#he’s kind of warmed to mabel but you can’t not like mabel. she just looks at everyone like 🥺 and she’s so little and goofy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wil-is-done · 2 years

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Warm Hearts

Summary: Life can be as cold as death, if not for the warmth of the people around you.

Word Count: 3.479

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a repost.

The voices. First, she heard voices. Warm, gentle voices. Not angry. Not vengeful. Not miserable. Not hers.

“Did it work?”

“It has to.”

“Norman, be careful.”

“Shh! She’s- she’s stirring…”

The light. Next, she saw light. Warm, blinding light. Too bright, almost. Her first instinct was to flee. Flee to where she belonged.

“Norman, don’t-!”

The touch. On her cold, numb hands. So warm. So achingly warm. Reminding her of the past. Of sunny days with Mommy.

No. Can’t be.

Mommy?

Aggie opened her eyes.

A familiar face. A familiar smile. Not Mommy’s, but just as warm. Just as happy.

Norman sighed. Relieved.

“Welcome back, Aggie.”

Norman explained it all. Aggie understood some of it. Something happened because of a demon. The afterlife became a mess. The souls don’t know where to go. Some returned to earth, and turned bad. Or caused bad things. Sometimes by accident, sometimes not. Norman managed to save hers, somehow, and brought her back to life.

She’s alive again. She still couldn’t believe that. Norman said it’s okay. He’ll help her process. Him and his friends.

His friends. Norman has them now. Neil. Dipper. Mabel. Coraline. Wybie. Raz. Lili. The Mystery Kids. That’s what they called themselves. They deal with things like this. Things like her.

She didn’t like them.

Norman must’ve noticed. He pulled her aside when they got the chance.

“You don’t trust them,” he said. Not an accusation. He’s simply saying it. “I understand. They’ll understand, too. All I want to say is that they are different. They’ll prove themselves to you. I can promise you that.”

Aggie didn’t want to doubt Norman. But she couldn’t believe him either. “Prove themselves how?”

“In their own ways. Now, come on.” A gentle hand on her shoulder and a kind smile on his lips. Either felt like a dream. But this dream is real. “Let’s live.”

Neil really likes food. Sweet, salty, spicy, hot, cold; doesn’t matter. He likes to eat them, he likes to make them, he likes to share them. Today, he made something called a ‘pizza’. And he wanted Aggie to try it.

“I didn’t go too wild with it, since I know you’re still not used to food like this,” he reassured. “But this is going to blow your mind.”

Aggie frowned. It was red and yellow, and greasy, and carried a heavy scent. She had never seen anything like it before. It looked a little scary.

“Here,” he continued, “have a slice. Fresh from the oven.”

Aggie wanted to decline. But Norman’s words rang. Gingerly, she picked up the slice. She squeezed her eyes shut, opened her mouth, and bit down.

Her eyes flew open. It was an explosion of flavor. The warmth filled her mouth, and spread to the rest of her body. Never in her life did she imagine anything could taste like this. She liked it.

Neil saw. He grinned from ear to ear. He looked so happy, simply from sharing food that he liked.

“Did I win you over, or what!”

Aggie nodded, sheepish. She didn’t know why she felt embarrassed. “You’re very happy.”

“‘Course I am! Good food only gets better when you share it with people. Right?”

Aggie wouldn’t know. But if Neil said so, if he looked this happy, then it must be true.

Wybie is really good with technology. Really good at talking about them, too. Really bad at stopping, though.

All Aggie wanted to know was why a lot of people like to carry these shiny boxes around. That was ten minutes ago. Wybie paused to breathe exactly three times.

“And now we’re at the modern stage, where smartphones are a thing. These types of phones are even smaller than before, but the functionalities increased pretty much tenfold. Aside from calling and texting- oh! And because the internet is so prevalent, phones are pretty much obligated to be able to connect to it. And with that comes a whole host of…”

Strangely, Aggie couldn’t stop listening. His passion burned through. It felt real. Raw. She felt compelled, even though she didn’t understand a word he’s saying.

Suddenly, the stream of words from his lips slowed, until it trickled to a stop.

“I… uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck. His cheeks turned red. “I… went off again, didn’t I?”

Aggie gave him a small smile. He shouldn’t feel embarrassed. “It’s okay. I… enjoyed it.”

“You did?” Wybie looked confused, then suspicious. “You… you got what I was saying?”

“N-No, not quite.” A clipped chuckle left Aggie. “But I’m interested.”

Shunted several hundred years into the future, a lot of things in this new world scared Aggie. But hearing the way Wybie explained it, none of it sounded scary. It all suddenly sounded fascinating. He made it fascinating.

“I want to learn more,” she said, in earnest. “Just talk slower. A lot slower.”

Wybie laughed. She received an earnest look in return. “I’ll try.”

Mabel makes a lot of very strange art. Very, very strange, wonderful art. Like a life-sized three-headed duck made from kitchen condiments. Or a dragon-unicorn-mermaid hybrid drawn on a cat’s belly. And now she wanted Aggie to make one as well.

“M-Me?”

“Yes!” Mabel dumped her entire collection of art supplies in front of Aggie. The sight was dizzying. “Take your pick and just go wild, girl!”

Aggie bit her lip. Her mind raced. She reached for a brush, but stopped. She went for a crayon, but stopped again. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of anything like the wonderfully strange creations that Mabel made. Finally, she lowered her head in defeat.

“No. I can’t do it.”

Mabel frowned, and approached with gentle eyes. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t. I just can’t.” Aggie looked away. The embarrassment was too much.

“Okay. I’m no Norman, but I’m a dang good listener. What’s eating you?”

Aggie sighed. She was right. Mabel was a kind soul. And a persistent one.

“I- I can’t think of anything like the strange yet wonderful things that you made. Compared to you, what appears in my head is so… simple.”

Aggie heard Mabel gasp. “No, no, sweetie, you’re getting it all wrong!” Her hands were taken in by Mabel’s, and so did her gaze. “Art isn’t about following someone else. Art is about you!”

Their joined hands moved, slowly, to press gently against Aggie’s chest. “What you like, what you think, what you feel; that’s art.” Mabel stepped back with a flourish, gesturing towards the mountain of art supplies. “Now. Do some proper art, and make it yours.”

Aggie nodded. Without hesitation, she picked her tools - a pencil, and a sheet of paper. She started with a line, then another, and another, and more. Shapes began to form. A smile grew on her lips. The rush of excitement filled her chest. The world fell away, until her creation was finished.

A crude, lone, shady tree, standing on a hill, illuminated by a rising sun.

A moment passed before she remembered Mabel was watching her.

“Um. What do you think?”

Mabel hugged her. So warm and kind.

“Beautiful. And yours.”

Lili cares a lot about plants. She keeps a small, beautiful garden not far from the Shack. She’d spend a lot of time there, sometimes for hours and hours on end. Aggie managed to catch glimpses over time. Sometimes, Lili would be maintaining the plants, trimming them, watering them. Other times, she’d simply sit there, petting them, even talking to them. What would prompt Lili, of all people, to do such things?

Today, the garden was empty, with Lili nowhere in sight. Aggie’s curiosity got the better of her.

Before she knew it, she found herself in the center of the garden. It seemed… ordinary. Pretty, and warm, and quaint, but perfectly ordinary. She knelt by a small potted flower, a pretty blend of blue and white in color, cocking her head. Nothing about it seemed strange. Perhaps…

“Hello?”

“Hi.”

Ice ran down Aggie’s spine. She shot up her feet and spun around. Standing at the entrance was Lili, her expression blank, and scary. Really scary.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-!”

“You did.”

Aggie’s mouth hung open, more excuses at the tip of her tongue, but in the end, she knew Lili was right. She clamped her mouth shut and stared at her shoes. “I… I deeply apologize.”

She heard a sigh from Lili. “You don’t have anything to apologize for,” Lili said. “I never said no one else is allowed in. The others just assumed that. Which is nice of them.”

Aggie relaxed. But that left the two standing in awkward silence. Lili made a noise, reaching for a watering can.

“Here.” Lili handed her the watering can. “The little guy behind you needs some water. Just a sprinkle is enough.”

Aggie nodded stiffly. She turned around, Lili doing the same, tending to her own corner of the garden. In the silence, not long after, Aggie heard soft mutters coming from behind her. A peek confirmed her suspicion. Lili’s speaking to the plants. Curiosity overtook her once again.

“Why do you do that?” The question froze Lili. When she turned, her eyes demanded an elaboration. “Petting them. Talking to them.”

The silence lingered. Aggie considered dropping the question, apologizing, then promptly leaving. But she never got the chance.

“Because they like it.”

Aggie didn’t expect an answer like that. “They do?”

Lili shrugged. “Of course. They’re alive too, aren’t they?” Her eyes drifted towards a blooming orchid, soft and warm, as she caressed one of its petals. “Don’t you like it when someone talks to you, and shows you they love you?”

Aggie stared in silence. She does. She really, truly does.

Her attention returned to the potted flower. She knelt down, sprinkling water like she was told, gently patted the bud with the tip of her finger.

“Hello there. Grow big and strong, okay?”

Sheepishly, she stole a peek behind her. Lili was watching her with a warm smile.

“He said, thank you. And he will.”

Dipper knows so much about so many things. It must be because he was rarely seen without a book in his hands. A part of Aggie was curious about those books. Sometimes, the desire to give them a read would strike her. But the books looked so thick, so intimidating. And seeing how attached Dipper was to them, Aggie doubted he would ever part with them.

Norman encouraged her to at least ask Dipper about it. So she did. She would never forget the way Dipper’s face instantly lit up.

The next morning, Aggie was accosted by Dipper right outside of her room. She found herself sat on a desk, staring at a blackboard, before she could process what was happening.

Dipper stood beside the blackboard. He started speaking. About grades, about textbooks, about courses. It all dissolved into incomprehensible noises. Aggie didn’t know he’s saying, but she knew what was happening. She remembered it all. From before.

Her attention focusing on everything but the lesson. The words on the blackboard not making sense. The sister screaming at her, even though she tried, she really tried, but nothing was getting through, and she could feel her eyes getting hot, and-

“Aggie?”

She gasped. The sister only ever called her Agatha. And the sister wasn’t here. Dipper was the speaker.

“Is everything okay? Do you need me to repeat something?” he asked, frowning.

Aggie blew a sigh. She should speak her mind more. She needed to tell the truth.

“I tried learning like this. Before.” She lowered her eyes to the fisted palms on her lap. “I was terrible at it.”

The silence was stifling, and mercifully short. “Okay,” he said. “Thank you for telling me.”

Aggie heard books closing. She heard the blackboard getting erased. But she never heard footsteps growing distant.

“If this curriculum doesn’t suit you, I can adjust it. If the method doesn’t suit you, I’ll change it. I’ll rebuild the entire system from the ground up if I have to.”

Aggie looked up. Dipper never left.

“You- you’d do all that for me?”

“The most important thing is that you want to learn.” Dipper smiled. “The absolute worst thing I can do is snuff out that light.”

Aggie opened her mouth. She should say something. But there was too many things to say.

“Well? You want to learn, don’t you?”

Aggie nodded, beaming until her cheeks hurt. “Yes.”

“Then I’ll be your teacher, every step of the way.”

Raz always knows how to have fun. No matter the place nor the time, he’d always find some joy in a situation. If not, then he’d simply make it himself. Often in ways Aggie never expected to be possible. Like now, for instance.

Norman said Aggie had to go somewhere so she can be registered for… something. Raz popped out of nowhere and asked if he could tag along. Norman was hesitant, but allowed him to come.

Halfway through the trip, rain began to pour. When they reached their destination - a drab, yet imposing, stark white building - they were soaked, and Aggie hated it. Norman told her and Raz to stay in the waiting room while he went ahead to sort things out.

The room was as drab and cold and boring as they come. The rhythmic patter of the rain against the window nearly lulled Aggie to sleep, if not for Raz suddenly speaking up.

“Who do you think is gonna win? My money’s on the top left one.”

Aggie shook her head. She followed Raz’s eyes, but all she could tell was that he was looking at the window. “What are you looking at?”

“Only the best race ever.” Raz glanced her way with a grin.

Aggie looked out the window again. All she saw was an empty, drenched street. “I don’t see anyone racing outside.”

“Not a people race.” Raz rolled his eyes, still wearing that playful grin. “A raindrop race!”

Aggie blinked.

“Rain… drop?”

“Yep. You pick a drop on the top of the window, and if your drop hits the bottom first, you win! Simplest thing in the world. It really works best with two or more players, though.” Raz waggled his eyebrows. “Whaddya say? Want a piece of the action?”

She supposed she had nothing else to do. “I’ll try it. You can pick any drop?”

“As long as it’s on the top. No cheating now.”

Her eyes scanned the window. One particular drop near the center drew her attention for some reason. “That one.”

“Alright!” Raz rubbed his hands together. “Let us see if you have chosen wisely.”

And the chosen raindrops were off. They were neck-and-neck off the start, gaining speed as more droplets were absorbed. The race was close, until halfway through, when Aggie’s drop began to veer left, letting Raz’s drop speed ahead. But that lead didn’t last long. Only inches away from the finish, Raz’s drop came to a dead stop. Aggie’s drop quickly closed in. Raz’s drop began to move again, but it was already too late. Within split seconds of each other, Aggie’s drop took the lead and crossed the finish line.

“Agh, second place! So close!” Raz groaned, and laughed. “Hey, you got a knack for this game.”

Aggie laughed too. What a ridiculous thing to have a knack for. “It’s just a guessing game.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda dumb, but it’s still fun!”

“That, I have to agree with.” Aggie nodded. She never expected it to be as fun as it was. The room felt warmer, somehow.

Raz has that glint in his eye. “Round two?”

“One more.”

And the second round was underway, with Aggie winning once more. The third round goes to Raz. The fourth round was a tie, but Raz swore his drop won by a split second. Fifth and sixth were Raz’s hot winning streak, but Aggie put a stop to that with the seventh round. The eight round was just heating up when Norman returned.

“Welp, looks like time’s up.”

“No! I was absolutely going to win that one!”

“Sure you are.” Raz scoffed.

Aggie stuck her tongue out in retaliation. “You’re just jealous I’m so much better at this than you.”

They fixed the other with death glares, before immediately collapsing into a mess of giggles.

“Tiebreaker when you get back?”

“Absolutely.”

Coraline made being brave look so easy. When Aggie’s temper got the better of her, she faced her without so much as a flinch. When Aggie lost control, she was the first to jump into the fray. The others have nothing but praise when it comes to Coraline’s bravery. They each have their own tale to share of how fearless she is.

Coraline wouldn’t be paralyzed at the thought of stepping onto a stage. Unlike Aggie.

The time ticked closer. The opening speech would conclude soon, and she would be ushered on stage. Cold sweat ran down her neck like a downpour. Her skirt was a rumpled mess because she was clutching it so hard.

“Hey.”

Aggie shrieked like a banshee. Coraline blinked, but was kind enough to wear a smile.

“You look peachy.”

Aggie sighed, tension loosening. She tried to smooth out her dress, to limited success. “I might need a costume change if this continues.”

Coraline stepped up next to her. She looked stunning in her suit. “You do know you can just stand there, right?” she asked. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. Raz got that part covered.”

“I know. I keep telling myself that. It doesn’t soothe me in the slightest.”

Coraline hummed, thinking, studying Aggie. “If it’s really too much for you, I can call it off.”

“No! This event is important. The worlds need to know the lost souls aren’t dangerous. I just…” Aggie paused, shyly stealing a glance in Coraline’s direction. “I wish I can be fearless, like you.”

Aggie didn’t expect silence, followed by a long, drawn out sigh. “Oh, boy,” Coraline groaned. “Got that from the others, didja?”

She did, so she simply nodded.

Another sigh. “Do me a favor and put that thought in the trash where it belongs.”

Aggie made a shocked, choked noise. Coraline must have heard.

“Surprised? This is worse than I thought.” Coraline stared ahead. For a moment, her seasoned mind took her elsewhere. “Fear is important. If I really am fearless, none of us would be alive right now.”

Aggie turned to look at Coraline. Really look at Coraline. Nothing about how she walked, how she talked, how she carried herself suggested she ever knew fear.

“You get scared?”

“Only all the time.”

Coraline met Aggie’s gaze, and Aggie could see it now. The burden. The exhaustion. The fire, still burning, still warm, despite what she’s been through.

“Listen. Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do what you have to do anyway.”

Aggie looked ahead, at the stage. The speech had just concluded. The crowd broke into polite applause. They would soon be called upon. She could feel Coraline glancing her way.

“What’s the final verdict?”

Aggie smoothed her dress, thinned her lips, and stood a bit taller.

“I will do it.”

The rest of the night proceeded smoothly. The Mystery Kids’ presentation was met with a warm reception. Aggie even managed to find the courage to speak a few words, thanks to Coraline. She still needed to sit down afterwards, though.

She didn’t have much time for herself. Her words piqued people’s interest, and they approached her. They complimented her dress, lovingly designed by Mabel. They complimented the flower tucked neatly in her hair, expertly chosen by Lili. The conversation continued, with Aggie trying her best to follow, until the topic of the supernatural reared its head. Everything she learned from Dipper flowed forth. They made their farewells looking rather impressed.

When her stomach rumbled, Neil was by her side, ready to point her towards the best dish in the buffet. When it’s time for pictures, she snagged a few pictures herself with her phone, thanks to Wybie teaching her how. When the party naturally slowed, she entertained herself with watching the aquarium, making up silly conversations between the fishes with Raz.

The event came to its eventual conclusion. It was time to return home.

As Aggie, and the Mystery Kids, exited the building, Norman approached her with her coat. For once, Aggie declined.

Norman tilted his head. “I thought you don’t like the cold.”

Aggie casted her gaze at the people around her. At Neil, Wybie, Mabel, Lili, Dipper, Raz, and Coraline. Each and every one, a kind soul. A warm soul, with warm eyes, warm smiles, and warm hearts.

“I have all the warmth that I need.”

This fic was commissioned by @/rarsonic, who wanted some fluffy Aggie interactions with the rest of the MK. This gave me way more trouble than I thought it would. It’s been a long, long while since I wrote anything with Aggie in it. I think the rustiness definitely showed. I also went way, way overboard than what was asked of me, but honestly, I don’t mind at all. I needed the practice, so let’s call this one on the house.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it.

#mystery kids #paranorman #coraline #gravity falls #psychonauts #agatha prenderghast #norman babcock #neil downe #coraline jones #wybie lovat #dipper pines #mabel pines #razputin aquato #lili zanotto

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pencil-for-a-dog · 11 months

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When dipper opened his eyes he felt lost, burry as he just woke upin the floor. He blinked more, eliminating the fog that stopped him from seeing straight, and once he achieve his objective, he couldn’t stop the feeling. He just couldn’t recognize a single thing that may or not indicate that he’s somewhere near, if not in, Gravity Falls. The floor was some kind of metal, grey at sight and shiny where the light of the bulbs hit on it, the walls weren’t that different, old gray material with vestigios of the reflected light. The roof was some dark color, probably the same material as the resto f the room but it was fullfilled with warm light bulbs that illuminate the room.

Honestly, he can’t remember how, in the beloved name of everything that’s wrong with Gravity Fall’s physics, he got wherever this place is. He manage to sit on the floor, feeling some pain in his muscles and bones, like he had been putting his body in some stressing activies, like running for miles and hours a¡or fighting too much. He closed his eyes, take a long breath just to oprn his eyes and blinked again, thinking it was the fog he felt in his brain the one that stopped him from recognizing anything in this place. Looking aroung waitinng for some kind of answer to appear just in front of him. Like magic.

Clearly, magic isn’t in his side right now, as he is somewhere for something-probably-a-god-if-not-baby-time knows how much. He sighed, it’s clear that it’s summer, this kind of stuff only happens on summer.

He sighed again, this time with more feeling as he went and pulled his hand trough his hair- His hair. Where is his hat?

He moved his head just to find the hat on the floor, probably aside of where his head was.

Then, it became clear.

He remembers the entire day, waking up early, having a messy but fun breakfast with Mabel, left the house while talking, arriving to school just to find out that Pacifica sent a text with “URGENT” in caps. A scream, everything too fast and too slow. Blackness.

Is not summer.

