#is why I'm writing this

[softquietsteadylove]

AND you did it again, life interrupted is now my favorite AU thank you so much for writing more of it!! Gil is so sweet and Druig just wants whats best for his big sister 🥹 would love love love to see something where Thena is having a Bad Day and Gil is just being extra kind and gentle and soft w her, maybe even it gets to the point where Thena explains what happened to her and why she’s lost her way a bit. Sorry I cannot stop thinking about this AU but as usual anything you write will make me lose my mind with its perfection!!!

Thena sniffed, sitting at Gil's kitchen as he poured her a glass of water. Her hands still had a slight shake to them, even though it had taken them fifteen minutes to walk to his place.

Gil still didn't know exactly what had happened. Just that one minute she was fine and the next she was trembling with her arms wrapped around herself. He had thrown his coat around her shoulders and gotten her home without further incident. He hadn't asked about it yet, either.

From the moment they walked in, all he'd done was whisper sweet nothings and reassurances and been nice and gentle with her. All he'd done was be perfect.

"Hey," Gil whispered as she took a sip without the glass shaking too badly. He leaned his head down to get a look at her, eyes searching for anything wrong and what he might be able to do about it. "Better?"

Thena gulped, nodding. How did she ever find such a perfect soul as Gilgamesh?

"I'm gonna name off a few things," Gil said softly, hovering close but not too close. "You tell me what sounds good, okay?"

Thena nodded again. Maybe she wanted to tell him he didn't have to coddle her. Maybe she wanted to pretend everything was fine. Maybe she wanted to lie down on his floor and sob until Druig came to pick her up.

"Something to eat?" God, no, she couldn't bear the thought of food (not even Gil's). "Nap?...couch?"

Gil smiled as she nodded. He tilted his brows up at her, "want me to carry you?"

Thena's eyes watered, and it seemed as good as a 'yes' in Gil's eyes, because he didn't hesitate to scoop her up bridal style and carry her to his living room. She pressed her tears into his shirt. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he said as sure as anything. He sat himself down, letting her curl up against him on his lap. He held her gently, but firmly.

"I didn't want..." Thena trailed off. There were a lot of things she didn't want, and having a panic attack in the middle of their date was definitely pretty high on that list.

"It's okay, Thena," Gil whispered, running his hand over her hair and holding her around the waist. "All that matters to me is that you're feeling better."

Thena sighed, burying her face against his shoulder again. He was perfect--too perfect. "Too good for me."

"No," he was quick to deny. He twisted her hair over her shoulder so he could bury his nose against the side of her neck. "You deserve to be taken care of, Thena."

She wished she felt that way.

"You are so important to me," Gil whispered against her cheek, leaving light kisses there. "I asked you out for the same reason I started saving lunch for you."

Thena pulled away now just to look at him curiously.

He smiled that same smile that had first stolen her heart back in the psych ward. It was warm, and gentle, and even when she'd been medicated to heaven and back, she'd been able to feel her heart beating faster at the sight of it. It was all the medicine she needed.

"I did it to see that smile," he said gently, running his thumb along her jaw line, as if to pull her lips into a smile like smoothing a crease out of a fitted sheet. Her smile did appear, and his doubled in size. "There it is!"

Thena let out a small, shaky, watery sounding laugh. But Gil pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead to express how pleased he was by it, no matter how fragile it was. She sighed, letting his warmth and the smell of his aftershave swim around in her head.

Gil let her take her time, happy to hold her--to have her safe in his arms. He nuzzled her gently, tapped his fingers against her leg, rubbed her back and petted her hair.

Thena pressed her forehead under his chin. "Druig asked me to go with him to tell our father and step-mother that he wanted--wants to propose."

Gil waited for her to go on at her own pace.

Thena resettled herself in his arms. He was so comfy. "I told him he shouldn't try to involve them, but I imagine he still has some slight desire to feel like a family."

"I agreed to go with him, but our father didn't take the news particularly well. He's always been hard on Druig, and this time his temper was just...I had never seen them like that."

Gil ran his fingers through her hair as her breath hitched.

"They were so angry, and they started shouting," she continued, voice pulled thinner until it was a whisper. "Ajak told them to stop, but it just made it worse. Druig isn't big enough to fight him."

