I do not own Gravity Falls.
In which Mabel and Dipper switch places. If the idea of Dipper dressing as a girl and Mabel dressing as a guy makes you uncomfortable, here's your warning.
To: Mabel Pines (ShootingStarRainbowUnicorn); Dipper Pines (GhostHarasserfan)
From: Wendy Corduroy (Lumberchick)
Subject: Hollywood stars in your neighbourhood
Yo dudes.
I just read that the crew of The Sarcophagus' Curse is coming to do a promotional stunt in Piedmont for their latest film. Since it's Dipper's favourite film of like ever, I'm not bothering to ask if you're going to meet them. Snag me an autograph from Leila Petti, will you? She's a kick-butt actress.
See all messages in this thread (Expand)
Mabel Pines: Dipper would if he could. But he can't. He's been moping about it for the last two days.
Dipper Pines: It's typical. The cast of my favourite film franchise is coming on the one day I'm already busy. Life really is unfair.
Wendy Corduroy: That sucks. You can't get out of whatever you're doing?
Dipper Pines: My robotics club is getting ready for an upcoming bot-fighting tournament. We have a meeting after school and I need a decent excuse in order to miss it. Like a severe illness. Otherwise I'll get kicked out.
Wendy Corduroy: Bot-fighting sounds super rad, but it's not an once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Mabel Pines: He wants to finish the year with the club so he'll get onto the high school robotics team. Apparently it's competitive.
Dipper Pines: It is. And as much as I want to, I can't skip out. We worked really hard on our robot and it wouldn't be fair if I just left them to it.
Wendy Corduroy: Well, what about Mabel? She can get the autographs for you and, more importantly, me.
Mabel Pines: I could totally do it.
Dipper Pines: I know, but it's just not the same as meeting them myself. This would be a great time to clone myself.
Mabel Pines: Your lesson was clearly not learned.
Wendy Corduroy: What?
Dipper Pines: She's just making a joke. Which is not funny.
Wendy Corduroy: You know what, you already have a clone—sort of.
Mabel Pines: He does?
Wendy Corduroy: Yeah, you.
Dipper Pines: Pretty sure my clubmates would notice the difference between me and Mabel.
Wendy Corduroy: Not if you switch places and disguise as each other.
Mabel Pines: We haven't done that since we were super little.
Dipper Pines: I don't think that's going to fly. She's, you know, obviously a girl and I'm obviously not.
Wendy Corduroy: Come on, it's the perfect solution. You guys are pretty similar in facial structure and body shape and you could probably imitate each other's voice. No one will know.
Mabel Pines: It sounds like fun!
Dipper Pines: Seriously?
Mabel Pines: Why not? Besides, I've got the best Dipper impression.
Wendy Corduroy: Mabel can go to your club and you can go meet the stars of The Sarcophagus' Curse.
Dipper Pines: As Mabel. I'll meet A-List Hollywood actors dressed as a girl. Why can't I go as myself and have Mabel dress as me?
Wendy Corduroy: There's going to be a lot of cameras snapping pictures and a lot of people. It might get back to your club members and then they'll realize they were tricked.
Dipper Pines: Which still would not be as awkward as getting busted for dressing as my sister.
Wendy Corduroy: They won't knoooow.
Mabel Pines: You can't reschedule your meeting and you can't miss it. This is a solution!
Dipper Pines: You are way too excited about this.
Wendy Corduroy: What do you say, Dipper?
Dipper Pines: Fine. Why not? I've done far more embarrassing things.
Mabel Pines: Plus you really really want to meet Danny Devro.
Dipper Pines: It's a great motivator, actually. Even with the knowledge that I won't pull this off.
Wendy Pines: Dudes, no one is going to notice. Trust me.
Dipper Pines: We'll see.
Mabel Pines: Operation Switcharoo is a go!
"Found it!"
Dipper paused his wrestling with a pair of light blue leggings to call, "Hang on a second!"
He managed to yank on the article of clothing and adjusted the short skirt, which was a darker shade of blue. Dipper then shrugged on a sweater that had silver and blue gem swirls on the front. Outfit complete, he swung open the door where his sister was waiting on the other side.
"This is a bad idea."
"Won't know until we try it," said Mabel cheerfully. She was already wearing Dipper's orange T-shirt, dark blue vest and shorts. In her hands was a wig, long brown hair that was a shade darker than her natural hair colour.
Dipper gingerly took it, rolling the artificial strands of hair through his fingers. "Why do you even have this?"
