Cotton candy dreams

[ursawhiner]

WHO: Literally anyone even remotely associated with the Pines twins and possibly even some who aren't
WHERE: Skeevy amusement park outside of Heropa
WHEN: August 31st
WHAT: Birthday party!!
WARNINGS: Grunkle Stan's questionable connections



A few days after the disastrous (or successful, depending on who you ask) pod racing video, fliers are sent by pig courier to anyone who's even vaguely acquainted with Dipper and Mabel. Even that guy from the yarn store. Across the top is a large, sparkly, "YOU'RE INVITED!" followed by a date and time, and a small map. There are directions to what looks like the middle of a swamp, but this is Florida: everything's in the middle of a swamp.

Should you brave the highways and make your way to the destination indicated on the map, you'll find… an amusement park! Slightly shabby, but still in (mostly) good working order. There's a ferris wheel in the background, and several other rides spinning, tilting, and zooming , including a log flume and worryingly rickety wooden rollercoaster. Pig and alien shaped balloons are everywhere, and there are a few vendors selling pig shaped cotton candy. The standard corn dogs, mini doughnuts, and other amusement park fare are all available, as well some more esoteric items. What's an Octo-Dog? Who would deep fry Mabel Juice? Is that corn on the cob that's just covered in Cool Whip and sprinkles?

In addition to the rides, there are various booths containing carnival games. If the carnies look especially crooked or untrustworthy, well… they were "friends" of Grunkle Stan. The prizes range from obnoxiously cute and strawberry scented to mildly creepy and verging on eldritch. Still, the games seem normal enough, from fishing up rubber duckies to popping balloons with darts. If you're not careful, you might find your pockets becoming surprisingly light. But that giant squid plush (complete with beak!) was probably worth it.

The twins in question can be found everywhere, greeting guests, stuffing their faces, riding rollercoasters, and unabashedly cheating at the carnival games. As night falls, there's cake and fireworks and a shitton of mosquitoes. As you leave, Dipper and Mabel are at the gate, thanking everyone for attending, and looking slightly sleepy. Good thing birthdays are only once a year.

[Feel free to use this as a mingle! We won't be tagging everyone and Dipper and Mabel will each have a toplevel if your character wants to talk to them directly, but otherwise go nuts! Also please let us know if we need to change the warnings.]

Comments

Dippin' Dots Pines

[ursawhiner]

[The be-hatted half of the birthday duo can be seen all over the park, being dragged onto roller coasters and trying to eat his weight in cotton candy. He's also staying far, far away from any carnival games involving baseballs.

Come say hi or give him a noogie.]

[oldstandard]

[Time for a noogie for every year you've miraculously been alive.]

--Wait, I lost count. Starting over!

[ursawhiner]

[Dipper's hat fell off after the third noogie and now his hair is a horrifying bird's nest.]

Grunkle Stan! I don't think that's how it's supposed to go!

CAKE;

[amadaman]

[Ken was nervous all day. He was also not at the party until way later because the present took longer to prepare and get right than he expected. Right now, after getting Dipper to sit down with him after most of the day's festivities were over, Ken tries not to fidget on the bench with the insulated rectangular bag on his lap. His face is bright red, though.]

Um -- sorry I was late. I was trying to get this ready, and--

[Ah, shuck it. He takes a deep breath before holding the bag out to Dipper.]

Happy birthday.

[grumbling]

[ every teenager wants a grumpy old doctor attending their birthday party right? since mccoy was assigned to live with them, he feels like he should play the role of their guardian... that or their truant officer. the line blurs sometimes.

but hey, he brought a future space captain to the party with him! cool right? what can possibly go wrong? ]

Happy birthday, kid. You enjoying yourself?

[gainedlove]

Dipper!

[Frisk waves enthusiastically as they run up to him, toting a small backpack over their shoulder that seems to be stuffed to the brim--someone's been cleaning up at those carnival games. (With maybe a few LOADS involved--Frisk really wanted that fish monster plush, okay?)]

Happy birthday! Thanks for lettin' me come!