And Wendy’s hat is the one on the floor.

And he has no time to think, to panic, as a masked guy in a red and black costume seems to appear from the shadows.

“Who are you?” The guy asks in a caution tone as he is ready to fight.

“Oh for fuck’s sake” Dipper feeling fuzzy and confused. This is Mabel’s fault, probably. She really should stop dating crazy magic guys.

#A #writing prompt #i guess #Gravity falls #dipper pines #crossover #dc #tim drake #red robin #GFXDC #A discarded version included Pacifica's text saying :#'URGENT: Mabel dated a fucking entity that's being chase by some guys in white from the fucking goverment'#implying a DPXDCXGF crossover #lol #Mentioned Mabel Pines #Mentioned pacifica Northwest #My writing #Mywriting

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nataliedanovelist · 3 years

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GF - Timestuck AU: The Power of Mabel ch.2

While fighting over a time machine so one twin can win a pig or the other can win the heart of a girl, Mabel is left stranded in a snowy forest with no time machine and no brother. Oops.

The BEAUTIFUL art pieces were done by @clownwry and @elishevart ! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 😭❤️💋

ch.1 - ch.3

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was way more nervous than he was letting on.

She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.

Ford would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy Mabel’s company, but she was practically a stranger, and keeping a random girl in his house that was located in the middle of the woods was fishy and Ford couldn’t help but feel like it was illegal. But he couldn’t leave her out in the snow and send her on her way to find her home and family, so he decided to keep her warm or healthy, simply because it was the right thing to do.

But then she said she had no parents to call. Only a brother, who was lost, too. Ford can remember the old rule: If you’re lost, stay where you are until you are found. So he then decided that she could stay here until her brother found her, which should be by morning at the latest.

Still, he felt uneasy, so once Mabel was settled in front of the TV, Ford excused himself and went into the kitchen to make a phone call. There was only one man who would have better judgement in this situation than him.

The phone rang a few times. Ford checked his watch to make sure it was a reasonable time to call. It wasn’t Sunday, was it? But then the ringing stopped. “Howdy! This here Fiddleford McGucket.”

“Hey there, buddy.” Ford smiled to himself at hearing that cheerful voice. “How have you been?”

“Stanford Pines! Good t’hear from ya!” Fiddleford cheered. “M’just fine, just fine! How are ya?! Ya haven’t gotten eaten by monsters yet, have ya?” He laughed, making his old friend chuckle along.

“No no, I’m alright.” Ford almost brought up the reason he called, but then he remembered something very important to Fiddleford. “How are Emma-May and Tater?”

“OH! They’re doin’ great! We’re all very happy n’ doin’ well! Ya won’t believe how big Tate’s gotten since ya last saw him! He’s already crawlin’!”

“Wow, that's great to hear.” Ford sat in a chair at the kitchen table. “Has he said his first words yet?”

“No, not quite. Actually, he’s extremely quiet. Not a lot of baby-babble.” Fiddleford chuckled. “The doctor says that’s perfectly normal. Tate’s so smart, he’s reachin’ for specific colors n’ such, n’ ya can tell he’s thinkin’ a lot n’ knows what’s goin’ on, he just got nothin’ t’say.”

“I was very shy when I was young.” Ford commented casually. He didn't feel like mentioning why. “If Tate is anything like either of his parents he’s very intelligent.”

“Oh, he’s so much like both of us it’s scary. Ya know Emma-May, so clever n’ quiet n’ such. Tate’s got all that. But he already looks so much like me! But he’s got his mama’s hair! N’ Santy Claus brought ‘im this fun little fishin’ game where ya fish for plastic fish with a pole with a magnet on it, n’ he loves it! I can’t wait to take ‘im fishin’ when he’s big enough! Ya really outta give yourself a break n’ come down for a visit, he’d move to see his Uncle Ford again.”

Ford’s face felt hot. “Perhaps. Spring is when a lot of anomalies are active and breeding, so i would prefer not to miss that, but maybe I could visit for a weekend before that…”

“Well, no pressure, I won’t assume anythang until ya tell me to, just know there’s always a bed for ya here.”

“Thank you, Fiddleford. The same for you and your family. The clean air will do everyone some good.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Fiddleford sighed happily and perked up. “So! Whatcha callin’ for? Not that I’m not happy just t’chat, but ya never call.”

Ford laughed and shrugged to himself. “I suppose I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“No need t’be sorry, Stanford, just wanna know what’s up.”

“Well, I was hoping to get your advice on something.”

“Shoot.”

“Um… well…” Ford rubbed the back of his neck, unsure how to tell him this. “I heard some unusual sounds outside today…”

“What kind of unusual sounds?”

“Cracks, like lightning. And some faint yelling.” Ford answered. “I thought it might be a tree branch or a new anomaly to catalogue, but when I opened the door a young girl was standing there in the snow with no coat.”

“Heavens! Is she alright?!”

“She’s okay, no frostbite. She was cold, but after sitting by the fire, drinking some hot chocolate, and changing into some dry clothes, she’s okay now.”

“Well, good.”

“So of course I brought her in. I tried to call her parents, she probably got lost playing…”

“Sure.”

“... but she says she doesn’t have any parents.”

“Oh.” Fiddleford sighed. “Oh. Now, wait, are ya sure she didn’t just say that so ya wouldn’t call?”

Ford chuckled and said, “I first thought that too, but she looked too sad to be lying.”

“Okay, I see. Does she got somebody ya can call?”

“She says she has a brother, but he was out there, too. So he is probably out there looking for her and therefore nowhere near a phone.”

“Fair enough, okay. So, I reckon y’all are waitin’ for him t’come ‘round.”

“Yup.”

“Well sounds to me like you’ve handled this all pretty well.” Fiddleford said confidently.

“You think so?” Ford asked. “I can’t help but feel like I’m doing something wrong. Like I’m missing something. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Nonsense, buddy, you’re doin’ great.” Fiddleford assured. “Look here, ya can’t just leave a young gurl out in the snow t’try t’find her way home...”

“I agree.”

“... so ya really got one option n’ that’s t’keep an eye on her n’ let her in as a guest. N’ ya tried t’call, but nothin’. The best thang ya can do right now is be there for this lil’lady n’ just be kind t’her. N’ if nobody comes for her by mornin’, why don’t ya go into town n’ see if anybody knows her, then they can help y’all out.”

Ford nodded, then remembered that his best friend couldn’t see it, so he said, “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“You’re welcome. N’ hey, are ya okay?” He asked seriously.

“Yes, yes I’m okay. I just want to make sure I do this right.”

“O’course. I understand. Ya want me t’come down there n’ give a hand?”

“No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure Mabel will find her brother in the morning.”

“Mabel, huh? Well, if y’all don’t, please call me. N’ even if ya do find her brother, call me. Keep me updated.”

“I will. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“Anytime, Stanford.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When Mr. Ford gave Mabel the remote for the old TV and went into the kitchen, she decided to use her awesome detective skills to figure out what year it was. If it was before Grunkle Stan lived here and opened the Mystery Shack, she must be pretty far back in time. But she had no way of knowing if it was 1999 or 2005 or the 50s.

The TV was old, but so was Grunkle Stan’s in her time. So Mr. Ford could have had this TV for a long time and didn’t want to replace it.

Okay, so when was the TV made? Mabel didn’t know. Dipper would have known.

Okay, Grunkle Stan mentioned watching TV when he was a kid once or twice. So at least Mabel was when Stan was a kid, okay.

Mabel turned the TV on and it was in color. Okay, so she wasn’t too far back in time. But the TV was playing a commercial for clear skin. The picture was gritty and all the people in it had puffy hair and long socks and oh my god was that woman wearing legwarmers?! Mabel grinned at seeing her favorite fashion on TV, but then her face dropped. When was she?

She tapped her chin and tried to think of how to know the date without being suspicious. She could ask Mr. Ford, but that might be suspicious. Mabel decided to start flicking through channels to try to guess what year she was in based on what was airing. A lot of shows were about cowboys, space, or game shows. Huh. Okay.

All the TV shows were definitely older. Nothing her dad would watch from when he was a kid, so if Mabel had to guess by everyone’s crazy air, the cheesy TV shows, and the music occasionally playing, she was in the 70s.

Huh. Okay. But she needed an exact year. So Mabel turned off the TV, saw an old radio on a desk, and turned it on to listen.

“... cuz it’s cold doesn’t mean you can't boogie, folks! So grab someone you wanna get warm with, turn up the music, and get your bodies warm in the coolest way possible! Here’s Night Fever, by the Bee Gees!”

Mabel grinned at the disco music. Her personal favorite song from these guys was More Than a Woman, but Night Fever would do. For a moment Mabel forgot her mission, jumped off the couch and left the blanket behind, and in the over-sized gray t-shirt Mr. Ford gave her while her clothes were drying, she danced along to the music, singing the chorus since those were the only words she knew.

“When you reach out for me. Yeah, and the feelin' is right,

Then I get night fever, night fever. We know how to do it! Gimme that night fever, night fever. We know how to show it!”

Mabel laughed at herself as she spun around in her socks and tried to do the point-and-hype dance she didn’t know the name to, but everyone did it when a disco song played.

Little did she know that Ford had returned to check on her, and was smiling at her as she shook her hips and waved her hair around and had fun. He leaned against the doorway and planned to let her dance in peace, but when she did a spin and saw him, she grinned and took his hand. “C’mon, Mr. Ford, come dance with me!”

Ford chuckled and shook his head. “No, no! I can’t dance!”

“You got two legs that aren’t broken?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can dance! C’mon!” Mabel encouraged, let him go when they were both in the middle of the room, and she started to dance again. “Don’t make me dance alone!” She even pulled an evil move and gave him puppy eyes. Rude.

Ford smiled slyly at her and hesitantly copied her boogie moves. It was true that Ford never liked to dance, but there was no one around but Mabel, and though he had only known her for an hour or more, he was sure she would never make fun of him.

And he was right.

“Wow! Look at you, Mr. I-Can’t-Dance! Yeah!” Mabel hopped on the couch, standing, and took Ford’s hand. “Here, I’ll spin you!”

Ford laughed and allowed it, doing a single spin, but then scooping her in his arms to dip her and then let her down, making her laugh as they continued to dance.

“Alright alright, you crazy cats, that was Night Fever by the Bee Gees! It's a snowy day here in the heart of Oregon, with snow flurries coming in harder all night, but it should clear up by morning and be a fun day to go out and play! The date is January 26th, 1978 in case you gotta write a check or mail a thank you note to a friend or family member. I’m still writing letters for Christmas! We’ll be right back with some of your favorites after a word or two from our sponsors, so don’t go anywhere!”

Mabel stared at the radio. “Wow, 1978.” She breathed. Her parents were only kids right now, maybe only six or seven-years-old. Wow.

Ford chuckled. “I know, I’m still in the bad habit of writing ‘77.”

Mabel realized her mistake, but was grateful her host misunderstood her. “Me too.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for dinner. How about some ramen noodles?”

“Yes, please! Can we play a game after we eat?”

“Sure. I don’t have many board games, but I do have a deck of cards.”

“Do you know any card tricks?!”

“A few.” Ford admitted, wiggling his fingers. “There are some advantages to having more fingers than average.”

Mabel grinned up at him and followed him to the kitchen for dinner.

#GF #fanfiction #gravity falls #gravity falls au #timestuck au #ford and mabel bonding #Fiddleford McGucket #dancing #night fever #snow day

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fallen-gravity · 3 years

Text

Soft Hearts and After-Midnight Talks

Ford can’t let go of the past. Mabel can’t stop worrying about the future.

Put together, they’re a melting pot of insomnia and overwhelming emotions.

AO3 Link

Love had never come easy to Ford.

As a kid, his father always said it wasn’t manly to show affection. It made a man weak to wear his heart on his sleeve, and he was merely doing him a favor by showing him tough love, because out in the real world the men who put their emotions first would get torn to shreds.

His mother tried her hardest, but she too had times where she was too busy running her psychic hotline or helping Pa run the pawn shop to pay him much attention.

Ford supposes the closest he ever had to unconditional love as a kid came from Stan. Whenever Ma or Pa were too busy, or the kids at school were screaming and running from his deformity, he knew he could always rely on Stan to be there for him. He’d always been the one to throw a punch for him, to talk him through a panic attack, patch up the scrapes and black eyes he’d received from Crampelter, or even assure him that getting a B minus on an exam wasn’t the end of the world, even if his eyes were rolling into the back of his skull the entire time he said it.

But even that sort of love felt fickle. The night of the science fair, it felt as though something inside of Ford shriveled up and died, and he knew that the rejection from West Coast Tech was only the half the cause of it.

When Stan drove off into the night, it’s as if he took that shriveled up little piece of Ford with him as his grand final fuck you.

After that, Ford tried everything he could. In college he buried himself into the research he was most passionate for, but that could only get him so far when Fiddleford would drag him to bed and force him to be alone with his thoughts. He’d tried going out drinking to forget said thoughts, but he learned the hard way that he was an emotional drunk and alcohol only made those thoughts worse.

If there’s anything he did know, it’s that this lack of love in his life could probably explain how he was able to fall for Bill’s cunning tricks so easy.

“Unlovable?” Bill’s words still rang in the back of his head. “By the time this portal’s finished, you’ll have the whole world at your feet! You’ll be a household name! There’ll be thousands cheering the name Stanford Pines, the man who changed the world!”

What a fool he’d been, blissfully ignoring all of the warning signs for even the slightest chance that a gateway between worlds could earn him love.

What an even bigger fool he’d been to turn away his brother’s love even after ten years of nothing but fear and resentment standing between them.

Ford sighs. He knows, logically, that dwelling on the past will only make things worse. He knows things are okay between him and Stan now. They’re setting off on their first journey on the Stan-O War II next week; things couldn’t get any better between them.

But he also knows that insomnia and intrusive thoughts are a package deal. He’d tried sitting out on the front porch to gaze at the stars and feel the late-summer air on his face to relax, but his inner demons always find their way.

There’s a tiny knock on the doorframe behind him. He jumps at the noise, and turns to see who else could possibly be awake at nearly three in the morning. He’s half expecting Stan, but to his surprise it’s Mabel, sleepily rubbing at her eyes with one hand and holding a half-empty cup of ice water in the other.

“Grunkle Ford?” her voice is groggy and strained. “Is that you?”

“Mabel?” is the only comprehensive response that comes out. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Dipper cursed me with his insomnia and now I can’t sleep” she pouts, and takes a sip from her cup like it’s a shot glass as he joins him on the couch. “Why are you still up, Grunkle Ford?” she squints. “I feel like I should ask you the same question”

He chuckles. “Nothing you need to worry about, dear. I’m just doing some thinking”

“Hmmm…” she squints long and hard at him, like she’s trying to read his mind. “Okay, but I’m watching you. I’m the expert at annoying people until they tell me what’s bothering them”

Ford can’t help but smile. “Noted,” he replies, and shifts his position so he’s facing more towards her. “What about you? I’m the expert in insomnia, so I can’t imagine it’s the only thing keeping you awake"

For the briefest of moments, Mabel’s playful smile drops. She hides the sudden shift by taking another sip of water.

“What? Psshhh…” she dismisses the thought with a wave of her hand. “That’s silly! Everyone knows insomnia means you can’t sleep for no reason. Some expert you are, Grunkle Ford”

She smiles, but it’s strained, and fake, and nothing like the usual smile she flashes when she’s joking around.

“Mabel.” Ford says once, in a firm yet soft tone, and she winces.

“Okay, fine” she mumbles, and drinks the rest of the water from her cup before she continues. “I’ve been having some dumb thoughts too”.

Ford shakes his head. “There’s no such thing as a dumb thought, Mabel. Even if it’s bothering you, it’s indicative of how you’re really feeling” he pats gently at his lap, inviting her to scoot closer. “Maybe I can help” he smiles, ever so slightly, ever so softly. “Even us experts mess up in our own fields sometimes”

She moves too quickly into his arms for a hug for him to read her expression properly.

“Then I feel like a big dumb hypocrite” Mabel murmurs into Ford’s sweater, her voice on the edge of breaking.

Ford frowns, and places an arm around her to reciprocate the hug. “What for?”

Mabel scrunches up his sweater in her fists. “I...I made this whole big ordeal about Dipper wanting to stay here with you after the summer’s over for the apprenticeship, and I still don’t want us to be apart, but…” she buries her face into his sweater, like she’s ashamed of herself for even daring to speak them. “...now that summer’s actually over, and Dipper and I are supposed to be leaving in the morning, I’m not sure I even want to leave”

Her voice finally breaks, and she sniffles into his sweater. “Everyone’s always saying that the real world is so scary, and high school is the worst, and all these things about not knowing what you had until it’s gone, and...I don’t want it to be gone, Grunkle Ford, I love Gravity Falls. But I can’t just tell Dipper that, because then he’ll get all worried, and think that he did something wrong, because he’s already apologized for what he said when we were fighting a thousand times, and-”

Ford gently grips Mabel’s shoulders to cut her off, and pulls her away to make her look him in the eyes. “Mabel, are you going through all of this trouble because you’re worried you’re going to...miss Gravity Falls when you get home?”

“Not just the town!” Mabel exclaims, and rubs at her eyes with her wrist. “I’m gonna miss everything! I’m gonna miss the Shack, I’m gonna miss my friends, I’m gonna miss you and Stan,” she counts off on her fingers and sighs. “I miss everyone at home. I do. But now that I have so many friends here, I don’t want to feel like I’m leaving them behind”

There’s a brief pause, but before Ford can open his mouth to respond, Mabel goes on, murmuring so quietly it’s as if she doesn’t mean to speak out loud at all.

“Or...I don’t want to feel like they’re leaving me behind.”

...Oh.

The fear of being left behind.

Forgotten.

The fear of becoming….unlovable.

That….Ford knows better than anybody.

“Mabel, listen to me,” Ford gently tugs on her chin to force her to make eye contact with him. “Nobody in this town is ever going to forget you. It doesn’t matter if you’re gone for a year, or three, or ten, I can guarantee that the next time you step foot in this town everyone’s going to remember the name Mabel Pines”

“You...really think so?” she blushes.

“I know so,” he nods. “And it’s got nothing to do with Weirdmageddon, or saving the world, or any of that. It’s because you’re magnetic, Mabel. You’ve got a personality that everyone loves. I bet that pizza delivery man you became pen pals with is just sitting at home eagerly awaiting his first letter from you”

She giggles. “I don’t know about that…”

“Still,” Ford continues, “You’ve shown kindness to everyone, Mabel. People don’t forget kindness easily.” he gestures out towards the forest. “Gravity Falls may not be your home, but the people who lived here sure don’t seem to see it that way. You’re not just a tourist, or just some kid visiting her great uncle, you’re one of them.” he beams. “They’re lucky to have had you, Mabel, even just for the one summer”

Her eyes have pools of tears in them, but the beaming smile on her face outshines them. She hurls herself at him in a tight hug, burying her face deep into his sweater.

“I’m lucky to have you too, Grunkle Ford” she murmurs. “I love you”

I love you.

Ford hasn’t had those words spoken to him since he was a kid.

I love you.

It feels like he’s floating on air, and the most grounded he’s felt in decades. It’s freeing, and exhilarating, yet it’s comfortable, and warm. It’s unfamiliar, yet everything he ever lost.

The words ring in his ears and bounce around in his chest before they settle comfortably into the piece of his heart that had been broken for decades.

I love you.

Mabel Pines, after everything he’s put her through, loves him.

A sound escapes him that’s halfway between choking and sobbing. He pulls her even closer into his arms, and silently vows to never let the cruel world dig its pessimistic claws into her for as long as she lives.

“I love you too,” he manages to whisper, and gives her a smooch on the top of her head.

#my writing #gravity falls #ford and mabel bonding #sweater twins #ford pines #mabel pines

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travlersjoy444 · 2 years

Text

Anemoia (Over the Garden Wall x Fem! reader) Pt.7

Wirt...just play the bassoon. We’re getting kicked off the boat either way, but I...know you can do it.” Wirt stared at me wide eyed.

“You-you think?”

“I have the utmost faith that you’ll do great. Just improvise, y’know? You’ve got this.”

“You’re actually a lot like Morticia Addams.” He said, meeting my eyes.