"For Halloween, a long time ago. When the hairdresser cut my hair way too short and I needed it longer for a costume. It came in handy then so I decided to keep it. Good thing, huh?"
"Yeah," said Dipper flatly, adjusting the wig over his own short locks. Mabel handed him a brush and he smoothed out the tangles. When he was finished, Mabel was staring at him with an awed stare. "What?"
"Pretty sure this is going to work out fine."
Brow furrowing in confusion, Dipper approached the mirror and was stricken by his reflection. With the addition of the wig, he looked strikingly like Mabel. "I don't know how to feel about this."
"Just a few more finishing touches," declared Mabel.
She used some blush to redden Dipper's cheeks, foundation to take the redness away from his nose and used mascara to elongate his eyelashes. She finished the look by adjusting the wig so that hair fell over his forehead, covering his birthmark. "Wow," was all Dipper could find to say, staring at his reflection with a slightly disturbed expression.
"Tell me about it," agreed Mabel.
She removed a clip from the pocket of her shorts and piled her long hair on top of her head. She took Dipper's ushanka and pulled it on, covering the excess of hair from sight. As she used the blush to redden the tip of her nose, Dipper squinted at her eyelashes, suddenly realizing they were much shorter than before.
"Wait, what did you do to your eyelashes?"
"Trimmed them with cuticle scissors."
Dipper gaped at her. "That's dangerous!"
"It's not the first time I've done it. But this is the first time I've got them this short. You hardly have eyelashes compared to me."
"I think you're taking this way too seriously."
"I've got a part to play, bro!"
"Those theater lessons you took when you were seven really left an impression."
Mabel finished her makeup application and they stood side-by-side in front of the mirror. There were some things they couldn't mask, such as Mabel's cheeks being rounder than Dipper's, their minuscule height difference and Mabel's braces.
"That's a problem," remarked Dipper, gesturing to the silver gear adorning Mabel's teeth.
Mabel thought for a moment and said, "I'll be right back." She disappeared and returned a minute later carrying a white bacteria mask. She strapped it over her mouth and swung out her hands in victory. "Voila!"
"Yeah, because that's not suspicious," said Dipper sarcastically.
"You're sick and don't want to spread it around! Problem solved."
Dipper scratched the back of his neck, feeling the wool material of the sweater rub against his skin. "What about me? I can't magically acquire braces."
"You're going to be in the city, where no one knows Mabel Pines wears braces," she answered, unconcerned. "Even if you do run into some kids from school, it's not like they ever talk to us anyway."
Knowing she had a point, Dipper looked once more at their reflection in the mirror. "I know we're twins, but this is still freaky."
"Freakier than the time we switched bodies on the magic rug?"
Dipper blinked. "Right. That was a thing that happened. Never mind then."
…
Mabel approached the house of Justin, Dipper's robotics club friend. The garage was open and she stepped inside. "Hey, guys."
The three males standing around a worn wooden table glanced up. "Uh…hey, Dipper," spoke Justin, eyeing Mabel oddly. "What's with the mask?"
"I've got a nasty cold. I'd hate to spread it around."
"Thanks for the consideration, but a couple of germs won't stop us." Len kept his eyes on the small, square, tank-like robot as he tightened the bolts. "We're winning the tournament this year."
The look of utter seriousness and determination on their faces caused Mabel some bewilderment. She knew that the bot-fighting tournament was important, but she didn't realize it was such a big deal. "Right. So what can I do?"
"Did you get the wiring finished from last time?"
"Er…no, I'll get right on that."
Mabel removed a blue notebook from Dipper's bag. He had told her it contained instructions for the mechanisms of the robot they were building. He had known that he would be tasked with finishing the wiring and wrote down everything Mabel needed to do in order to complete the task successfully.
She turned to the dog-eared page, where there was a coloured diagram with notes written neatly on the page beside it. Mabel crouched next to the open panel and studied the red, green and blue wires coiled together inside.
Okay…you can do this. It's like a puzzle. And Dipper's already told you where the pieces go.
She pulled on a pair of rubber working gloves and grabbed a pair of pliers. She started to twist certain wires together and splicing others apart. She was relieved that Dipper had laid everything out for her to follow, because while she was a whiz with glue, wool and scissors, she knew nothing of robot building.
"Ouch!"
She let out a yelp when she accidentally pinched herself with the pliers. She hastily looked around to see if anyone had caught her high-pitched sound, but the three males were intent on finishing their own tasks.
