Rambles, Musings, and Other Attempts of Writing

Five Years

Five years ago today, I sat down to watch an episode of some random cartoon out of concern after seeing a commercial. Five years ago today, I fell in love with Gravity Falls. Five years ago today, I joined the Faller fandom.

Whoa.

Five years.

Am I that old already?

Honestly, what can I say? It's been a long time since I first started watching this wonderful series, and I've grown a lot since then. Geez, I was a child when I saw my first episode of Gravity Falls. It's hard to believe it's been that long when it honestly seems like it was just yesterday I was asking permission to stay up a little bit past my bedtime to watch a new episode.

I can vividly remember where I was, who I was with, and how I reacted when seeing certain episodes for the first time. I remember being curled up in my purple patterned bean bag when I watched "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel" for the first time.

I remember going over to a friend's house to watch "Boss Mabel" because we were so excited that new Gravity Falls episodes were finally back. (If we only knew that the hiatuses were going to get much worse than the one we had just experienced...)

 I remember my little sister and I sitting in the living room to watch "Gideon Rises", being kicked out by our parents so they could make a phone call, and having to quickly retreat into their bedroom just in time for the commercial break ending.

I remember that on the premiere of "Scary-oke", I was staying at my grandparents' house with my cousins. I told them that the living room was reserved for that half-hour for the premiere, and everyone ended up joining me to watch it.

I remember having to turn on subtitles while watching "Sock Opera" during its debut because my sister was sleeping and I had to keep the volume on low. When Bill made his first appearance to Dipper, I literally jumped out of the chair I was sitting in and screamed with no sound.

I remember watching "Not What He Seems" with my younger cousin, who has never liked television or movies, while on vacation. He calmly watched me as I freaked out at the end, and then made the remark "I think I'll watch this show now".

I remember watching "A Tale of Two Stans" with my father as my mom worked in their bedroom. I shrieked multiple times during the episode, and she kept on texting my dad to make sure I was alright. (I was not.)

I remember blowing up a group chat with some friends watching "Weirdmageddon Part 1" when my son did his heel-face turn. I was so proud of him, and I was feeling very victorious for having predicated it against everyone else's skeptical opinions.

I remember feeling at peace when the end credits for the final episode started rolling. It was finally over, and I had expected to feel disappointed and sad. Instead, it was a bittersweet moment. Yes, possibly the greatest animated series of all times had just ended, but it didn't feel like it had been stolen away from us. It was time, and it ended with giving us the viewers a big hug and a kiss on the head before going to rest.

Gravity Falls has turned me into a semi-conspiracy theorist and detective. It gave me the opportunity to make new friends, both in real life and online. It gave me some of my favorite characters of all times.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you, Gravity Falls. It's been an amazing five years.

(And by the way, that entire thing was exactly 618 words XD)