Her sentences were becoming fractured again--something she hadn't been able to completely break herself of after being in the psych ward those three months.

"I was scared," she whimpered, and Gil responded by holding her tighter. "I thought they were going to kill each other."

"You got in between them?"

She nodded, and Gil's hand gripped her shoulder. It was just short of too tight, but she could imagine it wasn't pleasant to imagine for him. "I pulled our father off of Druig, clawing at him. He turned around and..."

Gil sucked in a breath through his nose and held it, but he said nothing. She had more to say, and he wasn't about to interrupt her.

"Ajak ended up calling the police," Thena regained some strength in her voice, deep, deep in the memory of the fateful night. "It was agreed that no charges would be pressed if Druig took some time off work, Father performed some community service, and I-"

"Got checked into the hospital?" Gil asked, sounding more baffled than when he'd guessed she had gotten involved in their fight. "Why were you the only one with that punishment?"

Thena shrugged. "I'm sure they were more likely to believe in my hysteria than their anger."

Gil scoffed.

"I suppose in fairness to them," Thena shrugged, "they did arrive to me telling our father I would kill him."

"Well," Gil shrugged as well to match her lighter tone, "it sounds like he deserved it."

Thena let out another - stronger - laugh. How as he so perfect.? She emerged from the memory to look at him properly. He brushed some hair back from her face and let the hand drift over her cheek. She leaned into his touch achingly. "I'm afraid it's not very pleasant. But that's how I ended up meeting you."

"Well, I hate to say anything good came of that," Gil mumbled, as if sharing a secret with her. "But...I'm still glad you ended up in my lunch line."

She laughed again, smiling through the last of her unshed tears.

"I guess that's pretty selfish of me," he whispered, still looking at her with those eyes and that smile--the only things that would bring her comfort when she was in that hellhole.

"It's okay," she whispered back, "you can be selfish."

Gil closed his eyes as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

"That wasn't the first time they'd ended up like that, just the worst of them," Thena continued, somewhat easier now. "I've always been spooked by shouting and loud noises ever since my father's first truly bad display of temper."

Gil just nodded, pulling her head against his again. There had been a scuffle in the crowd outside the cinema--that was what had triggered her. "I'm sorry."

Thena shook her head, pursing her lips. "Every time, I think I can move past it-"

"You don't have to," he gripped her shoulder. "I know you might not like it, but it's a part of you. And we don't have to like it all the time to accept it--that it comes with you as a package deal."

Thena wilted against him. "Are you sure you're not a therapist from the psych ward disguised as a cook?"

Gil laughed, his chest vibrating against her shoulder in a very comforting way. "Guess I've heard enough group sessions in the cafeteria to have picked up some things."

Thena stretched out in his embrace like a cat in front of a fire. She was positively worn out from all the events of the day. "You're perfect."

"No one's perfect," he corrected softly, "but I guess...I really want you to feel like you can be yourself around me."

Gil changed his position as well, lying on his side with her still curled up against him. He budged the throw pillow more under her head than his. "I know we didn't meet in a...traditional way."

What an understatement.

"But," he threaded their fingers together, his breath hitting her face as he whispered, "I want this to work, Thena. I want to be here to make you smile every single day--just once, if you don't want to too much."

Thena laughed, her forehead bumping against his in their proximity.

Gil inhaled, looking like her laughter was something that could be injected into his veins for energy. "Maybe a laugh once a day--it is the best medicine."

Thena, lying on her side, staring at this wonderful, perfect man, shook her head. He blinked at her denial, but she smiled so wide her cheeks hurt, "you."

Gil's eyes slid closed as she leaned forward, touching her lips to his ever so gently. He returned the kiss, soft and sweet as it was--nothing demanding or intense. Just a little exchange of affection. His eyes fluttered open and he had this dopey smile on his face.

Thena let her eyes drift down between them to their connected hands. She flexed them a little, to test if it was really real. But his fingers slid down to clasp around her hand more firmly.

Gil pressed a kiss to her forehead, "tired now?"

Thena nodded, shimmying to properly nestle herself into him.

Gil wrapped an arm around her, letting his hand spread over her back as if that alone could protect her from today and every one to come. "I'll be right here."