Right. Dipper's scream isn't exactly the manliest to begin with.
It was twenty minutes later when Mabel finished her work and she screwed the panel back into place. "Finished," she declared.
"Same," spoke Justin.
"I think we're as ready as we can be," said Len, wiping his hands on his jeans.
"Anyone have any last-minute suggestions for what we can add?" asked Diego, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes.
"Glitter."
It was an automatic response, leaving her lips before Mabel could think about it. She stilled as the three turned to stare at her with odd expressions. "What?" asked Justin.
Mabel shrugged nonchalantly. "It looks sort of bland, is what I mean. Isn't there something we could use to liven it up?"
Diego glanced at Justin. "Dipper's got a point. It does look sort of boring. At least the other robots have lights on them."
Justin thought for a minute. "We've got some glow-in-the-dark paint. We could use that."
He went over to a wooden shelf and removed a metal can. Together they decorated the robot, painting the base with green flames and adding the robotics club logo on the front. When they were finished, Justin turned off the lights and an eerie green glow surrounded their metal contraption.
"That looks awesome," said Diego with a grin. "Good idea, Dipper." He raised his knuckles for a fist-bump and Mabel returned it. Diego blinked and added, "Wow, your hands are soft."
"All right guys, I think we're all set. The robot's finished, charged and we have fresh batteries in the controller." Justin went over to a bag near the door and removed four grey work jumpsuits, where their school logo was embroidered over the pocket. "We'll have to leave soon if we want to get there in time to register."
Mabel blinked. "What?"
"Our competition is tonight, remember?" When Len got a blank stare in return, he turned to look accusingly at Justin. "Didn't you tell Dipper that the tournament got rescheduled to tonight?"
"I thought I did." Justin checked his text history. "Oh. Sending failed. Sorry, man."
"It's okay."
Justin handed her a jumpsuit and Mabel felt her face flare up when he started removing his shirt to change. She hastily retreated to a corner of the garage and yanked the jumpsuit over her clothes, knowing she would probably be hot with the extra layers.
She then took out Dipper's phone (because her pink sparkly case would be a dead giveaway) and started texting.
'So your robotics tournament is actually tonight. Surprise!'
…
Dipper stood in the long, twisting line of people stretching down the blocks. He had already been waiting for about two hours and now he could see the Hollywood stars if he inched out to peer further ahead. They were stationed at a table in front of a large poster advertising their latest movie, along with cardboard cut-outs and other promotional materials.
He let out a quiet sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. He could feel sweat gathering beneath the wig and under his armpits, and he wondered for the umpteenth time how Mabel was able to endure such weather in heavy clothing.
No one had given him a second look, not through his trip through the city and not as he waited in line. He was glad Mabel had used waterproof makeup on him, or else the sheen of sweat on his face would have been his undoing. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to disguise his voice, or if it would be better if he didn't talk at all.
A buzzing sounded within the white purse slung over his shoulder, which Mabel had given him to store his stuff. He normally used his backpack to carry his items around, or packed it inside of his vest, but he had to make do with one of Mabel's purses (which he had to admit was pretty handy—it had a lot more pockets to utilize).
Dipper dug out the cellphone and was momentarily confused to see his name flash across the screen until he remembered that he and Mabel had switched phones. He read the text, his stomach immediately sinking with panic.
'What?! It's not supposed to be for another couple of weeks!'
'I guess the text Justin sent you didn't go through. Don't worry, bro. I'm sure it'll go fine. I can film it if you want to see your bot throw down.'
'That's not the problem. The problem is that I'm controlling the robot. Which means YOU'RE controlling the robot.'
'Oh snap.'
'Yeah.'
'Is that in your little book?'
'I thought tonight was just a regular meeting, so no, it's not in my book. If I tell you the controls, do you think you could do it?'
'Is it like a video game?'
'Pretty much, yeah.'
'Lay it on me.'
Dipper typed out the instructions for the robot's controls, triple-checked to make sure he hadn't forgotten a single detail, and paused. For a moment, he hesitated, debating on whether or not he should abandon his mission and go finish out the year for his robotics club.
But he was so close to getting the autographs, and he'd come this far. He'd been to plenty of robot fights before with his club members, and if they won all their battles tonight, they would move on to the state-wide tournament.
And he trusted Mabel would annihilate the competition. He hit send.
'Got it. Don't worry bro, we'll win this.'
'I know you will. If you feel nervous, you can always ask one of the others to do it. They might get suspicious, but they'll take over.'
