Gravity Falls

Gravity Falls was an animated adventure/comedy/mystery/fantasy series on the Disney Channel (also, it was aired on its close sibling, Disney XD, alongside dedicated programming blocks on affiliated international TV networks/stations). 
==Canon==
The series revolves around 12-year-old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines, who are sent to spend the summer with their Great Uncle ("Grunkle") Stan, who runs a tourist trap called the "Mystery Shack" in the remote town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. After Dipper finds a mysterious journal in the woods, the two begin investigating the paranormal secrets surrounding the town.
===Characters===
Main
* Mason Pines ("Dipper")
* Mabel Pines
* Stanley Pines ("Grunkle" Stan)
Supporting
* Soos Ramirez
* Wendy Corduroy
* Stanford Pines ("Ford")
* Waddles
* Gideon Gleeful ("Lil' Gideon")
* Fiddleford McGucket ("Old Man" McGucket)
* Robert Stacy Valentino ("Robbie")
* Pacifica Northwest
* Candy Chiu
* Grenda Grendinator
Antagonist
* Bill Cipher
==Fandom==
Since its creation, Gravity Falls has had an extremely devoted fandom. Because the show is full of secret messages, codes and clues, the fandom originally grew based on decoding and theorizing the future of the show. Since the show's ending, the fandom primarily focuses on fanart, fanfiction etc.
===TPTB engagement with fandom===
The staff of Gravity Falls was very communicative with the fandom, particularly show creator Alex Hirsch. Hirsch proved to be very familiar with modern internet culture and fandom, and engaged with fans about the show itself and fanon activity.
Some events:
* on Reddit in August 2013.
* (run by Alex Hirsch in-character as Bill Cipher) on Reddit in April 2015.
* Cipher Hunt -- a scavenger hunt created by Alex Hirsch that ran in July-August 2016; considered a coda to the 
* Not S&P Approved () -- for the 10th anniversary of the show (June 2022), Hirsch released a video featuring some of his tangles with Disney Standards & Practices over lines in the show. This became a meme that spread beyond the Gravity Falls Fandom.
===Tropes and Fanon===
* Anthropomorphized Bill Cipher on tumblr (Accessed 4 March 2015)
* Trolling Creator
Many fans like to extrapolate on the fridge horror the show hints at.
* Possession by Bill Cipher
Many fans enjoyed seeing Dipper be possesed by Bill, and a large amount of fanwork has been created for it. Bill!Dipper was given the nickname 'Bipper' by Mabel in Sock Opera, and fans adopted the name as a way to refer to possessed Dipper. Fans also liked the idea of Bill possessing other characters (such as Mabel, Grunkle Stan, and Ford) and made content off of the idea.
*A common headcannon/theory is that Dipper is transgender, based on the idea that he and Mabel are identical twins, and also several scenes in the show that some fans interpreted as evidence to Dipper being trans. This theory was unfortunately disproven by the confirmation that he and Mabel were not, in fact, identical twins, but fraternal instead. However, fans still enjoy this idea as a headcanon, and sometimes in AUs as well.
===Fan Theories===
* The Twin Theory/The Author: eventually confirmed true
**Falling into Theory: The Stan Twins (September 2013)
** Stan taking the “death” of Wax Stan way too seriously (December 2014)
**STAN’S BROTHER IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JOURNALS, AND HERE IS WHY (October 2014)
**foreshadowed death (March 2015)
**Grunkle Stan isn’t really Stanford Pines, or a Grunkle (March 2015, archived)
* Bill Cypher's wheel of symbols (Gravity Falls Theory, the wheel of intrigue on themysteryofgravityfalls)
* Stan's Fez (GRUNKLE STAN'S FEZ (GRAVITY FALLS): The Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel)
* Various character foils (Certificate of Mystery, Dipper and his reflection)
===Crossovers & AUs===
* Mystery Kids: Crossover with Norman from ParaNorman, Coraline from Coraline, and sometimes characters from other series such as Psychonauts, Invader Zim, and Danny Phantom.
* Reverse Falls: AU where Pacifica Northwest and Lil’ Gideon are good guys, and Mabel and Dipper are evil twins who enslaved Bill Cipher, who is a good dream demon.