Thena smiled against his shirt, drinking in the scent of his detergent and the warmth of his arm around her. "Perfect."

[emptyjunior]

Enough random notes that have a written story on them as environmental storytelling, explore the space, get crazier with it.

You move into a house and aw cute, it has the kids height on the walls but you notice there's a three foot difference in height between measurements, you check the date, they're a month apart. The final measurement is on the ceiling. It's dated two days ago.

You're part of a recovery team that have finally found a stranded ship, they were found too late and have all passed a long time ago. They all died of starvation. You enter their storeroom, it's filled with food. In the dining hall you find the tables laden with perfectly fine looking breads, cakes, cured meats, jams, candies. Your medic says all the people sitting at the table didn't eat a Thing.

You wake up in an apocalypse. You can't find anyone at all as you wander the streets but you do hear faint music playing from somewhere. You stumble into a supermarket, to see all the aisles still full, except for the shelf that was full of ear plugs, which look to be the only thing that was looted.

Like there's light, sound, props. Having a street where every house is decimated except for One. Landing on a planet known for having No Water and a plant is growing and you don't know where it could have possibly gotten moisture from but you can't find the citizens Anywhere.

I'm sorry, I'm just kinda over the "graffiti on the wall to show the bad guy is around". That's not environmental storytelling that's just normal story. Show me I'm in the villains territory by the rain suddenly cutting out above me as I'm driving, even though it's meant to be raining all night. I park the car and step out, and realise the constellations are Wrong, until I see they're Not constellations, they're the blinking lights of a massive ship-

I Will stop now because everytime I go to write a sentence it devolves into another prompt but I'm just saying we have a Lot of senses, engage them, show me the Environment in environmental storytelling.

[fishofthewoods]

I see a lot of people clowning on the people of Pelican Town for not repairing the community center themselves or clowning on Lewis for embezzling and. like. Those criticisms aren't entirely unfair. But I think instead of coming at it from a perspective of "why can't the townspeople do this" we should be asking "why and how can the farmer do this?"

Like. Think about it. The farmer arrives in Stardew Valley on the first day of spring. By the first day they're obviously different. By day five the spirits of the forest who haven't been seen by the townsfolk in years or generations are speaking to them. By the second week they've developed a rapport with the wizard that lives outside town.

In the spring they go foraging and find more than even Linus, who's spent so many years learning the ways of the valley. Maybe he knows, when he sees them walking back home. Maybe he looks at them and understands that they're different, chosen somehow.

In the summer they fish in the lakes and the ocean for hours on end, catching fish that even Willy's only ever heard of, fish that he thought were the stuff of legend. They pull up giants from the deep and mutated monstrosities from the sewers.

In the fall, their crops grow incredibly immense; pumpkins twice as tall as a person, big enough that someone could live inside. The farmer cuts it down with an axe without even batting an eye. Does Lewis wonder, when he checks the collection bin that night and finds it full to the brim with pumpkin flesh? What does he think? Does he even leave the money? Does he have the funds to pay the farmer millions of dollars for the massive amounts of wine they sell? Or is it someone--something--else entirely?

In the winter, the farmer delves into the mines. No one in Pelican Town has been down there in decades. No one in living memory has been to the bottom. The farmer gets there within the season. They return to the surface with stories of dwarven ruins and shadow people, stories they only tell to Vincent and Jas, whose retellings will be dismissed by the adults as flights of fancy. People walking by the entrance to the mines sometimes hear the farmer in there, speaking in a language no one can understand. Something speaks back.

The farmer speaks to the the wizard. They speak to the spirit of a bear inside a centuries-old stone. They speak to the shadow people and the dwarves, ancient enemies, and they try to mend the rift. They speak to the Junimos, ancient spirits of the forest and the river and the mountain. They taste the nectar of the stardrops and speak to the valley itself. They change Pelican Town, and they change the valley. Things are waking up.

And what does Evelyn think? She's the oldest person in the valley; she was here when the farmer's grandfather was young. (How old *is* she, anyway? She never seems to age. She doesn't remember the year she was born.) Does she see the farmer and think of their grandfather? Does she try to remember if he was like this too, strange and wild and given the gifts of the forest?