'Are you kidding? I've always wanted to fight with one of your bots before. It'll be fun. Plus, considering we fought a crazy triangle demon with the Shacktron, this will be nothing.'
'Fair point. Good luck!'
'Thanks!'
As the next hour or so passed, Dipper inched his way further in the line. He eventually made his way to the front, his heart pounding with excitement. Hands trembling slightly with nerves, he stepped up to the table, draped with a deep red tablecloth, where the four main stars were sitting—Danny Devro, Leila Petti, Joshua Jans and Henry Douglas.
"Hey, sweetheart," greeted Leila.
"Hi."
It was the first time Dipper was grateful for his high-pitched squeak whenever he got nervous, for it made his voice passable to a female. He extended the small glossy movie poster he had brought with him for and the actors started to sign it.
"What's your name?" asked Danny.
"Dipper."
Oh, shoot.
The foursome exchanged glances, eyebrows raising. "Dipper?" repeated Danny in bemusement. "I'm guessing that's a nickname."
"Uh…yeah."
Intrigued, Henry leaned forwards. "Don't leave us hanging, girl. How did you end up with a nickname like that?"
Mindful of the wig on his head, Dipper carefully nudged the brown bangs aside, revealing a portion of his birthmark that the strands hid from view. "Because of this. It's in the shape of the Big Dipper."
"That's amazing," reacted Joshua.
Dipper brightened, letting the hair fall back into place. "Thanks!"
"All right, Dipper, important question." Danny passed the poster on to Leila and then gestured between himself and Joshua. "Who's your favourite?"
"You," answered Dipper automatically.
Danny grinned. "Danny Nation represent."
"Give me a break," muttered Joshua.
Dipper's eyes widened. "I mean, you're great too—"
"Don't feel bad for telling the truth, you made the right choice," interjected Danny. "I'm way hotter than he is."
Joshua glared. "You're only slightly in the lead!"
At Dipper's confused expression, Leila giggled. "It's their dumb contest. They take tallies from the female fans to see who is more popular. It's super shallow, but then again so are they."
"We can hear you," said Danny in annoyance.
"That's not what I—" Dipper tried to interject, but Joshua interrupted.
"Seriously, it's cool. I don't mind."
Dipper was about to insist that he had meant something completely different when he said Danny was his favourite, but was distracted by Leila signing his poster. He removed another one from his bag, a poster of Leila's movie character. "Would you mind signing one for my friend Wendy?"
"Sure thing."
Soon the posters were back in his hands and Dipper said sincerely, "Thanks. You're all amazing. These movies are my favourites."
"We're only amazing because of fans like you," returned Henry.
"Yo, Danny, give a member of your Nation a kiss."
"Gladly."
Dipper did not get time to protest, for Danny leaned over the table and kissed him on the cheek. Stuttering out a goodbye, Dipper hastily retreated, face red and throat beginning to ache from the strain of using a high voice.
Wait until Mabel hears this one.
…
The location of the tournament was the local community center, one of the large meeting rooms transformed into sections for the robot matches. Mabel and the guys had made it to the final match, where if they won, they would move on to the state-wide tournament.
By this point Mabel had gotten the hang of steering the robot. She was currently in the middle of a heated match, their small robot going against a heavily-armoured opponent. The exterior was covered in spikes and below that was a thick metal, making it difficult to land hits.
"Oh man, that thing is tearing us up," muttered Diego.
Mabel's eyes narrowed. "Not for much longer."
Okay. I need to find out how to hit that thing. It's outside material is too strong. But…I wonder what the underneath looks like.
Mabel studied the other robot, which was bigger and heavier than theirs. "Let's see how well you can turn corners."
She pretended to retreat, guiding the robot away from the enemy. It followed in pursuit and Mabel waited until it was close enough before making a sharp turn and whizzing past. The other robot tried to copy the turn, its weight making it tilt slightly. Seizing this opportunity, Mabel charged her robot forwards caught the exposed bit of the enemy robot, managing to tilt it over completely. It's underside was not nearly as protected and Mabel activated the water gun of their robot, soaking the circuits and frying the system, causing the enemy bot to shut down.
"Yes!" cheered Justin.
"Way to go Dipper!" whooped Diego.
"We're moving on to the state tournament!" exclaimed Len.
Mabel smiled broadly, pumping her fist in victory. Justin retrieved their robot and the four went to receive their medals for winning the school district championship. They shook hands with the other school team before leaving.
"We're going to get some ice-cream, are you coming?" asked Diego.