Lexa kom Pines-kru

[annihiliner]

[Lexa is unfortunately not playing the role of overjoyed carnival patron today, but she CAN occasionally be seen with a sly little smile as she wanders the grounds, taking in the strange sights, keeping an eye out for trouble, and trying some of the unusual food(?) products available.

Clearly, she needs to be shown how to birthday party properly.]

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

[Sorry Lexa, Jacob isn't going to be much help showing you how to enjoy a Pines party the right way. He's too busy being mildly alarmed by how rickety these rides are, or how many of the carnies look like he might have spotted them on a Wanted poster at some point.

He's also trying to figure out what on earth he is supposed to do with the giant squid plush he just won at one of the shooting games (which he plowed through despite the game probably being rigged). The squid is big, it's ungainly, and Jacob has no possible reason to hang on to it. So he holds it out to the nearest unfortunate passerby, who happens to be Lexa.]

Hey. I don't suppose you want a free... squid?

[annihiliner]

[Oh, boy. Her first instinct when this... monstrous cotton abomination is held out toward her is to lean back a little and eye it with extreme skepticism. That sure is a thing, isn't it?]

...you're giving away squids?

[deciphered]

[Ford probably isn't the right person to show anyone how to birthday party properly -- he mostly wanders as well, keeping an eye on the twins when he can and the rides when he can't. The food, though? That, at least, he seems enthusiastic about. When he spots Lexa, the hand he doesn't extend in a friendly wave is holding at least three different snacks, all fried (even -- especially -- the Mabel juice), and all in various states of being eaten.]

You really need to try the pickled... ah. [A pause, as he looks down at his hand like he's trying to puzzle something out for what probably isn't the first time, then he shrugs.] Still figuring it out. But they taste delicious.

[annihiliner]

Is that wise? Eating something when you have no idea what it is?

[The question isn't actually asked in seriousness, but well... it's Lexa, so your mileage may vary on just how apparent that is.]

[grumbling]

[ does the sight of a doctor pulling a face and dropping a sprinkled corn on the cob in a trashcan count as strange? because mccoy has been judging the food all day. if someone doesn't come down with food poisoning, he'll be surprised. ]

I can't believe this stuff. This is heart disease waiting to happen.

[ if lexa is still looking for people to show her how to birthday party properly, she'll probably have better luck in the opposite direction. ]

[annihiliner]

[Well, he does at least catch her attention, causing her to tilt her head slightly in curiosity.]

The food carries disease?

mabel pines

[glitterateur]

[Mabel is doing everything-- haunting the roller coaster and the log flume in particular, with stops off in between to eat snacks and cakes stolen by her favorite Grunkle. She has the energy of a child running on pure joy and the sugar contained in forty small donuts. That's as much as four tens, and it's amazing.

But Mabel has a particular mission for today, besides running herself into the ground. She's armed with a bag of disposable cameras to give out to the partygoers so that people can take pictures of everything they do. Record the fun, then give Mabel some pictures to go in what will end up being her greatest scrapbook creation to date. Mabel herself has a polaroid camera she whips out at every opportunity, especially the awkward ones. And no one can yell at her! Happy birthday, Mabel Pines.]

Re: mabel pines

[oldstandard]

[Well, there is one person who can yell at her.]

Mabel! Stop taking evidence! By which I mean pictures of things that might look like crime! [They are definitely crime.]

[glitterateur]

Grunkle Stan, these pictures are just for scrapbooking use! No policemen will ever see them. [Click click click.] Plus we can just bury it for a little while if we gotta.

[deciphered]

[The click of the camera is enough to startle Ford from his very intent comparison of the stuffed alien and stuffed dinosaur from the prize booth, but when he sees who it is -- and what she's holding -- his smile goes wide as he motions to camera.]

They still make these? I haven't seen one since... ah. I wonder where I put it. [There's an affectionate hair ruffle as he crouches down beside her, before he gestures to the still developing picture.] Come on, let's have a look.

[glitterateur]

In this dimension! I think they do at home, but mostly me and Dipper just used the disposable ones. You know, for monster hunting. [Mabel flaps the picture unnecessarily hard, willing it to develop before she proudly holds it up for inspection.]

