I don't like walking around this old and empty house

[ghostharasser]

Who: The Pines Family + Friends.
What: A Semi-closed catchall for the month of September.
When: Throughout the month of September.
Where: The Bone Fortress + around town.

Content Warnings: PTSD, Hallucinations, Eye Gore, Referenced Insanity. More to be added as they become relevant.


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DIPPER

[ghostharasser]

Cursed Bedroom | Early September | Locked to The Family

[ghostharasser]

It had been an unexpected surprise to find the house. When they all came out of the ocean, Dipper had assumed they'd be starting from scratch, but coming across the dilapidated, bone laden home they'd made in Deerington had been welcomed good fortune. It looked like it'd weathered decades here without them and yet, most of their things were still intact, minus some items here and there that did not survive time.

After settling in for a few days and attempting to fix up what they could, Dipper took note of something that seemed off. There was a room upstairs that no one went near. Strangely, Dipper could not recall why, or even if the room had been here before at all. It was ...an odd blank in his memory. Probably that is what drove his curiosity one day, early in September.

Approaching the room had been easy enough, but even as he stood with his hand hovering above the doorknob, he grew more and more uneasy. Like a presence surrounded it, something tangible and sinister was behind that door. Despite his instincts screaming at him to turn around, he pressed on, grabbing the doorknob and pushing the door open.

He should have stopped there, really. Images rushed into his mind, and something like cold fear gripped his heart. His whole vision flashed red and for a moment he thought maybe he saw himself. Saw broken glass, a terrible blood shot eye. It passed almost as fast as it came and he's left for a moment, disoriented, mind reeling from things he couldn't quite grasp.

Despite the fear and anxiety running under his skin, Dipper crosses the threshold. Whatever evil this room held, he needed to know. It's just a shame that determination alone would not be enough to prepare him for the memories his awakening had been kind enough to tuck away.

The scream that echoes through the peeling halls of the house are haunting in a way that should ring familiar for Stan and Ford. It's reminiscent of a scream they heard in this house almost a year ago.

CURSED CURSED CURSED

[charlastan]

It frankly doesn't matter what Stan was doing prior to this. The moment Dipper screams whatever Stan was holding slips from his hand and crashes to the floor. His blood runs cold - no pun intended - and he sprints upstairs.

It's not even October yet. He was so sure he had more time to get ready, to make sure something like this didn't happen again. The kid's only got one eye left to lose, and he almost didn't survive it the first time around.

He's uncharacteristically stuck in his own thoughts as he rushes down the hall. Did he miss something while they were all settling in? Had Dipper been jabbing himself with forks again? Did they need to go back to putting a lock on the silverware drawer and eating mostly soup and pudding?

If anyone's followed him, he hasn't noticed. He catches himself with a shaking hand on the doorframe of the one room in the house no one goes in, half-expecting to see Dipper surrounded by glass again, or Dipper dying again, or any number of awful things that could have caused a scream like that.

"Dipper?!"

[cryptograms]

Ford isn't consciously - or even really subconsciously - thinking about last October. Though he's paranoid like he had been last time the similarities don't go much deeper than that. Even so, it's not like he's forgotten. He has just, in his latest obsession with creating an anti-scrying charm, not had cause to actively think about it.

Than Dipper screams, and Ford can think of nothing else.

Instead of being shut up in his room he's out in the living room this time around, painstakingly abusing a soldering iron by using it to burn runes into a piece of wood. Both of them are forgotten the second that scream pierces the muddled silence of the Pines household. He jolts, shocked, then throws both of them down and dashes out of the room, half a dozen steps behind Stan. The sight of the bedroom door - or rather, that bedroom door - open wide has ice sliding through his veins.

He skitters to a stop behind Stan. He doesn't speak up or try to push past him, but he does rest a hand on his shoulder to steady himself while he peers inside. His thoughts are filled with blood and glass and hideous red moonlight streaming through the windows and the desperate hope that he won't need to go for the first aid kit again.

