Theory: Journals were all written around the same time.

This may sound a bit farfetched, but I noticed an inconsistency in the journals, specifically in the creature numberings. In Journal 3 we have the gnomes (#24), the undead (#6), and we get up to the gremloblin (#105).

But in Journal 2 we have Bill Cipher which is numbered as creature 326, although in here we see him labelled an unknown creature that only appears in the author’s dreams.



Later on we see Bill Cipher in Journal 3 without a creature number, but it appears to have been done after Bill was summoned

Now to explain my theory a little more, I think that the journals were all originally meant to be for a specific aspect of the author’s research. Journal 1 seems to be covering more about mystical properties of the land (like the floating cliffs) and information about the machine he was constructing. Journal 2 was probably more focused on magical items/trinkets. While Journal 3 was supposed to concentrate on the local flora and fauna of Gravity Falls, which makes sense since we see the most creatures and such in this book.

Now, why the inconsistencies? There is obviously something about unicorn hair in Journal 1, and there are cursed doors in Journal 3, so what gives? I believe that although the original plan for the books was to keep them all separated, things happen. One idea is that whenever he went out to search for a specific creature/plant/item he would take the book that would fit the expected entry instead of taking all three. The thing is, things don’t always go according to plan. It could be that he went out to document the gnomes, therefor taking Journal 3 with him, and instead found the growing/shrinking crystals. Another possibility is that he used whichever was closest to him whenever something unexpected was happening. This idea seems to make the most sense.

But wait, what about the first few pages in Journal 3 stating that it had been six years since he started researching Gravity Falls? Well, although I do believe that the journals had begun all around the same time, I also believe that the author did retain some chronological order within them. I think the author also used the journals as a pseudo-diary, recounting the events and findings of the day both as research and a method of venting since he could not share the secrets to everyone. In that respect, rather than going to a specific journal, he would just continue from where he left off until there was no more space to write, and then move on to the next journal. This could explain why in the beginning of Journal 3 it is stated that it has been six years, since it has taken six years to fill in the empty spaces of the other two journals.

There is also some other evidence that may help prove this point. The first one is located in Journal 2, concerning the pages labelled “Possible Hiding Places”. In it, we can see the system (called System #3) that was used to open the hatch for Journal 3 as well as an image of the hatch hidden in the fake tree that held said system. Why would he document the possible hiding spots for Journal 3 if he had yet to make Journal 3? It is possible that these are the potential hiding spots for Journal 2, but in Gideon Rises we see that Gideon is using it in order to locate what he believes to be Journal 1 which would make sense if the author was filling up the journals one at a time.

The second piece of evidence is Fiddleford McGucket’s memories. In it he states that he has been working with a visiting scientist for a year now who has been recording his findings in a series of journals. We know that it has been six years since the beginning of his research to the point where the author wrote the introduction in Journal 3, so how does McGucket know that it’s a series of journals and not just a pair of journals (or not just one journal)? Not only that, but information about the Portal exists as ‘early’ as Journal 1 and the Society of the Blind Eye doesn’t show until Journal 3, a supposed six years after. This inconsistency in time doesn’t make sense, unless the journals were all being written around the same time frame. Mind you, there is the possibility that the author already knew what he was doing in order to build the portal and McGucket simply got involved close to the end.

Also, if we look back to the Bill Cipher summoning page in Journal 2, we can see that the author pointed out that Bill was on his money. Specifically on his $-12 bill. Now, it could have been done as a joke and I’m reading into this a little too much, but how in the world did the author acquire this $-12? My guess is that he begun to investigate about the real founder of Gravity Falls (Quentin Trembley) and managed to stumble across it and kept it. But we see that the document that could prove the conspiracy about Nathaniel Northwest is in Journal 3, so how did the author end up with the $-12 bill with President Trembley on it if he didn’t bother investigating until Journal 3?



Another bit of evidence hidden in the journals would be the use of invisible ink. In Journal 3, the author writes that he had begun to use invisible ink to hide his research from prying eyes, but there is invisible ink in all three of the journals. Specifically on the pages containing the schematics of the Universe Portal, which is the final piece of evidence.

Why would someone draw the schematics of anything in three different journals unless they were either already using or planning to use the three journals? It doesn’t quite make sense otherwise.

And that’s about it. Believable? Possible? Probable? Or truth?