"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

[mviw]

[Ford looks at Stan's hand, but he doesn't shake it. For Reasons.]

No, but we should be fine between me, you and Journal 3. I can get it from Dipper without letting him know what we're planning.

[He's suddenly unusually quiet, but tense and a little twitchy. He wants to pace around, he wants to do something; rather than let his nervous energy out, he tries to bottle it up.]

[charlastan]

[There's an awkward beat when Ford doesn't take his hand. It knocks the wind out of Stan's sails a bit and he frowns.]

Seriously?

[He pulls his hand away. The opportunity is gone and Stan's obviously annoyed. He's been a lot of places and guys who won't shake on deals are always shady. Sure, half the time when someone does shake they've got their fingers crossed behind their backs, but someone who doesn't shake is someone waiting for the opportunity to back out and say they never promised anything.

Mention of Journal Three makes him perk up little, though not quite as much as he had before. There's more caution there now.]

Ha! I've already got that taken care of, unless you've got that invisible ink stuff in your blueprints. I made a copy when the kids weren't around. They have no idea!

[mviw]

[Ford doesn't understand what Stan's annoyed by, and he shrugs it off.]

The only thing that's in the blueprints with invisible ink is warnings not to build or activate it. The copy'll work just fine. I assume you already started work on it. [Because he knows how stubborn his brother is.]

[charlastan]

Nah. Not beyond gettin' the third journal anyway. I've been tryin' to get the others without having to sell anything meaningful to those creepy vendor guys out back, but it's been slow goin'. Figured if this place is magic and I could really get anything that it'd be worth it to try and get all the blueprints first this time.

[That way it wouldn't take him another thirty years to put it together. He doesn't have that kind of time. That and the fact that he hadn't actually asked Ford for the journals himself yet make it pretty clear that he thought he would be going at this alone again.

He's not wrong about the stubbornness though. Stan's spent months trying every prison currency he could think of and combing through the attic.]

[mviw]

[Fortunately(?) for Stan, Ford has an idea. It's an idea he doesn't like, but honestly, he doesn't like anything about this at all. He dislikes it. Whatever helps them get this over with faster is an option he'll take.]

... Stanley. We're old. Each of us could just give them some memory and get a journal back. Not that I want to, but I'm not going to remember all the intricacies off the top of my head. [He'd rather remove the metal plate. The way his expression is souring though, he looks like he just ate something thoroughly disgusting.]

[charlastan]

[Stan shakes his head.]

No way. First off, you almost had some kinda breakdown over losin' one word just now, and second, I don't trust those creeps to keep their word. Who says they're not gonna just keep our memories and give us nothin' for 'em, or that they won't just give us blank journals or somethin'? Then they've got our memories and we can't even do anythin' about it 'cause we don't know what we lost.

[...But mostly he doesn't want Ford doing it after that reaction. If it comes down to it, Stan'll pawn off two of his own.]

[mviw]

[Ford rubs the bridge of his nose, frustrated, trying to think. Of course he doesn't want to give up his memories. The idea makes his skin crawl, but...]

Giving up a memory freely is different from having it taken. At least it's for a good cause. Can we at least choose what they take? [He looks and sounds uncertain about this. Ford turns his gaze, pointedly, away from Stan.]

... I don't want you giving something up either.

[charlastan]

Nope. Not from what I can tell anyway. Even if you give 'em one, it's still somethin' random.

[As for the rest, Stan just scoffs like Ford's said something funny, and he points up at his temple.]

C'mon, it ain't like I've got anythin' important goin' on up here. I could do it no problem if we had to!

[mviw]

[That little bit of hope falls right back into the pit of his stomach as a heavy rock of despair instead. He lightly swats at Stan's hand, because this is no time for his self deprecation.]

Would you can it? What if they erased the kids? Or how to breathe? Or me? We'll manage this between the two of us. I can extrapolate using one journal's blueprints and-- We'll work it out as we go.

