"Part of me is the Hang Man, and part of me is the victim." (OPEN!!)

[mviw]

Who: Ford Pines (mviw) his owl and YOU!
Where: Various (Mystery Shack, the Library, & Elsewhere)
When: Gravity Falls Event through Upcoming Memory Event
Rating: PG-13 for potential swearing.
Summary: Ford adjusts to Wonderland by trying to be a shut-in, but his family and new friends have other plans. Also, he has an owl and a driving sense of curiosity.
The Story: Pick a prompt or start your own!

A. "Let's end the charade. This game is over." (CLOSED to Stan) Gravity Falls Event: At night (Backdated)

[Ford always prefers privacy over socialization, so this event is shaping up to be one headache after another. During daylight hours, Ford avoids the tours being given by his brother and instead he spends most of his time in the forest. Illusion though it is, it's a familiar one. At night, unable to sleep as usual, he opens his window to let his owl fly freely while he creeps through the 'house' looking for the basement levels and his journals.

The basement is what he looks for first behind the vending machine... And to his disappointment and frustration, it isn't there.]

Damn.

[It's a hushed utterance followed by a pang of fear. He doesn't like feeling trapped. Of course Wonderland wouldn't provide the portal or its equipment, but... it was worth a try.

Ford hears a sudden noise; probably someone sneaking through the house after hours. Not wanting to explain why he's in his brother's gift shop in the middle of the night, Ford slips behind the cashier counter to wait them out.]

B. "There's a room full of people in your head." (OPEN) Gravity Falls Event: Shack/Forest (Backdated)

[Ford can be found in the house kitchen hoarding orange juice or exiting a room with a mysteriously carved door.

Otherwise, he will be out in the forest assisting both creatures and mansion residents to minimize destruction of his-- well, it's not really his home, but it's close enough. He may be an old science man but he has a laser gun and he knows space karate.]

C. "I don't even know who's at the wheel." (OPEN) Library (Current)

[Ford is spending less time in his room and more time in the library, as of late. Rather than check out books and take them to actual privacy, he's been enjoying the massive volume of information right at his disposal and all that comes with it; the smell of binding and paper, the hushed atmosphere, the sense of awe he's never lost when he knows he can always learn more.

At the chosen table he's set up stacks of books in various piles. The largest pile by far is on birds of prey--specifically owls. In the middle of it all are sheets of paper with doodles of who some might recognize to be his family, but mostly of his owl who he accidentally summoned from the closet several weeks prior. Included in the drawings are scenes from the mansion and Wonderland itself as well.

Not only is he a nerd, but he seems to be quite the artist.]

D. "You've gotta follow the voice you wanna follow." (OPEN) Write your own starter.

Comments

B

[onetruemorty]

[ This has been the kind of event that Morty can genuinely enjoy, for the most part. He's probably the last person who'd say he's usually lucky when it comes to new weird things, unless barely escaping them alive counts as lucky. And sure, he spent some time in Christmas jail with the guy who runs this place and didn't come away the biggest fan.

Something about the location and the hokey tourist trap just feels... friendlier than a lot of places he's been to. Who cares how fake the jackalope and the Sascrotch are? Being obviously fake just means that many fewer things trying to kill him.

Venturing out towards the forest is the natural result of starting to feel secure in his own surroundings. This place is pretty nice! He can handle this. He meets some weird clones in the forest and it's totally okay. None of them try to eat him. They're also way better at handling being duplicates than he was. But maybe not being locked up in a dungeon helps. Morty feels surprisingly confident in his handling capacity after the first day or so.

If the way he runs past Ford, screaming and covered in irate fairies, is any indicator, literally all of that confidence was moot and backfired horribly. THIS IS NOTHING LIKE FAIRY TALES AT ALL WHY??? ]

[mviw]

[Ford has seen enough weird things that this shouldn't phase him; and it doesn't really, but it's probably one of the funniest things he's witnessed since he arrived in Wonderland and with Mabel and Dipper as his relatives that's saying something.

So he laughs.

And then he goes after that poor kid. Fairy bites are itchy and glittery and really annoying.]

