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[circlejerked]

Am I getting this right

is this

Oh I think I'm getting it

<sub>[Would you look at that, it's baby's first attempt at sending a network message! His words seem to be going through just like how he's seen other messages work--so far, so good.

Next time Anders will practice with the 'delete' key. For now, he'll focus on getting his point across with proper punctuation.]</sub>

Bear with me, this isn't how I'm used to exchanging letters but it's exceptionally handy for picking a bunch of brains at once. I'm curious to know more about the little girl with the cat. You know the one--Alice. From the Wonderland book? Has no eyes now, portends events?

What's the story behind her? Was she an actual person from some other land who was brought here like the rest of us?

Those scenes suggest this isn't the first mansion of its kind, but what happened to her?

Comments

video??? we're getting there

[circlejerked]

I'm not disagreeing on the subject of me-ness, mind you, but do you think she scribbled out the drawings because she gave up trying to remember?

<sub>[It's a dreary considering anyone accepting this place as their new standard, but for a child on her own...? Anders could hardly fault a girl for losing hope after some time, assuming that's what had happened to the real Alice.

Making the most of Mabel's brainstorming session to focus on his device, he experiments until the recording light blinks on and it would seem he's seeing and being seen at the same time, though there's not much to see besides different angles of Anders as he tips the device from side to side.]</sub>

It's it working now? Can you-- Huh. Anyway, what were you saying? Can you hear me?

[powerofmabel]

Huh? Oh yeah! You did it!

[anyway] Oh right, she said "If I'm not quite feeling myself, then I simply become someone else instead." I still don't know what she meant by that, and it doesn't really explain the scribbled out names...

Maybe she really did give up. [that's disheartening.] Remembering them and herself, beyond what... I guess she thought she was supposed to be.

[circlejerked]

_{[Success! Has he become as qualified to use these things as two twelve-year-old girls yet?]}

"Become someone else"? Sounds like another riddle to me.

_{[What does that even mean? Brow furrowing, Anders' gaze wanders off-screen as he thinks. Well, if a creepy little girl would get along with anyone, it'd be another little girl, right? Perhaps Alice has shared some details Anders hasn't been able to suss out.]}

Does she go around riddling often? Say what she does here, talk about what she knows of this place?

[powerofmabel]

[Mabel squints at him.] Are you trying to get me to spill all of her secrets?

[not that Mabel knows any of her secrets, but if she did, there's a loyalty between preteen girls that no man shall break.]

[circlejerked]

_{[Anders leans back, looking surprised anyone would find cause to question his obvious trustworthiness.]}

Who, me? Of course not! I wasn't aware those qualified as secrets, but I would never dream of suggesting you betray a friend's trust and break the girls' code of secret-keeping.

_{[Is there a code of conduct? Probably. Young ladies seem the same in every world.]}

I'm just curious if she could help us. Deep down she must want to leave here, too.

[powerofmabel]

I dunno. She seems pretty happy. [you know in that oblivious way that people with no memories and have no reason to be sad are happy all the time. kinda like old man mcgucket only more adorable.

which mabel finds terribly sad, but at the same time she doesn't want a bunch of people pressuring her.] Did you see how excited she was about that second mansion?

[circlejerked]

You think so?

_{[Anders squints and poses the question in a way that clearly says he doesn't share Mabel's perspective. Because immortal blind amnesiacs have so much to be happy about.]}

That didn't look like the Alice I saw on the network. Don't you want to put a stop to whoever or whatever's doing this? For her to go home?

_{[In Alice's case, perhaps there's no home left to go back to--they could help her find some peace, at the very least. It's an optimistic plan, but the thought of shrugging Alice's plight off--a plight they all share--and leaving her like this doesn't sit right with him.]}

If that scene was real and she really has been here since the building of a second mansion, she knows more about Wonderland than anyone. Maybe something that could give us an advantage.

[powerofmabel]

An advantage against what? Wonderland? The Queen of Hearts? Okay, sure some of the stuff here is bad and it can get pretty intense. [she's looking a little uncomfortable now.] But if we all go home, we're gonna lose so much...

[and if alice is any indication, if they stay they'll also lose a lot. but that's alice's business. ] And I just don't want everyone to upset Alice about this...

[circlejerked]

That's putting it lightly.

_{[Wonderland is intense the way an archdemon is a mild nuisance.]}

I mean an advantage in figuring out a way to keep our minds intact and still get out of here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we fork over our memories as a toll fee to make the voyage home. There's a way, there always is.

_{[And if not, he can say he died trying.]}

No one's going to hurt Alice. We can help her and ourselves in the process.

[powerofmabel]

I guess that's true... [she still looks anxious.]