* Monster Falls: AU where all the citizens of Gravity Falls are monsters. Dipper usually is a cervitaur (a deer centaur), while Mabel is usually a mermaid, but sometimes is portrayed as a unicorn centaur. Grunkle Stan is a gargoyle, Ford is a Sphinx, Wendy is a werewolf, and Soos is usually a wax or slime person. Pacifica is mostly portrayed as a gorgon or naga, and sometimes has Medusa like hair. Robbie, when included, is a zombie. Bill Cipher is usually a human in this au, and a common trope fans also like to add is that Bill would be a hunter. 
* Relativity Falls: AU where Grunkle Stan & Stanford and Dipper & Mabel's ages are switched; the Stan twins are staying with Grauntie Mabel for the summer. Other older characters become younger (and vice versa) in this AU as well.
* Reunion Falls:[] AU where Dipper and Mabel were separated at birth, and meet for the first time during their summer at Gravity Falls.
* Transcendence AU: A shared universe where Dipper becomes Alcor, a dream demon. Mabel is his human counterpart, Mizar, and is constantly reincarnated into new forms. "The Transcendence" refers to the in-universe event where magic became commonplace. Dipper is also known as "Alcor the dreambender" and Mabel as "Mizar the gleeful" in some fanfiction and art for this au. Alcor also has a semi official summoning circle[].
* Timestuck: AU where Mabel time-travels to shortly before the accident and travels with Stan, usually causing a reunion of the brothers to go earlier or differently than canon.
===Shipping===
Popular ships include:
*Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines - Billdip
*Pacifica Northwest/Mabel Pines - Mabifica
*Pacifica Northwest/Dipper Pines - Dipcifica
*Ford Pines/Stan Pines - Stancest
*Dipper Pines/Mabel Pines - Pinecest
*Fiddleford McGucket/Ford Pines - Fiddauthor
*Bill Cipher/Ford Pines - Billford
Popular crossover ships include:
*Dipper Pines/Wirt (Over the Garden Wall) - Pinescone
*Dipper Pines/Norman Babcock (ParaNorman) - Parapines
*Stan Pines/Rick Sanchez (Rick and Morty) - Stanchez
*Stan Pines/Eda Clawthorne (The Owl House)
*Dipper Pines/Dib Membrane (Invader Zim) - Dibper
=== Events ===
* Mystery Twin Mystery Bags -a project to raise funds for charity by selling Gravity Falls-themed blind bags (2024-2025)
== Fanworks ==
===Fan Fiction===
The fan fiction output is largely Billdip-centric, often with Mabificia written as a side pairing. There is a decent body of gen, followed by Stancest and Fiddauthor.
*Dipper Goes To Taco Bell by MASTAofTehcitrusFruits, one of the most famous shockfics ever written
*An Outsider's Look at the Pines Twins by iguessso12 - "The Pines twins have been steeped in mayhem, mysteries, and magic every summer since they were 12 years old. Coming back home to Piedmont, going to high school, acting normal? All those things make them stick out like a sore thumb. When you ask outsiders about the Pines twins, you get a mix of strange stories and casual observations."
===Fan Art===
* markmak on deviantart
*Long ansty comics are pretty popular:
** by jimsdeadbones, 
*
* by cherryviolets
* The Mystery Shack by Terminusx
* i yearbooked; i yearbooked hard by limey404 
*Gravity Falls - Bill Cipher fanart by Beffana
*Summoning circle for Transcendence AU
*The last campfire for the summer by Mistrel (2016)
===Fan Games===
*Swooning Over Stans - Dating sim about dating either Stanley or Stanford Pines
===Zines===
*Summer Memories (Oct 2016)
==General Communities==
*r/gravityfalls on reddit
*Mystery Shack -- A Gravity Falls forum
==Decoding Communities==
*Gravity Falls Conspiracies on tumblr
==Resources==
*The Mystery of Gravity Falls
*List of Decoded Cryptograms 
*Gravity Falls Decoder
*Gravity Falls page on TV Tropes
*Gravity Falls Wiki
==References==
*