And does their grandfather haunt the valley? He haunts the farm, still there even after his death; his body died somewhere else, but his spirit could never stay away for long. Does Abigail, using her ouija board on a stormy night, almost drop the planchette when she realizes it's moving on its own? Does Shane, walking to work long before anyone else leaves their house, catch glimpses of a wispy figure floating through the town? Does the farmer know their grandfather came back to the place they both love so much?

Mr. Qi takes interest in the farmer. He's different, too; in a different way, maybe, but the principles are the same. They're both exceptional, and no matter what Qi says about it being hard work and dedication, they both know the truth: the world bends around the both of them, changing to fit their needs. Most people aren't visited by fairies or witches. Most people don't have meteorites crash in their yard. Most people couldn't chop down trees all day without a break or speak to bears and mice and frogs.

The farmer is different. The rules of the world don't work for them the way they work for everyone else. The farmer goes fishing and finds the stuff of fairy tales. The farmer goes mining and fights shadow beasts and flying snakes. The farmer looks at paths the townspeople walk every day and finds buried in the dirt relics of lost civilizations.

The farmer is a violent, irrepressible miracle, chosen by the valley and destined to return to it someday. Even if they'd never received the letter, they would've come home.

They always come home eventually.

[lightasthesun]

Comprehensive Lexicon Guide for First-Time SW Fic Readers:

Flimsi/Flimsiplast = Paper

Flimsiwork/Datawork = Paperwork

Stylus = Pen

Datapad = Tablet

Comlink/Comm = Communication Device/Phone

Binders = Handcuffs

Chronometer = Clock

Spectacles = Eyeglasses

Chrono = Watch

Conservator = Refrigerator

Caf = Coffee

Nerfburger = Hamburger

Blue milk = Milk (literally blue)

Hubba chips = French Fries

Sweet roll = Doughnut

Flatcakes = Pancakes

Tabac = Tobacco

HoloNet = World Wide Web

Holovision/HoloTV = Television

Holodrama/Holovids = Movie/Videos

Holocamera/Holocam = Camera

Holomap = three-dimensional map

Holojournal = Newspaper

Holocube = Picture frame

Holotable = Projector

Holoscanner = X-ray machine

Holojournalist = Reporter

Flatholo/Holograph = Photograph

Sonic Damper = Active Noise Cancellation

Refresher/Fresher= Bathroom

Sonic Bath = Bath

Sanisteam/Sonic shower = Waterless Shower

Hydrospanner = Wrench

Hydro Flask = Water Bottle

Power Cell/Energy Cell = Batteries

Authorization Chip = Decryption key

Datatape = Disk

Datastick = Flash drive

(Personal) Com Code = Phone number

Datachip = SD Card

Synthflesh = Synthetic skin

Glowrod = Flashlight

Sparkstick = Match

Slugthrower = Gun

Slug = Bullet

Vibroblade = a blade that can vibrate at high frequencies, increasing its cutting power and penetrating ability (tactical knife)

Rangefinder = Rifle scope

Turbolaser = Cannon

Ion pike/Vibropike = Spear

Electro Staff = Stun baton

Blaster = Pistol/Rifle

Stun Blaster = similar to a Taser

Landspeeder/Airspeeder/Speeder = Car

Turbolift = Elevator

Slideramp = Escalator

Starfighter = Fighter jet

Rotorcraft = Helicopter

Hoverpack/Jetpack= Jet pack

Speeder Bike = Motorcycle

Skylane = Traffic lane

Railspeeder/Hovertrain = Train

Power Chair/Hoverchair= Wheelchair

Windscreen = Windshield

Podracing = Car racing

Dejarik = Chess

Sabacc = Poker and Blackjack combined

Galactic Rebels = Combat simulator

B'shingh = Dungeons and dragons

Jizz = Jazz music

Wailer = Singer (ie. Jizz Wailer)

Cantina = Bar or Pup

Para Sailing = Paragliding

Aurebesh = Alphabet

Credits = Money

Sleeping Pallet = Bedroll

Naming Day = Birthday

Youngling = Child

Galactic Basic Standard/ Basic = English

Medkit/Medpac = First aid kit

Hypo = Syringe

Medic/Healer = Doctor

Medcenter = Hospital

Bactapatch = Bandaid

Nanoweave = Fabric

Transparisteel = Glass

Plastifoam = Packing material

Durasteel = Steel

Plasteel = Plastic

Duracrete = Concrete

Slicer = Hacker (slicing = hacking)