Cw: reference to self-injury

[sparklehorror]

Mabel, too, had been tending her own business, quietly sorting through her clothing in the bedroom she shares again with her brother. Her sweaters, to everyone's surprise, are mostly intact -- her habit of knitting them up quickly with cheap acrylics to save money meant the moths and things had overlooked them. Certainly with a good wash they'll still be wearable. But the aggressive brightness of them somehow seems even more childish against the backdrop of gloom and blood they've found themselves in, and the intricate ruffles and baubles some of the locals wear has caught Mabel's attention. She would like to wear things like that, she thinks, and perhaps feel more grown up in them. So although she still loves her sweaters, she's packing them away, making room for new things in her new life.

She is considering whether any of these could be buried to make a flower or if she should choose something else when Dipper's scream tears through her so intensely she can't tell if the sound is in her head or out.

It's a painful sensation, and disorienting enough that she reels from it for a few long moments, before sheer instinct drives her to find her feet and go. She doesn't have to question where her brother is. She's been weirdly attuned to him these last few days, for whatever mysterious reason, and she aims herself straight for the cursed room at the end of the hallway without questioning it. She barely notices each of her Grunkles there at the door, even going so far as to shove the closest one out of the way if he's blocking her path too much, and barrels right on inside in a flurry of skirt and ribbon.

"Dipper!"

Mabel wasn't present for last October, but if she knew the full scale of what there is to be afraid of here, it wouldn't stop her from running into this room anyway. This is her brother upset enough that the backlash from it has her own eyes tearing up in response to him, and she skids to a stop in front of him and grabs his hands in hers right away. In part it's because she knows the story, was told by Dipper himself her very first night in Deerington, and has watched her brother closely ever since to make sure nothing makes him crazy enough to hurt himself ever again. If he's screaming like that -- Mabel will think later that if she never has to hear a sound like that again everything will be okay -- she won't let him have his own hands, just in case. But mostly it's that contact helps, and both twins have always reached out to one another when they're frightened, and both of them clearly need that now.

"Dipper, what's wrong? Brobro!"

Cursed Bedroom Aftermath [Semi-cloised]

[ghostharasser]

He slept like a rock, probably for the first time since he came out of the ocean. The drama, the memories, the weird implication that half, if not all of that had some from his own Blood magic, all of it took way more out of him than he was prepared for. He slept well into the next day, through to the afternoon.

When he does finally come around, he feels what he actually knows to be a hangover (Thanks Eddie's party). He can be found in one of two places around the house. Either scavenging in the kitchen for something to eat or drink or in bed with his journal, writing notes.

Mabel has been particularly fussed over him, so he is actually behaving and staying home to recover.

Luz flew into the cuckoo's nest, haha

[imaglyphwitch]

So while Dipper hadn't replied to her query, it had taken some talking down from Varian and Fern for her to stay put and wait until later to visit the Pine family. Luz, who had NOT had a good night's sleep, waited until daybreak and then promptly put on her little cowboy hat to go into bird form.

She flew over to where she'd been told Dipper was and waited a few hours before flying into the room, cawing at Dipper irritably before using her wing to knock the hat off...promptly falling onto her chin.

"Good to see you're OK, Dipper. What happened last night?"

[ghostharasser]

That was probably for the best, since he needed to recover first. Dipper looks up when a bird just straight up flies in. He first thinks it's Qrow, but then. That would be weird, right? For Qrow to just turn up like this? No, it's-

Oh, it's Luz. Dipper sits up, cycling through a number of facial expressions before he settles on baffled.

"Luz! I- wait. How do you know about last night?"

Did Oscar say something? Does Luz even know Oscar?

[cryptograms]

One day the Pines might have another week where everything is relatively normal and nothing horrible and dramatic happens, but this week apparently isn't it. Dipper had his own difficulties with his powers running wild, and then when Stan accidentally showed his own off Ford nearly bolted from the room is sheer, reflexive terror.

So yeah, it hasn't been great. But, as is always the case when Ford comes up against something he doesn't totally understand, he's been throwing himself at the task over and over again. His progress has been... questionable, sure, but he's been making some progress. Not much, but enough that he thinks he finally has something worth sharing.

