Spoiler: even the youtube thumbnail is spoilers Longer promo for the upcoming episode. I'm excite. Spoiler: spoiler 2: the respoilening It amuses me that they're embracing the Fanboy Dipper bit as much as they appear to be. He is never allowed to make fun of Mabel for squeeing at boy bands again, that's for sure.
Spoiler: teaser spoilers I slowed down the video to watch the really quick shots between Soos talking. There's no sign of Bill Cipher, which oddly makes me as worried as if there HAD been hints of him. Also, I wonder if it's a Pines family trait to be really really good at anything they put any amount of time into. Mabel's amazing at arts and crafts and electrical engineering, Dipper's smart as hell and fought a monster made of bears and WON, the Author's journals rather speak for themselves, and Grunkle Stan managed to restore the portal to full functionality in secret and is a professional conman.
Spoiler: rambly speculation about dipper and the author; spoilers up to NWHS An interesting thing to note, in a story where the arc words are “trust no one!”, is Dipper’s absolute trust in the journals. Or rather, not so much Dipper’s (so far justified) confidence in the veracity of the information contained within the journals, but the fact that his confidence extends to certain assumptions about the character and judgement of the Author. We see this in Into The Bunker, when Dipper first encounters a person he believes to be the Author. (A slight tangent, but it’s kind of funny that Dipper just assumes that the man he meets in the bunker is the Author. It’s not an unreasonable supposition, but he doesn’t even ask for confirmation.) Dipper unhesitatingly follows the supposed Author into the depths of the bunker, trusts him to protect him and Wendy, and cooperates eagerly with his requests. In Not What He Seems, when everything else Dipper and Mabel take for granted is called into question, Dipper never doubts the infallibility of the Author. When the secret messages in the journals tell him that the man he’s lived with all summer is plotting to destroy the universe, he believes this without question. Admittedly, the twins had already discovered non-journal related evidence that Stan was an impostor and possibly a murderer, but even that is a few steps down from deliberately destroying the universe. When Soos suggests that Stan himself might be the Author (as an explanation for why he has the journals), Dipper immediately dismisses this hypothesis without any real examination or counter-argument. It feels to me like in Dipper’s mind, Stan is the bad guy in this story, and the Author cannot be bad; therefore, Stan cannot be the Author. I think some ill is going to come from Dipper placing the Author on such a pedestal. The way things stand, the Author doesn’t have to be malevolent or dismissive of Dipper’s adoration to disappoint him. People placed on pedestals are bound to fall eventually. It might actually be more harmful for him to be very supportive and receptive towards Dipper, and then unwittingly be a terrible influence. This is especially concerning since Word of God has told us that a major factor in the upcoming season will be Dipper's sense of betrayal and isolation from Grunkle Stan and Mabel. He's inevitably going to gravitate (ha) towards and try to connect with the Author, at least initially, and all the more so if he feels the need to distance himself from everyone else. It would be bad news indeed if the Author became the only outside voice Dipper trusted, and then proved to be an unhealthy influence. I don't think I'm the first to think of any of this, but I wanted to share. I really want to talk about this show y'all.
hey look it probably doesn't need to be said but just for clarity's sake: the linked is in no way official or canonical. also i didn't make it. also i don't understand how the concept of memes in and of itself is now a meme but that's not super relevant
I was unaware of those teasers Becoming aware of those teasers has shifted my hype into MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE brb rewatching this entire series It'll be interesting to see what role Bill Cipher plays in the future. From what's been implied, Bill wanted that portal opened. By extension, is the Author's return also part of Bill's plans? I'm really excited to see where this takes the show's myth arc!
Trailer for the next few episodes from SDCC! Spoiler: my reactions LOL @ both Stans adjusting their glasses in unison. Dude. Author. Why are you giving Mabel a crossbow. Do you have any idea what havoc you have just unleashed? He did also hand her a journal. I suppose if he trusts her with one of those it's not such a stretch for him to trust her with lethal armament. I wonder what she's going to use these items for. WTF is that helmet thing Dipper has on? Also who's been keeping a file on Bill? The government, maybe? This trailer contains several references to/images of Bill, but the triangle himself did not appear. Not sure what to make of that. Candy, Grenda, and Wendy teaming up is going to be the best thing ever. I pity those gnomes. Dipper Pines you put that memory gun down this instant. MEMORY WIPING IS NOT THE ANSWER. Interesting how he looks angry/determined at first, then shifts to surprised/alarmed right before it cuts away. I have no idea what that pink glowy thing is. It's probably ludicrously important and they're showing it to us because we won't understand what a huge thing we just saw. This image stands out to me because you can see that the family is not going to keep Author Stan's existence/presence a secret from everyone. I thought that might be necessary given whatever convoluted thing is going on with the elder Pines twins' legal identities, but it seems it is not so. Conflict between the younger set of Pines twins is on the horizon. Is that a cave painting of Bill? How long has he been an active presence in Gravity Falls? The Author appears to be wearing the same trenchcoat in the flashbacks and in the current-day scenes. Mabel says "two grunkles for the price of one". What does this mean for the various grandfather theories?
