CHAPTER 2
In the floor room, Mabel found the deja vu from the place. It was where she met Candy in the night, then it became the place where she spent the last night with her. Apparently, it was the most comfortable place for Candy to share something private. Mabel remembered that there was Ford's underground lab and to a lesser extent, his study room, but she suggested otherwise. She immediately agreed because 1) she was trying to be careful this time and 2) she knew her friends very well. It was a special place in the memories of both, after all! So she thought it could help.
According to Candy, Steriogram's Walkie Talkie Man was her comfort song. She had been familiar with it since she was seven, as it was used as background music to advertise the popular cartoon block at 4 PM. She had no idea about a popular cartoon block full of anime in Korea but could guess that it really was special to her. Childhood memory was a great thing, according to her opinion. Then, why does she have Walkie-Talkie Time every single year?
"There was a bad memory from my childhood," Candy continued thoughtfully. "Mom and Dad always sent me afterschool activities without asking me. Girl Scouts, after-school programs at school, Hagwons, you name it." Mabel shuddered in horror when she heard an unfamiliar word that meant private institutes in her friend's country. Despite not knowing what it meant at all, it was full of misery when it was mentioned through Candy's voice. "I thought they did not care about my happiness."
"How sad." Said Mabel, emphasizing to Candy for having a bad past.
"The sadder part is, they cared about me." Candy continued miserably, turning her head to somewhere else. "Everyone kept staying away from me. Girls told me behind my back that I was too weird to hang out with. Nobody appreciated my genius of having a set of chopsticks or forks on my fingers. Teachers may be, but they had a hard time understanding a part of me. Even having a mom who could afford a Lexus didn't help. Except for Mom and Dad, Grenda was the first who thought my ideas were cool. And," Then, she turned her gaze to Mabel. "You too. Mabel Pines."
"Thanks, Candy," Mabel replied with a weak, yet genuine smile before it dropped seconds later. "You must've been alone all the time."
"You are welcome," Candy answered in a similar tone to her friend. "And yes, I was alone. Watching TV was my biggest happiness along with playing online games, reading books, and collecting Monster-Mon cards before meeting Grenda. For me, Walkie Talkie Man is a reminder of the happiest memories. Even though I was only able to watch a part of it. That's how I began writing fanfics myself. I really wanted to know how the show would go, so I imagined the episodes myself.
"To go back to my Mom and Dad issues, they moved to America because they thought they could give me a new, fresh start. They told me we were moving because of economic issues (my mom lives in Portland because she works for the large hospital there), but I heard it from Mom's phone call for Dad at night. They were even happy to learn that I made a friend in Gravity Falls. But, they thought sending me to after-school classes helped that, so they decided to send me to the music camp. Even though I could make none of them."
"So, that's why you have Walkie-Talkie Time…" Mabel told what she managed to theorize from the conversation, recalling when Candy said there was no escape from the music camp.
"Yes. That way I have something that can help me feel better. It was a miracle that they had to cancel this year's music camp."
Mabel realized that leaving her alone was a better choice hours ago, as much as Candy admitted that she should have informed her about her traumatic experiences. At the same time, she found the similarity between Candy and her brother Dipper. Sure, their parents were better than Candy's, but her childhood reminded her of how Dipper was for years; a class weirdo who nobody wanted to join him. It was basically who Candy was in the past.
"I can understand that. That's what makes Dipper sad. He had nobody back in California. Just me, Mom, and Dad." Then, the extended realization from the then-current subject brought Mabel into a different, yet vaguely related topic.
"Wait, now I can see why he had a hard time moving on from Wendy."
"Moving on from who?"
"Wendy. She's working at the Mystery Shack. She was one of the girlfriends he ever made. She's cool, funny, handy, and even has an ax! And red hair! She may have bad taste in bad movies along with Dipper, but she was a real friend to him. Like you, Grenda, and Soos!" After introducing her brother's former crush with overheated enthusiasm, she quickly added. "I mean, not girlfriends. No offense."
"None taken." Candy simply replied. "She was cool and caring about you a lot. So does Dipper, if to a lesser extent. So I don't doubt that he was good with her. If he didn't flirt with too many girls and was confident for real, he could have been even better."
"Oh," Mabel recognized the day with yet another failure of attempting to become a matchmaker. "That time when I tried to ship you and Dipper?!"
"Yes. Why?"
"It was Grunkle Stan."
"Really? Never heard of it before and even then, it is honestly hard to believe."
