CHAPTER 2

June 18th, 2022

Piedmont, California, United States of America

Waiting for the response from Jason, Dipper sat in front of his desk reading a note he wrote a few days ago. He recalled for days how both himself and Mabel have lived. With such a complicated purpose given to the upcoming conversation, he felt that he needed to be prepared in advance. It was about a family matter. A serious one. For help. He tried to think about what life was like after the unwanted retirement both he and Mabel needed to face from the late season of the year 2016.

Dipper's room was extremely quiet. Mabel knew that Dipper could be stressed in front of strangers and consulting them about the serious family matter wouldn't help much. That was the reason she decided to shop earlier than usual, wishing him a piece of good luck by offering a less stressful atmosphere. In this situation, even a falling paper from the corkboard(one side was full of family pictures, another was for an idea board about writing novels) could produce louder noise than usual.

Suddenly, Dipper noticed the loud, familiar voice from the laptop.

"Good afternoon, Dipper Pines!"

"Arrgh!"

It was Jason,

"I'm glad to see you in real!" Jason greeted enthusiastically. Then he showed Dipper a batch of actual Polaroids; the same ones he sent with an e-mail. It seemed like he sincerely wanted to make sure Dipper could trust him at first sight. "I also brought some Polaroids you wanted to see by yourself. Will it help?"

Watching him through the monitor, Jason Points reminded Dipper of what he could have been if he had grown up physically along with Mabel. Sure, he still had eight fingers like when Mabel was a teen, but Dipper could see his tall frame and he remembered that a person who played Mr. Mystery in the pilot had eight instead of ten. Even when the stress lines under his eyes weren't visible, Jason had lots of recognizable features of Dipper such as messy brown hair (a little bit longer, though) and a pair of brown eyes. Some could say he was literally popped out of one of several 'grown-up' Dipper Pines fan arts and converted into flash animation format. In addition to his slightly overenthusiastic introduction, he looked unexpectedly recognizable enough to surprise Dipper a lot. The emotion was shown through Dipper's reddened face and shocked eyes.

"Hi, Jason. Good to see you." Dipper replied, trying to ease off his emotion. To calm himself down, he took a deep breath. "Don't worry about me. It's just surprising...to see this happens. Thanks for Polaroids, by the way." Later parts of his reply sounded slightly awkward, showing signs of his initial impression of Jason. If Multiverse was an actual thing, it was probably the closest response Dipper naturally had shown in front of multiple versions of himself.

"No offense, Dipper Pines," Jason answered in a more polite manner.

Jason's house was a small studio apartment. There was no room for words like "fancy" or "roomy" to describe his home. All the furniture was simple and basic, and his bedroom looked somewhat cramped to obtain his comic collections (as well as some Gravity Falls merchandise) and essential furniture such as a bed, desk, closets, and many others. It couldn't hold a match with Dipper and Mabel's current home, which the Twins bought with leftover money they earned back in the early 2010s. Their parents were smart enough to reduce the spending when Dipper and Mabel retired from their celebrity careers. That allowed Mystery Twins to save enough fortune to afford a new permanent home in Piedmont and a better car(the Pinesmobile, which is either newer or larger than what the majority of other teens could afford in 2017) than an average freshman in college could afford, even though compromises should be made to afford their college credits. It meant a smaller house located in a busier environment than before (back then, they even considered moving to Oakland), but people who saw them superficially could say Dipper and Mabel were living a better life than Jason.

"I know it's a mess," said Jason. "But I'm happy that I could manage myself to this. I'm working as a barista for Tim Horton's coffee shop, renting a studio in Toronto, and planning to open my own cafe (a comic book cafe, perhaps?) someday. I'm also studying how to run a cafe too! Even Kristine said it could be good." His enthusiastic manner didn't lose from this additional introduction.