“Really?” I grin, flattered.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry!” He blushed -embarrassed, I guess.

“Nah, it’s a good cliche.” I reassured him, wrapping the cloak around his shoulders, comfortable in the autumn clouds.

But the clouds begin to swirl, building into a pink fog until I can’t see the boy next to me anymore.

“Wirt?” I say softly, gripping the air where he stood just a second ago. “Wirt, you okay?” There’s no response. I watch as the clouds swirl faster, my heart beating out of my chest. They consume me, and my world goes dark.

I open my eyes to a different forest. The sky is overcast, and the air is damp. There is a heavy smell of decomposition...Trees have fallen all over, rotted dead from hundreds of years of rain and moss. The ground feels squishy. I look about to see that I’m standing in a circle of mushrooms-a faerie ring.

“Hey (Y/N), you’ll stick with me- me and Mabel, that is- right?”

I whirl around, but I can’t locate the voice’s source.

“Who’s there? Who are you?” I say, frantically searching for answers

“(Y/N), are you forgetting me?”

“Dipper? N-no, of course not! You just live on the other side of the country!”

A small figure stepps out of the shadows.

“Is that your excuse, Lantern?”

I frown. “Okay, well two can play at that game, Pinetree.”

“Two, yeah. But three is kinda...overzealous, don’t you think?”

“Three?”

“Yeah, three’s a crowd. Not that you’d care, you’re always a one-player game.”

I stare at him, annoyed. “What does that even mean, Dipper?”

“Well, look at you. You promised it would be you and I forever, and now you’ve made the same promise to him.”

“What, Wirt? Well, can you blame me?”

“No, but I can still feel hurt, (Y/N)! Which is exactly how he feels after you betrayed him!”

“I-I didn't betray him! I was sacrificing myself for him and Beatrice, it wasn’t my fault Adelaide only wanted a boy servant!”

“Hmm, but that was a bit of a betrayal, huh? Just another promise you’ve broken...you said you wouldn’t dive into danger like that...and (Y/N), what about me?”

“You...you don’t sound like Dipper.” I realize. He sounds a bit like the ‘reverse Dipper’ Mabel and I invented, but not at all like real Dipper.

“That’s likely because I’m not Dipper, not truely...I’m you, (Y/N).” ...Oh.

“Ah, I’m dreaming then, huh.”

“Yes, and you really ought to wake up soon.”

*******

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar bed. I looked around the room, trying to remember how I got there, but finding nothing. I know I split up with Beatrice to cover more ground and find the boys, but not much more than that.

I jumped as the door swung open.

“Here, honey, I brought you some breakfast...warm, of course, I hope you like pancakes.” Said an unfamiliar woman standing in the doorway. She wore an outfit I estimated to be...something from early America, reminiscent of the late seventeenth century. A pair of maroon braids hung all the way to her hip, and her age looks roughly...25-30ish.

“Uhh...where am I?”

“You’re here, of course!”

“That’s...very unhelpful.” I said awkwardly.

“Well, you’re in our neck of the woods, that is, me and Eli’s. We found you soaked in the rain last night, unconscious. Or possibly asleep. But you were quite close to our little cabin, so we thought it prudent to give you a place to stay for the night, dry your clothes, warm you up, y’know, before sending you off on your way again.”

“Oh! T-thank you! That’s very kind, Miss...um…”

“Erin. And you are?”

“(Y/N).”

“So, what’s a young lass like you doing so deep in the woods?”

“Oh...I’m lost. I got...seperated from my friends.” Separated. As if that’s all it is...

“Ah. Well, perhaps we can help you find them.”

“Heh, I doubt that, but I guess it’s worth a try…”

Erin’s eyes glimmer with excitement. “Oh, you just might be surprised, Miss (Y/N)...I have my methods. Now, I’ll leave you to get changed and freshen up. When you’re ready, head downstairs, and we’ll see what we can do about finding your friends. Oh, and the shower only stays warm for about twenty minutes, so I’d make it fast if I were you.”

“Thank you, Erin!”

I grinned as she left the room, stupidly excited at finally getting to shower.

*******

I headed downstairs in clean, dry clothes for the first time in what feels like forever.

“Ah, hello (Y/N).” Said Erin. “This is Eli.” She gestured towards a new face- a guy who looked to be roughly the same age as Erin.

“Uh, hi!” I waved. “So, umm...what were these ‘methods’ you mentioned, for finding my friends?”

Eli chuckled. “Erin, you didn’t tell her?”

“Uhm..tell me what?” I said nervously.

“That it requires a blood sacrifice, of course! An eye for an eye, you know?” Eli said. Uh oh.

“Don’t scare her like that, you horrible host!” Erin sighed, and shoved him. “It doesn’t require any real sacrifice, only something that belongs to the one you’re searching for.”

“Uh..yeah, I might have something in my bag...How do you do this, anyway?”

“Well, because my fiance happens to be the best witch on this side of the pasture! Erin of the birches, good witch of the woods!” Eli grinned, waving his arms theatrically.

Erin facepalmed. “(Y/N), ignore him. I assure you, no one has ever called me that.”

“I don’t know, it’s got a nice ring to it…” I snickered.

“See?! Now all we need is to make merch!” Eli said, giving me a high five.

“I think what we need to do is locate (Y/N)’s friends.” Erin groaned.

“Right. Well, should I just grab something of his, and give it to you? You won’t destroy it, will you?” I said as I dug through the contents of my satchel.

“Not with this spell, no.” Eli assured me.

I looked through the bag, immediately finding Sara’s jacket- she had asked me to carry it in my backpack all those nights ago. Not very helpful for finding Wirt and Greg, though. I found a silver hairbrush I may have stolen, a bunch of vintage photos, a sprite bottle filled with Endicott brand tea...but nothing of Wirt’s or Greg’s.

Wait. The cassette tape! I rifled through Sara’s jacket until I found it- Wirt’s tape! I had it the whole time and didn’t even notice! That’ll probably give him some peace of mind, Sara never got a chance to hear it. Maybe enough so that he forgives me.

“Found it!” I said, triumphantly pumping my fist,

“Excellent. Now let me just bring it to the third eye…” Erin said, trailing off as she focused on reading the spell.

“Somewhere our subject is concealed, but with this...uh, Eli? What is this box thingy?”

“It’s a cassette tape-a 90s one I think.” Huh, I guess Eli got lost, like us...

“Hmm, your old world is fascinating. Anyways. Somewhere our subject is concealed, but with this cassette tape that we wield, let all that is lost be revealed!” I leaned over the cauldron, as an image slowly came to life. The spell was working!

I watched as the picture got clearer. Wirt was sitting against a tree, while Greg wandered about, laughing. As they started to look more solid, I heard them, too.

“Greg?” Said Wirt, staring at the ground.

“Yes, Wirt?”

“Can we please stop pretending we're gonna get home?” He said, sounding so...defeated. I long to reach into the cauldron and give him a hug, promising again that I’ll be there for him...but what good is that, when I seemingly betrayed him?

“Huh?”

“Can we admit we're lost for good? That this fog is deeper than we can ever understand? That we are but wayward leaves, Scattered to the air by an indifferent wind? Can we just admit we're never gonna get back home, Greg? Can we do that?” His voice broke. He pulled his cloak tighter around his body.

“Wirt, you can do anything if you set your mind to it. That's what the old people say.” Greg answered cheerfully.

“Well, then let's do that.” Wirt whispered.

The image rippled and faded away.

“I need to find them.” I whispered.

Erin and Eli stared wide eyed at the cauldron. Erin snapped out of it quickly, moving about the room and shoving items into my bag.

“We must make haste, I worry about your friend in the blue cloak. He is close to giving in. I’ve managed to pinpoint the location of these boys, let me just get some parchment and eye of cartographer for a map...and I’ve added a few things to your bag, little potions like ‘stamina booster’ and ‘speed’, and a good brass compass... Eli, grab her some of the bread you made last night…”

“I’ll do one better. You get bread and cookies, (Y/N).” Eli nodded.

“And let me just…” She poured a heating potion into a canteen of apple cider. “This will keep it warm, as I’m sure the snow will arrive soon…”

*******

I set out back into the woods, having said my farewells to Erin and Eli. I held the warm canteen to my chest and studied the map Erin made...the boys were about a night long walk away, just south of...well, the old grist mill, actually. I guess we’ve walked in a circle. Dusk was falling fast, but the dark was nothing a little cat-vision potion couldn’t fix- a few drops of the stuff, and I was seeing a little more clearly- it was still dark though.

As I walked, little flakes of snow began to fall, until eventually there was a good foot of snow on the ground. I wasn’t used to snow- it only snows a couple days a year in the Pacific Northwest, and even then, it’s usually just a few inches. But I’m pretty sure snow is supposed to be hard to walk in, which wasn’t quite ideal.

The sky was dark and cloudy and the trees loomed in the darkness, as if to say ‘turn around. Go back.’ But I pressed on, and slowly, the sun began to rise. My legs ached, but I didn’t have much left to go. I ate a piece of bread for breakfast, and everything seemed to be going well, when-

“Ugh! Oh my gods- stupid frozen stream!” I yelled, now knee deep in icy water. But my frustration doubled when I saw that my satchel’s contents had fallen out, and were quickly carried away by currents under the ice. I felt like crying, but I was so close....no use mourning the loss of all my weapons and provisions. I examined the bag to see what was left- the hairbrush, Sara’s jacket, and a knife. All the rest of my things had been claimed by the stream. I stifled a yelp of anger, and clambered out of the freezing water.

I want to go home.

And then I saw it.

I had resisted tears through this whole hike, but when I found what lay in front of me, they fell, free falling down my face and tip of my nose…

Halloween was supposed to be fun, and it was at first. It was fun going to the party with Sara, it was fun hiding in the graveyard, it was even fun when I got lost in the woods with two strangers.

I’m not really having a good time anymore.

I crumpled to the ground, my world spinning, when I noticed...I noticed he’d given up. He was being swallowed by the earth, like so many before him.

Maybe if …..if I hadn’t betrayed him...I’m sorry.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry, Wirt…” I clung to his cloak, not sure if my vision was more blurry from crying or the cold.

I wanted to pull the cloak tighter around him, warm him up at least a little, but there were branches- so many branches- in the way.

In ‘Dante’s Inferno’, those who gave up...well, those who committed suicide became trees. I had theorized that this place was a sort of purgatory, and sadly, it seemed my theory had some merit.

I had so many questions. Where was Gregory? How long had Wirt been here, devoured by these branches, submitting to the spoil of the earth? Could I still save him?

I pulled my knife out of my bag- it’s not a good traditional knife, no, it’s a box cutter I bought at a dollar store before we...before we died, perhaps, if this was indeed purgatory. I held it like a hacksaw, trying to stop the trees. But he shuddered as though I was hurting him. I gave up on the knife.

I was tired, so very tired...I sat next to him, curled up, sobbing.

A branch snaked towards me, and wrapped it’s way around my wrist. It’d be so easy to let it win...to just close my eyes...two trees, together forever...no more worries, no more sorrows…

“N-NO!” Yelled a strangled voice beside me. Wirt? I heard the cracking sound of wood breaking, and a silhouette stood before me. One with a pair of antlers that curled out, draped with autumn leaves….

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” It screamed, facing the forest. Wirt!

I summoned the last of my strength to stand by him. “Yeah! I said I’m tired, not that I’m giving up!” I yelled, perhaps to the creature just out of sight, or perhaps to myself. “WE’RE GOING HOME, EVEN IF IT KILLS US!”

“(Y/N)!” Said Wirt, spinning around to see me. I lunged towards him, wrapping my arms tightly around his body.

“Wirt, I am so, so sorry.” I whispered.

"Why....why did you do it?" He said softly.

"I promise I'll tell you everything soon, but right now...just trust me. We need to find Greg, and after that, you'll never have to talk to me again, you can hate me...but just trust me right now. Please."

"(Y/N)...I shouldn't have trusted you, but I could never hate you." He said, looking down.

"Then c'mon. Let's find your brother."

We leaned on each other, neither of us had the strength to walk, but we pressed on anyway. We had to find Greg. But when you walk like that, when one person trips, so does the other…

We plunged into icy water, and I no longer had the strength to swim.

*******

You’re sinking like a stone

Before the tide.

The river runs cold…

The fight is over….

#otgwxreader #otgw wirt #over the garden wall #wirt #wirt otgw #wirt x reader #over the garden wall x reader #otgw x reader

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stars-below · 3 years

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posting this literally at the last minute, but! My day 1 submission for AUgust is here! (i'm doing a little scene for a different AU every ~two days bcause i will not be able to keep up otherwise)

AUgust Day I: Relativity Falls

|| (next)

The basement (the basement they're not allowed to be in, the one and only rule Grauntie Mabel has really put down, and just the thought of being down here makes Stanley's blood freeze) is alight with harsh lights, like something out of an old sci-fi movie; one of the ones Lee hates with over-the-top-effects and buckets of fake blood, but the thought is pushed away in favor of keeping his lunch down. The room seems to spin around him, his stomach doing flips as gravity itself seems to be more of a suggestion than a rule.

From the control panel, he can see Mabel, her bright sweater muted in the glaring lights. She stands down there, alone, in front of the yawning maw of the huge machine, and despite how afraid he is, Stan kind of wants to be down there with her.

"Now, you boys stay up here and sit tight, alright?" She'd insisted, and though he could tell she was comforting herself as much as them, Stan knew better than to say anything. "I'm counting on both of you to get a good record of this for the nerd books." She'd booped his nose, and then she'd been gone.

Beside him, Stanford trembles, glasses lifting off of his nose. His brother's arms are crumpled around himself, and Stan is quick to wrap one of his own around around Ford, pulling him close. "D-D'you think she's...." He manages, but the words don't come. They don't have to, Stan's always known what Ford's really worried about.

"She'll be back." He huffs like it's obvious, like if he can pretend he believes it, Ford'll believe it too. "Mabel'll be fine, she said so."

The room gives another sickening lurch, and then suddenly Stanley's floating. His stomach squirms as the floor gets so far away, and he can do little more than curl into a ball, holding himself (and Ford) tight, and wait for it all to stop.

Below them, in the other half of the basement, the portal starts to hum, picking up speed and bathing everything in sharp blue.

Everything seems to slow down, and if Ford says something, Stanley doesn't hear it.

Either an hour or a second later, everything comes crashing down and when Stan dares to look there's, suddenly there's someone standing where it used to be? A broad-shouldered figure, backlit by the dying flickers of the portal, and all Stan can see is his father. All he can see is how small Mabel seems from up here, and how alone she looks.

He slips his hand from Ford's as gently as he can manage, and sneaks out of the control room. Barrels down the stairs as quickly as he can bear, trained instinct keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible.

Stan bolts down to the bottom level, ducking behind a nearby bit of debris before he can be seen, and prepares for the worst. This stranger is gonna try to hurt his Grauntie, and he's gonna make him regret it.

Completely unaware of the backup waiting for her, Mabel throws her arms out at the figure like she's going to catch him. "Dipper!" She practically giggles, bursting forward to catch the man- just a little bit shorter than her, Stan realizes- in a tight hug. "You got old!"

She laughs, spinning him around in an overexcited circle, and barely seems to register his complaint (a muffled "We're the same age, goofball!").

The strange man dusts himself off, his kinda cool outfit thrown off somewhat by the healthy sprinkling of glitter now coating his jacket, and gives her a stern look for just a second, before breaking into a grin. Stanley is suddenly struck by just how similar he looks to Mabel. "We did it. You did it; I-"

Unfortunately, Stanley's grip on the crate he's hiding behind chooses that exact moment to slip, and he stumbles out into view, and when he dares look, the man's eyes are fixed on him, expression unreadable.

"Is that, Mabel, is that a child?" He balks, looking back to Mabel with a frown. "What's going on, you know-"

Mabel cuts him off with a sharp sound, turning back to Stan, though she lets him duck behind her a little. "Dip-dop, this is our adorable great-nephew Stanley! Stan, this is my baby-brother Dipper; he's a lot less grumpy than he looks, I promise."

She throws her hand out in a flourish, gesturing at him like she's showing him off, and Stanley can't help but feel like one of the exhibits upstairs. Great-uncle Dipper seems equally nonplussed with the display, sputtering something under his breath.

Mabel repeats the gesture again, for emphasis, though neither gives her the reaction she wants.

"You can't be serious." Dipper grunts, one hand coming up to pinch his forehead. "You brought a child here, with everything going on!? How old is that kid even, 8? 9? Do you have any idea how many ways he could have screwed everything up?"

Stanley grumbles in protest, but neither adult seems to register the sound.

"We had a plan, Mabel!" The man snaps. "You know how dangerous this could be- What were you thinking!?"

Mabel's form goes stock-still, that eerie moment that Stan knows means things are about to get loud. "What happened, Dipper, is he needed our- needed my help!" She snaps back, and Stan's never heard Mabel angry like that, her warm, comforting voice twisted into a snarl. "What happened is our nephew is a piece of work, and I couldn't just stand by and watch him hurt my family! You haven't been here, you don't get to judge me; I-"

She cuts herself off, taking in a sharp breath, and her grip on Stanley's shoulder is warm, but not tight. "Dipper, I've been so alone since you've been gone, and I can't do it anymore. I've missed out on so much, there's so much I just let go of, trying to hold onto you. I don't know if I can forgive myself for how bad things got as it is."

The old man, Dipper, opens his mouth to growl something back, but Mabel doesn't give him the chance. The animosity doesn't return to her voice, but her shoulders grow tense again, her throat tight. "I promised I'd protect this family, Dip, and I mean it. I will die before I see these kids back in that house. If that's a problem for you, then it's my problem, and you can take it out on me."

There's silence at that, the old man's face going blank as what remains of the light from the portal dying out. It's only broken, eventually, when he reflects on her words, and tilts his head. "Wait, kids?"

#gravity falls #relativity falls #mabel pines #grauntie mabel #stanley pines #dipper is also here #ford is too but only barely #not what she seems #kind of also the start of whatever the equivalent to atots is #it's technically 12:30 rn but the day doesn't end until i go to bed

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jengis-morrangis · 3 years

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Keeping Warm

I got the idea to this story from artwork by the talented @3three-question-marks. I’d also like to thank @pacific-ship for her amazing help beta reading this story for me. Enjoy!

A cold breeze came flowing into the attic of the Mystery Shack as Dipper cracked the door slightly and quickly slid his way through. “Close the door, hurry!” Mabel commanded from her bed.

“Okay, okay!” Dipper said as he fidgeted with the door. The handle wasn’t working correctly, so after a few failed attempts to close the door by turning the knob and pushing it, he decided to forcefully barge his shoulder into it, causing it to jam shut.

He turned around to see Mabel sitting at the head of her bed. She was sitting up, legs crossed as she cupped the lantern between their bed with gloved hands. “My fingers are cold.” She whimpered dramatically.

Dipper brought his hands up to his face, balling them into fists and twisting them next to his eyes with a sad face in a non verbal ‘boo hoo.’ Mabel gasped in response, and Dipper just barely had enough time to duck as a pillow came flying over his head.

“Hey!” He shouted. Mabel smirked back at him.

“Could you toss that back to me?” She asked in her overly gentle voice she used when she asked for something.

“What? You really think I’m gonna give it back?”

Mabel flickered her eyelashes and smiled innocently. “Please?”

Dipper groaned. He paused for a moment as he thought. “What if I don’t?” He asked boldly.

“You will.” Mabel said with a smirk. Dipper raised his eyebrows as a challenge, and Mabel raised hers right back. Their impromptu staring contest stretched on for a moment before Dipper groaned again.

“Ugh. Fine.” He picked up the pillow and tossed it back to her. She caught it and hugged it snuggly to her chest.

“Thanks, Dip.”

“Don’t mention it.” He sat down on his bed and took off his outer coat. Mabel went back to cupping the lantern for warmth.

Winter in Gravity Falls was a whole different ball game than Piedmont. The twins knew this when they prepared for winter break in Gravity Falls by packing lots of cold weather clothes, but this was ridiculous. Soos had installed insulation during renovations to the shack, but it was still freezing cold.