OK I find bullet point 2 kind of hilarious because just the other day I was thinking about Mabel and Dipper's potential weapons of choice (I decided on Dipper getting a pair of brass knuckles like Stan's and a flail/mace/flail-mace like in Boss Mabel, and Mabel getting a baseball bat (possibly with nails in) and a crossbow. Also they both have axes from Wendy in this headcanon.) Also, I am so excited/terrified for this, AUGH. ETA: Spoiler: video things He didn't just hand her a journal, he handed her Journal Number 1 - the one Stan had from the start. So... the Mystery Shack used to be some kind of research outpost? I've headcanoned that the area directly around the Shack is basically the ideal place for space-time anomalies - the Bottomless Pit being a natural (probably?) and stable example - and perhaps the very reason that Stanley built the portal there. At some point Stanley visited L-Space, I guess? Y'know, I just saw some meta about what the other elevator numbers might go to! Looks like we'll find out what's on level 2. At some point the universe will be invaded by... DnD characters? Well it was bound to happen eventually. That unicorn is going to stab someone, I can feel it. They wouldn't have something so sparkly and have it NOT be murderous. Pink thing looks like... a map? Or some kind of targetting system. Oh god Candy's holding a broken bottle. Huh, before it kind of looked like Stanley's hair was brownish when he came out of the portal, but later in the video it looks like it's grey like Stan's? So he probably aged in there after all. Also, I want Stanley's gloves, they are glowy and cool-looking and probably magitech. You know, when I first watched the video, I thought Bill was flattening dead trees - and I'm not entirely sure that I'm wrong (well, he's probably strong enough to do that) Hey I didn't know Mabel was left-handed! Also she drew them looking mad for some reason?
@KarrinBlue Spoiler Can I get a link to that? Oh man, I was thinking about how thrilled Mabel's going to be to see a unicorn... please don't get yourself stabbed, Mabel. "We are criminals! We will cut you!" It looks like the other half of it is right there. She broke it just for the occasion. I noticed that too! He still looks a bit younger than Stan to me, though. Yeah I like those. He probably made them himself, given his aptitude for tech/magitech inventing and his unusual hands. I wonder what they're for...
So, uh, that all happened. Spoiler: Episode Feels I am so freaking sad over Stanx2's falling out! It seems like the sort of thing that could actually happen - one person does something stupid on accident and tries to cover it up, neither of them is willing to back down and both are very good at holding grudges... Plus the Pines' family life looks just awful? I mean the dad was obviously more interested in the cash he'd get from Stan and its loss than anything else. Also, anyone else notice the baby that Mrs Pines had? I'm guessing that's Dipper and Mabel's grandparent. Stan said that they were 'Shermie's kids' or something, IIRC.
Spoiler: A Tale of Two Spoilers AND THEN STAN PUNCHED STAN IN THE FACE AND THE FANDOM REJOICED. AND THEN NEITHER STAN TWIN WAS THE GRANDPA AND THE FANDOM DID NOT REJOICE. Does anyone else think that Stanford left out a huge chunk of the story that fits in between Fiddleford quitting and Stanley arriving in Gravity Falls? I mean, when Fiddleford said that the portal was dangerous and ought to be shut down, Stanford brushed him off. By the time Stanley got there Stanford was saying he'd "made a huge mistake" or something like that, hiding the journals, and planning to shut the portal down. Something must have happened in the intervening time to change his mind. Also, when Stanley arrived, Stanford's mental state and appearance seemed to have deteriorated significantly from when Fiddleford quit, to a level of fear and isolation that Fiddleford's departure alone does not explain to my satisfaction. I'm guessing that whatever happened between Stanford and Bill (as implied by the entries in Journals #2 and #3) happened during this time gap. I wonder why Stanford didn't want to discuss that. Does he distrust Stanley and the kids? Does he fear that talking about Bill will draw his attention? It also makes you wonder what else Stanford might have left out... I think I may have been on the money about Stanford being a bad influence. Like Dipper's all "let's mind wipe everyone!" and Stanford's all "omg that is a brilliant idea let me help!" Um, guys. That thing causes brain damage. That ain't right. All that bad blood between the Stan twins is making me sad. If Stanford complies with Stanley's demand that he not talk to the kids, I really hope said kids don't assume that Stanford hates them or something. Especially Dipper, considering his hero worship of the man. That conversation between Mabel and Dipper at the end is some ominous foreshadowing indeed. I sense conflict on the horizon...
Spoiler: oh also I'm disappointed that we didn't get to learn more about how the citizens of Gravity Falls interacted with the supernatural before the Society of the Blind Eye was a thing.
Also Soos's comment about how this had better turn out like his fanfic...guess I know what Alex Hirsch has been up to during the hiatus :P
New promo for the upcoming episode! Spoiler: On the dark, spoilery road I travel, I'm afraid you cannot follow! Looks like this is going to be at least partially an episode about Dipper and Ford, which I am all for. Interesting that we have Ford telling Dipper not to follow in his footsteps, juxtaposed with images of Ford literally leading Dipper somewhere and showing something to him. In their brief interaction in AToTS, Ford was clearly excited to meet the kids and seemed pleased that Dipper was interested in his research (if perhaps a bit put off by the sheer intensity of Dipper’s fanboying). Stan demanded that Ford stay away from the kids for their safety, but nothing about what we’ve seen of Stan and Ford’s relationship so far suggests that Stan’s opinion, in and of itself, is sufficient to motivate Ford to do anything. He may be reluctant to indulge Dipper’s curiosity or accept his help due to concerns of his own, or he may just be pretending to comply with Stan’s wishes while waiting for an opportunity to reach out to Dipper in secret. Either way, it looks like he will eventually cave to the temptation of sharing his life’s work with a like-minded, admiring young relative. Of course, Dipper isn't going to wait patiently for Ford to come around, and Stan isn't going to sit idly by while his brother ignores his wishes. (Stan's concerns are completely reasonable, and Ford is probably not a healthy influence for small children. But hey, neither is Stan himself.) Also it doesn't look like they've gotten rid of that Bill carpet. Does Ford not know that that's an issue?