It was such a humble way of living. Nothing spectacular, but the enthusiasm from his speaking didn't falter or fade away. For Dipper, this personality reminded him of Soos; his character from the show was enthusiastic about almost anything, even working as a humble handyman under the management of the local cheapskate conman who ran an obvious-looking tourist trap on a shoestring in a small town of Oregon. It was a rare personality to see in real life. Also, despite Jason may not have a wealthy or leisurely life, Dipper felt that it could've been a life he could feel more comfortable. From the first impression, Jason seemed like he moved on from his old celebrity career completely, while Dipper's own legacy was still affecting him.

After the bootleg incident, various news reporters and paparazzi began visiting his home frequently. When both he and Mabel could get over with them, another bunch of them were visiting their residence without giving them prior notice. Unwanted articles that covered their various privacy were an addition that annoyed Mystery Twins too. Dipper already complained a lot about the unwanted way of interests that invaded frequently Twin's privacy and daily life in front of the Gravity Falls fandom; they generally understood their situation and promised they won't do that, at least in front of him and Mabel.

"...oh, right. I'm getting off the topic, wasn't I?" Jason added, after witnessing the thoughtful expression on Dipper's face. "Let's move on to the subject. Really important subject I want to talk about with you. May I ask...how was your life after retirement?" Jason's speaking began to bear seriousness. "Both me and Kristine weren't doing well in school."

Both he and Kristine weren't doing well in school, Dipper thought. It was like, being bullied for looking like us? Just like when bullies splashed me in high school frequently, calling me sweaty and stinky even when I wasn't? He assumed it at first, but he needed to get something clear. Too many speculations before knowing details could potentially cause problems to help out such a serious matter. Things could be different from what he expected. He decided to tell Jason what the school life he experienced was like.

"We really weren't doing well in school." Dipper finally answered. "Both me and Mabel were outcasts all the time. Our image came from the show was so well-known and well-established, that we easily fell into popular choices for bullies." Then, he frowned from the agony of bad memories. "Being splashed with water behind was so common back then. It was even worse when they were pulling me into the toilet, according to them, to 'bath me.' My chair and desk were covered with hand sanitizer occasionally. Even though I changed clothes and took a shower every day in reality, they made fun of me with the sweaty character I played on TV.

"Mabel was on the same boat as me. Her desk and belongings were covered with glitter glues when she came back from the toilet, cafeteria or. her locker in the hallway. When she got sausages or bacon for school lunches, somebody in the cafeteria tended to shout 'she's eating Waddles!' She cried a lot when we came back home. That was beyond frustrating." The atmosphere was grim and gloomy when he finished the explanation. Recalling the harassment that had him and his sister suffered wasn't a pleasant thing to do for anyone.

Jason felt something familiar from Dipper's experience; both he and Kristine were victims because they look way similar to Pines. All those 'hand sanitizer and glitter glues covering their belongings' were what they suffered back in their childhood after they had to move on. These were like putting salt on their inner wounds. Not only they were rejected by Disney and other producers were worried about violating copyright because of their looks, but also worsened by being aligned with their traumatic experiences that doomed their childhood dream.

"...you really were in the same boat with us. Sorry to hear that." Jason replied, feeling compassion for what he just heard.

"Thanks. I can feel your pain. That's humiliating." Dipper answered. "It could've been worse for me hadn't been for Mabel."

"Wait...you mentioned Mabel?" Jason asked with curiosity.

"Yes. she found out how to cope with everything," Dipper answered.

"Then, can you tell me how she managed to overcome that?" Jason asked as it seemed like he found a slight hint of hope.

"Sure, I'll tell you about it." Dipper smiled smoothly. "It was when we almost finished our senior year in high school..."

Dipper told Jason what motivated Mabel to find out a small hope on March 31st of 2017, vaguely two months before graduating high school. It was just as frustrating and humiliating as usual for Dipper and Mabel, cleaning their own chairs and desks covered with glitter glue and hand sanitizer all morning in the classroom. Watching Mabel in her sorrow as a daily routine was depressing and painful, according to Dipper's explanation, and even worse, both Mystery Twins ran out of their tissues before finishing their clean-ups. Starting the class before trying to go to the toilet didn't help either. They had no choice other than sitting on the wet chair for fifty minutes, to afford a better chance to get toilet paper. Being accepted by the college (with a high GPA, miraculously) they applied didn't help them enough to feel better; even with that, the future didn't seem too bright.