I think I really got your good side. [If his good side is 3/4ths of the back of his head, with the alien taking up at least half the frame.] But ideally I want an action shot.

[grumbling]

Happy birthday sweetheart.

[ mccoy is here of course, doggedly avoiding any attempt jim has made to get him on the rides and getting blinded by her camera. sometimes a doctor's steady hands come in use though and he presents her with a prize from the hook-a-duck. ]

Here you go. This little thing's damn easier than wrapping up a bike.

[glitterateur]

--thank you!!

[Get on the rides, Doctor. Is what Mabel would say, were she not distracted by the prize that she promptly snuggles hardcore.]

Okay but you don't have to wrap a bike! A bike gift gets you out of having to wrap anything, it's like a birthday rule. Are you having fun!? Did you go on the spinning swings ride yet!

[andtherevolution]

[Utena finally has some money saved up, so she shows up to the amusement park in an outfit that (she hopes) is equal parts practical and stylish, and holding a pastry box nearly as big as she is. She's not really friends with the Pines, no, but they did say anyone could come, right? And there's something she needs to ask Mabel, so now's as good a time as any, right? So she looks around for Mabel, balancing the box as she powerwalks towards the food table. Hey, if she can't find the birthday girl (or boy), then she can at least drop this sucker off. Because if there's anything Mabel Pines needs, it's more sugar.]

mabel pines

[gainedlove]

[Behold, a picture of...! A child with a mouthful of churro?]

Mmph!

[Yeesh, give them a couple seconds to swallow before you surprise them like that. Once their mouth is clear they grin and trot over, clearly just as excited about the party as Mabel is.]

Mabel, hi! What's alla th' pictures for?

Sophie Foster

[suldreen]

[ Well, the twins have both been really cool with her, and Sophie is glad the people of her age range also stuck in here aren't your traditional teens, so she's absolutely going to be there, looking a bit out of place as she tries to blend in and check the stalls full of totally-rigged games.

She's also eating what she thinks is cotton candy, but the taste leaves a lot to wish for. ]

Maybe I just grabbed the... stalest one.

[ Keep on dreaming, Foster. ]

Kasumi Goto

[stealwithit]

A; CLOSED TO DUV
[ Oh. Well. She certainly expected something unusual to come out of the Pines' birthday party, but it certainly wasn't being dragged to the ferris wheel to be shoved into a gondola by the birthday girl. She probably should have expected this, or at least something similar to this, given how her conversation on the network with the girl went, and especially so when Kasumi actually showed up to the birthday bash with Duv in tow (because bringing him per Mabel's wish was, evidently, part of the birthday present).

And so here they are. On their way up, and trapped on the ferris wheel by Mabel Pines.

Things could have been worse, she supposes. Kasumi's still looking out of the window, back at the birthday girl until they're a bit of the way up, at which point she turns to Duv, sitting there across the way. ]

Well, that happened... I hope you're okay with heights?

B; OPEN
[ Much later on during the festivities, after somehow surviving the ferris wheel, Kasumi wanders a little bit by herself, mostly partaking in food and carnival games over the rickety-sounding rides. She's a fan of danger, sure, but... that roller coaster? Hard pass. That, and she could certainly use a few moments of mindlessly just throwing things at other things.

The pig-shaped cotton candy seems to be a particular hit with the petite hooded lady, and more often than not she can be found at the dart-throwing booth with partially-eaten cotton candy in one hand, dart in the other. Doing not too shabby at the game, but not too well, either. This thing is rigged, she knows it, but she's gonna keep throwing darts anyway. ]

Aw, come on, really? That one literally bounced off the balloon. Got to work on my throwing technique...

[komarran]

[ So this was Mabel Pines. The person supposedly responsible for having set up him and Kasumi months ago. He had never, for one second, thought it was a teenaged girl. One who apparently is set on him and Kasumi riding the ferris wheel together. Well. He can't say he minds being this close to Kasumi at least although the method is questionable.

That's what he thinks anyway until the ferris wheel suddenly stops. It's the first time he's been on such a thing and he's frowning as he glances out his own window. ]

This isn't normal then?