MoM application

[glitterateur]

〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Mabel Pines
CHARACTER AGE: 12
SERIES: Gravity Falls
CHRONOLOGY: Post Gideon Rises
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Wherever a home needs more sparkle, Mabel will be there (anywhere is coo')

BACKGROUND:

Mabel's very comprehensive wikia entry.

Gravity Falls, the House of Mouse's answer to Twin Peaks and The Bobsey Twins, is the story of one summer in the Oregon town of Gravity Falls. Twins Dipper and Mabel Pines are sent by their parents to live in the Falls with their great uncle Stan for their summer vacation so that they can bond with their favorite uncle and get some experience working in his Mystery Shack. What their parent's don't know is that Stan is a professional con man, running the biggest tourist trap this side of the Rockies. The Mystery Shack is full of hoaxes and fake attractions, and Stan charges tourists outrageously for the privilege of seeing them. It's ironic, that, especially because the town itself is full of genuinely weird and supernatural happenings-- dinosaurs, eldritch horrors, lake monsters. Most people outside of the twins don't seem to notice (or, if they do, they're keeping quiet about it). It's partially because Dipper's in possession of a mysterious journal full of facts about the weird creatures in the town, and he tends to go looking for the weirdness with Mabel in tow.

Just because Mabel's not the main instigating force (leaving most of the supernatural creature hunting to her brother) doesn't mean she's just there for support. Mabel just tends to get involved in things through more mundane means, her interactions with the town people and her family intersecting with the supernatural and Dipper's investigations through the nature of the town. Mabel's the one who first encounters the main villain of the series, Gideon Gleeful, flamboyant child psychic and town hero. Gideon falls hard for Mabel, who's really just excited to finally have someone who likes clothes as much as she does. After Mabel breaks up with him and shatters Gideon's psychic amulet, Gideon swears revenge on the Pines family and that Mabel will be his queen one way or another.

While Gideon plots, Mabel continues her summer as planned, albeit with more paranormal hiccups than she anticipated. She works in her uncle's Mystery Shack, occasionally getting pulled into Dipper's schemes. Mabel doesn't go reluctantly-- the twins have always been close, and they're only too happy to support each other. Even when Dipper's time travel experience messes up the timeline so that Mabel loses the thing she cares about the most (her pet pig, Waddles, that she won at the fair) Mabel doesn't force her brother to undo everything to reunite her with her soulmate (again, it's a pig. Mabel really loves that pig) but they're so close that he can't stand to see her so unhappy, so he changes the past again so that Mabel can have her beloved pet back. This is fairly typical of their adventures-- the twins will always recognize when to prioritize their sibling's happiness over their own, even when it means getting fired from the pool or letting the other have their own space. They tease each other and fight over the events of the series, but they still care about each other deeply no matter what.

Mabel also grows closer to her uncle Stan, along the way learning more about her own capabilities. Stan Pines is the polar opposite of Mabel in many ways, and after a particularly rough day at the Mystery Shack Mabel snaps at him. She asks him why he can't be a kinder, gentler, more honest boss. He laughs and challenges her to make money using kinder, gentler, honest methods. She agrees-- and then regrets it. All goes well at first, but after Mable's management style gets Soos adopted by wolves and Wendy weasels out of work, the shack is wrecked by a monster Dipper brings home to be a new attraction. Mabel toughens up and gets everything cleaned up, gaining a new appreciation for Stan and what he does, and realizing that sometimes it's okay to be firm with the people you love. For his part, Stan loves Mabel, even willing to put up with her dumb pet pig and weird flights of fancy if it means she'll joke around with him. Mabel then uncovers secrets about the town's origin by following her own silly inclinations, having her own National Treasure adventure, except with less Nic Cage and more discovering the conspiracy surrounding the 8th and half president, rocking the town's foundation and taking down her arch nemesis, snooty teenage girl Pacifica Northwest.

The stronger familial bonds come in handy since Gideon did not go quietly into that good night. He tries several times to take his revenge on the Pines by sneaking into the Mystery Shack in order to steal the deed to the place, and each time is foiled by Mabel and Dipper. Mabel in particular is excellent at this-- while Dipper makes the plans, Mabel has the gumption and energy to carry them out. She fights wax figures to their waxy deaths, tickles Gideon into submission, and saves herself and Dipper from falling to their deaths with her grappling hook skills. When Gideon shrinks them, Mabel's even the one who comes up with the idea to distract Gideon by messing up his hair. In the end Gideon summons the demon Bill Cypher, hoping to use the creature to steal information that will help him get the deed from inside Stan's mind. Bill fails, as Mabel (with Dipper and Soos' help) defeats Bill in an epic mindscape fight where she summons the power of animated musical sensations and cat fists. Mabel and Dipper managed to thwart the demon, but not before Gideon grabbed the deed, stole the journal Dipper found, and booted them out of the Shack. Defeated and demoralized, Stan packs the twins up and puts them on a bus back home.

They don't get very far, though, before Gideon strikes again. Frustrated at his inability to understand Dipper's journal, he arms himself with a giant robot (made in his likeness, of course) and goes after the twins. Grabbing Mabel and threatening Dipper's life if he doesn't give up the journal's secrets, the twins work together to subdue Gideon and save themselves from falling to their deaths. Disgraced, Gideon is finally arrested for his crimes and the Pines' move back into the Mystery Shack, ready to face a new day and any new mysteries ready to pop up.