He's not expecting to run into Dipper when he drags himself into the kitchen to engage in his newfound ritual of gazing mournfully at their long-depleted coffee supply, rummaging through the cupboards, and finally settling on water, but he does - but run into him he does and, fortunately, he has his own journal in hand when it happens.

"Oh-- Dipper. How are you feeling?"

Besides, you know, awful.

[ghostharasser]

"Awful," He replies on instinct. He yawns and stares balefully at their dusty, defunct Señor Coffee. He wonders idly if he could jam the plug into a lunar orb and it would work.

Not that it matters because they still don't have coffee.

Anyway.

"But, better. I slept three times longer than I usually do, so I'm a little disoriented." He looks up at his uncle, glancing at his journal. His curiosity piques. "What are you up to?"

MABEL

[sparklehorror]

Closed to the family

[sparklehorror]

The incident with the Cursed Room rattles Mabel intensely. She'd known what had happened to Dipper the year before -- he told her himself, the very first night she arrived in Deerington. No big secrets between them, they'd promised each other then, and they've honored that; she knows about the room, knows about his death, knows about the Waste versions of the whole family buried out in the backyard and that Dipper had been able to speak to Mason before he passed. But knowing the details hadn't prepared her for seeing her brother so vulnerable and afraid, for talking directly to him in that state, for being one of the people responsible for bringing him back around.

Dipper's been really growing up lately, Mabel had noticed, when he'd told her to look away while he did what had to be done in Cynthia's vision. But it seems he hasn't grown up enough that he isn't still just a scared kid, sometimes, and the enormity of what it takes to bring that to the surface of him is overwhelming.

In the aftermath, once she's got some of the nerves out of her system, Mabel hones in on one very important detail: She and Dipper have just turned fourteen. She'd noticed their birthday in passing, but unlike last year, the excitement of going somewhere with her loved ones instead of leaving them was enough to satisfy her. Watching Dipper sound asleep in the bed across from hers the morning after the incident, Mabel changes her mind and decides a party is totally necessary. Just a small one, just family. A conscious act of celebration, to reclaim the fact that their arrival here is supposed to be something joyful.

She spends the next several days running all over the city, exploring and talking and gathering what she needs, working as fast and hard as she can so that she can be firmly settled in by nightfall, to keep her brother company through his insomnia. By the end of the week, they'll find her efforts manifest at the kitchen table, with a cake and candles and glittering decorations and a small gift she's wrapped up for her brother and everything. To be able to set up something like this while so many others are still finding their feet in this weird new world with no currency and a lot of blood -- well, that's just the power of Mabel.

Closed to the family

[ghostharasser]

It was crazy, but Dipper had nearly forgotten about their birthday. The disorienting arrival to their new home coupled in with the incident put something like that far from his mind, despite how their birthdays were always something big for them to look forward to.

It probably works in Mabel's favor, because he walks into the kitchen and stops in startled surprise at what he finds. A whole birthday, albeit a small one, set up for the both of them. He doesn't have to wonder who's responsible, because it has Mabel written all over it. He loves his uncles, but he doesn't think this kind of thing would have occurred to them. Not with this much flair added in.

His eyes fall on the gift on the table before he looks around. He starts to grin, even if he's already feeling guilty for not having something for her, himself.

"Mabel?"

[sparklehorror]

He finds her sitting on her knees in one of the kitchen chairs despite her giant ruffle skirt, rolling the rest of her ribbons and things neatly back onto their bobbins before she drops them in a basket she's scrounged up somewhere for storage purposes. It seems she's finished up just in time.

"Hey, Dipper," she answers, watching the way the realization slowly spreads over him. He's always been like this, prone to being touched by it when people are thoughtful at him, especially when it wasn't anything he was expecting. His own sister can still do this to him, it turns out. Mabel is glad she could surprise him, and also a little sad something like this could be surprising. "Happy birthday."

For Ruby

[sparklehorror]

In spite of a somewhat rocky arrival, Mabel takes to Trench easily. Dipper's having a rough time, so she's with him often, and spends her days trotting along at his heels when he seems especially nervous in the mornings. But when he's occupied with other things, Mabel rampages around solo, sticking her nose into every neat thing she runs across. She doesn't have to go to school anymore, so her time is open and the possibilities are endless. To her delight, Mabel finds can get apprenticeships focused in just about anything she likes -- and Mabel likes a lot of things -- and pick up skills she'd never had the chance to dream of at home.