To make matters worse, the heating to the shack had broken just before the twins arrived, so they had spent the entire first week of their trip doing whatever they could just to keep warm. They usually didn’t hang around the shack unless they were working. Instead, they’d go somewhere warmer, like the Gravity Falls public library or Greasy’s Diner. Anywhere to get out of the cold.

Unfortunately for them they couldn’t do that today. A massive blizzard had blown through town, and they had been snowed in, hardly able to even leave the shack. They had to find a way to stay warm. They were pleased to find a decent source of heat from the old, beat up wood furnace in the kitchen. The twins sat next to it and occasionally fed it wood during their game of cards.

At first it wasn’t very strong, so they had to sit next to it in winter clothing to keep warm, but by the end of the day they managed to warm the entire kitchen. They even had to take off their outer layers to keep from sweating. But of course, it couldn’t last, and soon the time came to sleep.

At first they thought about sleeping in the kitchen. They tried to lay out their sleeping bags, but it just wasn’t comfortable. Eventually they gave up and resigned to the freezing attic. Now here they were, desperately trying to keep warm.

”Jeez. It’s so cold up here. I’ve got no idea how we’re going to get any sleep.” Dipper grumbled. Mabel looked around the room at their beds and covers.

“Well Dip, I’ve got a fantabulous idea!” She grabbed her pillow and blanket before standing up and skipping excitedly across the room until she stood next to his bed. “Cuddle time!”

“O-okay.” He unfolded his arms from around his chest and scooted back on the bed to make room for her before extending his arms as if to greet her with a hug.

“Wait, what?” Mabel was thrown for a loop.

“What about what?”

“Just like that?”

“Just like what?”

“Usually you do that whole, ‘ugh Mabel I don’t wanna cuddle with you cause we’re way too old for that’ act, but I totally know you actually do wanna cuddle and you’re just faking it cause you wanna seem ‘grown up’ and all, then I gotta sweet talk you into it, then we cuddle and you pretend to not like it but I know you totally like it. So what gives? What’s the deal? You luring me into a trap or something? Gonna prank me?” She jokingly raised her fists in a defensive posture. Mostly jokingly.

Dipper sat in silence for a moment. His arms had lowered and his hands had fallen into his lap during Mabel’s rapid fire spiel. Mabel was ready for some sort of witty response. Instead, Dipper extended his arms out to Mabel again. “Please, Mabel. I’m so cold.”

Mabel was overwhelmed with sympathy and lowered her fists. She felt slightly guilty that she would think he would try to trick her. “Aw jeez, Dip. You’re such a cutie. I can’t say no to you.” She sat down on the bed next to him and they embraced each other.

It was nice to lay down next to Dipper, but it didn’t feel like they were actually cuddling with all these layers on. She wanted to actually feel his warmth. “Hey Dip, take your coat off.”

“What? Why?”

“Cause this isn’t real cuddling. I need skin contact!” She whined.

“But isn’t the whole point of this to stay warm?”

“Skin contact!”

“Okay, fine! Crybaby.” He grumbled.

“Fine then! With that attitude I’ll just go back to my own bed.” She started to get up, but was quickly stopped when Dipper wrapped her in a hug.

“No! Please, Mabel, I was joking! I’m sorry!” She chuckled as she sat back down.

“Alright, enough messing around. It’s cuddle time!”

“Yes ma’am.” Dipper replied as he took off his coat.

They laid their coats on top of themselves to provide an extra layer from the cold. They cuddled close and wrapped their arms around each other, pressing their bodies together and snaking their arms around each other. Mabel breathed a comfortable sigh of relief. Much better.

She had to admit that they were getting a bit too old for this. Or rather, too big. They were in their sophomore year of highschool, but thankfully were still able to fit on a single twin bed together.

Several minutes passed in blissful silence. Their breathing became steady and slow, and soon Mabel began dozing off into sleep. Unfortunately, her dozing was interrupted by Dipper shifting away from her. The gap between them left room for the cold air, which to Mabel, felt comparable to a cold bucket of water being dumped on her legs.

She quickly shifted closer to Dipper to close the gap between them and was satisfied by the warmth she found. She barely breathed a sigh of relief before Dipper shifted further away again. Mabel was especially annoyed once she realized he was keeping his distance intentionally.

“Diiiip, where are you going? Get back here bro!” Mabel whined. She tugged on him to draw him back to her, but he continued to resist her.

“N-no I don’t think we should get that cl-” Mabel linked her hands behind his back and pulled so that they collided together. He let out a high pitched squeak, squirmed out of her grasp and scurried away. But it was too late. In the short time that they were together, Mabel felt something brush against her thigh. Something warm, swollen and hard. She didn’t understand at first, but after a moment of eye contact with Dipper's flushed and embarrassed face, it dawned on her what was happening.

“Oh.”

“Ah jeez!” Dipper backed up so far he banged his head against the wall. He held his head where it hit and clenched his eyes shut. “I’m sorry, Mabel, I shouldn’t ha-”

“Dip!” She interrupted. He went silent and peeked up at her. She didn’t know how she was feeling about this exactly, but she did know she didn’t want to hear Dipper apologizing right now. She wasn’t offended, that was for sure, and she wasn’t angry. At the most she was a bit shocked, but she was more curious than anything else.

“Why… why is it… I mean… why?”

“W-what?”

Mabel took a moment to collect herself before trying to form an actual question. “I mean… I know why it’s like that but… what’s causing it?”

Dippers face was continuing to get redder by the second. He opened and closed his mouth a few times with no words coming out before he finally spoke. “Are we really talking about this?”

“Dip! You don’t need to-” She took a breath to dial herself back and remember the kind of state he was in. “You don’t need to be ashamed. I’m not angry or anything. I swear. Just be honest.”

”Well… you really… I mean… sorry, it’s freezing out and I guess cuddling with a pretty girl really made my body… react.”

“Oh…” Was all Mabel said before they fell back into silence. Mabel tapped her fingers together while Dipper rubbed his face in shame. ”You think I’m pretty?” she asked after a long pause.

Dipper gave an embarrassed laugh at that. The question caught him so off guard that he thought she was joking at first. It wasn’t until he looked up and saw the hurt and confusion on her face that he realized she was serious.

The smile disappeared from his face. She was trying to keep her face inscrutable, but Dipper saw the fear hiding behind her eyes. She looked so vulnerable, and he had laughed at her. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but he could tell she was hurt by him laughing. “Of course. You’re the one who’s always bragging about how cute you are.”

“Yeah I know that but… do you think I’m pretty?” Dipper looked down at the sheets at that, and even through the darkness Mabel could see a red tinge on his cheeks. He stayed like that for probably half a minute, silently considering what to say, hoping the darkness was concealing his embarrassment.

“Y-yeah.” He said it like a guilty man confessing to a crime.

She could tell she was blushing from that. She didn’t realize she had such an effect on Dipper. Mabel thought he was cute when he was embarrassed. But boner or not, she wanted to cuddle again.

“Well can we maybe… get back to cuddling?” Mabel asked.

“Y-you still wanna cuddle? Even after… even with my…” He gestured down to his crotch area, blushing even more than he already was.

“Yes Dip, I’m sure of it. Like you said; your body and mind are all out of whack, which is fine. So stop being weird.” She gave him a bright smile and poked him in the shoulder in an attempt to dispel the awkwardness.

He shrugged awkwardly. “O-okay, I guess.” He laid down on his side and lifted the blanket so that Mabel could join him, which she did with an enthusiastic smile and a light giggle. She wrapped him in a hug and nuzzled into his side. After several minutes they got back into a gentle rhythm of breathing.

Mabel felt safe and secure in his arms, just like she had before the whole awkward cuddling boner situation unfolded. Speaking of which, she could still feel tension in his pajamas, a clear hint that it hasn’t gone away yet. Not that she minded, it’s not like he could control it.

She thought again about what he had said, ‘cuddling with a pretty girl…’ She felt butterflies flutter in her stomach at the memory of those words. His words were so simple, yet so genuine. She could tell that he meant it.

She turned her head up to look at him, and found him looking down at her. His eyes were different. There was an intense energy behind them that she couldn’t name, but it made her butterflies flap even harder. The feeling of comfort mixed with nervousness inside Mabel.

He was handsome, she thought. She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek as he did the same for her, rubbing a thumb across her jaw and making her skin tingle.

They were staring each other in the eyes, briefly flickering their gazes down to each other's lips.

”Hey dudes! I got the heat fixed!” They suddenly heard Soos call up the stairs and his footsteps coming closer.

They briefly shared a look of terror before Mabel lunged to her bed, almost tripping on the blankets. She was sitting on her bed when the door creaked open and Soos peeked in.

”Hey dudes, I fixed the heat- woah! What happened?”

It was at this moment that Mabel realized how they looked. They were both red in the face and breathing heavily. Dipper was on his bed with both their blankets and Mabel was sitting on her bed awkwardly.

”You okay dude?” He asked Mabel. “You look red as a tomato.”

”Yeah, I’m fine. Just… hot.” She said as she glanced toward Dipper.

”Really?” Soos sounded puzzled. “Well if that’s the case then I guess I’ll just leave the heat off-”

“No! No!” The twins interrupted, causing Soos to jump.

“Sorry… please keep it on.” Dipper said more calmly.

Soos looked between the two of them with a mixture of suspicion and confusion. “........You got it dudes!” He said before closing the door. His footsteps soon disappeared down the stairs.

The twins looked at one another. A million thoughts ran through their heads about what just happened, and what could have happened if they were caught doing what they were just doing. Soos probably wouldn’t think anything of it. They hugged, held hands and sat side by side on the couch all the time. But this was different, there was something more to what they just shared. Mabel thought. Or hoped.

It started off as a giggle between them, but soon they were both laughing heartily, the noise bouncing around the attic and neither of them could contain themselves. Soon it died down and everything was silent again. They stared at each other for a moment before averting their gaze. Mabel felt the cold grip of embarrassment as she wrung her hands. She had no idea what to say.

“Hey.” She looked up to see him toss her blanket over to her and she caught it just in time. She spread the blanket around her bed and laid back, then looked up to see Dipper laying on his back and smoothing out his sheets and pillow. He stopped and looked over at her.

He had a gentle smile on his face that perfectly communicated how he felt, and she knew they felt the exact same way: There was something more behind what they just shared. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it was something deeply personal and intimate. And they were both totally cool with it. That made Mable’s insides goey for some reason.

“Goodnight, Mabel.”

“Goodnight, Dipper. I love you.” Every muscle in Mabel’s body tensed as she realized what she had just said. She sat motionlessly in terrified silence, wondering why she said that. Then she wondered why something she had said thousands of times suddenly felt so different. It felt as though an eternity had passed before Dipper's response came.

“I love you too, Mabel.” Her horror evaporated in a second. The icy grip of embarrassment was suddenly replaced with a gooey warmth that made her face hot and built pressure in her stomach. She wondered why something she’d heard constantly from him was suddenly turning her into such a nervous, sweaty mess. She had no clue why anything this evening had happened the way it did. All she knew was that she was in way over her head.

Uh oh.

===

The attic was warm. Well, warmer.

Mabel lies alone in her bed. She had shed her winter clothes and changed into her pajamas. There was no need now that the heating was fixed.

She was so glad to finally have a sanctuary from the frigid cold. Now they didn’t have to loiter somewhere just to stay warm. But she couldn’t feel totally at ease. She was warm enough to sleep, but she didn’t feel comfortable enough to sleep. Tonight felt incomplete, like she had unfinished business.

She laid on her side, looking at her brother. Her eyes were barely open, just a sliver as she stared at him through the darkness. He was still in his pajamas, his orange nightshirt. He was laying with his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, seeming to be in deep thought.

She wanted so badly to be in his arms again and feel his warmth.

Mabel always thought it was cute when he made his thinking face when he didn’t think anyone was looking. The way his eyebrows would furrow and he would have a focused look in his eyes and his nose would scrunch slightly. This could be caused by any range of emotions, this time he seemed anxious.

He looked over at her, and she quickly shut her eyes. “Mabel. Mabel, are you awake?” He asked. She stayed silent. She didn’t want to talk. She was still shaken by what happened earlier, and they haven’t spoken since. She knew that any conversation they had would inevitably lead to it, and she had no idea what to say. She felt so awkward, something she rarely felt, and she hated every time she felt it.

She heard him shift slightly and could tell that he went back to staring at the ceiling. She slowly cracked her eyes open again, and saw that he had. Suddenly she felt a tickle in her nose. It was growing fast, and she couldn’t stop it before she inhaled and let out a quick sneeze.

There was a moment of silence and Mabel shut her eyes again. No doubt Dipper was looking at her. She was waiting for him to go back to looking at the ceiling so she could—

“You know it’s physically impossible to sneeze while sleeping, right?” Mabel could hear the grin on Dipper's face. Mabel cursed herself internally. Was that true? Is he just trying to trick her? Dangit Dipper!

Mabel groaned as she propped herself up on her pillow to make eye contact with him. “Ugh, jeez. You’re such a dork. Why do you know so much useless garbage.”

“It’s not useless if it came in handy, is it?” Dipper said, still smiling.

“Ugh, mega dork!”

They stared at each other for a little. Not breaking eye contact other than to blink. Dipper’s cocky grin had faded, and now his eyes seemed to be full of questions he was too afraid to ask. Mabel was sure she probably looked the same. But it wasn’t just that. There was something else in his eyes. Something powerful. Something she had only ever seen earlier when they were cuddling during their brief eye contact. It scared her.

“Can’t sleep?” Dipper broke the silence.

“Nope.”

“Still cold? I could give you my jacke—”

“No it’s not that.” Mabel felt her insides tingle at his concern. Gosh he’s such a sweetheart. “Just… lonely…” She said vaguely.

Dipper scoffed lightly. “Lonely? I’m right here!”

“Yeah, aaaaall the way over there.” Dippers eyebrows raised slightly. He seemed to understand, but didn’t say anything. He was silent for a moment, clearly thinking. He seemed nervous about whatever he was mulling about in his mind.

“Want to… come over? We could have a sleepover?”

Her smile spread into a grin and her heart began beating faster again. “Y-yes… I’d love that!” Her face erupted with a huge smile and Dipper’s face mirrored her in turn.

Wrapping herself in her blanket, she journeyed across the creaking wooden floor to Dipper’s bed. He scooted away closer to the wall to make space for her before she laid down next to him. She curled right into his chest and they intertwined their legs so just about every part of them was touching.

Whatever questions or worries they had could wait for another time. But for now, they could enjoy each other's warmth.

#myfics #pinecest

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by-inky · 3 years

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random Amira (twst) headcanons

,,are those headcanons if she’s my oc? dunno

am just vibing ok (more headcanons here)

Amira likers (if you do even exist) come get yo juice

• Singing voice claims! I don’t really find a JP voice that would suit her but I did find quite some songs with the pitch I see for her! please click on the links for the songs!

Ashes (Promare) - Hiroyuki Sawano feat. Gemie (especially the second part ≈2:12, it’s more potent)

BAR2NG4女14yoN (Promare) - Hiroyuki Sawano (voice at 0:30 but the part at 1:03 is very potent too)

Poor Unfortunate Souls/I Put a Spell on You - Voctave ft. Rachel Potter

Gurenge - AmaLee cover (I see Amira’s voice as more velvety or warm, but the pitch is thERE)

Arabian Nights (Aladdin) - JADA cover

Tick Tock - Clean Bandit & Mabel ft. 24kGoldn (this voice is a bit different from the others but I still see it a pretty good match)

linked to the previous point, her voice generally would be pretty potent and energetic. she probably uses to sing when she’s feeling a bit stressed, but also hums mindlessly when she’s doing something like cooking or tidying

likes to cook a lot! she didn’t have to do that since there are maids at her place, but still really enjoys it. it started as a challenge to herself when she was younger; she desperately wanted to be proud of herself by not letting people making her things, and found it enjoyable quickly. she also helped Jamil to cook from time to time (cough sneakily cough),, she can cook lots of plates now and still wants to expand her knowledge! also man her cooking is delicious

linked to the previous point!! she has nO IDEA how to cook seafood tho, especially mollusks,, those aren’t common at her place, and she never had the chance to lay a hand on them pls help her. I also hc that Jamil also doesn’t have much of a clue to cook them, so they’re just confused together. Of course I can’t talk for him, but I think it’d be pretty funny (the Yuu in the last pic is Carol, @fumikomiyasaki’s Yuu)

her sunglasses aren’t there for display!! Amira’s flirtatious (?) personality sometimes hypnotizes accidentally. her UM requires her to look seductively at someone. by training this magic, she involuntary got used to it, to a point that it made part of her behavior. the sunglasses block her red eyes light, so she doesn’t hypnotize someone unknowingly.

maybe I've already mentioned this before, but she has three siblings, all younger than her

Amira was a very mature kid for her age because she had to look after her mom😩

about Amira’s mom: she was forced to marry the son of a wealthy man. Her family is wealthy too, so the marriage was arranged between the children of two high-statused friends. she wasn’t too contrary to the marriage since she started to feel something for his fiancé. during the marriage, she genuinely fell for his husband, but he had to be away during prolonged times due to business. she then realized that the marriage was like a cage that she couldn’t be freed from, and slowly but surely developed a depression. she fell out of love with her husband, thus worsening her state. now she’s most of her time in her room and doesn’t get out too often. she looks tired and melancholic.

about Amira’s dad: absent father 102%, both physically and emotionally. he’s a quite reckless man, full of himself and pretty narcissistic as well due to how well his business goes.

OVERBLOT REASONS: arson since Amira’s twisted off Jafar’s staff, there HAS to be manipulation somewhere. She had pretty many reasons to overblot (looking after one of her parents; being looked down by men; being turned down numerous times by her father), that grew in the span of a year.

may I say that her place is quite male chauvinist,,her father is passive-aggressive to her and her younger sister (who would be the “next in line” before a boy) only because they’re women

Amira’s family is wealthy and known for this along her land, and has a small nobility title. But not high enough as her father wants.

Amira’s father wanted to get her married to a son of a noble family. She is VERY contrary to this, however. The father, then, decided to make a bet with her; enroll her in NRC, a male-only school, and force her to study there for three years. If the school didn’t kick her out for being a woman, she wouldn’t get married. If it did, she’d marry the eldest son of a friend of his. She was terrified of this, so she kept a cover for the first year that blew out at the beginning of the second year due to her overblot.

I KNOW THIS SOUNDS SO CLICHÉ OK BUT IT’S THE BEST I COULD CAME OUT WITH

the subtle manipulation would continue even at the school due to the cover and create her pain. She had to cover her outgoing personality, not to mention voice, movements and face traits, to keep her safe. She would stray away and just look like a shy boy, avoiding crowds and groups of people.

but everything would burst when there’s an argument between her and Jamil (probably about a small thing, but things heated up), and he yelled that he was using her all that time; Amira is close with him since childhood and many times offered to help him with chores. He’d say he used her kindness to shorten the tasks, when that wasn’t true at all. Jamil was skeptical of her at first, but then genuinely opened up and warmed up to her, he only said that to hurt her feelings. Which did.

and boom overblot time. Maybe I’ll draw it one day, but she’d have a big black and red cobra around her neck, and the figure behind her would be the same cobra as in the snake staff, but black with red and golden ornaments.

ALSO IF YOU HAVE AN OC BASED OFF ALADDIN TELL ME SO WE CREATE TENSION BETWEEN THEM AND AMIRA SINCE ALADDIN BROKE JAFAR’S STAFF

sadiq very probably had a crush on Amira at one point, but it was delusional

she dislikes coldness wiTH A PASSION

she loves lanterns!! especially the ones with warmer colors!

and I see that whenever she feels sad, she would hide inside a closet or under a desk. it makes her feel covered and helps her calm down faster.

THANKS FOR STAYING UNTIL THE END HERE A SMOOCH

MWAH

#twisted wonderland #twst oc #amira hassan #twst amira #scarabia oc #twst

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athingthatwantsvirginia · 3 years

Text

Nora Roberts Shit Like That

PART FORTY-THREE OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: mentions of depression symptoms, plentiful pop culture references

Word Count: 4.4K

Summary: Ella performs another exercise in spontaneity.