[The feeling of discomfort doesn't go away, it grows. He tries to ignore it anyway.]

[charlastan]

Pfft. If they're really after our memories, they're not gonna take somethin' that would kill us off.

[Or at least they wouldn't take that first, so Stan's not going to be forgetting how to breathe any time soon. He doesn't comment on the other two possibilities, but he's still frustrated. What's it matter if Ford's willing to risk those things too? It's one more memory, and he doubts they'd take too much - at least at first. If it's anything like certain circles he's been in, the vendors probably want to make sure customers come back.

He rubs at his hand though, frowning.]

...Yeah. We'll figure it out. It doesn't matter, 'cause we're not gonna give anything to those masked creeps if we don't have to.

[If he was that willing to give in, he'd have the other journals and be short two memories by now.]

[mviw]

... [Stan's declaration of being as stubborn as a bull is met with a reluctantly relenting sigh.]

Alright, so it's settled. We'll work on the portal and we'll have to make it stable enough to let everyone through.

[A thought occurs to him, and he scratches the back of his neck, looking... sheepish.]

It's too bad Fiddleford isn't here. We could really use his expertise with engineering.

[charlastan]

[Stan doesn't have a ton to say about McGucket really, except that he's...probably a lot different from what Ford remembers.]

Eh. We'll make due. Besides, I dunno how much help he'd be anyway.

[Sure, the guy can still build giant robots, but he's also married to a raccoon and has a bandage on his beard. He's kind of a loon.

However, Stan does know at least one person who could help engineering-wise. Unfortunately, he's also probably the last person Ford wants near this project, so Stan keeps his mouth shut about it. For now.]

[mviw]

What do you mean? I know he's... different these days, but isn't he responsible for recent giant robot rampages in Gravity Falls? [THIS is what he's using to drag out their argument. This.]

[charlastan]

[Stan just stares, like Ford's the one who said something weird here.]

Uh. What is it exactly about robot rampages that makes you think a guy would actually cooperate and help and not destroy everything? Plus the guy's off his rocker. He lives down at the dump in a literal pile of garbage and he married a raccoon.

[mviw]

[This is just making Ford feel worse, which is making him more and more irritated.] He what? --Never mind! I knew Fiddleford. He always had good intentions no matter what and he's one of the most sincere, intelligent people I've ever known.

I can understand why you'd think those wouldn't be good qualities.

[charlastan]

[Stan just sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose. That isn't even close to what he was trying to say, but arguing with Ford is like yelling at a brick wall.]

Fine! Don't believe me! That's worked out so well for you so far!

[mviw]

[LOOK IN A MIRROR, STANLEY.]

I'm sure you'd love to see me screw up again.

[charlastan]

[NO U.]

Gasp! Since when do you ever admit to screwing up ANYTHING?

[He's just being contrary now, because Ford is obviously picking a fight here.]

[mviw]

You're going senile if you already forgot that I apologized for getting the family killed.

[charlastan]

I didn't forget! But I'm pretty sure you forgot, since you've still gotta be right about everything! You haven't even seen the guy in thirty years, so what do you know? You're not the one who got an interspecies wedding invitation written on a piece of actual garbage shoved in your mailbox!

[A beat.]

...Well, I guess technically it was your mailbox, but you weren't there so it still counts.

[mviw]

[Ford makes a face and an eugh sound to go with it.] Regardless of his mental state, my point is, he could help us if he's still building giant robots in Gravity Falls.

[This conversation is making him sad though, and since it's not really a useful line of discussion, he just folds his arms and looks at anything but Stan.]

If you don't mind, I'm going back to bed. I'll be needing the rest if I have to pull two-thirds of my blueprints from memory.

[charlastan]

[Stan makes a face right back, because Ford's not listening, but that's Ford's problem - not his.]

Good! Go! I was sick of talkin' about this anyway.

[mviw]

Fine. Good night Stanley.

[Ford throws his hands up and walks away. HE IS NOT GOING TO SLEEP AT ALL. >:C ]