Hello, fellow fallers! Since today is..well, the 1st Anniversary of the Gravity Falls Finale (S02e20 & S02e21 ; WPIII : Take Back the Falls & WP!V : Somewhere in the Woods) I’ve decided to write a little something. This is just a little bit on my personal experience with Gravity Falls and how I felt about Gravity Falls ending. Thank you!

Almost three years ago, I was your average little boy, living his own life with no purpose or meaning. Life was pretty much nothing more than a game, but a confusing one. I was both shy and insecure, with barely any friends. I received rather rude remarks on my personality and appearance as well. I needed an “outlet”, some sort of hobby or distraction to focus on. Anything to occupy myself with to pass my time. Which is when I discovered an amazing little show called “Gravity Falls”…

Summer of 2014, I was browsing YouTube, attempting to entertain myself on a humid Saturday. I surfed from video to video, just as always. While searching, I happened to stumble upon a video, which appeared to be a theory on Gravity Falls, something I found rather strange. Up until then , I had never really heard of the concept of shows having secret messages or hidden codes within them. Plus, up until then, I had always thought of Gravity Falls as some weird Disney cartoon for young children. I had seen a few scenes of Gravity Falls, but not many. Intrigued, I clicked on the thumbnail. Apparently, the video was created by Gravity Falls Youtuber Vailskibum94, who had created countless theories on Gravity Falls.

I was filled with so much intrigue and curiosity when viewing these videos. How could such a small little kid’s show have such meaning behind it? I was in awe at how codes and secret messages could be incorporated so well into a cartoon. It boggled my mind how one had the brilliant idea to turn a boring Disney cartoon into an actual interesting show, and how one had the motivation to do so as well.

Soon after discovering Gravity Falls and viewing countless theories on the show, I started to keep up with the show’s status. I attempted to learn as much as possible of where the show was, fandom and episode wise. I quickly learned the show was in a between-season hiatus, but the first episode of a new season was soon airing in a few weeks. (Now that I think back to the days, I was pretty lucky not having to wait for months for a new season)

I think one of the reasons I hold so much love for Gravity Falls is because of what Gravity Falls did for me – gave me a distraction from the world, something else to focus on. I finally had found my “outlet”. I found Gravity falls quite fascinating, and I enjoyed spending my time thinking about Gravity Falls. I was able to have my own little world to hide from in my darkest moments, or simply for pleasure.

Also, Gravity Falls allowed me to express the bit of weirdness I held within me. Being a Faller was a great way to develop my unique side and become more of an individual than I already was. I felt so much more free and less held back by the standards of my community and society. I was definitely happier as a Faller more than I had ever been before.

Gravity Falls gave me an opportunity to exercise and challenge certain abilities as well, such as understanding characters. Gravity Falls not only held secret messages and hidden codes, but also emotion and deep plots. I think from being a Faller I am now able to sympathize with fictional characters more and understand not to judge them by the actions they perform, but rather understand what events took place in their past which influenced those actions.

I am, however, a bit concerned about the fact I have became much, much more obsessive. Although in some circumstances this is a good aspect, I don’t believe nonstop day-dreaming, rambling, fear, and even crying over a “kid’s show” is considered very good. For about one – three months before the finale aired, I was constantly worrying and terrified of viewing the finale live. I was so worked up I barely even interacted with anyone. I was always checking updates on the fandom as frequent as possible, terrified of “bad” news. Before the airing of the finale was even announced anywhere, I would have breakdowns, fearing the end of our beloved Gravity Falls was near. Gosh, there is so much more I have done which shows just how obsessive I am over Gravity Falls, but I will not list them in fear of scaring anyone.

I do need to say, though, how much I love this fandom. There is just so much time spent in creating art (by “art”, I mean ALL forms of art) dedicated to Gravity Falls. All this hard work and dedication has led to at least thousands of fan-arts, fics, animatics, in-depth discussions, headcannons, analysis’s, AU’s, theories, and so much more. It is so incredibly mind blowing to think that we have come to this far of a point where we are making insane amounts of dedication to Gravity Falls. It definitely is inspiring.

Not only this, but, the “in-fandom” events as well, such as interviews , comic-cons, streams, and even the CipherHunt. (By the way, I am still in shock over the CipherHunt. Mind-boggling experience. Alex Hirsch, h O W?!) Much take place within these types of events, which are very intriguing to view. It is absolutely hilarious to witness the fandom losing their minds over these types of events, and being apart of the madness as well.

I know I’ve rambled about this earlier, but I feel I should say it once more. Gravity Falls is filled with hidden messages and codes, all of which somehow “tie in” with a plot, theory, mystery, etc. This concept is absolutely mind-boggling to me, as it perplexes me how such a team behind the show has the dedication to add in these codes and subtle hints and such. It is as if all of these codes are part of one huge puzzle piece ; each and every code, message, etc. connecting to one another. (Up until my discovery of Gravity Falls, I had never witnessed another cartoon or show doing this, so I was pretty amazed. And, to be honest, I still am.)

When the finale was announced to be aired on Nov. 2015, I was severely devastated and heartbroken. The one thing in this world which gave me joy and a purpose…..gone. I experienced every single episode of Season Two, moment by moment. Now, I’d never be able to view another episode airing of Gravity Falls ever again. I cherished those moments, hoping they would never end. I held them so dear to me. I knew Gravity Falls would end some day, but I did not expect this beloved show to end so soon. Of course, I did not want Gravity Falls to turn into one of those forever-running, pointless cartoons such as Spongebob, but I also did not want Gravity Falls to come to an end so fast. The sorrow was too heavy to bear I mourned the finale of Gravity Falls as if it was a loved one’s passing.

Although Alex Hirsch had claimed this was not the last we’d see of Gravity Falls and our beloved characters, I still felt we had not much left of our beautiful show. Soon most would forget Gravity Falls, and the fandom would be left in the darkness to die off. How much did we have left, anyways? It certainly could not be enough for the Gravity Falls fandom to thrive off of for long. I was terrified of the Gravity Falls fandom “dying”, losing all hope in some form of a return of Gravity Falls and slowly forgetting about this wonderfully outstanding show.

Although I was doubtful in the fandom lasting, I still was more than determined to stay a true Faller. After all, Gravity Falls has given me more than I could ever ask for throughout the years. Why would I ever leave this amazing fandom, and give up the love I hold for this show? This fandom, the people behind the magic, the show itself etc. are all unspeakably amazing, which I could never give up. No matter how old I become, Gravity Falls will always hold a special place within my heart.

So, to everyone who worked on the show in any way, to everyone who has made some form of art in dedication of Gravity Falls, to everyone who is in some way connected to the show (even a little), to everyone who is a fan…

Thank you. You are amazing. I love you.

Happy 1st Anniversary of Take Back the Falls!!