It's like she's skipped all of high school and now the whole city is Mabel's personal Fashion Institute of Technology. Score.

She spends a lot of her time in the markets and shops at the Willful Machine, cheerfully chatting people up and making connections. Today, however, she has wandered into Prufrock, the domain of the Hunters. It is a creepy place and Mabel does not like it, and she feels massively out of place among all these seasoned professional fighters. But an artisan she met elsewhere told her she totally needs to visit the "Glover Lover" shop, so to Glover Lover she goes. It's an incredible disappointment at first glance. Everything is dull and practical, and most of it is black. Then the shopkeep, seeing Mabel's confusion, explains that just about everything in the store is enchanted with blood magic, and at the very least offers protection from corruption.

Mabel is so struck by this notion that she gets stuck right where she is, staring blindly up at a wall full of gloves while the gears in her head crank into overdrive. There's totally normal things in here! Gloves and socks and undies and everything! She's not cool enough yet to make neat weapons and stuff like Ruby does, or prosthetics, or stuff like Dipper's eyepatch that can help him see auras. But she can totally sew. Could it be that here in Trench, Mabel could learn to not only make great fashion, but make clothes that protect people...?

[onekindsoul]

Ruby's spent the better part of the month getting herself situated in Trench and while any world hop tends to be an adjustment, this place actually was more like her home than Deerington was. Which meant it doesn't take her too long to realize just how she can help out.

But building safehouses meant that she needed gear for the people defending the place and for anyone that might come by and need it. Which is what brings her into the store today. Her prosthetic eye clicks once or twice as she blinks in surprise seeing Mabel in the first store she walks into.

She feels a little grin play up on her lips and slides in to give her friend a playful little tap on the head.

"Wow. You're really into gloves there, aren't you? Learn something new everyday."

[sparklehorror]

Mabel is so into her own brain zone that she jumps visibly when she is tapped upon the head. When she sees it's Ruby, though, she lights up even more, the sort of thing that never really seems possible until Mabel just does it.

"Ruby! These gloves are all magic gloves! They've got blood magic on them so they help protect people!" She points eagerly at the wall. "I can't make weapons or anything, but for sure I could do something like that! I could make all kinds of fabulous blood magic accessories!"

For Luz

[sparklehorror]

Luz desires sleepover funtimes.

Normally Mabel would be all over that, and in fact probably would have suggested it sooner, multiple times. Sleepovers are totally her thing. As it is, though, her brother is having an absolutely wretched time dealing with his new powers and nights are seriously the worst. By the end of the month, the twins are often up to their own shenanigans during the daytime. But Mabel checks in with Dipper several times a day and always makes it a point to be firmly settled in by nightfall, so that she'll be right at hand if he needs her company.

Ah, but a night of dressing up and dancing and music and girl time...that sounds. Really great. Super great, even.

She and Dipper have one of their serious sibling conversations about it. The club will be there later, Mabel tells him, if her brother needs her now. She won't hold it against him if he's not feeling up to being apart at night just yet. After all, Dipper would be at her side for sure, if their positions were switched. She knows this because there have been times when they did neglect one another and regretted it. But Dipper, as it happens, wants her to go. Clubbing followed by a sleepover really is the most Mabel thing ever, and they have their omnis and their omens to keep in touch with, and Mabel will have a friend Dipper trusts at her side while she's out. Varian and Fern, too, are people he trusts, and it's not out of the realm of possibility for him to stop by for a bit himself if being safe at home with the grunkles isn't enough. So, Mabel should totally go. It's better if their first night apart in Trench is something they choose for themselves, not something that happens to them when they aren't ready.

So it is that Mabel turns up at Disaster House with a bag full of clothes over one shoulder and a bag full of makeup and accessories over the other. She's way early for their plans, but choosing outfits and doing hair and makeup for an excursion like this takes time! Excited and nervous all at once, she knocks on the door in a rhythm, and makes a promise to herself to enjoy herself as hard as she can tonight.

