even considered hormones and blockers Mabel took them but Dipper tried to ride out the puberty he was going through before going on testosterone

-despite everything thinking he's the uwu soft trans boy he's actually the opposite but Mabel definitely feeds into goddess trans woman energy because let's face it, she is a goddess

-Mabel does better makeup than Pacifica and even teaches her

-Dipper chose the name Mason but his parents came up with the nickname Dipper not only because of his birthmark but so his grandparents would stop calling him by his deadname

-Mabel wanted to be called Maple but spelled it wrong on a sweater and it's stuck ever since. Mabel is a better name than Maple anyway.

-testosterone makes Dipper only just a tad taller, and he's still dysphoric about his height but less so

-Mabel loves being a tall woman and does anything to be an even taller woman because it makes men uncomfortable, she also just wants to be able to pick up Dipper from time to time because it's funny

-Grunkle Stan knew Dipper absolutely loved his old hat because it was his dad's baseball cap, so he may have purposefully set out those pinetree balls caps in the hopes it would make Dipper happier

-At first Ford didn't understand it because he had been lost to the multiverse but after a quick explanation he understood. When he clapped Dipper on the back and said, "That's my boy." Dipper cried happy tears about it later.

-Dipper and Mabel both struggle with dysphoria at times, although it may be different for each other they are able to help each other out. Sibling bond 100%

-Dipper when he's older most definitely would tattoo his healed surgery scars with symbols from the journals and people may or may not look in curiosity and for a moment, he panics because so long he's gone to the beach with a shirt on

-Mabel grows he hair so long because growing up it was always short, eventually she has to keep it in a braid just to keep from walking on it, her parents cannot convince her to cut it no matter how hard they try

-They both become advocates for trans youth, especially in Gravity Falls because even though it may be a small town it is not old fashioned in the slightest

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itscherrylipsforme · 1 month

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Did not expect: Rodrick Heffley x fem!reader

Blurb. Reader is a "gold star" student and a good influence for him, but also a hardcore rock lover. Slightly spicy at the end so +16. Incredibly self-indulgent

Masterlist Characters I write for

If someone had asked Rodrick what type of girl he was into he would have answered that any groupie nice and enthusiastic about him enough would play the part. After all he was sure that thousands of them would be after him the moment Löded Dipper became a smash. What certainly did not expect was... Well, falling for you instead.

And he did not mean that to sound rude. It's just that you were not in his plans (he barely knew if he had one most of the time, but if he had it you were definitely not in it). He couldn't find the way to put it in better words. You were not his type, wait no... That wasn't the truth actually. You were, but not in the way he had expected.

In one of his meeting with his bandmates they started to talk about their "dream girl". Among other less innocent requirements Rodrick added this two: "Great music taste" and "must copy with my humour". You had both, nevertheless he still believed himself to be out of his mind when he realized he had caught feelings for you.

He had seen you around in High School, it was weird to someone not to know your name. Popular was not the word he would use to describe you. Surely you were not among the people in the top of the social pyramid. Known, that was what you were. Perfect student. Nice most of the time, sarcastic and witty when needed. Most of the teachers relayed on you if they required a tutor for some of their students. That's how you started to properly talk with him.

He did not expect you to find him sitting in the library with his black headphones on. He hadn't planed that you would be his last opportunity to pass literature this year. Yet you were, so he waited for you to come. Same way he wasn't aware that his headphones weren't fully connected to his mp3. He did not expect that the drums' beat coming from there was quiet enough not to anyone else in the library to notice, but you.

"Hawkins is the best drummer ever, just after Roger Taylor of course" He did not expect that you would say that as you left your books by his side of the table.

"What?" A small confused smile appeared in his lips.

"Taylor Hawkins I mean" You shrugged "You have a great taste, I love Foo Fighters too. The Mp3 was unplugged, that's why I heard it. I thought it could be a good icebreaker to start with. Y/n by the way"

He wanted to come up with an intelligent remark, ask more about which groups you like it. Yet he couldn't bring himself to do it, your words had surprised him more than you had expected. A whispered "I am Rodrick" and a nod was all you received as an answer. Books were opened, and you decided to start working.

Surprisingly, in the following weeks Rodrick did not only manage to learn more about the subject he was struggling with, but also about you. A strong bond was created with the time. Gifted CDs with songs he thought you would like. Singing 18 by Harbour in the front passenger seat of his van. Shared glances and jokes. Being one of the few people allowed to his band practices and that he really feel comfortable talking to... Beautiful things and memories that only made you closer. Feelings that neither of you was ready to stay out loud until one day he did.

