~~~~~~~~~Your POV~~~~~~~~~

The day started like any other. Leo and I woke up, had breakfast, and fought an occasional gnome on our way to work. I decided to bring Aiden with me this time, I hadn't brought him over since that time Wendy's friends nearly killed him.

Once at the shack, I was a bit surprised that Stan was nowhere in sight, but I didn't think much of it at the time.

Apparently the kitchen light had broken, so Ford invented his own which would last a thousand years while giving us softer school. Definitely an impressive thing to make, and everyone else thought so too.

Then I got another feeling.

Stan stood by the doorway, seeing everyone cheer for Ford as he held a small bag of lightbulbs.

"Does anyone see this?!" Mabel pointed at Ford. "This is what a hero looks like right here!!"

Stan's expression was serious when he spoke. "I thought we were out of lightbulbs."

"Oh, we were!" Ford jumped down from the stool. "So I invented my own! It will last a thousand years and the light it emits makes your skin softer!"

"Never have I known such softness!" Soos smiled as he caressed his own face.

"Anyway, where were you?"

Stan didn't respond, and simply let the bag of lightbulbs fall inside the trash can before leaving.

I felt bad, I could see why he thought he was getting replaced by Ford. There was no doubt that he cared deeply for his family, Dipper and Mabel were everything to him, so to see them praise Ford much more must be painful..

About an hour went by after that. Leo and I stayed with the twins as they ate breakfast even though we already had our own, so I mostly just watched as Waddles and Aiden chased each other.

"This just in. The mayor dead." Our eyes widened as a voice from the other room spoke, the four of us quickly heading to the living room, seeing the news on the tv.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?!?"

"Raised by bears in the wilderness, mayor Eustace Huckabone Befufflefumpter was best known for raising the water tower, possible starting World War I, and putting town menace Gideon Gleeful behind bars, in actual adult prison. A memorial statue is already being carved in the deceased mayor's honor." The reporter then began to cry, a man beside her starting to comfort her. "I'm sorry, it's just been so long since we've had real news.. I'm just so happy!"

Another voice from the tv spoke. "There will be a town hall meeting this afternoon to discuss replacing him."

"New mayor, huh?" Stan scratched his chin. "Wonder who it could be."

I turned to him. "How about we go see?"

"You read my mind, kid."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

The town hall was packed with people, but we managed to find seats for ourselves. Aiden missed being snuggled inside by back, so he was pretty calm during the whole thing.

"Alright. Order, order, everyone, calm down now! We're here to choose a mayor for the first time in almost a century. According to the town charter.." Blubs unrolled what seemed to be an old scroll. "A worthy candidate is defined as anyone who can cast a shadow, count to ten, and throw their hat into the provided ring."

Durland placed a large ring on the ground, and not even a second later, a hat was thrown inside.

Bud started walking over with a chuckle. "Well, I do believe I fulfill all the requirements."

My eyes widened a little. "Wait, Bud Gleeful?!"

Mabel gave a smile. "He looks good! Considering we through his son in jail."

"I hold no regrets." Leo replied as he cracked his knuckles, making Mabel snicker.

Stan smiled as well. "I agree with Jacket boy, that was a good day."

Bud now stood behind the podium. "Now, folks, I know our family's had its fair shares as whoopsie daisies in the past but I'd like to make up for it by formally announcing my candidacy for mayor of Gravity Falls! Any questions?"

Toby raised a hand. "Yes, are you still in contact with little Gideon?"

"That's a great question, I'm giving you fifty percent off a used car!!"

"Fifty percent off?!" He ripped his notebook in half. "Fifty percent off?!?"

"In fact, everyone, look under your seats!" Everyone did as told, including us, seeing some weird golden papers. "You get 50% off and you get 50% off!!"

Mabel waved the paper around. "Wow, a colorful piece of paper?! He's got my vote!"

On the other hand, Dipper had a look of worry. "Guys, I've got a really bad feeling about Bud Gleeful as mayor."

"You and me both." I replied. "I wouldn't trust a Gleeful with anything."

Soos gave a shrug. "I dunno, dude. It's not like we have a lot of good mayor options. Everyone in this town is a tad strange. Except ironically Tad Strange." He then pointed at Tad, who sat a few rows behind us.

"Hi, guys. Tad's the name, and being normal's my game."

I crossed my eyes with a huff. "He's too normal if you ask me."

Mabel pointed at him with a smile. "Loving you, Tad!!"

"And I love bread!"

