"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

C

[needlebearer]

"Is that your sigil?" Arya peers over Ford's shoulder, on tiptoes to see the many drawings of the owl. Some of the stacks of books are even taller than she is, and she's weaved between them carefully to avoid knocking them over as she approaches in her own curiosity to see what could require so much deep reading.

[mviw]

Being hyper-aware of one's surroundings is a decades-ingrained habit, but sometimes Ford is so lost in what he's doing that watching his own back is secondary to his work.

He jumps slightly, blinking and looking not unlike a surprised owl. Within a hot second he knows there's no danger, and he smiles at the young girl inquiring about all the owls.

"My sigil? Oh, haha, no... I pulled him from the closet and he decided to stay with me, so I gave him a name. Lee's kept me company for a few weeks and I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on my knowledge of birds."

Thoughtfully though, he adds: "I guess you could say this is my sigil."

On a blank spot, Ford quickly pens a six-fingered hand symbol. Fitting because, well... he has six fingers on each one himself.

[needlebearer]

A hand was an unusual symbol, but not unheard of. Arya remembered seeing the stone hand at House Flint ablaze at the Red Wedding, and her stomach turns at the sudden, unwanted memory. She racks her brain for more - there was one from the Iron Islands that she remembered Theon describing to Robb, a bony, skeletal hand, white on red, but she couldn't remember the name of the House. It was more the composition of the hand in front of her that was odd, and she finds herself counting the fingers aloud just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"What House does it belong to?" She finds herself asking, instead of just simply asking his name. It was novel to find some aspect of this place and its people that she could relate to her own world and experiences at all.

[mviw]

Ford is an old man and he's seen many strange things. Many people have seen him and found him to be strange, so the quiet counting is more amusing and not even a bother. Her question is the biggest curiosity here and he turns in his chair, holding up his hand with the palm facing out, fingers upright.

"My family name is Pines--like the pine tree. We don't have a sigil, but I used this symbol for myself since I was younger than you. You can just call me Stanford or Ford if you want, by the way." He drops his hand and rests his arm on the back of the chair. "And yes, I have twelve fingers. I know it's weird but I learned to like it a long time ago."

Talking to kids was usually nice. Generally, even in other dimensions (other than this one), kids were easier to talk to than adults. Ford wonders what kind of place and time this girl is from to refer to sigils and Houses, but he'd rather not scare her off by asking that right away.

[needlebearer]

Arya blinks in surprise at his extra digit, but thinks it's more cool than anything else. She almost reaches up for it in her curiosity, but remembers at the last moment that that would be rude.

"Ours is a Direwolf," she replies, feeling another pang of longing for a home that was forever lost to her. "I think I like yours better, though. It's what I'd do. Make it a symbol of myself instead of hiding it."

[mviw]

Ford is flattered enough by what she says that he not only blushes a little, but he holds his hand out. "Go on, you can take a look. It's fully functional. And-- you're still young! Maybe you could do that here? Y'know, make a symbol. I think yours sounds really great though. Wolves are intelligent, fierce and loyal."

[needlebearer]

She takes his hand, peering at it closely as she turns it over first one way and then the other, wrapping her smaller hand around the extra finger and bending the joints down toward his palm, still finding it a little surreal but looking delighted and thinking it makes him pretty cool.

"Yes they are," she agrees, proudly but sadly. "I couldn't change mine, it'd be like giving up my family if I gave it up."

[mviw]

Her fascination has Ford smiling from ear to ear. He doesn't mind people looking at his hands if they're just curious. Curiosity is something he knows all too well, and knowledge is something he loves sharing with others (...where appropriate).

The comment about family hits him a little close to home, but he doesn't show it. Instead, he just nods. "I understand. You could always create a personal symbol--a secondary one representing yourself, and still keep the one belonging to you and your family. Still, I really like yours."