At his house. You were trying to teach him how to do his eyeliner properly, as he still needed more practice. Eyes glued to each others, your hand resting in his face to keep him in place, your focused expression too cute to resist... So he just did it, kissed you out of the blue like his life depended on it. And instead of pushing him away as he had predicted, you wrapped your arms around his neck. Hands tangled in his messy hair. The eyeliner pen long forgotten, and the make-up scattered around his face, but neither of you cared about it.

Yeah, Rodrick Heffley did not expect to fall for you. He did not foresee that you would be the one he introduced to his parents. He did not anticipate that his first official girlfriend would be called a "good influence" by his mother. Neither would he have guessed that he would end up dating the nerdiest and prettiest girl in High School to his eyes. It was astonishing that he actually smiled when you played with Manny and told him tales. And that he was not so annoyed with Greg when you were the one listening to his multiple complaints about High School. He was not prepared to giggle like he was crazy every time "Walking after you" came on the radio, and he daydream of having you on his arms.

And yet, you had a few surprises left for him to find. Late at night, coming home from a small gig his band had had. The house just for the two of you as the rest of his family was visiting his grandfather. He had to deal with a serious "Use protection" coming from his father so they could finally let you stay with him.

A trail of kisses from his lips and cheeks to his neck, too messy and sweet to ever forget them. Muttered "I love you"s. He was playing with the hem of your shirt until you nodded giving him permission to toss it aside. He certainly did contemplated the idea of finding a lacy pinky bra below the leather jacket you had borrowed from him. Furthermore, he wasn't prepared to find it so hot and cute at the same time.

"You know what, pretty girl?" He whispered as he started kissing your collarbone "You were unexpected. But what a wonderful surprise you are"

#rodrick x reader #rodrick x y/n

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eldragon-x · 10 months

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Since I wrote an analysis looking into Bill's view of and relationship with Ford a while ago, I thought I'd do the same with Bill and Mabel, especially since the other analysis is partially supported with points about those two.

Comparing these posts, while the one about Bill and Ford is like "I believe Ford is very important to Bill and here's why", this one's more the reverse, as in "it's confirmed that Bill is fond of Mabel and I'm gonna look at their interactions and relevant episodes through that lense"

Bringing up the points of confirmation first, "Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun" has Bill bringing up that he likes Mabel

and in the DVD commentary for Sock Opera, Alex Hirsch says the following:

“Bill genuinely believes that Mabel’s kinda like him. He sees Mabel as a chaos agent. Like, Mabel has got a little bit of a seed of anarchy in her, she’s a little bit selfish, she likes to have fun at whatever cost. And Bill is all those things times a billion. So he thinks when he lays it all out for her like: ‘How about instead of being lame, you do something fun! And crush whoever you want in the process!’. He thinks that’s gonna go over. And he’s not wrong in seeing that side in Mabel but Mabel is a better person than Bill Cipher.”

Which are just really interesting to me, especially since the show doesn't make it very obvious that Bill has this view on Mabel. But it certainly does put their dynamic into a new perspective.

For instance, there's the scene in Sock Opera where Bill tries to convince Dipper to make a deal with him by "calling out" Mabel:

which I'm tempted to compare to the bit in Journal 3 where Ford mentions that Bill "warned" him that Fiddleford may not be dedicated to the portal project.

To be exact there's two ways I'd compare these interactions. For one, in both cases Bill is putting a wedge between two people via manipulation to further his own goals. Second, you could argue that Bill himself genuinely believes what he's saying here.

I mean, this is the episode with the commentary basically telling us that Bill believes Mabel to be as selfish as himself. The examples he gives Dipper of the so-called sacrifices he made for Mabel aren't even that strong? One is Dipper just rescuing Mabel, one is Dipper fixing a situation that he messed with in the first place and caused Mabel to loose something, and the one where he did make a sacrifice but just so Mabel can help a third party, rather than for her own personal interest.

But of course Bill would view these as sacrifices that Mabel would owe Dipper for. Bill wouldn't give anything up for someone else if he's not getting something out of it.

As for the Ford and Fiddleford situation, if you haven't read my other post my thoughts on Bill's views on Ford basically boil down to "Bill defenetly started out bullshitting Ford when he told him he was special and they were friends, but these feelings became genuine".

And while you can make a strong case that it hasn't gotten to that point until shortly after the betrayal, considering Bill was gloating when Ford confronted him, I still want to put the idea out there that Bill started to believe Ford was actually outstanding and Bill may be able to let him in on his full intentions eventually while Fiddleford had far less potential to go through with everything.

But anyway all this really goes back to Bill possibly genuinely thinking Mabel "owed" Dipper something (because helping someone and expecting something in return is something he would do) and using that to manipulate Dipper, and him also thinking Mabel was seizing the opportunity all those times without ever returning anything to Dipper and as a result starting to see himself in her because that is something he would do.