Dipper let out a sigh. "It's a shame Ford isn't here, he'd run. And win! And be a great mayor!"

I noticed something light up in Stan's eyes, looking over at the hat in the ring.

Bud let out another chuckle. "So if everyone's happy, I'll just take the oath of office now, sound good? Give it up?"

Everyone gasped as another hat was thrown into the ring, Stan standing up with a glare. "Hold it right there, Bud!!! I'm taking you on!!!"

"Stanford?! No offense but you're just some two-bit carnival barker, and your head is more ears than face!"

"Oh yeah?!? Well your face is more fat than-... not fat!!!"

Another gasp from the audience, followed by Tad. "Oh snap!"

Stan stepped forward, looking at everyone in the room. "What do you say, folks?!? Are we just gonna let Bud win?!? How about a real election?!?"

"Get in there, hat!!!" Tyler yelled as he threw his own hat in the ring, followed by many more people throwing theirs in too.

This time, Bud's laugh was more awkward. "Well, looks like we've got some competition there, folks. Which I'm fine with, totally fine with!" His cheerful smile then disappeared as he turned Stan around to face him.

"I was gonna let bygones be bygones, Stan, but you just made a powerful enemy. I'll win either way, and when I do you might not like the Gravity Falls you wake up in." He punched where the Mystery Shack was drawn in the town map, and I felt a chill go down my spine.

Stan's face went pale at that, but everyone else was happily chanting. "Election!!! Election!!! Election!!!"

"Let the madness begin!!!" Blubs yelled as he And Durland shot a cannon through the wall, everyone in the Town Hall leaving.

We all stared in silence, when I finally turned to Stan. "Uh, Wrinkles? Quick question, what the hell are you doing?"

"Running for mayor! Did I-... Did I not make that clear?"

"You've lost your mind, Gramps." Leo replied with a serious expression.

Mabel let out an awkward chuckle. "Grunkle Stan, it's not that we think you can't do it, it's that-!"

"No no, it's okay, Mabel." Dipper waved a hand for her to stop, then glared at Stan. "We don't think you can do it."

"Look, kids, the mayor kicking the bucket got me thinking, I'm an old man and I'm not getting any younger. My dumb brother's research is probably gonna make him famous and what do I have to show for my life? Do I really want crooked grifter on my tombstone? How about crooked mayor?!"

"Psst, guys, let's talk." We all stepped farther away from Stan as Dipper called for us. "I know Stan isn't the best candidate."

"He's committing voter fraud as we speak." We all looked at Stan when Leo mentioned that, cringing a little.

Dipper quickly shook his head. "But Bud's definitely up to something and we're the only ones who can stop him."

"You're right, Dipper. Besides, Stan a has kind of charisma!" Mabel replied.

"Plus, everyone in this town is dumb as hell." I gave a small shrug. "How hard can getting him elected be?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outfit! :3
I couldn't resist-
Change it however you want, or just go with something completely different, it's cool. U3U

And so, we all went back to the Mystery Shack which had many signs about voting for Stan and not voting for Bud. Wendy wrote Swines 4 Pines and Bud's a Dud on Waddles for him to run around spreading the word, And even gave Aiden a small blue mohawk, it was so adorable!

"Alright, everybody, eyes up here!" Dipper said as he came in with an old scroll, unrolling it. "Okay, Gravity Falls elections are based on two events. The Wednesday stump speech held on an actual... stump, and the Friday debate where in townsfolk throw birdseed at the candidate they like most. At the end they release a Freedom Eagle who will fly to the candidate covered in more seed and bestow a birdly kiss upon him anointing him mayor."

We all stared at him, hoping it was some prank, but he only rolled the scroll back up with a serious look. "I couldn't make this up even if I wanted to."

That's when the phone started to ring, Mabel picking it up and offering it to Stan. "Okay, Grunkle Stan, are you ready for your first radio interview?"

"I got my mouth, don't I?"

"Okay, you're on with the candidate!" She passed it over to him, and we could hear Toby's voice on the line.

"Hello, candidate Stan, first question: how do you feel about the American flag?"

"Meh, I can take it or leave, too many stripes. Next question."

"What would you do to help educate our kids?"

"Heh, simple. Put'm on an island and make them fight for dominance! Also teach kids swears, that'll bring'm into the real world."

"What would you do about the crime in Gravity Falls?

"Wait, do you mean crime in general? Or just a specific crimes committed by-"

Taking matters into my own hands, I cut the phone cord. "Okay, interview over."

Dipper let out a sigh. "Candy, what's the damage?"