"Yes, totally a real thing. Heard it from him when he brought Soos back from the Corn Maze. He had Dipper flirt many girls as many as possible. He made Dipper creepy all day, ruined your date with Dipper, and messed up the whole road trip! What the heck!?" After venting out her emotions toward her Grunkle, Mabel shouted with frustration and her fists lifted above.
"Wow, Stan is a jerk."
"Yeah, a total poof-face!"
"Mwoya igeo? Museun magjang deulamado anigo!"
"YOU TOTAL POOP-FACE STAN!"
Despite different languages, both rants included "What the heck?" to summarize their opinions of an unexpected twist. An insane drama worthy of soap opera plots driven by a know-it-all, that ruined everything when Dipper had a hard time and Mabel was ready to deliver that. She used to tease him so much about his inability despite he tried to help her move on from Mermando. On the last night in Gravity Falls, she regretted that for not considering Dipper enough to help him better. What she could do for him this time…
After a brief silence, Candy asked Mabel a question.
"Mabel," Candy carefully opened her mouth."Does Dipper know Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons?"
"What?" Mabel initially made a face as she heard of the board game she hated to play with a passion. "That nerdy Homework: The Game he likes way too much?"
But as she finished her emotional rant about the game her brother and her friend liked, she realized there was an opportunity she could help him better. This time, however, not forcing him to tie with her as a girlfriend. A more of a girlfriend with a rather stoic, healthy, and burdenless relationship. At least they could share some part of their own interests in this way.
"Yeah, he loves it. Like, dungeon-crazy! He even played that game with Grunkle Ford for days, having a whole living room to play with when I and Grenda were preparing to watch the Duck-Tective finale!" She effortlessly explained her brother's passion for DD&MD, until she suddenly realized that she would return to Piedmont. "Wait, can you play with him after we leave Gravity Falls?"
"I have an account for the online version." As she asked about an inevitable event, Candy couldn't hide her melancholy. "I wish I could play a physical copy though. I have so many things to do together and it's only a part of it."
"I think so. But…we have the next summer. And Dipper would be happy with you. Like, you love that game! I just remembered that he already made an online account too."
As Mabe injected a bit of a positive atmosphere into the conversation, Candy softly smiled at her. "Thank you, Mabel. I will memo my account when we are back at the attic."
Soon, they rose up from the couch, preparing to return. Then Mabel noticed that Candy was busy browsing the screen from her cell phone, hearing her friend mumbling in an unrecognizable language. Even without understanding her friend's home language stuff, however, Mabel could see she was better than hours ago.
"It was from my Dad," Candy explained the text she received hours ago. "He said to have a good night with my friends, and he was sorry for not discussing the music camp with me."
Mabel simply smiled at her, feeling happy and relieved that everything was done pretty well.
Until she realized that Grenda was concerned.
"Wait, should we tell Grenda about your Walkie Talkie Time?"
"I already did. But this time, I will explain it better."
As they had a room to clean up and their friend to care for in an attic, they began going upstairs in a better condition from hours ago.
Author's Note.
First, the Translator's Note. There was Candy's line written in a different language("Mwoya igeo? Museun magjang deulamado anigo!"), so I have the translation prepared in English. It was a Romanized version of "뭐야 이거?! 무슨 막장 드라마도 아니고! (What the heck is that?! This isn't some kind of crazy drama!)", aided by Google Translate in the Romanization process.
And, the main note. This story is motivated by two subjects; Roadside Attraction and its alternative endings done by MoringMark. After watching discussions about the episode, I tried to write my own one-shot that Mabel learned who was behind Dipper flirting with many girls during the road trip. Then I decided that I could try a more original story, by developing Candy as an individual character. This time, Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future was added as a part of key inspirations. Her line about the music camp motivated me to explore and develop her. After all, being a native Korean who was bullied a lot in my childhood myself, I thought I could utilize some part of my experiences to develop her background story.
That way, I managed to build her with canon materials, my childhood experiences, and headcanons based on them. For example, Walkie Talkie Man and the cartoon block that used the same song were references to Tooniverse - a well-known animation-oriented cable network channel in South Korea - from the mid-2000s. They were popular back then because they made quality dubs of popular animes and their prime-time cartoon block used Walkie Talkie Man as background music to advertise them.
Personally, I think this story is my way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Korean dubs of Gravity Falls, which made its debut on August 2nd, 2013. Pretty late to celebrate, but it's better late than nothing. And more importantly, I'm glad that I managed to do something with Candy. Not sure if the final outcome is decent, but I appreciate feedback. And more importantly, thank you for dropping by. It's an honor for me.