A/N: We've still got the epilogue left, but this is the final regular chapter. Sorry this took so long; endings give me writer’s block. Thank you so much for reading! I have absolutely loved writing this story. I hope you like this chapter! :)

By late May, summer was blooming early and warm and fragrant in Philadelphia. Ella pulled her hair back in a low bun as she padded out onto the terrace. The sun was finally going down, painting the sky a pinkish orange. In the small view of the city past the other apartment buildings, she could see the buildings beginning to light up, tiny and twinkly. Jess was already out there, with a copy of Sharp Objects in hand. He chewed on his eraser, his brows furrowed as he concentrated on the words. There were already chunks of Ella’s messy cursive decorating the pages, and she’d insisted he read it as soon as she finished it the week before. He was already three quarters of the way through.

“This book is fucking crazy, Stevens,” he said as she walked out, not looking up from the text.

“Yeah, cutie. That’s why I like it,” she told him, smiling widely and leaning against the railing next to him.

“So unpredictable,” he deadpanned.

“Whatever, James Dean,” she replied, rolling her eyes and snorting a laugh.

Smirking, he finally shut the book and tossed it back onto one of the mismatched armchairs. Following her gaze, he saw the flaming orangey sun descending behind the cityscape. With the evening light reflected against her freckled face, he could see the green flecks in her eyes when he turned to look at her.

At first, she had not wanted to go to the graduation ceremony at all. She certainly wasn’t walking across the stage in a gown. But, she decided to go for the undergrads she had been the teacher assistant for. They clapped in the auditorium, and went out with Chris, Leo, Matthew, and Mabel to try the new Italian restaurant, which ended up being decent. It wasn’t entirely unceremonious, but there wasn’t much fanfare. Jess didn’t expect Ella to want anything more. She’d ended up finishing her finals a week before the actual ceremony, anyway.

But, still, she was finally done. Chris had even ordered a cake for the table in celebration, despite Ella’s blushy protests. She doubted it would sink in for a while. She was a perpetual student, and was already beginning to feel anxious without steady classwork and homework. But she would start teaching her summer classes in a week or two, and she was planning to fill her time with art and helping out at Truncheon until then.

For the moment, though, she watched the sunset. She felt the night begin to cool down, breezes blowing past her. And Jess could practically feel her relax. Since deciding to take the job at Penn, she’d seemed calmer. He hadn’t realized just how heavily it had been weighing on her until after it was over. She was using vibrant color in her paintings again, which he hadn’t seen in what felt like years. She was coming around to Truncheon after her classes, spending nights with their friends up in the apartment. She was playing music with Leo and running lines with Mabel.

Of course, she still had days when she felt so hopeless about the state of her life, and honestly, the world, that she couldn’t even explain her sadness. But she was working on it. She was trying. It made Jess so proud he almost couldn’t handle it. Watching her, so comfortable in her own skin, made a tiny smirk form on his lips.

As though she could feel his gaze, she suddenly faced him again. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said lightly. “Just looking at you.”

“At me?” she mocked him with dramatic batting of her eyelashes and a breathy voice.

“What can I say? You’re irresistible,” he quipped with a shrug.

She rolled her eyes, trying to brush off the flush rising to her cheeks. “You have to stop saying Nora Roberts shit like that to me.”

“Never,” he shot back smugly.

“Jackass.”

“Nihilist,” he said, then pressed a kiss to her rosy cheek. “A nihilist with a master’s degree.”

“Yeah, it seems that way,” she said, her words a sigh.

“Hey, Stevens,” he began, tilting his head at her a little.

“Yes, Mariano?” she echoed, teasing.

“I’m really proud of you,” he said sincerely.

She bit at the inside of her cheek and smoothed her hands over her simple olive green dress, fidgety and blushing once more. “Thank you. I’m proud of me, too.”

Jess’s smile widened but he felt his heartbeat picking up, stomach churning with anxiety. He felt so wholly content standing next to her, so completely enveloped by love. Dimples and Bette Davis eyes and a loud laugh. So stubborn and passionate and understanding. She was the end and the beginning of everything for him, and he almost felt out of breath at the thought of what was going to happen next. He cleared his throat and ran a hand over his mouth anxiously.

“You okay?” she asked, noticing his uneasiness.

He nodded. “Yeah, Elle...yeah.”

Sighing, Jess decided to bite the bullet, rip off the bandaid. His hands were shaky with excitement. He went over to the suit jacket draped over the armchair behind him. Reaching into his inside pocket, he grabbed the small velvet box. Ella looked on in confusion, as he turned back around and landed on one knee.

A thick shadow of realization crossed her face and her mouth fell slightly agape. “No way.”

“Look, I know you don’t like the big romantic stuff. And please stop me if this all too much of a patriarchal mating ritual for you. But I love you and you love me and we love each other,” he began, looking up at her. He had told himself not to cry, but he was already starting to. With the sunset behind her, Ella looked ethereal and beautiful. “And we’re supposed to be together.”

She rolled her eyes though they were growing tearful, letting out a scoff as he repeated back his own words from years earlier. The night he had tried to get her to come with him to New York flashed across her mind, but her heart didn’t twist in pain at the memory. Instead, it fluttered pleasantly.

“You Hemingway motherfucker,” she whispered through a watery laugh, though she blinked away the tears.

He chuckled breathily, face hot with scarlet color. “I’ll take that one as a compliment. But...I think we should get married. What about you?”

A small giggle escaped her lips before she could help it and she just couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she spoke. “Y’know, most of the time, I don’t really see the point in getting married.”

Jess’s face fell for only a second.

“But that’s most of the time,” she said. “Not when I’m with you, James Dean.”

After a moment of shock on his face, he scoffed and gave a dramatic groan. “Fuck off, Daria.”

Ella shrugged. “Just thought I should give you a taste of your own medicine,” she told him, smile turning to a smirk. “But, if you still wanna marry me after that one, then I’d love to.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “Really.”

Rising quickly, he enveloped her in a tight hug and kissed her. His lips were gentle and sweet, and almost reminded her of their first kiss so many years ago. Then again, each time he kissed her was pretty much as good as, if not better than, the first time. And, to her surprise, she felt no fear. Something clicked inside her, and she was completely certain. When she pulled away to look at him, she wiped at the stray tears which had fallen on his cheeks.

“I can’t believe you got down on one knee and everything,” she said.

He shrugged humbly. “I try.”

“That you do.”

He looked away from her intense gaze shyly and took a step back, holding the open ring box out to her. “Do you want this ring, by the way?”

“Ah yes! I almost forgot!” she said emphatically. As he had spoken, knelt down, she hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away from his own. Brown and sparkling and kind.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw the tiny stone. A polished light purple amethyst shone in the center, and she took it out and slipped the thin gold band over her left ring finger, staring at it. It fit perfectly, and Jess almost couldn’t believe it. After having found it in a tray in the antique store, he’d thought at least some resizing would be necessary.

“I know it’s not huge or anything, but-”

“It’s perfect, Mariano. I mean, it’s fucking lavendar,” she said, flabbergasted.

Jess smirked a tiny smirk. “Yeah, well, lavender is for luck.”

. . .

Sat at the island with a paper open in front of him, Jess munched on his cereal. He couldn’t help the smile which was constantly tugging at the corners of his mouth. They were getting married. In all honesty, he hadn’t been entirely sure she would say yes, given her aversion to most things traditional and romantic. Then again, she had certainly seemed to come around to his idealist ways as of late, at least a little bit. And he’d wanted to do it the way it was usually done, on one knee with a ring box open in his hand. He didn’t know exactly what had possessed him to do so, but he was glad. She deserved something normal, something just the right amount of sweet.

Padding on bare feet, Ella waltzed towards the kitchen wearing nothing but one of Jess’s t-shirts, body and mind light from the night before. The early sunshine of the morning bathed the apartment in a sparkling golden glow, made more beautiful by their own joy, it seemed. On her finger, she wore the ring, still new and foreign. But she felt her heart speed up a bit every time she looked down at it. She, too, had been surprised at the way he’d proposed. But, somehow, it managed to feel perfect. It wasn’t over-the-top, but it felt like Jess. Earnest and charming.

He didn’t hear her, too engrossed in his reading, until she pressed a kiss to the top of his head on her way by. He winked at her when they made eye contact, and she rolled her eyes playfully in response as she put on some tea and coffee.

“Hey, Jess?” she asked, leaning over the counter across from him, mimicking their days at Luke’s Diner.

“Hm?” he said, looking up from the news with eyebrows raised.

“Do you wanna get married?” She bit at the inside of her cheek, slightly anxious.

“Well, considering I just proposed to you yesterday, I’d say yeah, I wanna get married,” he replied, teasing and slightly confused.

“No. I meant today,” she continued.

He chuckled a bit, but then saw she was serious. “Today?”

A smile blossomed on her face and she shrugged. “Yeah. Why not? Let’s just go down to the courthouse. We could call up Chris and everyone, to see if they wanna be our witnesses. ”

He gave a surprised scoff, raising his eyebrows. “Pretty spontaneous of you.”

She shrugged, a small smirk on her lips. “I learned from the best. I mean, do you really wanna spend all that money? I don’t really care about having a wedding. The whole tradition seems pretty antiquated to me, anyway.”

“Agreed,” Jess replied, nodding. “Except, what about Luke and Lorelai? And Lane?”

“I mean, we’ve all been to weddings. They’re pretty much the same every time. We can send them a card or something. I just wanna do it, Mariano,” she said, eyes wide and starry with excitement. “I don’t wanna wait. I mean, we’ve been together, more or less, for like, seven years.”

“Minus about four years in the middle there,” Jess pointed out, chuckling.

She rolled her eyes playfully. “Like you weren’t pining for me that whole time, loverboy.”

“Hypocrite,” he shot back. “You really wanna do this””

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” she said, with the most certainty possible. It made Jess so happy he almost wanted to start crying.

“You sure you don’t wanna plan it out and everything? I know how much you love planning,” Jess said. His heart was racing in his chest at her proposition. But, he was waiting for her to second-guess it, for her feet to turn cold. He didn’t want her to doubt her decision later, even if the idea of marrying her immediately made him beyond ecstatic.

“I love you more, though,” she said. “But I only want to do it if you want to also. What do you say, James Dean? Is today our wedding day?”

His smile grew, and he was practically beaming. “Yeah. It is.”

. . .

After a couple hours waiting on cold, hard wooden benches in the lobby of the courthouse, with Chris snapping as many pictures as possible on his fancy camera (which he bought inexplicably) and Mabel fussing over whether she had done Ella’s makeup well enough, the six of them stood in the air conditioning of the courthouse’s makeshift chapel. In her hands, Ella held a bouquet of thirteen yellow daffodils Jess had picked up from the supermarket on the way. Her stomach was doing flips, her smile was beginning to hurt her cheeks. Despite the spontaneity of the decision, she was beginning to feel like she had been waiting forever. The period after arriving at the courthouse when Leo had to sweet talk one of his friends from high school, who worked as an administrator at city hall, into giving them a marriage license without the customary 24-hour delay had been agony. But they had pulled it off.

They had all made an effort to look presentable, though Ella could hear her mother’s voice in the back of her mind calling them ragamuffins. Jess wore a simple white button-down with black pants, along with his only pair of real leather shoes and a belt to match. Over it, he wore the suit jacket Ella had been so shocked to see him in when she’d first come to Truncheon’s open house. No tie, of course. The only white dress Ella owned was covered in a pattern of black flowers, and she found the traditional sentiments about virginity behind white dresses to be troubling, to say the least. Instead, she opted for a plain navy blue dress with spaghetti straps, made from satin. It was the fanciest piece of clothing she owned, bought for a party at Truncheon two months earlier that had ultimately been cancelled due to a phantom March blizzard. If she had known at the time that it was to be her wedding dress, she would have laughed in disbelief.

On her feet were her old black ballet flats. She felt as though not wearing them would violate old time’s sake. Her hair was curled and pinned half-back. Her makeup was minimal, with small winged black eyeliner and muted pink lip gloss, a little less than she would have done on herself. But Mabel had practically squealed with delight when Ella asked her to put together the wedding look. Her heart swelled at the sight of Matthew and Chris standing behind Jess, and the thought of Leo and Mabel behind her. After so long feeling out of place, Ella thought she was exactly where she was supposed to be, with the exact right people. If she didn’t know any better, she would have called it destiny. But, at the idea, she wanted to roll her eyes at herself. It was Jess’s job to pull out the Hemingway bullshit.

Jess. As he stood across from her, she could see the ghost of the boy she’d met at the diner back when she was a frustrated high schooler. Back when he had been an angry kid. She thought of love at first sight, and how silly it was, and how whole-heartedly he believed in it. A jewel of fondness sat warmly in her core, and her eyes shone brightly with affection. Even back then, he had given her some sort of lively joy when her world was flat, filled with monotony, drudgery, grief. He had shown her how life could be, if she stopped holding onto her pain so tightly. And she liked to think she had shown him a thing or two, as well.

He looked so grown up. Still, it often struck her how much he had changed. The stubble on his jaw, the slight crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiled his slightly crooked smile, or, of course, smirked. His more respectable haircut and his more mature way of dressing. But there would always be a part of him that was exactly the same as it always had been. The foundation that sometimes cracked but never crumbled. The two of them against the world. She thought, not for the first time, of how wholly she trusted in him, more than she ever had before. He felt safe. She felt like she had known him for all eternity. And she felt so sure of marrying him that it was staggering. She swallowed thickly as the officiant gave his dull spiel about legal commitment, which he probably gave to some hopeful young couple every day. Blinking back the happy tears, willing them not to fall and ruin the makeup Mabel had worked so hard on, Ella did as the officiant said and passed her bouquet to Leo behind her. She and Jess joined hands. For some reason, the gesture seemed a bit cheesy, but she did it anyway, not without a sardonic smirk. He gave her fingers a squeeze of reassurance, winking at her, reading her expression expertly. She almost snorted a laugh, but bit the inside of her cheek to stop it. The officiant asked who would like to say their vows first, and Ella immediately spoke up.

“I will,” she said, looking over at the man and then back into Jess’s eyes. “You’re the writer here and I have no interest in following whatever you’re gonna say.”

Jess laughed a little, along with the rest of them, and nodded. He took in a deep breath, still shocked at what was happening. For the life of him, he could not remember a time he had ever before felt so content. The small, nagging voice in his mind told him he didn’t deserve her. She was perfect, after all. But then, she wasn’t, was she? She was stubborn and pessimistic and sometimes stuck in her ways. He loved those things about her, too, even if he sometimes didn’t like them. He had loved her the moment he saw her, and still did, even after finding her flaws. And she loved him, even after finding his. The thought made the voice in his head go completely quiet, for the first time in a very long time. The broken pieces of the puzzles which made them up just happened to fit together exactly, and that was all that mattered, he decided. And he wasn’t scared. He wasn’t nervous about her falling out of love with him. He wasn’t worried about her realizing he wasn’t enough. Instead, he felt complete. He felt ready.

Ella cleared her throat, biting the inside of her cheek again. Then, after taking a moment to compose herself, she began: “So, here we are, Mariano. I’m really happy we decided to do this today, but that means we didn’t have time to plan what to say beforehand. And, like I said, you’re the writer here. So, I’m just gonna try my best...like we always do. We try for each other. I promise I’ll keep trying forever. Because there’s not been one second since I met you that I haven’t wanted to be with you. I miss you whenever you’re gone, even if you’re only gone for a minute. Even when I fucking hate you, I want you with me. Because you are the only person who’s ever made me feel like I’m home.”

Pausing for a moment, she blinked back her tears again. And she disentangled one of her hands from his, to wipe away the dampness on his cheeks with her thumb. His face reddened with embarrassment, but still, the small smile was ever-present on his lips. She clasped her hand in his once more, and continued.

“I love you, simple as that. I didn’t even believe in love when I met you. But then you came and fucked that mindset up royally. You gave me a bed when I was drunk, and you wrote notes in the margins of my books, and you showed me the Hudson River. And a million other things. I have never known a person who is more kind and intelligent and generous and thoughtful. And such a smartass,” she added, and everyone laughed.

She shrugged playfully, and squeezed his hands in return. “You’re the fucking best. You’re it, cutie. I know you know how I feel about that hopeless romantic bullshit you’re partial to. And I never thought I’d believe in soulmates. But, today, with you, I do. Because you’re mine, James Dean. And I’m yours. You once told me we belonged to each other, and I think that’s true. So, why not make it official in the eyes of the law?”

Again, they laughed. But Jess had to choke back more crying at her words. And he had to prepare himself for what he knew was coming. She had always been the better public speaker. He was so nervous he could barely contain himself, despite her beautiful vows. In fact, maybe even because of them. She wasn’t the writer, but she’d pretty much nailed it, he thought. For a fleeting moment, he felt sick from the anxiety. What if he fucked it up? But, again, she squeezed his hands.

And he felt more sure of himself as the officiant passed the torch to him. He cleared his throat, sniffed, and met her ardent hazel gaze. At once, he felt like it was just the two of them.

“I may be the writer, Stevens. But in just a minute everyone will see why I didn’t go into public speaking,” he began. She shook her head a little at him and giggled, urging him to go on. “When I came back to Stars Hollow for my mom’s wedding, all I could think about was you. You were everywhere in that town, even when you weren’t. I wanted to tell you how much I loved you, and I didn’t know how. Granted, the plan I came up with to tell you definitely wasn’t the best. But, while I was there, Luke gave me this book to help me...learn about open communication.”

She let out another laugh and her cheeks were mirthful roses.

“Hilarious, I know,” he deadpanned, and she kept giggling. The sound made his grin widen. “Anyway, I’ll spare you the details, even though you’ve been asking me for them for years. I always wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Pretty much since the minute I saw you, honey. Even if you can’t relate to that Hemingway stuff, as you so eloquently put it. But there was one part in the book that made me decide to tell you. The narrator’s talking about the divorce of these two middle-aged tragedies named Philip and Judy. The narrator says Philip would have figured out how much he loved Judy if he had asked himself a few questions.”

Pausing, he averted her gaze for a moment. “I can’t believe Luke isn’t here to see me put this shit in my vows. I’m sorry, Eleanor.”

She chuckled through the happy tears welling in her eyes. “It’s okay, cutie. It’s perfect.”

He cleared his throat, nodding slightly. Taking his hands out of her grip, he reached into his jacket pocket to pull out an old, folded book page. He opened it, looking down, and began once more. “He should have asked himself the following questions: ‘Whose phone calls or visits are never unwanted or too long? Do you see her face? Who would you most like to have in your life to ward off moments of loneliness? Do you see her face? When you travel, who would make your travels more enjoyable? Do you see her face? When you’re in pain, who would you most like to comfort you? Do you see her face? When something wonderful happens in your life, with whom would you first want to share the news? Do you see her face? Whose face appears to you?’”

After the recitation, he folded the piece of paper back up and tucked it inside his jacket.

“Did you keep that this whole time?” she asked, blurting out the question before she could stop herself. She was overwhelmed with affection at the gesture, and for the moment, she could see no one else besides Jess as he stood across from her.

“Yeah, I ripped it out before I gave the book back to Luke,” he explained, lowering his voice, conspiratory.

She laughed. “Thief.”

He shrugged, unaffected. “Que será, será.”

Stifling another laugh, she nodded and composed herself. “Just checking. Go on.”

He retook her hands gently. His joking air disappeared and all at once, he was feeling the full weight of his emotion again. Clearing his throat, he hoped to ward off the shake in his voice. “I saw your face every time, Elle. Every single time. I wanted you to be that for me, and I wanted to be that for you. Because you’re beautiful, and you’re brilliant, and you’re the most unselfish person in the world. And I don’t want to spend one more second not married to you.” Then, after taking a deep breath, he finished: “Eleanor Stevens, I have been in love with you since I was seventeen.”

A smile so wide it hurt her spread across Ella’s face. She shook her head at herself as she began to cry just a little harder. Before she could think to say anything else, she pulled him in to place an affectionate kiss on his lips.

“Hey, we’ve still got a few paragraphs to get through, kids,” the officiant scolded them gruffly, though not unkindly.

Images of a flannel-clad diner owner back in Connecticut appeared in Ella’s mind. She caught Jess’s gaze, and he seemed to be thinking the same thing. She bit her lip, and then put her head to his shoulder, laughing loudly. His arm wrapped instinctively around her waist. Standing there, leaning on each other, they shook happily with messy giggles.