Re: For Luz

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz, for her part, and this would be surprising to some, is a little nervous.

Oh, she liked having Mabel as a friend, no doubt, and they shared an energy that few in Deerington had had. Luz had not had someone that felt like a fun counterpart since Margot, and even then they were more like sisters. Mabel was a friend and this was a sleepover (whenever actual sleep would come) and Luz hadn't had a real one since the summoning with Willow and Gus. it was ironic that after all this time making friends and having positive experiences, some of her drama from Earth gnawed at her mind. Would this be a success, or would Mabel finally see the cracks, that Luz was just a nerdy, overexcited girl who was just anxious to have someone who was a peer over?

There was a lot to consider: Dipper, the boys here, the snacks, where they'd go, but Luz was not a girl who had no plan. She just hoped everything went well, and that she wasn't as bad at this as she imagined.

When she heard the knock she was already stringing up her lights and then thumped downstairs, opening the door.

"Mabel! Hey! You made it! Welcome to our humble abode! I'll take your bag up to my room!"

[sparklehorror]

It'll be nicer than it isn't, when they realize how alike they are, and how they worry about so many of the same things. Mabel's sense of self-worth is solid and high -- she's well aware that sometimes people are jerks for reasons that have nothing to do with her, and that her people are certainly out there, waiting for her. But the fact remains that most people are not her people, she could really do without being made fun of by dumb kids who can't appreciate weirdness, and brushing off rejections gets exhausting.

Mabel didn't have her first best friends until her summer at Gravity Falls, not that long ago. People are way easier to get along with here, but many of Mabel's friendships so far have been piggybacking off of her brother's, which is possibly the weirdest turnaround the place ever could have given them. Then, too, she wound up stuck inside a lot of the time while the dream was crumbling. Trench might really be the first opportunity Mabel has had in her whole life to form friendships outside her family that will put like-minded people at her side for years and years.

She's been so preoccupied with her brother's wellbeing this month that it's been easy not to dwell on all that, but it sure is a pretty big thing to have in the back of your head.

"Yup, I'm here! Don't worry, I brought everything we'll need to bedazzle our faces."

That's the punchline. You'd think more people would understand how awesome you look after you've stuck fake gems all over yourself, but no.

FORD

[cryptograms]

Very Early September, down in Ford's lab

[charlastan]

Most of the first few days go about the way you would expect with the Pines family - lots of playing with their own blood and figuring out its weird new magical properties.

It's Stan's turn down in the lab, and they're currently marveling over his blood. It took a bit of creativity to get a good sized sample, since it freezes the moment it's removed from his body, but they finally managed it and now they have a few good-sized pieces rattling around in a test tube.

"So, I guess I've got ice cubes for blood now?"

He's fussing with his bandage as he talks. It seemed kind of silly to him since it didn't continue bleeding (it turns out, blood solidifying on impact with the air is a great way to seal open wounds), but he didn't fight Ford much on it either.

[cryptograms]

"It seems so," Ford replies, and there's a unreasonable amount of excited curiosity packed into those three syllables. He has a few frozen chunks of Stan's blood rattling around in a specimen tray and a tiny sliver of it on a microscope slide. He has an array of other blood samples stocked, but the ones for himself and his family are the only ones laid out for testing at the moment.

Only Dipper's is anything resembling normal. In contrast Mabel, Stan, and Ford's are green, chunks of ice, and a pile of glitter, respectively.

"It seems as though everyone in the family has undergone some sort of change. Did you know that Dipper's glows in the moonlight now?"

[charlastan]

"Huh! What, like a glowstick?"

Probably not literally, but he's having fun imagining it for a second or two, as though Dipper could crack his knuckles and make his fingers light up.

"So, is it weird we've all got different blood now?" he asks. "Not in general, 'cause obviously it's weird, but...y'know. You, me, and the kids all got something different."

He would have assumed that being twins, or even just being family, would have made them have some overlap - that he and Ford would have been the same blood type, or that Dipper and Mabel would have.

STAN

[charlastan]