Ford: "You know, I'm rather curious, Dipper. What got you so interested in the paranormal in the first place? You already know of my fingers, now I'd like to know your… uh, finger moment."
Dipper: "Well… I mean, you've seen my birthmark, I guess. Mom and dad used to tell me it made me special. That I should take pride in it. And yeah, I guess they were right. …But kinda feels like a dumb thing to believe, in hindsight."
Ford: "How so?"
Dipper: "Well, mom's a private investigator. Not like, film noir style, one of those boring ones that investigate insurance fraud. She doesn't believe in the paranormal; even when we played D&D&MD together, we used to argue about it. And my dad… well, he used to tell me these bedtime stories about how he used to be a space pirate, and my birthmark was evidence of my 'cosmic ancestry', and I believed him. Really believed him. I didn't take it well when he told me it was all made up. Go figure."
Ford: "I see… well, you could certainly do a lot worse…"
Dipper: "Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, they're not horrible parents or anything, it's just… I wish they understood. Like, they're what got me into this. It might not have been real to them, but it was real to me. And I just, I really wanted it to be real. It was kinda all I had. I mean, I didn't have any friends besides Mabel. If all that stuff wasn't real after all, I… I dunno what would have happened."
Ford: "I think I know the feeling. Well, perhaps if your parents come around one day, I can make your father a space pirate for real."