HEY! HEY KID!! Just stand still and swat them away! Water works really well too! Watch.

[Where did that spray bottle come from? His coat? Is it a Coat of Holding? Hammerspace? And why? We can't be certain of anything except that the fairies don't like being sprayed with water mist. It weighs their wings down.

Sorry, Morty, you're getting gently spritzed. It's for your own good.]

[onetruemorty]

[ It's not the first time an old guy with a Coat of Holding has laughed at him in a situation like this. And as long as Rick is around, it sure won't be the last. Although if he ever thinks about it in the future, it's a lot more likely that Rick would just act like it's a huge pain in his ass. That's just his way.

Now Morty may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but the general advice has him starting to calm down enough to put together "water works" and "watch"-- or to at least get a start on it. Enough that he's not completely taken aback by a sudden spritzing, so much as he wasn't sure how he was supposed to watch it.

But sure enough, the fairies start to head for drier pastures. Morty shoos one or two particularly stubborn ones away with one hand while he's scratching his shoulder with the other. ]

Wow. Th-thank you! [ This old man... is a miracle. ] I didn't know all that about the water and all. I-I-I was pretty worried I was just, gonna get my face eaten or something, you know?

[ Or his head shrunk. Anything is possible. ]

[mviw]

[Ford laughs again, but it's not intentionally spiteful. It's just, look, fairies are funny, okay?]

Haha! Yeah, there isn't a lot in Gravity Falls that'll eat your face off. Fairies are like the annoying insects of the magical part of the forest. You okay, kid? [The bottle goes back into his mysterious Coat of Holding.]

I guess this is my family's event or something. Gravity Falls isn't so bad once you get used to the gnomes.

[onetruemorty]

Yeah, I-I'm okay. It's actually been-- been kinda nice to be around here, mostly. The fairies were a hassle, but everything's been pretty quiet? Wow, your family must like it here.

[ That nose... he guesses he's related to the obnoxious old guy from Krampus jail (who wasn't related to him). Sure looks a lot like him? ]

Last time I was out in some forest in some, in some other dimension, I just ended up living with the tree people. This is already a lot better.

[ There are bathrooms. It's true luxury. There's a real inherent relief to knowing that the museum of oddities is just a museum. And the keychains are pretty cool, too. ]

[mviw]

Yeah, I think they really like it here. I know I do. The townsfolk at home aren't all that bright, but last I heard, they make a mean apple pie at the local diner.

[Wait--! "Some other dimension"?] Oh! You've been to other dimensions before too? [Obviously this means Ford should introduce himself. He holds out a hand.]

Dr. Stanford Pines. If you know Dipper and Mabel, they're my nephew and niece. Nice to meet you!

[onetruemorty]

Oh yeah, I've talked to them a couple of times. A-and maybe your... brother? [ Father who was displaced in time and it's really awkward to talk about? Version of you from a different dimension who cares a lot about prison daily life? He feels like if that guy was a clone, he'd act more like this guy.

He takes Ford's hand, and the sixth finger is unexpected enough to merit a curious look. God knows he's seen weirder things, but then extra fingers seem tamer in comparison, and become unusual for how not maxed-out-creepy they are. It's a vicious cycle. ]

Uh, I-I'm Morty Smith. I actually-- I travel to other dimensions all the time back home, with my grandpa. We just go out and we have a lot of, w-wacky adventures, you know?

[mviw]

Oh, yeah. Stanley. [Ford sighs. Now he throws purposeful shade, kind of.] Stanley, the guy running that museum out of my house--he's my twin brother.

[And there it is. He noticed the look Morty gave his hand but it's so inconsequential he's pretty amused by it.]

Mind if I call you Morty? And uh... Would your grandfather happen to be here too? [There's something familiar about you, kid. Also, Rick has definitely been dimension-hopping.]

[onetruemorty]

Man, twins, huh? I guess that makes sense.

[ They're twins... no cloning or weird body-snatchers. And they're way different from each other. That's so regular, but in a nice way. Like a lot of what's going on in this Gravity Falls place. ]

You can call me Morty, i-it's cool. [ People usually do. ] Uh, yeah, and my grandpa's here. His name's Rick. He's the guy-- h-he's actually been in the museum trying to sell fairy dust, I think? I-i-it's been a pretty fun place for him, so far.