Candy looked down at the tablet. "Your approval ratings started at zero, now it's a number lower than zero."

Wendy pulled out her phone and showed a picture. "You're memeing fast, and none of them are good."

Mabel looked over. "Look, Grunkle Stan, people are like smell markers, and you're black licorice! It's not that your un-sniffable, you just need to learn when to keep the cap on. From now on maybe you should just read our prepared remarks."

Pulling out a few notes, Dipper handed them over to Stan, who placed them in his jacket. "Haha, sorry, kids. I only say words that come out of my brain. If my head says 'That lady's got an ugly baby', my mouth says 'Whoa, lady, you got one ugly baby!!'"

We all realized this was gonna be much more complicated than we thought, so Dipper decided to ask Ford for advice. He came back holding two ties, saying that these were apparently used for mind control.

We had to test it out, so we gave it to Soos. "Whoa, thanks for the slamming tie, dude. These stripes are so slimming!" He then walked to the edge of the forest.

Mabel turned to her brother. "You really think this mind control tie gonna work?"

He shrugged and handed the other tie to her. "Flip the switch and test it out."

She put on the tie, when Soos suddenly froze in place, both dancing and singing at the same time.

"Oh-oh-oh! I'm a dancing dude! I got some fancy moves and a bad attitude!"

She turned off the tie, Soos falling on his knees as he panted for air, while she laughed. "That's amazing!!"

Soos turned to us. "Guys, something weird just happened!!! I'm really freaked out!!!"

Mabel turned the tie on again, both saying the same thing. "I am Soos-Tron, watch me eat this pinecone!" She mimicked picking up a pine come, to which Soos actually picked up a pine cone and ate it.

Turning off the tie again, she laughed. "Mind control is awesome!!!"

"Oh my gosh. My life just flashed before my eyes!!!" Soos yelled.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, you guys.."

Dipper turned to me, worry obvious in his face. "If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it.."

Unfortunately, I didn't, so we ended up going with this plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday came, and it was time for the stump speech. Dipper and Mabel were behind the curtain, but Leo and I were in the crowd with my mom, as well as Aiden in my bag.

At the moment, Tyler was the one speaking. "Education, get it! Prosperity, get it! A Gravity Falls we can be proud of: get iiiiiiiiit!"

Everyone seemed to like that, but Tyler's one of the most lovable people in town, so I wasn't surprised.

Mom then looked down at me. "Isn't it your boss'a turn to speak next?"

"I think so."

"You both seem nervous."

"Miss (l/n), Stan isn't exactly the friendliest person." Leo replied, to which I nodded.

Blubs stepped onto the stage for a second. "And now, Stanford Pines!!"

A few seconds later, Stan walked over and stood behind the podium. "Hiya there, Stan Pines here! Let's be real, do you think the women of Gravity Falls wear too much makeup?"

Whatever ray of hope I had in me left almost instantly with that.

I noticed Stan's posture suddenly change, and I knew that it was now the twins controlling Stan. "Uh, what I meant to say was: you ladies all look great! And have you done something with your hair? Girl, you are working it~!"

The women all started to mutter happily, and 'Stan' continued to talk. "I'm Stan Pines, you may know me as that guy who accidentally let all those bees loose in that elementary school a few years back!"

His posture changed again. "But I believe in things: America, freedom Ameri-freedom!!"

The guy behind us wiped away some tears. "Good, good, he's saying all the right things!!"

"Like my opponent pointed out, I may not have a pretty face, but if you want a candidate that will listen to you, I'm proud to be all ears!"

The audience laughed, and I allowed myself to relax a little. Things seemed to be going well for us so far:

"Now watch me break it down!!" I assume Mabel's the one making him breakdance.

People started to cheer for him, and I noticed her looked around in confusion before walking off the stage. I nodded for Leo to follow me as we both ran to the back, seeing Mabel hugging Stan.

"Grunkle Stan, that was amazing!!!"

Leo gave him a nod. "Nice work, Gramps."

"Yeah, how'd you do it, Mr. Pines?!" Soos asked, to which Stan looked down, still confused.

"Uh, I don't know. I just opened my mouth and spoke from the heart, or gut, or something. Hey, what is that sound? Why are people jamming their hands together?"

I chuckled a bit. "Stan, they're clapping for you!"

"They love you!!!" Mabel added.

His eyes widened a little, looking at the crowd, who chanted his name. "They.. love.. me?"