I can try talking to her. She'll listen to me, 'cause I don't treat her like most people do.

[circlejerked]

Trust me, I'm a big fan of me-ness. I like my me-ness right where it is. If I can be of help making sure other people keep their me-ness, I will.

_{[He gives the girl a reassuring smile. It's for the best they gather as much information as they can, even if someone in Alice's state doesn't understand or care for their escape efforts.]}

Does she live on this side of the mirrors? That room on the first floor doesn't look like it's been used in a while.

[powerofmabel]

I'm not sure... Dipper and I are trying to figure out how to contact her outside of events, but it's not working yet.

[circlejerked]

<sub>[A way of reaching out to Alice--to any Wonderland personas willing to hold a conversation, really--would be worthwhile to look into. But it's a peripheral thought; his attention fixes on the name she offers up.

Anders tilts his head. He's heard of a Dipper.]</sub>

Dipper? Someone mentioned that name. A young font of information, yes?

_{[That's how Faith had described Dipper, more or less.]}

[powerofmabel]

That sounds like my brother. He's a... something of information, anyway. He keeps track of stuff around here, 'cause he's obsessed.

[circlejerked]

Your brother? So you have family here--that's good to hear. This is no place to be separated from the people you care about for long.

_{[Makes him wonder where her parents are. This is no place for children to be left at the mercy of powerful entities like these, either.]}

I can't fault him for being obsessed with escape. By that definition, I am a little, too.

[powerofmabel]

[it's okay she has her grunkles. who are... um... definitely adults, anyway.]

He's obsessed over everything, not just escape. He wants to know all the things. Sucks all the wonder outta Wonderland, too.

[circlejerked]

An intellectual. Someone told me he's the person to ask about all things Wonderland--now I'm starting to see why.

_{["All the things" are a lot of things to know. Anders smiles faintly, amused by her description of her sibling.]}

How's that going for him?

[powerofmabel]

His half of the room is covered with string and sticky notes, so, uh... I guess it's going okayish?

[circlejerked]

_{[String and notes? Sounds like conspiracy theorist central.]}

That bad, huh?

_{[He lifts an eyebrow.]}

Well, points for enthusiasm. It takes dedication to cover your walls in the fruits of your mental labor. How are the both of you doing in the general sense? Have you been faring okayish while you've been here?

_{[This is Anders' way of lightly trying to parse out how a couple of kids are doing in Wonderland. This brother of hers could just genuinely be enthusiastic about solving the puzzle Wonderland presents... or he could be really struggling and the interesting choice in wallpaper a symptom. Both are possible.]}

[powerofmabel]

[well, mabel's not gonna recount the horrors that have been inflicted upon them while they've been here.]

Better than okayish. Wonderland's pretty great! It's like summer never has to end.

[which is important. Gravity Falls could be traumatizing too, even if it was never THAT traumatizing, but at least this means she gets a little more summer.] I mean... It kinda stinks I'm gonna turn fourteen soon, and I still look twelve, so I'm missing out on becoming a woman, but I figure that's a small sacrifice for all the friends I've made.

[circlejerked]

"Pretty great"?

_{[Uh... huh. Unconvinced, Anders lifts an eyebrow skeptically, which only lifts higher in surprise and mild disbelief when the girl mentions her age.]}

You look twelve because you were twelve? You mean you've been here almost two years? And... you're all right with that?

_{[No matter how he runs the numbers, that's a long time. Anders' fourteen-year-old self would've cringed at the very thought. Had, in fact. His entire adolescence had been dedicated to wishing he was anywhere but where he'd been.]}

[powerofmabel]

Nah. I was almost thirteen when I first got here, so it's just been a year, but two whole birthdays have passed.

[she crosses her arms over her chest firmly.] And I am.

[it's better than going home and facing an apocalypse they might not even survive.] Sure I'll never get to find out what trigonometry is and I'm missing a lot of high school, but there's way worse things.

[Bill taking over your town and everything sucking.]

[circlejerked]

_{[That's some pre-teen poise right there. Anders almost misses his boyhood days when he could plant his feet like that and not feel completely ridiculous doing it.]}

Like... getting sucked into an alternate dimension? That kind of "worse"?

_{[One would think getting spirited away to lands unknown would rank near the top of the list...]}

[powerofmabel]

Maybe an alternate dimension filled with nothing but claymation. [she shudders] I've had that nightmare.

[circlejerked]

_{[A wave of his hand suggests that he'll take the unspoken warning about claymation under advisement.]}

I don't know what that is but I'm sure it's very frightening. You and your brother must miss home, though? Your family, your own beds, being able to take a stroll wherever you please, time actually moving the way it's supposed to...