Identikit = Passport

Minder = Therapist

Synthleather = Vinyl

Viewport = Window

Cooling Unit = Air-conditioning

Honeydarter = Bee

Slythmonger = Drugdealer

Spice = Drugs

Stimpill = Caffeine pill

Power Socket = Plug

Cutters = Scissors

Cycle = Day

Standard Cycle = 24h

Standard Week = 5 days

Standard Month = 35 standard days

Standard Year = approx. ten months

Tenday = literally ten days

Cigarras/Smokes = Cigarettes

Click = Kilometer or 'a moment'

Parsec = a unit of distance

Tweezers/Clanker/tin head/tinnie = Droid

Separatist = Seppie

Promise Ring = Wedding Ring

Body Glove = Jumpsuit

Slicksuit = Wet suit

Civvies = Civilian clothing

Carbonite = a metal alloy used to freeze a person in a state of hibernation

Hyperdrive = device that allows a starship to travel faster than lightspeed

Moisture vaporator = device that can extract water from the air, commonly used on tatooine

Glareshades = Sunglasses

Gasser = Gas Oven

Repulsorlift = technology that can create an anti-gravity field and is used for levitating heavy objects

Heating unit = Heater

Utility Droid = Roomba

Sunbonnet = a Clone trooper helmet

Bad Batcher = a defective Clone Trooper

Banthabrain = birdbrain/ a stupid person

Bantha fodder = waste of space/nonsense

Blast! = word of exclamation

Blasted! = s.o in anger or annoyance

Blaster-brained = dimwitted

Blaster fodder = cannon fodder

Blast off = Piss off

Brainless = Stupid

Bug/Bugger = used to refer to Geonosians

Forceforsaken = godforsaken

Full of Poodoo = full of shit

Poodoo = Shit

Kriff = Fuck

Jedi scum = derogatory term for jedi

Kark = derogatory expletive

Larty = LAAT/i gunship

Laserbrain = insult

Meat droid = derogatory term for Clone Troopers

Redrobes = Palpatines guard

Rookie/Shinie = newly recruited Trooper

Scum = insult to refer to bounty hunters/rebels

Sharpie = Sharp-witted

Sithspawn/Sithspit/Hellspawn! = expletive

Sleemo = Slimeball

Son of a bantha = insult

Wizard! = Cool

Spaced = dead

Hutt-spawn = Bastard

Karabast = exclamation of dismay

Stang = Crap

Buckethead/Bucketbrain = derogatory term for Stormtroopers

Bucket = Helmet

Nat-born = Natural Born

Roger Roger = affirmative/copy that

Droid poppers = EMP grenade

Sitrep = short for situation report

Backwater Planet = any planet that isn't part of the core system

Holocron = device that can project a three-dimensional image of a person/object and is used for communication or entertainment.

Kessel Run = a risky Operation. Commonly used as a metaphor in impossible situations.

Thermal Detonator= device that can create a powerful explosion like a grenade or bomb

Ray Shield/Energy Shield = creates a (protective) barrier

Rebreather = device that allows a person to breathe underwater or in toxic environments

Phrases:

Wild goose chase = wild bantha chase

That's bantha shit = that's bullshit

As slippery as a greased Dug = untrustworthy

Credit for your thoughts = penny for your thoughts

Cut the poodoo = cut the crap

to get your gills in a twist = get upset about something

Holy mother of meteors = holy mother of god

Oh my skies/ Oh my stars = exclamation of surprise

Stars' end! = exclamation of disbelief

What in the blue blazes = exclamation

When Geonosis freezes over/When it snows on tatooine = extremely unlikely

Who pissed in your power supply = who pissed you off

Blast it = damn it

By the maker = exclamation of surprise

Great karking Dragon = expression of disbelief

Lothcat got your tongue = equivalent of 'cat got your tongue?'