The miracle, meanwhile, happened after lunchtime. When Mabel arrived at her classroom, she found a box full of clean tissues with a piece of the letter under the chair. Dipper thought it was just a scheme to humiliate Mabel at first, but to his surprise, it was proved to be the wrong speculation. He found out when Mabel called him to show the letter, asking if she can trust that. According to Dipper, the letter was written by a human transfer who moved to their high school a year ago, and it was done in a carefully crafted manner.

To Mabel

Hi, I'm Dana Hill from Mr. Terrace's classroom.

I saw you were struggling with bullying all day. I wanted to help you out long ago. But I couldn't do that until today. So I decided to give you a box of tissues as an apology and a small help.

And if you need more help or some friends to be with you, you can visit my Instagram. You can search for me by my name. You are my childhood hero. Your show helped my childhood before, so I want to help you better.

See you someday, Dana.

"The letter sounded too good to be true at that time," continued Dipper. "But I couldn't see any sign of a prank either. Kleenex she left was just a normal one too. So I decided to see who Dana Hill was. And surprisingly, it wasn't any scheme to bully her. Her Instagram was full of pictures of Gravity Falls merchandise she collected, and she was quite dedicated to Mabel too. Even her history on Instagram showed that she signed in it because of us when she just became fourteen. Having a conversation with her through DM also proved that, so she can express her passion for the show and probably could find us online. That's how Mabel made her current Instagram account too.

"Then Mabel realized; that there are some people who are appreciative of our very existence. After that, she tried to be confident with herself. Mabel casually cleaned up her belongings, desk, and chair when glitters covered them. When somebody said she was eating Waddles, her reaction was casual 'I did. So what?' instead of storming out of the cafeteria in sorrow or rage. She still told me that bullying towards her was awful, but it became more tolerable with her new friend. Dana didn't meet her face-to-face until graduation, but she and Mabel chatted away online every day. Mabel said Dana didn't matter about the differences between the real her and the character from the show; she also liked Mabel being Mabel in reality. That helped her a lot; she built enough confidence to overcome difficulties."

"Wow..." said Jason. "You guys are braver than any of us. We just tried to hide as much as possible. Kristine even tried not to wear sweaters or have long hair. And failed to get away from bullying until moving to somewhere else in Toronto." Jason seemed disappointed by what he heard of and how he and his sister have lived,

Dipper found out his answer wasn't helpful for the situation. Embarrassment was clearly shown on his face. Man, that's even worse than I expected.

"But, come to think of it," continued Jason, trying to calm down his disappointment. "I'm glad that you managed to do that. You managed to overcome your past. You managed to do it before too late. And now you're willing to help us...I want to be like you one day."

"Thanks." Answered Dipper, forcing him to have a small smile to thank Jason. "But, you're also brave enough to ask me. Your sister didn't even want to hear both me and Mabel, right? It may not be helpful as we hoped, but you managed to ask people you believed and trusted, even when your sister didn't want to be involved in him or his family. It's proof that you're brave enough to help your family at any cost, under any circumstances." At this point, his smile became more comfortable with his thoughtful manner. He was recalling the conversation with Mabel in Pinesmobile when he was going back home after the abduction incident at the same time.

"You really mean it?" Jason asked, with a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Sure. I can relate to you with Mabel. She's brave enough to rescue me by herself." Dipper said. "She said the whole hideout was a mess. A mess that no one could believe easily at first; a monster was going on a rampage toward a couple of chipmunks, destroying the illegal studio and damaging the port while chasing them. She looked for me when all of this was happening. I was about to give up everything about my life and my family while she was doing it. Everything seemed hopeless inside the locked container. Everybody seemed to think so. Even I thought everything was hopeless." His words weakened as he began mentioning his experiences inside the locked container. "I wasn't exactly the brave, risk-taking character I played ten years ago. He could have done better."