#gilmore girls fanfiction #jess mariano fanfiction #jess mariano x oc #jess x oc #gilmore girls au #jess mariano au #gilmore girls au fanfiction #jess mariano au fanfiction #gilmore girls #jess mariano #jess #oc #oc fanfiction #original character #x oc

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imnotoverlyobsessive · 3 years

Text

Looks Like Someone Picked a Whoke Bushel of Oopsie Daisies

Chapter Seven: On the Subject of Falling (part one)

Yes indeedy, I had to break it up into more than one part because this is like 5.6k words here so please forgive me my vices. Anyway. Get a change of underwear ready. It’s gonna get hot. Thank you to @edward-or-ford, as always!

I feel you crawling out my veins, leaving the walls inside with flames, burning the emptiness I’ve saved, until only you remain. And then my lungs collapsed and you pulled me out, forever I have changed. Honey, you can take me now till it all runs out; baby, it’s okay. - Cartel, Only You

Mabel had imagined so many scenarios for her and Dipper’s first kiss that she couldn’t have counted, named, or described them all if her life depended on it.

Her fantasies had never been reasonable. Why be reasonable when imagining something you felt sure was impossible?

But Mabel had been wrong. It wasn’t impossible, because Dipper was kissing her in the softest, sweetest way she ever could’ve dreamed up, cradling her cheek so gently she might have been made of porcelain.

He pulled an inch or two away from her, rubbing his nose against hers affectionately.

“That was… nice,” she said quietly.

He smiled in agreement. “Was that your first kiss?”

Blushing, she nodded. “W- was it yours, too?”

“Of course,” he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I’ve known you were my soulmate since before girls would’ve ever considered kissing me, and even before I knew, I definitely wasn’t interested in anybody else.”

“Oh,” she was somewhat lost for words.

“Yeah. So…” he trailed off.

“So…?”

“So, maybe we could try kissing again?” he asked hopefully.

“Okay,” she agreed, squashing down her nervousness.

When his lips touched hers again, there was something different. Something had changed, but she didn’t know what. He just felt so warm and so good, and she wanted -no, she needed- more of him. She wanted to wrap her legs around him and bury her hands in his hair and just- just fucking maul him.

Pressing her body against his instinctively, she hooked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. Moving her lips against his (did people usually learn so fast? Mabel didn’t know, and she was fresh out of fucks to give about it), she tilted her head and opened her mouth slightly, and then his tongue touched hers. She gripped his hair lightly, putting his hand on the small of her back and pulled her against him, and she moaned quietly.

Well. She most certainly had not been expecting that. Nor had she been expecting to feel what must have been Dipper’s erection so quickly. They’d barely kissed at all, and homeboy already felt hard as a rock.

Pulling away slightly, Mabel coughed awkwardly. “So, uh… what’s up with, y’know. That?” She gestured in the general direction of his crotch.

He looked at her dazedly for a moment before the question clicked in his head. “Oh! Yeah, um… sorry, it just kinda… happens sometimes, like when I’m really happy, or when I think about you too much or look at you for too long or… do anything involving you at all, really.”

“R-really?” When he nodded, she examined his expression. “So it happens a lot, then?”

“Yeah, it does. Sorry about that, I can’t really control it most of the time.”

Mabel blushed and looked down. “Well, I mean… I don’t really, y’know… mind it…”

“You don’t?” He sounded very surprised and it probably showed on his face, but she was way too embarrassed by how much she liked the fact that the mere thought or sight of her turned him on to actually look at him, so she didn’t look up.

“No, I don’t.”

“Oh. Okay then.” After a few seconds, he spoke again. “So, can we maybe make out or something?”

Oh. Right. He wanted her, didn’t he? How could she have forgotten that? Pressing herself back against him, she pulled him down to kiss him again, this time with all the pent of desperation she’d felt towards him for years.

He froze for a few seconds, and then he buried his hand in her hair and yanked her tighter against him, kissing her with just as much desperation. His tongue found hers again, and her need for him was increasing higher and higher, and she was burning, burning, burning, all for Dipper, she was gonna burst into flames from how badly she needed him, she was sure of it. Had she always needed him this badly? If he’d kissed her sooner, would this have happened then, too? All she could think was more, yes, Dipper, more. She let out a needy moan as he pulled his lips away from hers and trailed them across her jawline and down her throat, where he began to suck on her pulse point. She gasped, clutching at the back of his jacket.

He slid a hand under the hem of her shirt, yanking it away when he felt his cold her skin was. “You’re freezing,” he observed. “I… I’m so sorry I didn’t notice.”

“Oh, um. It’s okay, I didn’t really notice either,” she laughed awkwardly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and looking briefly at her feet before turning her gaze back up to him. “But… maybe you could keep me warm,” she said softly, then backpedaled, embarrassed at her boldness. “I mean, only if you want to, you obviously don’t have to, and I don’t mean to, like, make assumptions or anything-“

“Mabel,” he cut her off, kissing her briefly. “Of course I want you. How could I not?”

She shrugged, blushing furiously. “I… I dunno, I guess I figured you might not…”

He shook his head and took her hand, guiding it to the front of his jeans. “Feel.”

“Y-yup, sure do feel that right there,” she stuttered.

“I always want you,” he said quietly, pressing his lips to hers again and reaching around to grip her ass. “Fuck, you… you drive me insane, you know that? One day you’ll dress all cute and the next you’ll dress like you’re actively trying to seduce me.”

“Oh. Um. Sorry?” Her voice was squeaking far more than she would’ve liked, that was for sure. Oh well. Nothing could’ve been done about it anyway.

He nodded, a serious expression on his face as he squeezed her. “Even really basic stuff like these jeans. They’re so tight they’re like a second skin, and every time I see you wearing, well, anything really, all I want is to rip it off you. It’s been really, really difficult to keep myself from touching you.”

“I’ve been wanting to touch you, too,” she whispered.

He squeezed her again, and she whimpered at the sensation before he kissed her. Pulling away from her after a moment, he took her hand and led her towards his car.

“Where are we going?”

“To warm you up,” he said over his shoulder, a mischievous smile on his face.

A few moments later, they were buckled into their respective seats, and Dipper was putting the car in drive. Mabel waited approximately thirty seconds before she couldn’t take it anymore and needed to touch him again. She was losing her mind. In fact, her mind seemed to have vacated the premises entirely. How could she be expected to think when he wasn’t touching her, when she couldn’t feel his skin against hers? It simply wouldn’t do. Her body felt achey and strange in a way she didn’t really recognize, but she could tell, at the very least, that she was experiencing some extreme form of sexual arousal. She needed him inside her. Like, pronto. Stat. Immediately. Why wasn’t he inside her yet? She suddenly couldn’t remember, and all she cared about was convincing him to pull over and rip her clothes off.

She was hurt and aroused at the same time, which was a very weird combination, but she felt something twist in her chest. Didn’t he want her? He’d said he wanted her, so why hadn’t he pulled the car over and fucked her senseless?

Well. She’d just have to seduce him then, wouldn’t she?

Thankfully, the armrest console in Dipper’s car was quite small, so there wasn’t a whole lot of space between their seats, and as such, when Mabel leaned over and started kissing his neck and trailing her hand into his lap, she had no difficulty doing so.

“Mabel,” he said stiffly, keeping his eyes firmly on the road. “What are you doing?”

“I want you,” she told him, reaching down to stroke him through his jeans.

“I- I know,” he stuttered. “I want you too, but I need you to wait. It’ll be just another couple of minutes.”

She shook her head and sucked on his neck. “I want you now.”

They stopped at a red light, and Mabel had undone her jeans, grabbed his hand and put it between her legs.

“Do you feel how wet I am? Do you feel how bad I need you?” She asked, grinding against his fingers. He pulled them away and wiped them on his jeans, starting the car again as the light changed. “Please,” she begged, starting to tear up. “I need you, Dipper,” she was whimpering, desperate for him, and her thought processing had all but ceased completely. “Please fuck me,” she begged again, kissing his neck as the tears trickled down her cheeks, and he nearly swerved off the road.

“Okay,” he said, shooing her away with a wave of his hand. “I really want you, too, which is why we need to get to the motel, and I will definitely kill us if you pull something like that again, so you’re banished to your seat until we get there in approximately a minute and a half,” he took a deep breath before continuing, which may very well have been more to distract himself than anything else. “I know in my mind that your… behavior is normal. It’s just kind of a thing that happens in these types of situations, y’know? I can preoccupy myself with driving, but you’re just kinda stuck with nothing but what you’re feeling, so try to… try to distract yourself, maybe?”

“Motel?”

“Yeah, the one Mom and Dad boomed a room at for the whole stay, remember?” he reminded her. “They haven’t been staying there since the first night or two. That was definitely to keep an eye on me, by the way,” he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “They suspected something, I guess. Didn’t wanna risk me trying to get you alone.”

“Oh,” she was surprised, and the gears in her brain were struggling to turn so she could process his words. “So… they know you know we’re soulmates?”

“Hm, maybe,” he said thoughtfully. “I think they’re more suspicious than anything else, honestly,” he paused for a moment before continuing. “In any case, stay in your seat.”

She pouted the rest of the way, and by the time they pulled into the motel parking lot, they were both just about ready to explode, and as soon as they were parked, they practically sprinted in the direction of their room (thank god the doors were outside and not inside), Dipper fumbling with the key card while Mabel started kissing whatever parts of him she could reach without the equality brought on by sitting down, which was namely his arms and chest, and she was finally getting to grab his butt (and she was fairly sure it was the most long-awaited butt grab in the history of butt grabs, so she was entirely convinced that any amount of happiness that it caused was perfectly reasonable).

They stumbled into the room, Dipper locking the door absentmindedly, and he leaned down to kiss her, but she just edged him towards the bed, and her purse and jacket fell from his hands to the floor (side note, but when had he grabbed those? She hadn’t even noticed. Fuck, he was so sweet and thoughtful and she loved him so goddamn much), and he sat on the bed, although it was really more of a fall than anything else, and Mabel immediately proceeded to climb on top of him.

Dipper buried his hand in Mabel’s hair and ground his hips up into hers. Her legs were on either side of him, and when she moved herself against him, he let out the most adorable little whimper (though she got the sense he’d never own up to it in a million years).

Her lips hovered over his, and she wanted more than anything to kiss him again, so she did. He reached around her back and- well hello there, Dipper’s hands, never felt you on the ol’ booty before. But there they were, his fingertips digging into the flesh as he gripped her, encouraging her to move against him.

He kissed her neck, sucking at it wetly, and in any other circumstance she’d object, but in that moment, all she could think was, yes, yes, I’m yours, mark me up, mark me, I’m yours, oh Dipper yes just like that-

Gasping and moving her hips faster, more firmly, he moaned against her lips, palming her breast through her clothes before stopping abruptly and pulling away.

When Mabel groaned at the loss, he looked at her guiltily. “Sorry, I, well. I’ve never done this before and I’m afraid I’ll rush you or hurt you or something.”

She blinked at him, the gears in her mind struggling to turn as she attempted to force herself from her arousal-induced haze enough to form a coherent sentence.

“I’ve never done this before, either, and I know you won’t hurt me.”

“B-but do you, y’know. Want to?” he sputtered out. “With me, I mean?”

“No, I want it with Gideon,” she said sarcastically. “Of course I want it with you, ya dumb-dumb. Did you totally miss how into it I’ve been or something? Or maybe you forgot about the whole soulmate thing and how inevitable it is that we get super duper hot for each other?”

Dipper blushed and looked down for a moment before looking back up at her. His gaze was intense and burning like there was a volcano inside him that could erupt at any moment. “If we do this... his whisper trailed off as he stroked her cheek, “if we do this, you’ll be mine, y’know.” Mabel blushes furiously. She’d be his. “There‘ll never be anyone else. Just... just me. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Why in the hell would I ever want anyone else?” she demanded.

He grinned. “Can I kiss you again?”

She smiled adoringly at him. God, what a relief it was not to have to hide her feelings for him! “Well, get on with it,” she said with a grin.

He attacked her again, his lips and pelvis connecting to hers. “Fuck,” he gasped out as he thrust himself against her.

Her hair was a curtain around them, and she didn’t really notice when it happened but their shirts fell to the carpeted hotel floor, and so did her skirt, and yup, those appeared to be her leggings on the floor, too. When did all that happen? Mabel wasn’t sure, but she certainly had no complaints.

Especially not when Dipper was running his hands up and down her sides, warmth seeping into her skin, and kissing her like the planet was gonna explode in the next ten seconds. She hadn’t kissed anyone before Dipper, but she’d never imagined it would be quite so... hungry. She’d assumed kissing would be soft and sweet. The first few had been, sure, but this one? This one was like he was starving, like it’d been years since his last meal and she was the only thing saving him from certain death.

And it felt good. She would happily go to the ends of the earth as long as he kept kissing her like that. As long as he didn’t stop touching her.

If kissing Mabel felt, for Dipper, like a starving man eating for the first time in years, then kissing Dipper felt to Mabel as if she’d been lost all her life; that everything had been so incredibly, irrevocably wrong until that very moment, and that finally, after a lifetime of emptiness, everything was right with the world in a way she’d never known was possible.

Kissing Dipper felt right. It felt like home. The scent of his hair and his blunt fingernails scraping against her scalp and his gasps and groans and pleas and whispers, especially the ones he tried to hide- they all felt like home. It occurred to her then that Dipper -her soulmate- was her home in a way nothing else was or ever could be.

And so she kissed him back with a ferocity that might’ve scared them both under different circumstances. But it didn’t. In fact, it seemed appropriate. They were finally, finally together, and Mabel didn’t feel the slightest hint of her airway swelling closed the way their parents had said it would if they touched. In fact, Mabel was fairly certain she’d lose breathing capabilities if they stopped touching.

Why else would she only be able to inhale if their lips were pressed together? She ground her hips into his again.

“M-Mabel,” he gasped out. She didn’t respond verbally, just hummed against his neck and went back to kissing it, continuing to move her hips back and forth. He felt so good against her. When was the last time she’d been so wet? She couldn’t remember.

“Mabel,” he said again, putting his hands on her hips to still her. She pulled back, eyes hazy and face flushed. “If you keep doing that, this is, uh,” he coughed and looked away, his face furiously red, “this is gonna be over really quickly.”

She stared at him uncomprehendingly for a few seconds before her eyebrows shot up in understanding. “Oh! G-gotcha. My bad,” she laughed awkwardly, smoothing down her hair nervously.

“But, I mean. That doesn’t mean I don’t wanna, y’know. Keep going... “ he trailed off before quickly amending his statement. “If you want to, that is.”

She blinked. “I literally told you I wanted you earlier. It was, like, five seconds ago.”

Dipper looked dubiously at his wristwatch. “Actually it was-“

“Yeah, no one cares. Just kiss me again, nerd.”

He smiled and complied, kissing her hungrily, desperately. She buried a hand in his hair, moving her pelvis against his erection again, her panties embarrassingly wet as she moaned quietly.

“Dipper,” she whimpered. “Dipper, please.”

He gasped when she ground down particularly roughly against him, barely aware of anything but Mabel.

“Huh? Wh-what is it?” he managed to stutter out.

“I need it,” she told him desperately. “I need you,” she rubbed herself against him pointedly.

“God, Mabes,” he moaned as she kept moving her hips back and forth. “Fuck, anything. I’ll give you anything you want.”

Somewhere between bold and embarrassed, she buried her face in his neck. “I want you,” she reiterated, then reached down to stroke him through his boxers. “I want your cock,” she whispered. “I want it inside me,” he groaned again, quieter this time. “Make love to me, Dipper. Please.”

“Anything you want,” he told her again, gently removing her from his lap. Each made remarkably quick work of their remaining undergarments.

Dipper couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to look at Mabel’s breasts or vagina (which she was incredibly relieved she had shaven), but Mabel’s eyes were fixed on his erection.

It was... larger than she was expecting. He was kinda tall, but he was also really skinny, so... But then, those didn’t really have a whole lot of correlation with size, did they? Mabel didn’t know. She also didn’t know how he was expected to shove that thing up inside her. Her body was screaming yes yes yes put it in put in right now holy fucking hell I need that inside me right now, but her brain was very skeptical.

Her body won out, though; every cell that she was made of was trying to force her to climb on top of him again and kiss the living daylights out of him.

Actually, what sounded rather good was... “I wanna suck it.”

“Wha-what?” he sputtered.

She looked up at him. “I wanna suck it,” she repeated. “I wanna taste you. I want you in my mouth.”

He ran a hand over his beet red face. “Fucking hell, Mabel. I mean, I... I want that, too,” he raked his gaze over her, his eyes settling on her lips. Was he imagining them wrapped around his cock? She hoped he was. “I really, really want that. But right now, I feel like if I don’t fuck your brains out, I’m gonna explode. And... not in a fun way, either.”

Actually, Mabel thought, that’s a pretty dope-ass idea right there. Laying down on the bed as quickly as she possibly could, she spread her legs open for him. “Then come here and fuck my brains out,” she challenged quietly.

He was on top of her in seconds, mouth practically attacking her, covering her with kisses on her neck and face and lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through the hair at the base of his skull.

Hooking her legs around him, she tried to guide his hips towards hers. She needed him more than she’d ever needed anything in her life. If he didn’t get inside her right then, she’d die. She was sure of it.

Fuck, would he get her pregnant? She hoped so. She wanted him to get her pregnant so fucking bad. She wanted him to fill her up with so much of his cum that it spilled out of her, and then she wanted him to fill her up again and again and again until she was pregnant with his child. Yes, fuck yes, Dipper’s child, god she wanted it so bad-

He stopped kissing her, wrenching himself away, she felt a rush of cold air as he did so, and an agonizing sense of loss. Why had he pulled away? Didn’t he want her? Why didn’t he want her?

And then he was rummaging through his jeans for his wallet, and pulled out a packet.

“A... a condom?” she said, propping herself up on her elbows.

“Yeah, I... I mean, we can’t have you getting pregnant.”

“No, don’t!” she sat up abruptly. “I’m on birth control anyway, but I wish to all hell I wasn’t because I really want you to get me pregnant!”

“Mabel...”

“Please, Dipper! You said you’d give me whatever I wanted! You promised!” she begged.

“Yeah, but... I mean... you don’t really want that, I don’t think...” he trailed off, fidgeting with the condom packet.

“Don’t you want to get me pregnant? I want you to fill me with your cum and put your baby inside me, and then I want you to fuck me again and again and again.” She knew she was being irrational. She couldn’t help it. She wanted to him to fuck a baby into her, dammit. “Don’t you want that, too?”

He groaned, turning his flushed face away from her. “Of course I do, Mabes. I desperately want that. And someday, I will, I promise I will, okay? I swear, but we can’t right now. Not yet.” He ripped open the condom wrapper and rolled it on. “I’m so sorry, I know you want it, and I’ll give you everything else, but I can’t give you that yet.”

“Soon, though?” She asked as he climbed back on top of her.

“Soon,” he agreed with a nod.

“Fine,” she conceded.

Satisfied for the time being, she pulled him in for a kiss.

“I love you,” he whispered against her lips.

“I love you, too,” she said with a smile. “Now please, Dipper. Please put it in me.”

He leaned his forehead against hers as he pressed the tip into her, one hand supporting himself and the other grasping her breast, pinching her nipple.

She gasped, and he stopped, pulling back to look at her. “You okay?” He ground out.

She nodded, eyes clenched shut. “Y-yeah. Just... go slow, please.”

#gravity falls fanfiction #gf fanfiction #gravity falls #pinecest #mabel pines #dipper pines #fanfiction #fanfic #looks like someone picked a whole bushel of oopsie daisies #my writing

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cosmic-divinity · 3 years

Note

What about an au that Stans about how “weird” “Old man mucket” is and Ford askes about him, then Stan is confused but tells him where he lives and ford talks to his bud for the first time in a long time.

I am so sorry if this is confusing :(

No confusion here! I gotcha ^^ Hope you like it! FEELINGS TIME

Stanford remembered hearing it that morning and nearly dropping his coffee in the process. It had been the mention of a name he had forgotten about momentarily. After all, in all his travels across the multiverse, small things like that were bound to slip his mind. However, the fact that it brought about such a sudden reaction had shown that the memory was not entirely gone. It was still very much a part of him, and hearing that name, brought about a multitude of emotions. The strongest one wracking his brain was of….regret.