A warm smile then spread across his face, then he turned as Tony ran over. "There he is!!! Mr. Pines, can we get a picture?!?"

"Yes, we Stan!!!" We all yelled as we smiled at the camera.

From that moment on, Dipper and Mabel made sure to make Stan say all the right things when needed. The idea still made me nervous, but it was the only option that seemed to work.

Finally, Election Day came and we were in the diner waiting for Stan, who was late. Just then, he came through the door and everyone but us cheered.

"Now just the ladies!!"

"Stan!!!" All the women yelled.

"Now just the ladies my age!!"

"Stan!" One lady yelled.

"Oof, never mind." He finally walked over and sat at our table.

Lazy Susan then walked over with a plate of pancakes, placing them in front of him. "On the house, Mr. Big Shot!"

"Now this I could get used to!"

After a few seconds, I noticed something strange. "Uh, Stan, what's with the outfit?"

Mabel put on her best smile. "Yeah, you're missing your lucky tie!"

"Power tie, gotta wear it." Dipper didn't bother to hide the seriousness in his face and tone.

Stan rolled his eyes. "C'mon, have you seen the polls? I can debate naked and I'd still win! Huh, come to think of it-!"

Mabel let out an awkward chuckle, Leo crossing his arms. "But wouldn't you feel more secure with the usual suit and tie?"

"Suit and tie, gotta wear it." Dipper repeated.

Stan was now getting annoyed. "Ugh, why do you kids have to constantly tell me what to do?! Everyone in this town is finally showing me respect, and maybe you kids should to!"

I noticed Dipper's hands had become tight fists as he spoke through gritted teeth. "Grunkle Stan, we'd respect you if you took things more seriously!"

"I am taking this seriously!! If you hadn't noticed, everything that's come out of this golden mouth has put us on top, with or without your dumb advice!!"

"Dumb advice?!?"

"Pinetree-" I tried to calm him down, only for Stan to interrupt me.

"Yeah, dumb advice!!!"

"Dang it, Stan!!! In every one of those speeches we were controlling you!!!"

The three of us tensed up when the words left Dipper's mouth, Stan raising an eyebrow. "What?!?"

Dipper grabbed the tie, a sharp glare on his face. "This tie is a mind control device invented by Ford!!! If it wasn't for this tie, you'd be loosing!!!" Opening the tie, he revealed the circuits that had been placed inside.

After staring at the tie for a while, a growl escaped Stan's lips. "Well you can tell that know-it-all Ford he can keep his fancy lightbulbs and magic ties!!! I'm gonna win this debate on my own, without any of you!!!"

"Stan, wait!!! You can't-!!!"

But he had already left the diner, leaving us with an incomplete plan.

"Shit, this is bad.." I jumped off the booth. "If we want to beat Bud we need another candidate, fast."

Mabel tapped her chin in thought. "What we need is a blank slate, someone totally suggestible, and empty piece of clay we can mold to our whims."

"Someone like that?" Leo pointed behind us, where Soos walked over to us, stuck inside a sweater.

"Hey, little help, dudes? I accidentally got my head stuck in my shirt's sleeve. I guess this is my life now."

We all exchanged a smile, we got who we needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, Leo, my mom, and I sat with the ground as Mabel and Dipper stayed behind the curtains. We got a little nervous when Soos walked onto the stage, the reporter looking over. "But what's this? One new candidate has entered the ring!"

"Wait a minute, what?" Stan looked over at the curtains, a glare appearing on his face.

"Let the debate begin!" Announced the reporter, ringing a bell.

Manly Dan was the first to speak. "First question: what's your position on axes?! Wait, I mean taxes?!"

"Easy, taxes are the worst. I propose we stimulate the economy by waging wars on neighboring cities! We. Have. The cannons."

People booed at Stan's response, causing him to tense up and look down at the cards in his hands.

"I don't know much about taxes but I can promise you a kitten in every pot!" Soos then turned to the side. "That doesn't make sense, Mabel! You don't make sense, Dipper!"

I'm losing faith.

... oh who am I kidding, I didn't have faith in this to begin with, we're fucked!

"Fwiends, fwiends, can't you see what's happening on this stage?!? These politicians are dancing around the issue. Well, I can sing around the issue!!!" Bud ripped off his clothes to show a sparkly red and blue leotard, which was.. very disturbing.

He then grabbed a guitar and started to sing and dance. "Oh, crime is bad! Crime is oh, so bad! Vote for Bud and there ain't ain't gonna be no crime! Crime is bad! Vote for Bud!" He winked at the audience as he lied on the ground.