Then, he realized that he needed to be strong. He was supposed to help someone. He needed to be strong enough for his pure, caring, and overly passionate counterpart abroad. Jason was the person who trusted him enough to take a family-related risk for help. He tried to keep respect for his 'hero' even though he was seemingly disappointed by the given answer. It was evident that both Dipper and Jason were taking care of their own family. Dipper wanted to make it work.

However, he couldn't come up with an answer. He was still struggling with his self-esteem at times. His physical appearance didn't help that already and being powerless all the time when his sister showed such bravery with persistence was a letdown for him. It was an exceptionally extreme case, but recalling it made him stuck at times when he shouldn't.

"Still, you put the family first," Jason said.

Then, Dipper lifted his head.

"That's what your character was. Even if you aren't as brave as your sister or yourself on TV, that doesn't change. I can see that. You helped your sister when she was an outcast. I also put my family first." Jason sounded more confident than minutes ago. "Even better, it's not only about your family. You care about us too."

Dipper hesitated briefly, but he finally took a hint. "Thanks. You can be more thoughtful than I thought. Maybe...instead of being hard on myself, I should take notes from you and Mabel."

"You're welcome, Dipper Pines!"

"And even better," said Dipper, getting more confidence in his tone. "You got what we can't have."

Then, Jason was puzzled by the answer. "Uh...what do you mean? I have what you guys can't have?"

"A normal life."

Jason felt that he already heard of something related before. There was a vivid memory of live broadcasting on YouTube to celebrate Gravity Falls' 10th anniversary. There was Dipper in his navy vest with a pine tree hat, who said there were so many things that shouldn't be taken for granted, taking examples like normal, humble, and repetitive everyday life.

"Ah, you mean that 'A normal, humble, and repetitive everyday life?'"

"Yeah, you got it right," Dipper replied. "That's the luxury both me and Mabel can't even dare to afford recently. Remember that I was kidnapped by Valley Gangs?"

"Yes. I heard of it on the Internet. Mabel saved you from them, right?"

"Right. She did such an astonishing job." Dipper replied thoughtfully, recalling the time when he was forced to lay on the machine with himself being tied before the underground surgery. "Their hideout was completely unknown outside. Sweet Pete and his henchmen boasted that in front of me before bootlegging me. Saying everything hadn't been found out for years, as well as thriving under cover of his countless legit businesses. Even cops were having trouble finding it out, he said." After the brief pause, he continued. "It made her action more astonishing."

"Also, he openly said he kept their eyes on me for years. Since Gravity Falls was a successful show, Sweet Pete thought he could reproduce its success with his bootlegs. When he found out I was retired from my career, he told his henchmen to be aware of me as one of his candidates to kidnap. It took years to get me in the end, they said, but it means that celebrities always have the risk of losing the ordinary, peaceful life all of a sudden." Dipper continued, with his eyes full of concern. "Both me and Mabel are too well-known to get away from schemes."

"And it's not the end. After Mabel saved me from the bootleg studio, we faced too many paparazzi and the press." Dipper growled in an annoyed manner at bad memories about them. "They don't care about privacy. They think both me and Mabel are just a couple of walking materials for yellow journalism. The last time I saw some of them in Piedmont Park for a walk, they took pictures of Mabel with a stain of Mabel Juice on her sweater. Mabel answered them by throwing a pack of glitter (she bought it for her art project) in their face. And they released an article about that. An article about a stain and glitter attack. That's ridiculous."

Jason thought a little bit longer than before. Dipper didn't seem so happy with his celebrity career. Too well-known to get away, that part sounded like the main point. After graduating junior high school and moving to another region of Toronto, Jason and Kristine hadn't suffered from their superficial likeness to canon twins as much as before. When he was in a senior high school and community college, people barely commented or even couldn't notice that. Even Kristine didn't have to run away from harassment back then, at least from what he saw before she moved to her current residence to focus on getting her Ph.D.

"You mean, your fame and glory can harm yourselves?"

