The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash

[assistanting]

Who: April Ludgate-Dwyer and everyone ever
Where: Realside Ballroom
When: HALLOWEEN
Rating: PG-13?
Summary: ITS A HALLOWEEN PARTY
The Story:






[it's no secret that halloween is april's favorite holiday - she'd been planning this since her network post in september. she'd been ignoring the network and the tapping on her own mirrors in favor of just having this one stupid thing, and she really does go all out. it's a testament to the fact that when april puts her mind to something she can do anything she wants (with the help of a few gracious wonderlanders, and the magic here) and somewhere, leslie is just so proud, she's probably exploding. gross.

when characters arrive, they'll find the ballroom transformed into a creepy halloween paradise - tons of pumpkins, fake spider web (or is it???), fake dead bodies (or are they???), and a plethora of other decorations carefully handpicked by april. she didn't just ask the ballroom to do this, she worked out every detail.

there's an open bar and more candy than you ever needed in your life, plus a bunch of different Halloween themed food (spagehtti for brains, apples for bobbing). there's a dance floor playing a mix of mostly halloween music but also some other stuff even she can concede her taste in german death reggae isn't for everyone. and honestly, she actually wants people to have a really good time.

april is dressed up as moritica addams from the addams family and will actually be around mingling with people and being sociable - maybe that's the true horror of the holiday.]

Comments

[singloversing]

[If this was coming from someone he didn't know very well, Wirt probably wouldn't fight it. Yes, clearly he's some kind of weirdo who doesn't fit in yep that all sounds accurate. But since this is about Dipper, Wirt gasps, highly offended.]

What? I-I'm-- I count as a normal teenager! I mean, normal is subjective and all, but still...

[powerofmabel]

But you're not...

[she struggles, trying to find a word that isn't utterly offensive or demeaning to Wirt's already fragile mental state, because while Mabel is oftentimes bluntly insensitive without meaning to be, she doesn't intentionally hurt people's feelings and this is like tapdancing in a minefield.

she settles for scarequotes, because scarequotes denote that what she is saying is also subjective and not the opinions of the Mabel, in question. yes. good.]

.... "Cool."

[singloversing]

[Unfortunately for Mabel, there really isn't a nice way to say that without offending Wirt.]

Well, neither is Dipper! [He stops though, realizing how it sounds about three seconds after it comes out of his mouth.] ...W-Wait, that's not-- that came out wrong. I didn't mean it like that, okay? I just...I didn't think he cared about that kind of thing. That's all.

[Saying Dipper isn't cool isn't so much a knock against him as it is an admission that if they went to the same school in the same grade they would probably sit at the same lunch table and hang out in similar social circles.]

[powerofmabel]

[Mabel shrugs and puts her hands behind her head.] He cares about it when he wants to impress a girl.

[But there lies the difference between Dipper and Wirt. Dipper changes his perspective and tries to fit in. Wirt makes a mixtape of clarinet and poetry and then develops crippling anxiety.] Teenagers to Dipper are, like, the Holy Grail of casual indifference to everything. Doing what he wants without overthinking it is the only escape Dipper has from... Being Dipper.

[singloversing]

...Oh. Yeah, I guess that would do it.

[Wirt's done stupid enough things to get the attention of a girl. Like make a mixtape and completely ruin his love life.]

But...I dunno. Trying to act cooler isn't really sustainable? Like, eventually somebody's going to figure it out and then you're exposed and everyone knows you've been trying to be something you're not and they judge you for the rest of your life.

[Wirt shrugs. He's casual about it, as though this is just a fact of life he's repeating for her. Sure, he's kept quiet about parts of himself before, but if he tried to act stereotypically cool he would probably hate himself a little. So much neon. So much Duran Duran. Ugh.]

[powerofmabel]

He's learning that, one weird, over-complicated plan after another. It's a work in progress. I just have to let him figure it out for himself, 'cause he never realizes I'm right about literally everything until it's too late.

Kids today. What can you do? [Mabel you are five minutes older.]

[singloversing]

[Wirt doesn't comment on the over-complicated plans bit, since he's prone to that too (in different ways). But, he does give her a tiny, hesitantly conspiratorial smile.]

So...you must be the older sibling then.

[It's a familiar tone - the one shared among all older siblings when they find out someone else they're talking to is a fellow older sibling. Wirt's not always proud of being a big brother but someday when Greg's old enough for it to bother him, Wirt will be able to dangle that over his head.]

[powerofmabel]

Five whole minutes.

[she is so proud of that five minutes.] The doctors say I was very determined to be first.

[which set the tone for Mabel's entire life, really.]

[singloversing]

[Even he has to laugh a little at that.]

I guess that worked out for you? [He's not really sure how he should be responding to that.] I'm like, nine years older than my brother.

[powerofmabel]

That's not too bad. Soos is like nine years older than us too, and we get along with him just fine.

[that's because Soos is a manchild, Mabel.]

[singloversing]

[Rather than talk about his own weird thoughts about the nine year difference between him and Greg, he'll just...take that slight subject change.]

Oh? Is Soos like...you guys' older brother or something?

[powerofmabel]

Soos is our... Soos. He defies labels. He's like a best friend-slash-older-brother-slash-irresponsible-adult all rolled into one.

[singloversing]

That's...a lot of slashes.

[Not that he's judging. He just doesn't have anyone in his life like that. Greg's Dad kind of wants to be that, but it's absolutely not happening.]

But uh. That's cool. Our mom keeps saying Greg and I will get along better once he's not so little, but...I dunno. We're really...different, I guess.

[powerofmabel]

So're Dipper and me, but you've seen how well we get along. [which is somewhere between "excellently" and "oh god they might actually kill each other," depending on the day, but that's normal.] Maybe it's just a twin thing, since we've been together literally our whole lives, but Greg can't remember a time when you weren't around, so...

[so be nice to your brother, wirt. :(]

[singloversing]

[Yeah, that implication flies right over his head, but he nods along with the rest of it.]

That's probably it. We don't like...have that twin bond going on like you guys do. It's probably different when you grow up together.

[Not that that's Greg's fault (or Wirt's), but it is what it is.]

[powerofmabel]

Just take care of him, all right? [okay seriously. SHE WILL BE OBVIOUS ABOUT IT.] Family's the only thing in the world anyone's sure of.

[easy words from Mabel "Wise Beyond Her Years" Pines, but it's true enough. Maybe it's because she's always had Dipper that makes it easy to see it that way. And maybe the fact that Stan lost so much when Ford and the rest of his family kicked him out.

Nobody deserves to end up like Stan did. : (]

[singloversing]

Huh?

[That...came out of nowhere from Wirt's perspective, and he looks surprised...and then a little embarrassed. Did it seem like he wasn't? Why is that a thing that needs to be said?]

Oh, um...yeah. Sure.