Leo gripped the bridge of his nose. "Well, I wish I was blind right now."

"Beaver petting comfort?"

Both Mom and Leo nodded, and I opened my back so that Aiden could poke his head out, the three of us petting his head.

"You may now throw your birdseeds." Announced the reporter, people throwing them at Bud even though the performance was horrendous. "And now a quick intermission!"

Aiden was the only one happy at the moment, enjoying all the head pets he was getting.

Leo had the same feeling of worry as me though, leaning closer as he whispered. "You think we'll be able to win this election..?"

"With how things are doing, I seriously doubt it.." I looked back to the stage. "Since when has Bud tried to act weirdly adorable..?"

"He's kinda acting like his son, in a way."

Then it hit me. "You're right, he's acting like Gideon! We've been using technology to control Stan, what if Gideon's using something like that?!"

"We've already seen he's no stranger to magic. Remember when he trapped us in his robot?"

"He could be using some sort of incantation.. We need to warn the twins."

"HELP!!! HELP US!!!"

Our eyes widened as Mabel's faint voice was heard from afar, followed by Dipper's.

"WE'RE TIED TO A BUNCH OF FIREWORKS!!!"

Not a second later, screams filled the places when everyone saw Dipper and Mabel tied to some chairs, handing off the inside of the ex-major's statue's nose.

Leo was ready to run over, when I grabbed his shirt before he could leave. "Wait!!"

Stan turned to the crowd. "Listen, everybody, this debate is over!!! I gotta go save my family!!!"

"N- no, no, those are just some demolition dummies! Nothing to see here!" Bud tried to argue against it, but Stan didn't listen.

Ripping off his sleeves for better agility, Stan ran over and began to climb up the mountain. Of course I wanted to rush over myself, but what could we do?! We couldn't use our magic in public, and we had very little strength compared to Stan!

Besides, this would give him the chance to shine for his family.

Just as the rope snapped, Stan was able to catch them, people throwing birdseeds and cheering for them. Surprisingly enough, they jumped off before the bombs exploded, and landed safely on a pile of birdseeds.

We all then heard an alarm, and the cage that held the freedom eagle inside opened, letting it fly over to Stan, place a kiss on his head, and fly away.

Leo and I immediately ran over, helping them onto their feet, when the audience began to cheer and chant. "Mayor Pines!!! Mayor Pines!!! Mayor Pines!!!"

A small smile grew on Dipper's face. "Well, I guess we know who won."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This just in, Stanford Pines loses!"

"WHAT?!?" We all yelled as we sat in the living room, seeing the reporter on tv.

"Despite winning an overwhelming 95% of the vote, election officials had to disqualify him due to discovery of an extensive criminal record."

"Oh boy."

Mabel looked up at him. "Stan, what did you do?!?"

"What didn't I do?"

The reporter then started reading from a paper. "Crimes include shoplifting, teaching, a new crime he invented called burglebezzlement, first degree llama-cide-"

"That llama knew too much!" Stan replied with a glare.

Poor llama.

"Do to this shocking development, it would appear the mayorship passes to the only candidate who actually filled out their paperwork. Local enthusiasm enthusiast, Tyler Cutebiker."

A clip was shown of Tyler receiving the title and a bouquet of flowers, a tear going down his cheek as he smiled. "Got it..!"

"We will dedicate the rest of this broadcast listing Stan's crimes."

Stan quickly turned off the tv. "Woo, at least they didn't list any of the bad ones. On an unrelated topic, I have a lot of cheap pugs and I need to move them fast."

Dipper let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Stan.. I actually think you as mayor would've been fun."

"Ah, maybe it's for the best. I got closed to the dream though, kids."

"Hey, I made you something. It's not official, but.." Mabel handed him a big ribbon that said 'Our Hero'. "I think it fits."

He looked down at the ribbon, sniffling back some tears.

"You crying on us, Gramps?" Leo asked with a smirk.

"I got campaign confetti in my eye!!" Stan quickly shook his head as we laughed. "C'mon, kids. Wanna go vandalize mayor Tyler's mansion?"

We cheered and left the shack, happy with the results we had gotten. I was thankful Gideon wasn't able to get his hands on the entire town.

Still, something kept nagging at me.. What else could he plan..?

Thanks for reading!!! Also, for @Liana_Not_Found

i just realized i forgot to blend the beanie
fuck me :D
Still, hope you like it!

Till next time!!!

❤️❤️❤️