"Right. It still affects both of me and Mabel. There are lots of former celebrities who failed to move on from their past. Sweet Pete was one extreme example."

Jason considered the answer. He could understand that Dipper got the point. Only if this can convince Kristine...he thought. He wanted to be sure that it can help his long-time twin sister move on, except he wasn't completely sure.

Then, he heard the thoughtful, but somewhat guilty voice with a sigh.

"It's even worse when it hurts someone else." It was Dipper, an ex-celebrity who unintentionally stole the semi-guaranteed success of Jason and Kristine.

"I guess I'm paying the price of stealing your sister's dream."

"What?!" The following response shocked Jason in confusion. "You really think you deserve all of these? You guys didn't do that on purpose! You really didn't know what happened to us! You couldn't expect anything about any of us. So don't be hard on yourself... please?"

Jason's response stunned Dipper for a moment. The last part of Jason's reply was rather desperate, showing that he still has a hefty faith in him. And it sounded like it was for years at least, even though Dipper couldn't get what made Jason have such a long-lasting belief even when his unintended influence pushed Jason and Kristine into miserable school years. But it can wait to ask. To clear his mind and continue the conversation, he cleared his throat.

"You're right." He answered slowly, trying to gain enough confidence not to disappoint Jason. "We didn't do that purposely. We really didn't even know you and your sister existed back then." Then, Dipper recalled a wordless image of Mabel from days ago. "But, when you realized that somebody lost their dream because of you, it's hard to take things easy. That's why I'll take responsibility to help you out. For you, and your family." At this point, his attempt to gain enough confidence for proper momentum was gradually paying off.

"Besides, if your sister wants us to pay the price, it probably helps her feel better a little bit. I don't think typical advice like 'Get over the past' or 'Be happy with what you have' will work. It only works when she can trust a person who says that. Tell her we're living a terrible life full of guilt that can't even afford decent privacy and security. You may not like to say that. But trust me." A soft smile flashed on Dipper's face. "It's like a candy-coated medicine."

"You think you're okay with negative comments about you?"

"Sure. As long as it can help you, I'm willing to."

Jason considered Dipper's offer, probably longer than what the majority of people tended to. He didn't like to say negative about Dipper, but the same person said otherwise, guaranteeing it would help the irreplaceable family he cared about the most. If his intention to comfort Kristine with a more acceptable way of advice failed, both Dipper and Jason must be ashamed of the consequences, adding salt of guilty to their wounds. He found out Dipper wasn't too confident about his responsibility for his family, especially since he actually failed once by giving up everything in front of the hopeless situation when his sister didn't.

However, if he could trust Dipper enough to say not too hard on Dipper himself, maybe he should let Dipper have a chance to prove his insight. Dipper was the person who tried so hard to provide helpful advice when he struggled because of his miserable memory of the abduction. He even stuck for a moment in the middle of the conversation. But Jason thought he tried as much as possible. The effort of trying his best motivated Jason to encourage him as he did several minutes ago.

At the end of his mental conflicts, Jason opened his mouth, deciding to let his most trustworthy person besides his family have a chance.

"...I'll try my best."

Recognizing Jason's short, quiet, and whisper-like answer, Dipper replied calmly with a genuine smile. "Thanks, Jason. You really are a good brother to your sister. Hope it can help her feel better."

"Thanks," said Jason, being unable to keep his unsureness from his voice. Although he accepted the offer, he still couldn't be sure about the consequences. "...but what if she can't even take this? I don't want to make you feel even worse."

"I'll try my best on it. Remember when I said I'll take responsibility to help you out? I'm going to take it when it comes to the consequences too. Even when I failed in front of you and your family, I'll still be with you to make things right. My words, so my responsibility to correct my mistake. That's the least I can do." At this moment, Jason could see the vastly improved confidence in Dipper's attitude. "I can even prepare the apology letter for Kristine."

After a brief pause, Jason finally answered.

"Thank you, Dipper Pines." This time, the uncertainty settled down from his voice. "You are like Dipper Pines from your show."