Sod it = expression of frustration

[nadiajustbe]

One of my favorite parts about the writing of Howl's Moving Castle is how easy it is to write off all the things from our world at first as him just being a weird wizard™ (also thanks to bestie @jutenium for spotting this I wouldn't put it like that without you!!/pos). Sure, Sophie uses weird descriptions, but readers have every reason to believe them because of the way Howl is presented as a character. When Sophie says he wrote with a quill that doesn't need an ink, you wouldn't think it was actually a ballpoint pen, you would think Howl had just enchanted his quill so that it wouldn't need ink! When she adds that she can't make out a single word, you think he has matchingly terrible handwriting, but in fact Sophie has simply never seen a pen writing. When she sees the mysterious labels on his books, you think he's keeping a lot of obscure magical literature, but it's really just an encyclopedia and a guide like "Top 10 Rugby Tips." When Sophie notices the bottles in Howl's bathtub, you think they're some kind of magical jars where he keeps girl's hearts, but I'm almost certain that they're just 'Dove' and 'Head and Shoulders' that he's enhanced with his spells and put silly labels on. When you read Calicifer singing a song in a language Sophie doesn't understand, you think it's some kind of ancient cipher or code, but it's actually just a rugby song in Welsh that Howl sings when he's drunk. And finally, when you see the terrifying black door, which is completely shrouded in darkness, you imagine a passage to an eerie, mythical place, similar to what Miyazaki showed us - but it's just fucking Wales.

[bulbagarden]

cool patrat facts:

[lazylittledragon]

ok someone please correct me if i'm wrong but am i weird for thinking those 'audiobooks don't count as reading' posts are ableist as fuck????

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

Novice sewing pattern: Cut out shapes. Line up the little triangles on the edges. Stitch edges together. We've also included step-by-step assembly instructions with illustrations.

Novice knitting pattern: yOU MUSt uNDerstANd thE SECret cOdE CO67 (73, 87, 93) BO44 (63, 76, 90) 28 (32, 34) slip first pw repeat 7x K to end *kl (pl) 42 * until 13" (13, 13, 15) join new at 30 pl for 17 rows ssk 27 k2tog mattress lengthwise BO and sacrifice a goat to the knitting gods. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT "INSTRUCTIONS," I JUST GAVE THEM TO YOU

[neptunym]

weirdos

[meshaamem-li]

me: *writing*

my brain: woah there buddy, that's a lot of words! if you wanna keep writing you gotta pay for the exclusive Writer Expansion Pack™ for just 9.99 a month.

me: wtf does this mean

brain: shut the fuck up and open tumblr

[violent138]

Tim, looking around the darkened corridor: "You think it's a good idea to be breaking into random places right now?"

Jason said nothing, fumbling in his pockets.

Dick: "You live here, don't you?" Which gets everyone's attention laser-focused.

Jason just cast him a look, getting the door open.

Steph entered first, smacking into something that falls over. "Jeez." She complained, stumbling backward until Cass steadied her by the shoulders. "Sorry, that's my bad."

Duke turned on the lights in one motion, making everyone blink and wince.

"Get off me." Damian snapped, and Dick carefully let him go, letting him limp angrily into a chair. He frowned, scrutinizing the place. "You live here? Why would anyone--"

"Guys." Dick rubbed his eyes over the mask, cutting off Damian and Jason’s sharp answer. "First aid kit?" Dick asked Jason tiredly.

Jason nodded, moving to get it and heard Damian ask "What?" in response to a patented glare he must be getting.

Tim had made a beeline for the kitchen. "Dude, why do you have a singular set of dishes? And why are there just guns in this cabinet?"

Jason scoffed, handing Dick the kit. "Didn't realize I was running a fucking bed and breakfast."

"There's guns in this cabinet too!" Tim shook his head, opening and closing two more. "Oh good, just large knives in this one."

At Tim's raised eyebrows, Jason went into the kitchen and shooed Cass down the counter she was perched on, grabbing the paper plates he kept in a drawer and shoving them into Tim's chest.

Glancing at the way Steph was rubbing her neck, slouched at the table, Jason grabbed two ice packs, sliding one her way and throwing the other to Damian.

Duke, taking a book off Jason's meticulously organized shelf: "Why do you have seven copies of Pride and Prejudice? Did you keep forgetting you bought it, or--?"

