The Ripple Effect

It's all real.

The entire show, the entire plot, it's all real.

Alex Hirsch has managed to create an alternate dimension called Gravity Falls which he can enter and mess with to his liking. Obviously, he did it all to make a TV show.

But when he's working on the next little plot twist, he accidentally makes a small mistake.

And that small mistake becomes much more than just a small mistake.

It's called the ripple effect.