PERSONALITY:

The thing about Mabel is that she's adorable and she knows it. She revels in it! Mabel treasures her cute face and personality, and does everything she can to encourage her image. It's not an act, though-- Mabel genuinely, 100% loves all those stereotypically "girly" things, from boybands to sparkles to stickers (holy dang, does she love stickers). Mabel's of the opinion that everything looks better with glitter, and rare is the surface in the Mystery Shack without some kind of bedazzlement or poster. She loves art, specializing in pieces with rainbows and kittens wearing hats. Mabel knits all her own quirky sweaters and she's a little bit boy crazy, falling for a new guy every week. At first glance Mabel really is the stereotype that everyone thinks of when they picture twelve year old girls.

But Mabel owns this. She's aware that she comes off as a silly little girl to some people because of the way she acts and dresses, but she doesn't care. Mabel unapologetically loves herself, hobbies and weird fashion included. She understands that not everyone can appreciate her brilliance and like the things she likes, and that's okay! She still loves Dipper, for example, even if he doesn't get how great it is when she bedazzles her face or calls her cat pictures dumb. Mabel just ignores any derogatory remarks made against her. Insulting her hardly ever does any good-- taunts just slip off her back like water off a duck, and it takes a lot to get her upset.

Of course, that's not true all the time. Mabel's susceptible to criticism and teasing sometimes, especially when it hits an insecurity she has or it's on a big enough scale. The one time Mabel doubted herself and her way of life it was because her arch nemesis Pacifica made fun of her in front of the entire town, saying she was just too silly to participate in the local Pioneer Days. Hurt, Mabel did her best to prove she could be serious by busting open a conspiracy theory about the town that Dipper had discovered. Thankfully, because of her short attention span and her lighthearted nature, her serious turn didn't last long. The conspiracy theory was solved because of Mabel's inclination to take the absurd and childish approach to solving all the clues laid out in in, and Mabel realized that being serious just isn't who she is. She embraced her silliness once again and is all the happier for it.

...but it's not as if Pacifica didn't have a point. One of Mabel's biggest flaws is the fact that it takes a lot to get her to take something seriously. The twins get pulled into dangerous situations all the time, ones where their lives are definitely in danger. Mabel hardly ever seems to register that something bad is going on when this happens. During Summerween, for example, Mabel and Dipper are threatened by an otherworldly creature that forces them to go trick-or-treating. They must bring the creature 300 pieces of candy or else it promises to devour them! And to prove it's not joking, the creature straight-up eats another kid right in front of the twins. Dipper is horrified; Mabel is delighted, because this means Dipper has dress up and go trick-or-treating with her! She's not always oblivious to danger or serious emotional moments, of course, but it usually has to involve her (or her beloved pet pig, Waddles) directly. She still has that sense of immortality and difficulty processing heavy moments that all kids have. If she's not currently in the process of being kidnapped by a giant robot or something then she still automatically defaults to joking around.

That attention span is also one of her downfalls. Mabel's certainly capable of focusing on something for extended periods of time, especially if they're related to one of her passions or it's obviously important to Dipper. But that's not all the time, and Mabel has a tendency to wander off or get caught up in a something she likes better. She's ruined more than one of Dipper's schemes by jumping in at the wrong time with a joke or not staying still long enough to hear key instructions. She offended an all-knowing being disguised as a mailbox by ignoring Dipper's protests and shoving mail in it, thereby apparently robbing the world of the answers to the greatest questions in the universe. When Dipper tells her off for not listening, she laughs it off and hops away to her next adventure. It makes her come off as a little bit selfish, which she definitely is, but it's never purposeful-- it's just a symptom of her occasional thoughtlessness.

Her sense of humor and her general cheer, though out of place sometimes, are still a major part of her charm. Mabel's an unwavering optimist, finding the bright side in most situations. She's outrageously outgoing and will make friends with almost anyone if you give her half a chance. It doesn't matter if it's a biker, a merman, or that strange old lady with sixty cats-- Mabel will go up and start talking to them, and usually she'll find a way to connect with them. Sometimes her preteen awkwardness does flare up, but it's usually only when she's attempting to woo her crush of the week. The rest of the time she's perfectly content to invade the personal space of random strangers and start questioning them about their lives. She's sincerely interested, incapable of dishonesty.

Sometimes her people loving nature backfires on her, though, especially when paired with her youthful naivete. Mabel is an optimist who values her friends a lot, and would never assume that they have ulterior motives. She just doesn't know that much about people yet! And because of her silly nature, she has a hard time cracking down on people and meaningfully saying no. As a result, Mabel can sometimes be forced into doing things she doesn't want to just to keep the peace. She allowed Wendy to take advantage of her when she was running the Mystery Shack, and Mabel stayed involved with Gideon much longer than she was comfortable with because she wanted to be his friend, and her "creeper sense" didn't go off until way after her brother's did. Mabel may be a bright social butterfly, but she's got a ways to go before her instincts develop fully.

Overall Mabel's a solidly Good Person, a sweet and caring girl who loves life with a truly terrifying amount of energy and enthusiasm. She's still a child and as such has miles to go before she becomes better equipped to appropriately handle every emotional situation, but her optimism and sense of fun make her (at the very least) a valuable and entertaining friend.

POWER:

Pig Familiars: Mabel can summon a pack of up to five piglets who can serve a variety of purposes! Including shielding Mabel from attacks and forming into pig-patterned objects as Mabel requests. These can range from magnifying glasses (for investigating!) to small vehicles and parachutes (for when Mabel inevitably jumps off a building in an attempt to fly).

FINAL NOTES:

The one possession Mabel will be bringing with is her is her trusty grappling gun, if that's alright!