The Greatest Temptation of Dipper Pines
Dipper Pines isn't just my favourite character in Gravity Falls, he's one of my favourite fictional characters of all time. He ranks up there with Spider-Man and Batman, the heroes of my childhood who brought me great joy and comfort as I watched or read about them valiantly making the world a better place at the risk of their own lives and happiness. I like to think those stories encouraged me to be a better person as much as they entertained me.
But I know that Dipper Pines has made me a better person.
I, like many fans, see a lot of myself in Dipper, especially my younger self. Sometimes I even say he's the boy I want to grow up to be more like. Part of why I like him is because he's not superhuman like so many other heroes. In fact, he's physically the weakest of the main characters, and while most consider him to be quite intelligent it's not to the superhuman degree of Ford, or entirely unbelievable in someone of his age.
But I'd argue Dipper's greatest asset isn't his intelligence anyway, it's his wisdom.
We see Dipper's journey throughout the show, facing many of the usual things people his age deal with and far, far worse. Bullies and abominations, dismissals and demons, first loves and near death experiences. And he repeatedly makes mistakes, sometimes causing bad situations or making them worse. But he learns from those mistakes. Mostly. He's not perfect.
For all I praise his heroics and determination, he easily gets in over his head and puts himself and others in danger. Both his ego and his insecurities can cause as many problems as his brain can solve. And while Dipper is a good person with a big heart for the most part, other times he's a straight-up jerk.
But as I said, that's part of what makes him so great. Because it's not our flaws that define us, it's how we accept and overcome them, and the good we do despite them. And Dipper Pines knows better than anyone else how flawed he is, with his self-doubt being a recurring theme of the show and central to several episodes. Whether he's lamenting his height, masculinity, age, muscles, voice, or something else, he eventually learns not to dwell on his faults and tries to accept them.
And while he's faced many tests that prove him to be a hero (even if his insecurity won't let him fully acknowledge it for long) there was one scene in particular which I think shows just how dedicated Dipper Pines is to doing the right thing. No matter how much it might hurt him to do so.
When Bill gained physical form he wrought havoc upon Gravity Falls. He transformed the town Dipper had grown to love into a hell on earth. He turned Ford into gold and burned the cherished journals in front Dipper's eyes, then offered him as a snack to two of his minions, forcing him to run and hide.
For three days a twelve-year old boy survived an apocalyptic wasteland that was ruled by monsters and nightmares that were trying to capture, kill, or eat him. And all that time he was wondering about his family, trying to reach his sister on a walkie-talkie that never answered back.
Then he found Wendy, one of the few remaining people living outside the safety of the Mystery Shack. After days of surviving who knows what they had finally found a friend to share the apocalypse with. Wendy recounted how she'd lost the rest of her friends in the initial wave, seeing them turned to stone in front of her eyes. Dipper guiltily confessed that he had no idea what happened to his family but his last interaction with Mabel had been a fight over Ford's offer of an apprenticeship.
And at his lowest point, when he's doubting his ability to do anything against such odds and if it's even worth trying, Wendy offers him the encouragement he needs to continue the search for his sister and comes up with the plan to steal a car and get them to Mabel's bubble.
This plan is almost thwarted by the appearance of Gideon Gleeful and his newfound prison friends, now working as Bill's enforcers as they prowl Gravity Falls and capture the remaining townsfolk. But the pair escape by driving through bubbles of madness and over a crevice, though the car is totalled in the process. Which leads to one of my personal favourite Dipper moments:
Right after they crash the car, clearly injured from the impact, Dipper crawls out of the vehicle and drags himself on his elbows and knees towards his sister's prison, urging himself forward and ignoring how distant it is.
Despite everything he's just endured and everything else he's been through that day and the days before, Mabel is foremost on his mind and he refuses to stop. Call it bravery, love, willpower, endurance, stubbornness, all of the above, whatever. For a brave young boy who's faced peril countless times, I think this was a defining moment. One that shows exactly how committed Dipper is to his family.
And when things are looking bleak, he finds Soos, who immediately helps him up then attends to Wendy's injuries. But the relief of finding another friend in a moment of need is short-lived as they are surrounded by Gideon and his Discount Auto Mart Warriors, who summon Eye-Bats to take them away. And here, so soon after one, comes another of my personal favourite Dipper moments.
Gideon Gleeful has been a thorn in Dipper's side since the start of the summer. A dark reflection of what Dipper could have been if he'd prioritised himself over everyone else. He's repeatedly threatened Dipper and his family. He came this close to forcing them to leave town. Worst of all, he'd consistently tried to make Mabel his, despite her wishes.