1/2

[mviw]

... Ah. Rick.

[what's going on here]

2/2

[mviw]

[that was weird]

Eh, no offense but I think I'll be able to tolerate you at least 89.85% more than I can tolerate him. [He shrugs. Family, right?]

So I heard he has a portal gun and -- uh, you said you guys just go on adventures, right? I guess you could say I spent the last thirty years on multiversal vacation. [You know, as one does.]

[onetruemorty]

[ A familiar reaction. This guy really is related to Dipper. He just doesn't open on "your grandpa is the worst." Morty respects that. ]

Oh, don't, don't even worry about it. A lot of people out there say his name like that, you know? [ Rick stopped things like 'trying' and 'giving a fuck' a long time ago, if his own accounts are to be believed. Morty's not totally sure he does believe those accounts, but still. ]

So thirty years? That's-- that's an awful lot of multiverse. But I-I guess it's not like it ever runs out, huh? That old, that multiverse just keeps getting bigger.

[mviw]

[Huh. This kid is pretty chill. Ford can also respect that--and the fact that apparently he's been dragged around the multiverse. What a conversation starter!]

Ha, yeeeahhh, it's infinitely expanding! I think I was traveling through it in a different way than you and Rick. I built a stationary portal but it packed a wallop and it could take you literally anywhere. I ended up in a plane between dimensions after the portal to my dimension closed, so I just cruised in and out of other places for a while. [He shrugs.]

It wasn't so bad. Dimension 52 is really nice for example.

[onetruemorty]

Oh. Jeez, I guess I never did see a portal that stayed open to go both ways. Um, there was a wormhole this one time, but i-it wasn't really worth going into. [ He never thought to pay attention to that part of the portal situation? It seems so obvious now. ]

I-I dunno if we ever went to Dimension 52. Sometimes we get to a place and leave a-and I don't even know what it's called. [ Morty thinks it's a safe bet that Ford doesn't mean the one where humans are furniture and chairs are sentient creatures that sit on them. ]

[mviw]

That's a shame, Morty! If a dimension is really cool, and worth going back to, it's definitely worth knowing the name--or at least the multiversal coordinates, or the particular signature of energy it gives off relative to the other universes, since coordinates can change. [Look at this nerd and his knowledge of dimensional addresses.]

Eh, it's okay. Some dimensions aren't worth the effort. The multiverse is great as a whole, but I don't wanna go back to the dimension made entirely of hot sauce. Nothing against hot sauce, but it's got a lot more appeal in theory than it does in reality.

[onetruemorty]

Oh wow, I never really thought of it like that, Dr. Pines. But I-- I know what you mean about the appeal and everything. [ The hot sauce dimension almost sounds familiar. It's so hard to keep track. ]

Did you ever have it happen w-where-- you spend a day in a place and it's really great, only it turns out the most important law is like-- y-you're not allowed to digest your food or something? So you kind of have to be like oh, you know, I can't... control that biz.

[mviw]

Oh definitely! Or when it's a crime to breathe oxygen, you can only breathe a certain percentage of atmospheric gasses, and you have to wonder exactly why that's illegal and who the bonehead was that came up with that law. [He sighs and shakes his head. It's good to talk to someone who gets it.]

Say, you can just call me Ford if you want.

[onetruemorty]

[ He laughs. This is... such a nice camaraderie to have? When it comes to the whole portals and traveling through weird places deal, he's always had really limited options for talking it out on an even standing. There's Summer, but it's not like she goes along for most of the really crazy or terrible adventures. And Rick's so determined not to actually care about what's happening or so used to it that some of the weirdest-seeming laws and requests roll right off of him. Even if it's nice to joke about some of the cool things they've done.

Birdperson's pretty okay, but he fed him carpet lint, so.

Morty can tentatively get behind this. ]

Boy, Ford, that one-- that one always is pretty rough, huh? I-it's nice to have someone around who's seen the same kinds of weird... alien, universe deals, you know?