“Hey, kids. Did you see the latest video on Bramble? Man, I swear, that Old Man McGucket keeps getting crazier and crazier. I dunno what he’s gonna do next,” Stanley laughed and then even harder when Mabel showed him another video.

“I mean, yeah, it’s funny, but I feel kind of bad for the guy. He lives by himself near the dump, and no one’s tried to, you know, help him at all?” Dipper added, sipping on his strawberry milk.

“Ah, lighten up, kid. As far as I know, that’s just..how he lives. He doesn’t seem like he’s unhappy or anything.” Stanley did stop laughing momentarily. Of course Dipper always had to be the realist just like someone else he knew. He finally noticed Ford standing in the doorway, looking like he was about to pass out. “Sixer? You all good over there?”

“Oh, no, Grunkle Ford! You dropped your mug.” Mabel hurried over to scoop it up. Luckily, it wasn’t one of the ceramic ones and didn’t break upon impact. It took Stanford a couple of seconds before he registered she was grabbing paper towels to clean up the mess.

“Terribly sorry, Mabel. I zoned out for a moment there,” he apologized, helping her sop it up before it spread to the rug. “I just...you guys were talking about Fiddleford Hadron McGucket...right?”

Stanley raised an eyebrow. How the hell did those two know each other?

“Wait, how do you know his full name?”

“Did you not read his journals, Grunkle Stan? McGucket was his assistant in his research. He was...a genius, really,” Dipper said with a concerned look towards Ford. “I would’ve done something, but..I’m not exactly sure how to help him. He lost a lot of his memory.”

“You said he lives over by the dump, right?” As soon as Dipper said “yes” in response, Ford was out of there in about five seconds flat, dashing off towards the dump.

“Ooh! Should we follow him, Dipper? Maybe Grunkle Ford can get the old Fiddleford back!” Mabel gasped. By the look in her eyes, Dipper could tell she had already made up her mind.

As soon as she ran off, Dipper sighed and grabbed his backpack. He’d really hear it from both Mabel and Grunkle Stan if he didn’t go with. “Uh, be back in a bit, Grunkle Stan!”

Stanford didn’t stop running until he got to McGucket’s shack. In hindsight, he could’ve had Stan drive him, but this was urgent. He gasped when he saw where he was living. Oh, Fiddleford… He felt that guilt hanging heavy on his chest again. How long had he gone on not even knowing he was here? Of course, he had only recently returned to this dimension, but still! How could he forget about the person most dear to him. The person who….he betrayed..for an interdimensional demon with empty promises. For a moment, he stopped himself as he started walking up to the shack. If his memories returned...would he hate him still? He wouldn’t blame Fiddleford if he never wanted to see him again.

Mustering some courage, Stanford took a deep breath and continued onwards to what sort of resembled a door. A six fingered fist lingered at it a moment before tentatively knocking. He heard rustling from within before a raccoon bolted out of there, making him jump and nearly fall over. Was a raccoon his only company now?? His heart nearly stopped when Fiddleford stood in the doorway, his beard all the way down to his feet and what looked like...a bandage on his beard? Stanford wasn’t about to question it. Fiddleford stared blankly at him before saying, “Well, howdy, there! Can I help you with somethin’?”

The words caught in Stanford’s throat for a moment. There was so, so much he wanted to say, mostly “I’m sorry, so sorry,” but he held it back. He didn’t know how much of his memory was missing, but given his living conditions, and the fact that he wasn’t completely pissed at him right now, he’d say a lot. He held up a six fingered hand in a wave, putting on his best smile even though his body simply didn’t want to, no matter how much it hurt.

“Hey, Fiddleford. I’m an...old friend, Stanford Pines. Do you..remember me at all?”

Fiddleford seemed utterly confused. He “hmm’d” to himself, scratching his beard and looking Stanford over. It got to the point where it seemed to be causing him physical pain, finally stopping with a groan. “Aw, sorry, there. Can’t seem to recall your name, but you’re that new scientist guy that arrived here in Gravity Falls, right? Sorry if I’m wrong. My memory ain’t what it used to be, you know?”

Stanford let out a sigh and an understanding nod. He figured this was probably going to be the case. Perhaps, he needed some stimuli to get things going.

“It’s alright, Fiddleford. I know you’ve been through a lot...trust me, I do, so I hope you don’t mind this.”

Taking a breath, Stanford reached out to place his hands on Fiddleford’s shoulders, slowly drawing him into a hug.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, Fiddleford. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for everything that happened. I should’ve put my trust in you, not Bill. Driving you away is one of my deepest regrets. Even in other dimensions, it haunted me in my dreams. I wish...I wish I could take that hurt away, but we both know even the memory gun isn’t perfect. Memories don’t simply disappear, right, Fidds?” In that moment, he didn’t think about if Fiddleford didn’t know what he was talking about. All that mattered now was that he was hugging him again. He didn’t need forgiveness. It was the closure that he’d get at least.

For a minute, Fiddleford stayed still, but he slowly wrapped his arms around Stanford, sighing softly. Just feeling safe in his arms and his familiar scent, he felt a rush of memories coming back to him, especially with the use of his old nickname Stanford often called him back then. He glanced over when he felt Stanford trembling, tightening his grip on his shirt. His head..well, really hurt, especially at the fact that Stanford was here and in his arms.

“It was a tough time for both of us. And you know, I forgive you, Stanford. It’s been far too long for me to hold onto a grudge now.”

Stanford gasped when he heard him call him by his name. Were his memories..returning? Was his hypothesis correct? Tears started to run down his cheeks as he cupped Fiddleford’s face with trembling hands. “Fidds….you really remember me? I-I mean, you shouldn’t forgive me. I betrayed you. You were the person I was closest to, and I turned my back on you, drove you mad enough to use the memory gun on yourself. I..I don’t think I deserve it..”

“Oh, Stanford,” Fiddleford chuckled, looking up at him with the softest smile. “What matters is learning from your mistakes. Obviously, you found out the truth about Bill and his intentions, and you worked hard to correct your mistakes. Like I said, it’s been too long for me to hold onto a grudge, right, old buddy?”

He winced a bit when another headache and rush of memories came on. “Ah, look at this. You’re sparking so many lost memories o’ mine. It’s like magic!”

Stanford let out a choked laugh, having to remove his glasses a moment to wipe away his tears.

“Yeah, it kind of is. I would say magic doesn’t actually exist, but..I’ve seen far too much to say that anymore. Plus, Mabel would probably kick me in the shin if she heard me say that.” After taking a moment to collect himself, Stanford offered his hand to Fiddleford. “How about we find a place to chat and catch up? My brother actually turned the old cabin into a tourist trap of sorts, but it’s a good place to hang out in. And really? A shack, Fidds?”

“Hey, don’t blame me! I lost my mind, literally!” Fiddleford teased and accepted Stanford’s hand. The warm touch of it was something he really had missed.

“OH MY GOD, GRUNKLE FORD! That was sooo cute! I actually started crying myself,” Mabel squealed from a nearby bush as she tumbled out of it followed by Dipper. “Oh my gosh! You guys are literally the cutest!”

“Mabel...they just met again after...a really long period of time,” he said, having forgotten the exact number. “How about we give them some space?”

“Oh, yes, yes. Space is important, but afterwards you guys have to tell me everything!”

Stanford chuckled as he watched her drag Dipper off, guiding Fiddleford along. Things were still a little...awkward, but he was sure they’d regain their footholds in their relationship again. Things were a little different now, but after all these years, Fiddleford was still Fiddleford, and that was enough for him.

#gfalls #gravity falls #fiddauthor #writing #au #anonymous #ask #thanks for sending me a prompt!!

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nataliedanovelist · 3 years

Text

GF - Timestuck AU: The Power of Mabel ch.1

While fighting over a time machine so one twin can win a pig or the other can win the heart of a girl, Mabel is left stranded in a snowy forest with no time machine and no brother. Oops.

ch.2

Beautiful artwork was created by @starstruck-loner! THANK YOU SO MUCH SWEETIE I LOVE IT!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Snow freckled the chilly January day lightly, like powdered sugar over a freshly baked pastry, sticking to each layer effortlessly and creating a blanket that completely covered the woods and the cabin nested between the trees. The atmosphere was still and stiff, like frozen icicles that were not going to start dripping any time soon. The air was bitter and unwelcoming, which was probably why no living thing was outside today. Today was the perfect day to burrow and sleep and keep warm with your own body heat.

A crack through space-time cut through the air. The crushing of tiny ice particles followed as two twelve-year-olds ran, one chasing the other, as the time-tape was heating up and buzzing. “This thing is getting hotter! Hot! Hot, hot, hot!” Mabel attempted to save her palms from burns by bouncing the tiny machine between her hands.

“What are you doing?!” Dipper demanded as Mabel bounced the tape-measure too hard and her twin reached a hand to catch it. He managed to catch it perfectly, like an athlete catching a baseball, and then was gone in a flash of baby-blue lightning.

Mabel’s eyes widened in sheer panic and she held her arms as a gust of wind blew and nearly froze her to her core. It felt like her skin was being pricked by mean sewing needles. She looked around wildly for her brother, for him to come back to this time and place immediately, because surely he would use the time machine to come back, but seconds ticked by and she was still alone.

Puffs of smoke decorated the wintry scene as she held her shivering body and looked at the shack. It wasn’t as colorful and welcoming and loud as the shack Mabel remembered, but she made herself consider that it was because there was no big sign or tourist-y things, and it was winter. Then a light turned on, the hall if Mabel remembered her summer home correctly, and the door opened.

The hope that Mabel had in her chest of seeing her great-uncle was gone, and replaced with fear and confusion. This man looked very much like Stan, though much younger, quite chubby and youthful, wearing a black t-shirt and blue plaid pajama-pants. He had the same face as a young-Stan, but with a more pink than orange nose, a cleft chin, fluffier hair that reminded Mabel of her’s when it was short, and different glasses.

Mabel didn’t know what to do or how to react or how to feel. People change a lot when they age, sure, but this much? It was possible this person wasn’t Stan, but who else would look so similar to him and live in this house? Maybe this is the guy who lived here before Stan, and they just happen to look very similar. This is Gravity Falls, and though she and Dipper were still new to the town, it was a weird place where something like this could happen.

It also came to Mabel how odd the situation was for the man: a little girl was standing in a sweater and skirt outside his house in the winter. Would he try to send her home? She had no home to go to. She didn’t know what year this was, but if it was a time Stan didn’t live here, it must have been way before she was born, maybe even before her parents met. She was stranded.

But the man looked at her sympathetically and he seemed kind and worried. He grabbed a trenchcoat and called gently, “Hello. Are you okay?”

Mabel bit her lip. His voice was definitely not Grunkle Stan’s. A gust of wind made her shiver and her teeth chatter, and the man stepped into some slippers and walked up to her, draping the trenchcoat over her shoulders. “There there, that’s a very nice sweater, but it doesn’t seem to be keeping you warm, is it?”

“N-No.” Mabel shivered. “I… I used breathable yarn for…” She stopped. She was going to say how she used breathable yarn for the warm California weather, but she decided not to.

“You used?” The man repeated, rubbing her shoulders to try to make the trenchcoat work faster. “You made this?”

Mabel saw his excited grin and she smiled nervously. “Y-Yeah. I knit sweaters.”

The man bent his knees in front of her and studied her sweater. She held out an arm so he could see and his brown eyes sparkled. “That’s very impressive! I love sweaters!”

Mabel gasped happily. “C-C-Can I m-make you one?!”

The man looked taken back, but chuckled and stood. “Of course, but first let’s get you warm. How does hot chocolate sound?”

“Y-Yes, p-p-please.” Mabel shivered, and allowed the man to walk her into the house.

It was scaringly like the Mystery Shack, but so much was different. It was the same layout, the same house, but there was so much that was different. A coat rack stood by the door, holding a white lab coat with black rubber gloves in the pocket, some safety goggles like the ones in Mabel’s science classes, and Stan’s fez. Mabel stared at it. Well, okay it probably wasn’t Stan’s fez, but it was a maroon fez with a golden fish and a black tassle.

There was a wood-burning stove alive in the living room, with a small box full of wood by it and a tiny stool. Instead of Grunkle Stan’s armchair, there was a red-velvet couch, a large writing desk, and the room was decorated with books, desks, papers, and jars and experiments. It was all strange, but warm and cozy with the fire going.

Mabel smiled as the man pulled out the tiny stool and gestured for her to sit by the stove. She obeyed and the coat was removed from her shoulders, but quickly replaced with a dark-green blanket.

“There, do you mind warming up here while I make your hot chocolate?” He asked, draping his trenchcoat over his arm.

Mabel shook her head and held her cold hands in front of the stove. “Thank you.”

The man smiled. “You’re welcome.” And he turned and left for where Mabel knew the kitchen was.

Sitting alone and feeling better as her body was getting warm, Mabel thought it all over. This man was clearly not her Grunkle Stan, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nice or couldn’t help her. Any minute Dipper was going to come back for her, but until then she had to stay where she was. That’s what grown-ups told her to do if she was ever lost. Stay where you are until you’re found.

By the time Mabel was very comfortable, the man returned with two mugs of steaming hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, and handed one to the girl. “Here you are, my dear.”

“Thank you, sir.” Mabel sipped and hummed in delight as the man sat on the floor next to her.

“You’re very welcome.” He sipped his drink and added, “Now then, I have to ask, what were you doing out there? Did you get lost?”

Mabel’s face dropped and she nodded. “Uh, huh.”

“Hm, very well. That can easily happen when playing on a snow day.” The man said with a smile. “Why don’t I call our parents and we can arrange to have you back home safe?”

Mabel swallowed nervously. She bit her lip, looking down at her mug. She didn’t know what to say to that.

The man looked at her and noticed how scared she was. “Is something wrong?”

Mabel looked up at him, was met with a kind face, and whimpered, “I can’t call them.”

The man smiled sympathetically. “I’m sure you won’t get into too much trouble. Maybe a little, but it’s for the best to call them so we can get you home soon.”

Mabel shook her head and squeezed her stinging eyes shut. “They’re… not around.”

The man’s face dropped as Mabel scrubbed at her eyes. “Oh. I’m so sorry.”

Mabel only replied with a sniff and she sipped her hot chocolate.

“Is there someone I can call for you?” The man asked. “I’m sure there’s someone out there worried about you.”

Mabel bit her lip. “M-My brother… He’s still out there…”

“Is he lost, too?”

Mabel shrugged.

“Well,” The man held his cleft chin in thought. “I’m sure he’s out there looking for you. Perhaps then you should wait here until he comes here, and then we can send you to your guardian.”

“It’s just us.” Mabel muttered. “Just us.”

The man smiled. Mabel hoped he believed her brother was much older than her, or at least old enough to take care of her. That way she wasn’t really lying, just letting this man believe what he wanted to believe. Nothing wrong with that. “Okay. Still, you may stay here until he finds you.”

Mabel sniffed and wiped her nose with her sweater sleeve. “Thank you, sir.”

“Please, call me Ford.” He said and held out a hand to her.

Mabel smiled and shook his hand. “I’m Mabel.”

“Mabel, huh? That’s a beautiful name.”

“Thanks.” She looked down at their hands and her eyes widened. One, two, three, four, five, s-...

Ford pulled his hand free, his cheeks reddening as he sipped his hot chocolate, but Mabel was grinning at him happily and she gasped with joy, “You have six fingers?!”

Ford blinked at her, reminding Mabel of a startled owl, and he cleared his throat. “Um, y-yes. It’s a birth defect.”

“Nuh, huh! It’s cool! Can I see, please?” Mabel sat her mug on the floor by her feet.

The researcher didn’t like people staring at his hands, but this young girl wanted to look, it appears, in admiration, so Ford hesitantly gave her his hands and she held them lovingly, her eyes sparkling like stars.

“Wow! That’s neat! No wonder your hand shake was so friendly! It’s a whole finger friendlier than normal!” Mabel was then reminded that Dipper’s journal had a six-fingered hand on it.

The girl’s eyes widened as she wondered if she was meeting Dipper’s idol. It was possible. The journal Dipper had dated it in the 80s, and Dipper said that the author mysteriously disappeared. As exciting as it was to meet the Author of the Journals, all it did was put Mabel more at ease. If anyone can help her, he can.

Ford laughed and gave her hands a soft squeeze. “I like you! You’re weird.”

Mabel grinned, distracted from her thoughts and grateful for it. “I like you, too, Ford!”

#GF #gravity falls #fanfiction #timestuck au #ford and mabel bonding #MORE SWEATER-TWINS BONDING #ford pines #mabel pines #time travel

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lilyoftheight · 3 years

Text

Now you see me, now you don't.

Pair: Dipper and Iustitia

Summary: Iustitia learns that sometimes you shouldn't bother too much the triangle demon's victim. Now she is paying the price.

Warning: none. Just some random ideas I have in my mind, probably will edit them later.

" Today, I have come to a point in my life where I need a stronger word than fuck. "

Iustitia groans as she is in a sticky situation right now: stuck on a high pine tree and doesn't know where she is right now. A few minutes before all of this happen, she was teaching Dipper and Mabel about the ancient history of her world (well, Mabel isn't paying much attention because it was boring - according to her). The lesson was going well before some triangle demon came and decided to ruin the lessons. You may ask, How? Well, he thinks that sending her to a different dimension was a good idea because she keeps bothering Pine Tree, so now here she is. And what is worse is he send her right into the weakest branches as well!

Bastard.

The sound of creaking as she tries to find some different branch to land, once she found a perfect sturdy one and praying for herself to not messing up, the young girl quickly jump to the sturdy one and watch the weak one befalling to the ground with a loud crash.

"Fuck you, Cipher." Muttering a curse before sighing to herself, slowly climbing down the tree without getting murdered again.

The first thing Iustitia need to do first was figure out where is she now. So she follows the trail out of the woods as the layout of the forest is familiar to the original dimension, so in ten minutes, the young girl has already get out of the woods and heading to the busy streets, Iustitia can finally notice some differences between this world and the original world. While on her way to the mall, she found something interesting - a poster about a magician show, and on the bill, it was the familiar face that she saw before coming to this hell - Iustitia stares at the poster as her finger holding it so tight that makes it crumbles. Is this a funny joke to him? Iustitia thought.

"I'm in Reverse Falls dimension."

Iustitia grumbles, her face scrunches up as she remembers Dipper once tell her about this dimension, why he doesn't want to dream the second time, as Iustitia can understand why based on his endless nightmares.

"Dipper-Dipper, hey. It's just me, Iustitia." She whispers, hands holding a cup of warm milk as her mixed eyes look at him with concern as Mabel seems wide awake as well because of her brother's terrifying scream and flop over where Dipper is sitting, throw a hand over his shoulder.

"It's a bad dream, bro-bro. It's not real." She mumbles, half awake and half asleep. Iustitia looks at Dipper's state as she knows it isn't a common nightmare before gentle giving him the warm milk to calm himself down first.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks after Dipper finished drinking the milk, placing the cup on the nearby table as she gentle helping him fixing the pillow and the bed for a night of better sleep.

Dipper only whispers out things sometimes that she can't understand at first, but once she gets closer to him, the young hybrid girl understands why he was so afraid to go back to sleep.

"Have you ever dreamt of killing someone that it feels so real?"

Iustitia doesn't say anything and encourages him to go back to sleep, knowing he is too young to hear her answer.

Later on, she figures out it was another game from that darn triangle demon - Dipper told her as she hugs him close to her side, whispering encourages that he needed the most.

Iustitia snaps out of daydream before looks at the crumble poster in her hand, checking for times when it starts and where to buy a ticket. Once finishes remembered the times and the location, no one wouldn't know or see anything about the poster of their beloved twin being burning down to ashes by her.

Once Iustitia found her way to the mall, she can see many familiar faces and almost run up to them as usual, but she stops midway and reminds herself that they're not the same person she knows in the original world. It's hard not to go toward them and asks how are their life as it has become a habit of her now, but the young girl reminds herself and forces that bittersweet feeling down her throat, starts heading right to the book store, her favorites store of the mall.