Jason, storming over to put the book back. "Stop."

Dick looked up from the wound he was stitching. "Are they different at at all?"

"Are they in different languages?" Steph asked.

"Did you barter them for food? Because your fridge is fucking empty." Tim reported.

Jason groaned, realizing that they weren't going to drop it. "One has a different introduction and one is the zombies version. And yes, the rest are the same, now could you all stop touching stuff?"

"Why do you have five copies of the same book?"

[myoonmii]

He watches him like a ghost

[ckret2]

So y'all know the Gravity Falls production bible that leaked three weeks ago. Someone in one of my discord servers pointed this out:

And, naturally, that spawned an entire AU.

AU Concept: Ford was kicked out instead of Stan and takes a job as a trucker to makes ends meet since he couldn't go to college, while still studying the weird and anomalous however he can.

Ford driving around from quirky small town to quirky small town, drifting through the liminal spaces of truck stops, meeting odd people in isolated diners, seeing strange things out on the road—a deer with too many eyes bounding across a two-lane highway, a flirty woman at a rest stop who doesn't blink or breathe, mysterious lights in the sky at night, inhuman growls on the CB or 50-year-old broadcasts on the radio—and taking notes when he stops for gas or food.

Aside from having gotten kicked out before graduating high school, Ford's the same person he is in canon.

He's still an ambitious guy, and here "ambitious" means working hard and saving as much money as he can—so, a long haul owner-operator who spends weeks at a time on the road. (He goes through a LOT of educational audiobooks.) Plus, this is the easiest way for him to get to travel the country; and since it looks like his "travel the world" dreams with Stan are dead, he'll take what he can get.

Since he's never in the same spot long and carries his life in a truck, almost all of Ford's research is in his journal. His bag of investigation supplies has an instant camera, a portable tape recorder, a thermometer, a flashlight, rubber gloves, and a few zip lock bags—and that's about it. It has to share space with all his clothes, toiletries, and nonperishable food when he's on the road. He doesn't have much opportunity to closely examine anything odd he finds, unless he's lucky enough to run into something when he can stop for the night. He has to cram his paranormal research around the side of his full-time job.

He doesn't live in Gravity Falls, but he knows it exists. Every time he moves—to Chicago, to Nebraska, to California—he seems to inch closer. He currently lives in Portland and usually hauls loads between the Pacific Northwest and Chicago or New York. He stops at the truck stop outside Gravity Falls when he can and has gone fishing in town a few times. He doesn't have the benefit of extensive research to know that this is the weirdest town in the world; but it seems pretty weird to him, there are local rumors about the town, and he's had some weird experiences in the area.

Plus, he can't explain it, but it's like the town's calling to him. He wants to move there, but it'd put him over an hour outside of Portland where the nearest jobs are. Maybe if somebody chucked him like $100k to build a cabin in the woods; but what are the odds of that?

He does know Fiddleford. Truck broke down somewhere and Fiddleford kindly pulled over to fix it on the fly. They looked at each other, had mutual knee-jerk "dumb trucker/hillbilly" reactions, and within ten minutes both went "oh wait you're the most brilliant genius i've ever met." Fiddleford's living the same life he was in canon before Ford called him to Gravity Falls—with his family in California, trying to start a computer company out of his garage—but they make friends and keep in contact.

One time Ford stops at a kitschy roadside knickknack store that also sells new agey magic things—crystals, tarot cards, incense, etc. He bought a "lucky" rearview mirror ornament that looks like an Eye of Providence in a top hat and hung it from his cab fan, and ever since then he's had weird dreams whenever he sleeps in his truck.

Things I don't know yet: what Stan's up to; or why Ford's the one who got kicked out. I tend to believe that in canon Stan wasn't just kicked out because he ruined Ford's college prospects, but rather because the family thought he deliberately sabotaged Ford; so in this AU, Ford would've been kicked out over a proportionate crime.

[egophiliac]

another one that I'm not super happy with, but continuing to mess with it isn't going to help! so here he is! 🦇 there was a lot I was trying to get across in this one, so uhhhhh hopefully it reads.

we're almost out of unique magics now...just Ace (and maybe Grim?) left!

[ramblingmindofrayyan]

Sometimes it’s really lonely being me.