Mabel shook her head. "No, I have to get home. But thanks anyway!"
"No, thank you. We wouldn't have won if you weren't an expert on these controls," said Len.
"I've had a lot of practice," replied Mabel. "It's just like a video game. I'll see you guys at school!"
"Hey, take a cough drop when you get home!" called Justin as Mabel jogged away. "Your voice sounds terrible!"
…
'We won, bro!'
Sitting near the back of the bus, Dipper read Mabel's text and smiled. 'I had no doubts. Thanks.'
'No problem. It was actually really fun. I took some pictures. I'll show them to you after. Oh, and Justin clearly doesn't listen to you, because he thinks my impression of you was a symptom of your illness. I don't know what's with him, because I nailed it.'
'The bacteria mask probably threw you off.'
'Yeah, that must be it. So how did it go with you?'
'Great! I got my autographs, and the actors are actually really cool people. Danny Devro kissed my cheek, so that's a thing.'
'No way!'
'Yeah. He asked me who my favourite was, between him and Joshua. When I answered that it was him, I didn't realize it was a poll to see who has the most female fans.'
'Boys.'
'Tell me about it. Are you home?'
'Yup. I don't know how you manage to go around with the ushanka all the time, I thought my brain was cooking.'
'I'm used to my head being warm. How do you wear your sweaters year-round?'
'I don't mind my upper body being warm, so long as my legs and head are cool.'
'Your clothes are very comfortable, but this is the last time I'll switch places with you.'
'Ditto. I missed my sweater and glitter. But hey, it went pretty well!'
'Much to my amazement.'
'Operation Switcharoo is a success!'
Dipper was about to type out a response when the phone started buzzing, indicating an incoming video call from Stan. He instinctively clicked accept and Stan's face filled the small screen. Stan opened his mouth to say something, froze, and stared blankly. Dipper returned the stare, eyes wide, and said (in as high a voice as he could muster on a crowded public bus), "I'm going to have to call you back."
He hastily hung up and texted Mabel back.
'Uh. Yeah. Sort of. We're probably gonna hear from Grunkle Stan soon. Just saying.'
To: Dipper Pines (GhostHarasserfan); Mabel Pines (ShootingStarRainbowUnicorn)
From: Grunkle Stan (StantheMan)
Subject: I probably shouldn't ask but I'm going to anyway
I send a video call request to Mabel's phone, expecting Mabel, and I see Dipper dressed as Mabel. Is there something someone needs to tell me?
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Mabel Pines: It's a long story.
Dipper Pines: Wendy can tell it. It's mostly her fault. Wendy!
Wendy Corduroy: Did you guys pull it off?
Mabel Pines: We did!
Grunkle Stan: Pull what off?
Wendy Corduroy: Dipper wanted to go and get autographs from the cast of the latest movie in The Sarcophagus' Curse franchise. But he had a robotics club meeting he couldn't miss. I suggested that Mabel could go to the robotics club in his place while he went to meet the cast dressed as Mabel. They switched places.
Grunkle Stan: Gotcha.
Dipper Pines: That's it? No other questions? No comments on the fact I was wearing a skirt?
Grunkle Stan: It's a free country. I figured there was a story why you were dressed as your sister and now I know. The curiosity was killing me.
Wendy Corduroy: And you thought someone would catch you, Dipper.
Dipper Pines: Someone did catch me. Grunkle Stan.
Wendy Corduroy: Well he doesn't count.
Grunkle Stan: Watch yourself, missy.
Dipper Pines: I know we're twins, but I guess we look more similar than I thought. But there were some differences that we had to cover. Mabel wore a bacteria mask to cover her braces and I wore a wig. Turns out my voice can go quite high, which was a relief today but overall slightly annoying.
Grunkle Stan: Masters of disguise. Just like your old Grunkle.
Mabel Pines: Our family is amazing.
Wendy Corduroy: Did you get an autograph for me?
Dipper Pines: I did.
Wendy Corduroy: Sweet.
Dipper Pines: I'll mail it to you this week. Now I'm going to take a shower and have a The Sarcophagus' Curse marathon.
Wendy Corduroy: Was it worth it?
Dipper Pines: Yeah. It was.
Mabel Pines: I think I might see if I can join the robotics club next year. It's a blast.
Grunkle Stan: I'll talk to you runts later. Oh, and Dipper, don't hang up on me again.
Dipper Pines: Sir yes sir!
Mabel Pines: Ha! You got in trouble!