That was probably one of the best compliments Dipper ever heard of after he retired as an actor. Being trapped in an actual shell of his former self has doubtlessly damaged his self-confidence for years, making him practically unable to afford a living without relying the future on. The bootlegging incident also contributed in the same way, as he couldn't even maintain the normal, humble, and repetitive everyday life with Mabel. A real-life Dipper Pines, legally registered as Mason Alexander Pines, was unable to hold a match with a fictional persona called Dipper Pines, who seemed capable of bringing better ways if he was in the same situation.

Dipper was speechless but flashed a gentle smile of gratitude for giving him such an encouraging compliment. It seemed like even his embarrassing moment of wearing his 'sweaty, awkward and paranoid' former self in front of people from days ago was somehow paying off. All thanks to Jason Points.

"It was the best conversation I ever had with anybody but my family." After giving another compliment to Dipper, Jason decided to offer the suggestion as a return – he was technically a member of the original Mystery Twins, so there could be something canon Dipper would want to know about him, right?

"Do you want to ask something about me? Like, anything!"

Dipper and Jason had a long, more enjoyable conversation afterward. They openly shared their own experiences and thoughts – Dipper initiated it by asking the question he eagerly wanted to, and Jason was open to revealing his own in front of his newfound mentor of the life.

When Dipper asked Jason how he could trust him so much when he was a person who made Kristine suffer for years, Jason unintentionally surprised him with his experiences. According to Jason, he wondered who actually Dipper was when he found out about Mabel's Instagram account. Having seen Mystery Twins for years through Instagram and YouTube without traces as much as possible, Jason found out that both Dipper and Mabel were more honest and open-minded than expected. When it comes to asking how Jason kept an enthusiastic manner, Jason said he found an outlet for bad emotions in the form of hobbies; brewing coffees and cooking some matching meals were parts of his way to console himself, and he found out he was really good at doing them since Kristine loved his meal and coffee. That explained how Jason became a barista and motivated him to consider a cafe of his own.

Meanwhile, Dipper surprised Jason by telling him he was somewhat envious of Jason's current living. Dipper agreed that it could be harder to live like him in many ways, including the lack of a massive backup fund the sibling made in their celebrity years. But he pointed out that not having massive fame and glory to burden them was the biggest asset both Jason and Kristine ever have, meaning they don't have to worry about hurting people with a massive burden like that. At the same time, Dipper added that he still appreciates fans for having an interest in his true self and giving Mabel a will to live.

When they concluded the video chat after saying goodbyes to each other, Dipper thought about Jason Points. He was genuinely an enthusiastic fan of Dipper, and even though he seemed slightly disappointed by the 'real' Dipper Pines for some reason, he still had enough faith to motivate him to try his best.

It was probably the closest to having Tyrone from the episode Double Dipper or experiencing Mabel's perspective about having Dana Hill as a new friend. He made a mental note to try his best to prepare an apology letter for Kristine and have more conversations with Jason.

Then, as soon as he decided what to do with Jason and Kristine Points, he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Dipper!"

It was Mabel.

"Have some dinner!" It turned out that Dipper spent more time than he could have expected, as not only did Mabel already return from the grocery shopping but also prepared dinner for both. "You did a hard job today so I prepared your fav-"

When Dipper turned his head, then gently swiveled the whole chair to her, Mabel was surprised by her brother's condition. It was far from the same little brother who was wordlessly paranoid for days. In fact, it was near the opposite.

"You look better than the afternoon. Got any good news?"

"Yes, Mabel. It ended up better than I thought," Dipper replied in front of the slightly mystified face of Mabel, in a more relaxed manner than a few hours ago.

"He's like Dana Hill."

Author's Note.

Writing a natural, convincing, and believable conversation as much as possible wasn't easy to do, especially when I practically made a couple of OCs. Making them faithful to the character I set through the whole moment wasn't particularly easy, so I worried that the overall flow could be unnatural or awkward.

In this consequence, constructive criticism is always welcomed!