And how does Dipper deal with his foe? By talking to him. Using logic and sympathy, urging Gideon not to think of himself for once, but of Mabel and what's best for her. Dipper uses his own experience of unrequited love to convince Gideon to do the right thing. He encourages him and his gang to go against Bill, to prove the eldritch entity wrong about there being no more heroes and show that people will still stand up to him. It's also this scene that holds my single favourite line of the entire show:
"You can't force someone to love you. The best you can do is strive to be someone worthy of loving."
This line has impacted my life greatly. They were the words I needed to hear right when I needed to hear them the most, and it's a lesson I keep close to my heart. In many ways, I am the man I am today because of Dipper Pines and because of this line in particular. With it, he convinced me to become a better person for my own sake and not in the hopes of appealing to others.
And it was enough to convince Gideon too.
For possibly the first time in his life, Gideon Gleeful puts someone else before him. Not because of threats or trickery or violence, but because his enemy spoke to him with compassion and empathy. And, despite the fear of death or worse, Gideon, with the support of his prison friends, agrees to go against Bill, and give Dipper, Wendy, and Soos the time they need to reach the bubble and find Mabel.
It's one thing to learn from your own mistakes. It's something else to turn an enemy into an ally by teaching them not to make those same mistakes. If that isn't a sign of wisdom, I don't know what is.
And it's thanks to Gideon's last minute sacrifice that the trio manage to make their way to Mabel's prison, holding hands as they step into the unknown together, ready to save their friend. And it's here they face what Bill calls the most diabolical trap he's ever created: constant 80s background music.
Also, the ultimate desire of whoever enters it, compelling them to forget the outside world and enjoy themselves while everyone else suffers at Bill's leisure.
That's bad too.
Anyway, when we last saw Mabel, she'd had what she called the worst day of her life. She'd been looking forward to her and Dipper's thirteenth birthday, eagerly anticipating what she thought would be a great party to close a wonderful summer, surrounded by her greatest friends and new family as they entered their teenage years together.
Instead, she was repeatedly disappointed, her expectations and hopes shattered. First, Stan refused to let them host the party at the Shack because of the damage caused during Scary-oke. So as an alternative, Soos takes her to rent out the high school gym where she finds Wendy, who reveals that growing up and attending high school are not the light-hearted experiences television had led Mabel to believe. Instead of the romances and wacky adventures she was expecting, Wendy warns her young friend about difficult classes, puberty, peer pressure, and constant stress, even telling her to avoid growing up if she can. It's enough to make even the normally overly-positive Mabel concerned about turning thirteen and what follows after.
Trying to cheer her up again, Soos takes her to see Candy and Grenda, only for Mabel to find out that neither of her BFFS will be there to wish her happy birthday or even say goodbye to her when she leaves town. The two people she promised would always be her best friends, who were with her when she fought the Summerween Trickster and an arachnamorph, the ones she called 'her people' when they first met. Without her best friends, she loses all excitement for her and Dipper's big day and begins lamenting the end of summer.
And for the final and worst time of that day, an attempt to help inadvertently ends up leaving Mabel feeling worse than before as Stan tries to cheer her up by advising that, whatever happens, she would always have her brother. Only for her to hear moments later that Dipper plans to stay in Gravity Falls, leaving her to face the now miserable future on her own.
This leads to a confrontation with Dipper that leaves Mabel so distressed she runs sobbing into woods to get away from her issues. It is here, at her lowest point, that Bill arrives, inhabiting the body of Blendin Blandin. Always an opportunist, Bill takes full advantage of Mabel's despair and uses the body of someone she not only knows but helped when last they spoke.
He offers assistance to a little girl crying alone in the woods. Reminds her that he has power over time itself, and promises her that he can help her like she helped him. All she has to do is give him one little trinket that won't even be missed and he can fix her problem, giving her that little bit more time and delaying what moments ago seemed despairingly inevitable. He even pressures her a little at the end, asking if she was ready to leave Gravity Falls and knowing she wasn't.
Because it would mean an end to summer and the innocence of childhood, without her friends or brother to help her through it.
And when she gives him the rift, Bill follows through on the twisted deal and sends her to Mabeland, where none of that mattered. The world was bright and colourful, full of life and joy and laughter. Here, she didn't need to worry about growing up or leaving childhood behind. Summer was eternal and whatever she desired came to be, sometimes before she realised she wanted it. She didn't even have to say goodbye to Dipper, at least not fully. It came with it's own version; one who would support her, whatever her decision, and never leave her behind.
With all that in front of her, why would she ever turn her back on Mabeland? Especially when there was nothing but uncertainty and heartbreak waiting for her outside.
A lot has already been said about Mabel and Mabeland. How so much of it is surface level and appeals to Mabel's childish and sometimes immature nature. Stuffed animal trees, waffle guards, glitter rain, and dream boys. And a lot has and can also be said of Dippy Fresh in particular. A skateboarding, quote-unquote 'cooler' version of Dipper straight out of something from a cringe-worthy show from the 90s. Mabel's description of him is especially problematic since she calls him a "Backup Dipper with a more supportive attitude."