But the reality is that while every party has to put effort into a relationship, relationships aren't transactional and Mabel wouldn't leave Dipper in the dust when it comes down to it, which this episode builds up to.

Now, I do want to say here that Sock Opera is about addressing Mabel's selfishness and that she was in the wrong here, but do not take this as me hating her or anything. Mabel is a twelve and will make poor choices in her own interest sometimes. And the point of comparing her selfishness to Bill's is that she's willing to own up to it and clearly has her limits because she cares about other people whereas Bill doesn't own up to anything and has no concern about how his actions affect anyone else.

Also, assuming Bill did take a liking to Mabel at this point, I think it's intruiging to think about the above dialouge as Bill wanting to "help" Mabel. To convince her to ditch Dipper in favor of her own self-interest because it'll be freeing. Because Bill's own reckless, selfish choices have only made him feel less restricted and absolutely never ever caused him any regret at all.

Well anyway let's skip forwards to Weirdmageddon.

The build-up towards Weirdmageddon concerning Mabel comes with her gaining more and more reason to be afraid of the future and the struggles that she expects to come with it until everything just boils over and Bill manipulates her into handing him the rift by posing as Blendin and promising to let her have a bit more time in Gravity Falls. And, in a way, he keeps that promise.

Despite Mabel and Bill not at all interacting between the rift breaking and the climax of the finale, I think the whole Mabel Land situation is sooo interesting in terms of showcasing the ways Mabel and Bill are similar but yet so different.

Now, the section of the Axolotl poem I put just a bit above in this post carries some very intruiging implications with it. Like you're telling me Bill regrets burning his dimension yet frames it as a positive thing and even plans to do it again with another dimension? And despite his silly jokester demeanor he's actually unhappy?

Perhaps being afraid of acknowledging his mistake and growing past it and accepting that life will always come with difficulties?

being so very deep in denial about it and his own feelings about it?

and drowning all that out by reveling in the chaos of the Nightmare Realm and throwing parties even though none of that will really be fulfilling?

You can also probably say something about how both Mabel Land and the Nightmare Realm are pictured as literal bubbles.

and how Bill thought it was basically impossible to escape Mabel Land and was pretty confident in that to the point where he seemed to just stop paying attention to it and not notice it bursting despite it being placed in the most notable location in the town, near the Fearamid.

And to go back to "despite their similarities, Mabel and Bill are very different", part of the reason Mabel escapes her literal and metaphorical bubble and Bill doesn't is because she has a support system. Mabel has people who look out and care for her because she has looked out and cared for them.

Bill on the other hand? His relationship with the Henchmaniacs doesn't go much deeper than party buddies who are also his lackeys who are also his punching bags if he's upset.

And while he's shown to be willing to be vulnerable with Ford, he's still way too deep in his own denial to open up a wound that deep, on top of Ford having every reason in the world to want to have nothing to do with Bill. The man has tried to kill him several times and was entirely justified in that.

Moving on to a point that's more about Bill being fond of Mabel rather than similarities and that I also brought up about Ford, the fact that Bill spares their lives during Weirdmageddon.

Like, the Bipper note and Bill telling his henchmen they can go eat Dipper tells me he's very much down to kill anyone who's a threat to him. And once you take the Quantum Destabilizer out of the picture, the only apparent threat is the zodiac wheel. Meaning every member of the zodiac has a target on their back.

Note that the only zodiacs Bill has contact with during Weirdmageddon, prior to the climax, are Dipper, Ford, Mabel and Gideon.

Dipper, again, he attempted to get killed even before Weirdmageddon. Gideon temporarily served as his henchman as part of a deal and was possibly only kept alive afterwards for the sake of being punshed.

Mabel and Ford meanwhile? Got their lives spared for no apparent reason other than Bill simply wanted to.

I guess you can argue that the whole Mabel Land business was part of the deal with Gideon but I always assumed the deal was just for Bill to break him out and put him in a good place during the apocalypse, plus Gideon didn't seem to care much about Mabel's well-being at this point. Still, it does help Bill if he can hold Mabel in front of Gideon but I do like to think he also spared her just out of having grown a liking to her.

The more it strikes me then that the scene at the start of Weirdmageddon where Bill could've easily taken out Mabel but just snapped her unconscious instead,

seems to mirror the scene near the end of Weirdmageddon where he's about to snap out her life.

This and Bill seemingly being done with Ford at this point as well almost feels like Bill is dissapointed by the fact that Mabel and Ford both proved to be more different from him than he thought - Mabel by getting out of the manifestation of escapism and Ford by refusing to accept Bill's offer no matter what - and lashed out at them for it.

#this feels more rambley than the ford and bill post I hope it still makes sense i just have a lot of thoughts okay #gf #bill tag #mabel tag #gravity falls #bill cipher

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