Of course, those ideas have to throw out of the window as soon as she sees someone she doesn't want to see now - Dipper and Mabel, along with two girls who have to carry a bag, which she already knows based on the hairstyle and clothes.

"Can my life get any better? What's next? Some psychopath starts stalking me now?"

Iustitia groans in frustration as she turns her heel and starts heading to clothes stores opposite the book store as it will have to wait for now. Meanwhile, the young boy has caught a glimpse of the new girl and can't help but be curious about her and his latest dream. In those weird dreams, he always sees her sit beside him with a cup of milk, waiting for him. Those gentle fingers wipe away his sweat as she speaks his name with so much kindness in it - Who are you? he wondered. What kind of spell did you cast on me? - A question that he won't dare to ask out loud.

"Brother. Are you listening to me?" The young girl asks in annoyance tones as she takes a glance over where her brother is looking. Once her sky blue eyes land right on the new girl, she can't help but smirk at her brother.

"Oh, what will our poor Pacifica find out that my brother dear have an eye on a new girl?"

She doesn't care how Pacifica would find out and be heartbroken, oh she would love to see her crying expression; how amusing was that. Dipper only scoffs as he glares at his sister before picking up another book and heading to the cashier.

" She appears in my dream, and that is all. I have asked the cry baby demon about how did this happen, and he only says that someone was messing with my dream by switching my dream state with someone else."

His answer was short and plain, but it isn't good enough to entertain his sister's curious mind as he places his book on the counter, as his twin sister's smile only grew wider at the thought, her hands resting on the counter as she presses more about this issue.

"Oh? What did you see? How does her voice sound? Does it sound nice?"

Dipper grumbles as he pays for the book before heading out, ignoring his sister and her endless questions behind his ears. Mabel pouts as she glances over Candy, demanding her to get all the information about the new girl before catching along with her twin brother.

After she finished buy some new clothes, her next stop was the stationery store since all her stuff has stayed at the regular dimension. Iustitia hums as she starts heading toward where it was, each store she would stop by and looking around, feeling there is someone is watching her. Sigh in annoyance as the young girl decides to quickly head right to her next stop, as Iustitia starts mapping out where art and craft were and grabs everything that she needs. Few journals, pens, lots of notes and cute stickers, and finally a backpack. Carry all of this while running would be annoying, and if she wants to annoy those twins, this is necessary.

“Are you new around here, kiddo? I saw you around here.”

The casher asks while checking her stuff, seem to be happy to see a new face around here.

“ Yes. I need a new start, and my friends told me how beautiful this place in the night was, so here I am. ”

Iustitia smile at the cashier before glancing over the machine to see how much all of this cost.

“ Do you want to keep the bill? ”

The cashier asks again as Iustitia gives him the same amount of money before a small ideas light up in her mind.

“ Can I borrow the bill for a bit? Later, there will be a girl in a green shirt and black skirt who would come up here and asks about me, and I want you to give her this bill.”

Iustitia hums as she writes down a note behind the bill before giving them back. As the cashier read what it says, he quickly covers his mouth as the cashier stiffing a laugh.

"Please, don't tell me you also are a magician as well."

They lean on the counter as her smile widens as she whispers in his ear before take her left, leaving his face dust pink at her final words. It takes him few minutes to stop zoning at the new girl with beautiful emerald eyes before glancing down at the next customer who fits with the describes he has been giving as his eyes gawk at the tiny child, stumbling with the bill and handed it to her quickly.

"Nothing out of ordinary, basic stuff." Candy grumbles as she checks the back of the bill and sees the neat words, with a smiley cat face sign on it.

"Now you see me. - I." Realize the familiar words as Candy quickly calls for Grenda to see if she still keeps an eye on her. Silently waiting for Grenda to pick up the phone was annoying to idling as the bill in her hand starts to crumbles. Candy feels like all of this game she did plainly to tease them, a bold and daring claim that they will never catch her. A few minutes later, Grenda finally picks up her phone, panting heavily in the phone as she grumbles out an answer.

"What do you want?"

"Do you still keep an eye on her?!" Candy was yelling through her phone, annoying and pissed at this little game now.

"I have on one moment, but she merely - " Before Grenda can finish those words, Candy ends the call as she already knows the answer - Disappear in the thin air like she didn't exist in this world.

What should she tell Mabel now?!

Mabel holds the crumbling bill as the words irritate her more before glancing at her brother and ask what to do now. He only shrugs his shoulder, as all he wants is to leave this place and getting ready for their show now, yet the weather isn't supporting them much.

"Rain. Great."

Dipper mutters under his breath as he has waits for few hours to catch a simple girl but didn't catch her because she disappears in thin air. Like he would believe that excuse, and now it's raining, and he maybe has to stick here for a while. A loud shout of their name can be heard behind them as a security guard runs up to them with an umbrella in their hand, and once the security guard comes closer, they can see a note in his hand as well.

"A girl who came up to me and said that mister Geeful has forgotten his umbrella and asks me to return it, along with this picture as well."

The guard said and handing them the umbrella with a note before running back to his station. Mabel snicker as she thought it would be another love letter as Dipper looks at the picture, he doesn't know where it did take as all he can see was the blue sky - reminding him of his eyes. Once he didn't notice anything strange, Dipper decided to check the back, and on the back of had the same handwriting and the smiley cat signature on it.

"Now you don't.

Better luck next time, Dipper Gleeful and Mabel Gleeful. Hope that you like my first gift.

Ps: Look at the street across the mall, it's my second gift for playing this cat and mouse game with me. - I."

As they both look across the street, they can see one person standing near the bus stop with the same umbrella they have in their hand. When their attention is finally on them, they remove the baseball hat off and letting their hair falling freely and that's when they realize they have seen her walking past them but didn't notice it until now. She mouthed a few words with a smirk on her face before a car run past, once again she disappears in the thin air again.

'Can't wait for our next chasing game.'

That was what she said before disappeared.

Dipper opens the umbrella, humming as he can't wait to catch her next time.

#my writing #self insert #Reverse gravity falls #self insert fic #self insert x fictional other #self insert x canon #mabel gleeful #Dipper gleeful #Candy and Grenda #Poki writes

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ginger-grimm · 3 years

Photo

OC TROPE CHALLENGE

Day 1.5: Double Date

Kippi sighed as she watched Mabel and Reggie walk through the restaurant doors. Paisley shot them a warm smile as Mabel waved at the two. Reggie looked just as contempt as Kippi, somewhat amusing Paisley. The two had broken up a while ago but clearly never got over their issues. "Are you gonna be okay? Or should we just make a run for it now?"

A couple of feet away, Reggie leaned down to Mabel, his fists balled-up tightly. "Was this really necessary? We couldn't have double-dated with anyone else?"

Mabel continued to smile widely at the girls at the table. "We kinda accidentallied ourselves into this one. It would be rude to just not come," she said through gritted teeth. She was ready to have this discussion be over with. It had gone on since Reggie picked her up from home after all. "Just get over it for tonight and next time we'll be more careful when making plans."

Reggie relented. Once his girlfriend had set her mind to something it was going to be done. He was just praying for the awkwardness to be over quickly. The couple sat down at the other end of the table, Reggie forcing himself to smile at them both. "How are you doing, ladies?"

"Great, Reg, thanks for asking. How about you two?" Paisley asked. She could cut the tension with a knife. The young woman knew she'd have to do most of the talking that evening.

"We're doing just fine too, Pais. Thanks for the invitation," Mabel replied, grabbing an untouched menu off the table. "Ooo, they're serving some fine food here, aren't they?"

Paisley nodded. "It's a great restaurant. My mom recommended it to me. Let's just say she knows her fine dining well."

Mabel chuckled. She had only recently met Paisley but the girl seemed nice. Certainly a great match for Kippi. She had noticed her friend was being awfully quiet. Mabel knew she and Reggie had dated in Sophomore year, but it was barely a month. It couldn't have been that bad. Though, maybe it was less about the time period and more about them never resolving their issues.

"Alright you guys, cards on the table," Mabel started, putting the menu down and leaning back in her seat. "You two have unresolved tension and Paisley and I are not gonna sit here the entire night, carrying the conversation while you two awkwardly look on."

"So," Mabel went on, grabbing her purse as she got off the chair. "Paisley and I are gonna powder our noses. And when we get back I want the mood at this table to be breezy."

Mabel grabbed Paisley's hand, the two smirking to each other as they walked off to the bathroom.

Kippi scrunched up her face, giving Reggie a look. "I guess we better do as they say, huh?"

"Don't think they're gonna be happy if they don't," Reggie nodded.

----------

"So there I am at the dance with Dot, looking over at Reggie who's nearly passed out in the damn punch bowl," Kippi explained.

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Jesus, babe."

Reggie bit his lip. Kippi took a swig off her water. "So, of course, I can't introduce him to my gran like that. And then he just up and disappeared. Where the hell did you even go that night, Reg?"

"Moose and the guys and I were gonna drink by the lake," Reggie replied in a "duh" kind of voice.

Kippi scoffed, shaking her head. "As if you hadn't been wasted enough by that point," she said. She waved it off. "Anyways, so shortly after that we called it quits. And that was our tumultuous three-week-long relationship."

"I'm starting to understand the awkwardness between you two," Paisley chimed in.

The group laughed. "Yeah, but I think we have it sorted out now, right?" Kippi asked Reggie.

He nodded, genuinely smiling at her for the first time that night. "We do."

The two clinked their glasses together. Kippi grabbed Paisley's hand. "Look at my sweetheart over here. I know for a fact she planned this. She loves fixing relationships."

Paisley smiled gingerly, taking a swig from her glass. "Maybe."

Mabel pointed at Paisley. "I like you."

"We totally need to do this again at some point," Kippi said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Dot and Jug, but if I have to end another date night early because they need to go off and sleuth I might just scream."

BONUS:

TAGGING: @hughstheforcelou @firsthorror @eddysocs @raith-way @foxesandmagic @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle (Mabel is her OC)

#ocappreciation #oc trope challenge #oc trope challenge 2021 #riverdale #riverdale oc #riverdale original character #oc: kippi goode #oc: paisley monaghan #v's oc: mabel harlow #ch: reggie mantle

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lady-divine-writes · 3 years

Text

Kurtbastian one-shot “Where the Ice Grows” (Rated PG13)

Summary: Now that Kurt is free from his self-imposed prison, he wants to move on with his life, try to go back to the future he had dreamed of all throughout high school. But he's known only fear for so long, he doesn't know how to move forward.

He doesn't know how to grow. (1875 words)

Notes: So just to recap, in Special Delivery, we're seeing Kurt and Sebastian travel the country, retracing the footsteps of Sebastian's childhood, the trips his mother took him and his brother on, while Kurt tries to come to grips with the future. This is from their trip to Vail.

Read on AO3.

Kurt eyed the gray mare suspiciously, then his boyfriend, who stroked the horse's nose, murmuring soothing sentiments.

“You really expect me to get on this animal?” Kurt asked. And Sebastian chuckled, delighted at how perfect a snob his boyfriend sounded.

“Yup. The place we’re going is too far to walk, especially in the snow.”

Kurt climbed the pair of wooden steps a portly stablehand brought him, the cheerful man helping Kurt get his balance before instructing him how to mount the mare. “Is the goal of this trip to make me suffer?”

“Nope.” Sebastian watched Kurt hoist himself onto the horse’s back with the grace of a seasoned rider. He shot Kurt an accusatory look. “You say you’ve never ridden a horse before?”

“N-not once.” Kurt's voice shook, looking leery as the mare shuffled forward and back, getting used to the weight of her new rider. "But I've mounted other things ..."

Kurt meant to follow up with a story about how a good friend from high school, Brittany, had taken him and Finn to motocross once. She'd said he was a natural after he climbed on his bike. That was, of course, before his epically embarrassing crash seconds later. But Kurt didn't, stuttering to a halt, his mouth hanging open as his comment registered. The stablehand sputtered, and Sebastian shook his head, grinning so hard, it looked painful.

"I'm not touching that one," Sebastian said, mounting his Arabian – a sleek black stallion that looked as if it had been born to run. And Sebastian definitely had the seat of a natural-born rider. His parents probably made him take lessons when he was younger, Kurt thought. Wasn't that what the uber-wealthy did? Kurt wondered if there were horses on the Smythe estate. The subject didn't come up when he was there, but he wouldn't be surprised.

Sebastian seemed so at ease on his stallion. Kurt didn't know for sure, but he didn't think his mare liked him too much, the way she snuffled when he tried to speak to her, tossed her head and shook her mane when he attempted to pet her. He was certain that she would have preferred Sebastian as a rider, what with the rapport they'd been building, and felt cheated getting stuck with Kurt.

Sebastian looked at his boyfriend, rigidly seated in his saddle, trying so hard for Sebastian’s sake. Kurt had been such a good sport during their trip, patiently following Sebastian on his every whim, to every bizarre, touristy, or even hidden locale Sebastian dragged him to.

Little did Kurt know (because Sebastian had yet to tell him) this ride through the hills on their rented horses was less about recapturing Sebastian’s childhood and more about Kurt.

About the spark that had started to extinguish in his eyes.

For weeks, Sebastian sat and watched Kurt in bed, at his desk, on the couch, with his sketch pad opened to an empty page, pencil pinched between his fingertips - sitting, staring, but not drawing. Kurt had wanted a stab at going back, retracing his steps, living the life he felt he was meant to have. But roadblocks had thrown themselves in his path. Unexpected ones. Obstacles of self-doubt.

It hurt Sebastian to watch the frustration, the pain, the disappointment on Kurt’s face every night as he packed up his sketch pad and surrendered to sleep.

“Remember to have them back here before the sun sets. That's in two hours,” the caretaker, Mabel - a husky woman dressed in denim overalls, a quilted coat, and thick, rubber boots - commanded. “Once the sun goes behind the mountains, the temperature will plummet.”

“That’s more time than we need,” Sebastian assured her. With a click of his tongue, Kurt and Sebastian left the stable, making their way up the hillside towards a spot Sebastian found years ago with his mom, and quite by accident.

Kurt’s mare followed Sebastian’s stallion - a good thing since Kurt had no interest in controlling his horse whatsoever. Nor could he, his hands gripping the reins so tightly, they were digging through his gloves. He did his best to relax, watch the scenery pass, as the beast trodded along.

He would love to come back during the summer. During this time of year, everything was basically white on white with more white. The snow and ice-covered landscape surrounding them was so overwhelmingly white, Kurt thought he might go blind. Everything looked identical covered in its blanket of snow. Depth perception didn’t exist here. A tree fifty yards away looked like it was growing right next to him.

It was disorienting.

Sebastian stopped his horse, waiting as Kurt caught up. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a black glasses case, and handed it to Kurt.

“Here. These will help.”

"Thank you." Kurt popped the case open. The glasses were Gucci because of course they were. Kurt chuckled. He wasn't complaining about Sebastian's incredible wealth. Not by a long shot. But it struck him as funny considering the financial state Sebastian was in when the two of them met: his cruddy apartment with the broken heater and his shower that drooled water; his burner phone; how he rode the bus everywhere. Now he was pulling five-hundred-dollar sunglasses out of his pocket like they were Kleenex.

Kurt slid the frames onto his nose. He felt ridiculous wearing sunglasses while riding a horse like a way-too-chic-for-words drunk cowboy. But once he saw the world through the tinted lenses, he didn’t care how he looked. They lessened the glare, changed his aspect, and he could see correctly again. He could finally appreciate the snow-covered wilderness for its desolate beauty.

Desolate.

That’s how everything looked.

Just like so many other places they had visited.

Kurt was beginning to sense a pattern.

Sebastian brought his horse to a stop beside a small cluster of trees, tying the reins to a sturdy branch before helping Kurt do the same. Sebastian took a moment to hold Kurt in his arms, missing the press of their bodies together during the long ride. He'd originally wanted them to ride double, but with the cold and the climb, he worried about the horse’s back. So he opted for singles instead. He had rented the mare for Kurt because the stablehand told him she was the calmest animal they had.

It also didn’t hurt that her name happened to be Elizabeth.

“Do you have some obsession with these desolate landscapes?” Kurt asked. “Because we seem to visit a lot of them.”

“Desolate?” Sebastian chuckled, his warm breath burning the frozen tips of Kurt’s ears. “Is that all you see?”

"Well ... kind of. Yeah," Kurt said guiltily, suddenly feeling like he was missing something obvious. But obvious to Sebastian didn't mean obvious to Kurt.

Sebastian took Kurt’s gloved hand and led him the rest of the way up the hillside, stopping at a ledge overlooking a large lake. They stopped as close to the edge as Sebastian dared go. He held Kurt in front of him, arms wrapped securely around Kurt’s waist. The land below them seemed to stretch out for miles, but the lake looked close enough to touch. Icicles covered everything. They decorated the branches of the trees, glittering in the afternoon sunlight.

The sun, too, seemed close enough for Kurt to reach up and grab in both hands, but he couldn’t feel its warmth on his face. It was a strange combination of intense beauty and intense sadness.

“Oh God,” Kurt breathed. “It’s beautiful! Like some fairy tale wonderland! But why are we here?”

Sebastian sighed. He could feel the sadness seeping out of Kurt, even as he gazed around him in awe. He had locked himself behind an iron gate for so long. Now that he had his freedom, he didn’t know how to handle it.

“You’re so frightened, gorgeous,” Sebastian said, mouth hovering close to Kurt’s ear. ”Of life. Of failing. You think you’re broken, that that's all you are. So you’re stuck in a place where you can’t look back, and you can’t move forward. That’s why you can’t create.”

Kurt froze. He didn't think Sebastian was paying that close attention.

He wondered how long ago he'd noticed.

“You’ve sort of become your own desolate landscape,” Sebastian continued. “So beautiful, so full of potential, but …”

“So, you’re trying to get me to see the beauty in desolate landscapes." Kurt sniffled. "But you pretty much proved my point.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Salton Sea, Death Valley, here … there’s tons of beauty, but nothing new grows. Animals survive in those places; they don’t live. Plants maintain, but nothing worthwhile blooms.”

“Are you sure about that? Or could it be that your scope of what type of growth is worthy of notice is a little narrow?”

Kurt turned his head to look at Sebastian, confusion clouding his eyes. “I don’t understand.”

“I think I’ll let our landscape here do the explaining for me.”

"What on earth does ...?"

"Shhh." Sebastian raised a finger to his lips. “Listen …”

The two men stood quietly, listening to the sounds of nature around them. But as far as Kurt could tell, there were none. The wind didn’t blow. No animals scurried among the bushes and trees, nor crunched in the snow. Not a single bird flew. The only sound Kurt could hear was a faint crackling and popping coming from the direction of the lake.

“I'm sorry. I don’t get it,” Kurt said finally.

“What do you hear?” Sebastian asked.

“I don’t know. I hear … uh … Rice Krispies Cereal?”

Sebastian kissed the back of Kurt’s head. “That’s it!” he said as if Kurt had just told him the secret of the universe.

Kurt shrugged. “I still …”

“Kurt, I tell you to look for growth, and you automatically think of trees, flowers, grass …”

Kurt nodded. "Duh."

“But there is none of that here. Not right now. It’s all hidden under the snow. But one thing here does grow, is growing as we speak. And that’s the noise you heard.”

“Then do you mind cluing me in? Because I’m at a loss.”

“The ice.” Sebastian leaned a cheek against Kurt’s hair. Kurt shivered, moved back closer to him. “Up here where the snow covers everything, the ice is growing.”

"What?" Kurt gasped, peeking out over the ledge from the safety of Sebastian’s embrace.

“Didn’t expect that, did you, gorgeous?”

Kurt shook his head, staring down at the ice-covered water, at a loss for words.

“You can still create, Kurt,” Sebastian whispered. “It’s in you. You just have to learn to do it in unexpected ways.”

Kurt thought about what Sebastian said as they rode the rest of the way down the hillside, straining to hear the snapping of the ice on the water over the crunching of snow beneath the horses’ hooves. He sat in quiet contemplation the whole way back to the hotel. That evening, after a long, hot shower and dinner in their room, Kurt took out his sketch pad and began to draw. Sebastian fell asleep that night to the sound of Kurt’s charcoal pencil scratching feverishly over the heavy paper, at peace, with a smile on his face.

#kurtbastian #sebkurt #sekurt #sebastian smythe #kurt hummel #glee

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