Dipper in particular hates his colourful doppelganger; stating so in the courtroom, glaring at him constantly, and even snaps his neck in an infamous deleted scene.
But it is important to keep in mind that this is a trap set by Bill. A multiversal threat older than our universe. But one who, as he says in The Book of Bill and Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun!, likes Mabel. So while his trap is a far less torturous than many were expecting, it is still a trap and Mabel is still his prisoner. One who is clearly under the influence of the demonic triangle's incredible power.
We see that in Mabel's behaviour throughout the episode; her dismissal of Dipper and the other's warnings, her lack of concern for the fate of those outside, the way she was willing to let her own brother be thrown out of paradise and into hell, and finally, the way she reacts once she and Dipper seal their sincere sibling hug with the pats. Rubbing her eyes as if waking from a dream and suddenly noticing and complaining about the music and brightness.
It speaks volumes about the degree of control Bill Cipher has on the mind if he can make someone as bold and compassionate as Mabel turn her back on her own brother and everyone else she cares about. For all her self centeredness, Mabel loves Dipper more than anything, to the point that a paradise trap built specifically for her still needs some version of Dipper to keep her company.
And Mabel wasn't the only one to fall under Bill's enchantment. When they enter Mabeland, Soos and Wendy are tempted almost immediately by offers of food and drink after days of surviving on bat meat and hat brims, until Dipper reminds them who made this world. But even after that stern warning, they succumb very quickly.
At first, Wendy supports Dipper and tries to persuade Mabel to leave, expressing concern for her home town and its residents. Then her friends arrive. Leading her astray with fireworks, fake IDs, and a plunger to fulfil the prank of her dreams.
In many ways this makes Wendy seem quite shallow. After all, she just turned her back on Dipper and her home town for some childish antics with friends. But I believe there's a lot more to it, and that part of what makes Bill's paradise trap so brilliant is the layers each temptation has to it.
Just days earlier, Wendy told Mabel that she'd give anything to be twelve again. Growing up comes with expectations and responsibilities, which Wendy has repeatedly shirked throughout the show. From doing as little as possible at her job to partly going on adventures to avoid spending time at home and cleaning up after her family, Wendy wants fun and freedom above all else. Now, in Mabeland, she has the chance to be free forever, taking her frustration out on the high school she hates and can even torment the principal in a rejection of authority, all without consequence.
She never has to grow up.
Not only that, but her friends are standing right in front of her, safe and sound. Robbie is noticeably absent from the group, implying that she might not have fully forgiven him despite the events of The Love God. But the others are there, and its important to keep in mind that the last she saw of them they'd been turned to stone and taken away by Eye-Bats. At this point in time she has no idea if it's even possible to bring them back. For all intents and purposes, days earlier, Wendy Corduroy watched her friends die.
It could be argued that it was selfish of her to think of her friends before her family, but context is important.
Wendy does have issues with her family. She outright confesses in Society of the Blind Eye that they cause her constant stress. But she still loves them, as we see from her having breakfast with her father, enjoying camping with him and her brothers, and how happy she is when they reunite in the Fearamid; embracing them and not her friends. Much as they frustrate her, I don't think she loves her family less than her friends. I just don't think she wants to admit that she might have lost everyone she cares about.
At that point, Wendy doesn't know her family's fate but probably assumes - hopes - that they escaped like she did. They all took part in the same survival training, after all. And they were probably together since her brothers have always been seen with each other or her father. In fact, Dan was shown to have only been captured during the opening of that very episode, and only then because he made the mistake of following Farmer Sprott's deranged belief that making triangles would spare them from Bill's wrath. Her worst fears about her father and brothers were only confirmed when she saw them as part of Bill's throne, and reacted in horror.
But she can't deny what happened to her friends, and it's not hard to believe she might harbour some form of survivor's guilt at escaping where they didn't. So it's no wonder they were front and centre in her mind.
Because I know how it feels to lose loved ones. To have them taken too soon. What it's like to think of them constantly. And it's true what they say: you really don't know how much someone means to you until they're gone.
So I really can't blame Wendy for wanting to spend more time with the people she loved and thought she'd lost.
Nor can I blame Soos for doing something similar: promising Dipper his support one moment, only to falter the next.
Soos' temptation takes the form of his absent father. And while Wendy might have let herself be convinced she's hanging out with her real friends, Soos knows that this father is a lie. The apparition tells him so. But that doesn't matter because this isn't the father Soos had, it's the one he always wanted: a fusion between a Mexican wrestler and a hot sauce mascot, and who actually cares about his son and wants to spend time with him, offering a long wished for game of catch.
Soos hasn't seen his father since he was four, almost twenty years ago. And for at least eight of those years the man consistently promised to visit his son on his birthday, only to disappoint him time and time again. Causing a despair so strong that Soos stopped finding any enjoyment in his birthdays all together, and couldn't even confide in Stan as to the reason why.
Stan, the man Soos worships like a hero. An adoration that all started because, on the day Soos was let down once again by the man who was supposed to love him, Stan threw Soos the shirt he was looking at earlier and gave him a job. And with that indifferent act, Stan showed Soos more affection than he'd ever received from his real father.
But while Soos may think of Stan as a father-figure (even suggesting he'd like to change his name to Stan Junior) and loves him dearly, the years they spent together weren't enough to fill the void his real father left. They may have had their moments; Stan teaching Soos boxing, spending time with him and confiding in him outside of work, and even getting banned from aeroplanes because of his attempt to remove Soos' birthday from the calendar, but Stan was never the overly-sentimental type.
As much as Stan cares for Soos, his age, upbringing, and personality make it hard for him to drop his gruff exterior. Sometimes it's even difficult for him to do so around Mabel, the person he loves the most and is kindest to.
That isn't a problem for Soos' fake father. He looks apologetic when he says Soos doesn't remember what he looks like, admits he was never there for him, and then offers to play catch. Regret for past actions, acknowledging his failures, and then a gesture of affection all in short order. Three things Stan has struggled to admit or do, even to those most important to him.
So while Soos declared he would move past the trauma of his father's abandonment in Blendin's Game, it's not that simple. Moving on is difficult and takes time. His father left an emotional wound that's hurt him for most of his life. Even if Mabel and Dipper were the dressing that wound finally needed, it's still there. It needs time to close. And the scar could still last his entire life.
I have a father, and I love him very much. We have a good relationship. So I can't put myself exactly in Soos' shoes. But I do know what it's like to love someone who treated you poorly, and to still desire their affection even when you know deep down that they don't deserve the love you feel for them.
So nor can I blame Soos for leaving Dipper. Even if it's not the real thing, I can't say that would stop me, either.
It's important to note here that both Wendy and Soos promise Dipper they'll return as soon as they are done. They just have to do this one thing they've always wanted to do with the people they love, then they'll be right back to help him save Gravity Falls. They probably meant it too.
But one moment of weakness is all it takes for Bill to take advantage and sink his hooks in. Dipper and Ford learned that the hard way. And as manipulative and powerful as he was before, this is Bill's world now. One simple 'yes' and you are his, whether you realise it or not. So content that you don't care if what you're seeing or doing isn't real, you'll forget all about the people outside. Your dad and little brothers, the grandmother who raised you, the great uncle who took you in and gave you the best summer of your lives. It doesn't matter if they are alive or dead, you just feel so good right now it's hard to think about anyone else.
It's only a little fun. You'll get to them in a minute.
And so, with both of his closest friends and allies now under Bill's sway, it's finally Dipper's turn to face his greatest temptation. But Dipper is different from Wendy and Soos. He's smarter. More importantly, he's wiser. He's been fooled by Bill before and knows to keep his guard up. We see this from the very beginning of the episode when he knocks the food out of the others' hands despite being at least as hungry as Wendy is since they shared a meal together in the mall, and he didn't have her hunting skills to keep his belly full before that.
But he doesn't trust anything he sees. He's paranoid at the best of times and here it's more than understandable. Not only that, but it's much harder to tempt him because Mabeland already holds so much of what he desires.
Dipper is safe in Mabeland. More importantly, his sister and two best friends are with him. They found a safe-haven in the apocalypse. But he rejects it constantly, even walking away when Mabel said this place had something for him too, refusing to so much as look at whatever it is that could tempt him.
The commentary for this episode reveals the writers struggled to decide what they wanted the bubble to show Dipper. One idea was that it would be Ford; skyrocketing and again offering Dipper the apprenticeship, followed by a montage of adventures together until Dipper realises his life is unfulfilled without Mabel by his side. That was dropped because it was too complicated an long, and it didn't make sense for the bubble to show Dipper a future he'd end up regretting.
But there's another reason why that wouldn't have worked: Dipper's already accomplished it.
Dipper's quest to solve the mystery of the journals and find its author was solved. Not only that, but Ford was everything Dipper dreamed he'd be and more. In his own words, "I knew the author must be cool, but he's better than I imagined." Because Ford liked Dipper. They bonded, became close.
For a young boy with almost no friends to suddenly meet his hero and then become friends with said hero, it must've been a dream come true. Especially when Ford repeatedly praised Dipper, showed him the attention he craved but received so little of, and didn't tease or mock him like the other characters. Ford didn't just like Dipper, he respected him. Enough so that he thought Dipper was worthy of being his successor, of following in Ford's footsteps . Dipper would get to continue what he'd already been doing that summer, but now it would be with someone by his side who seemed to admire him, and appeared to take him more seriously than the rest of his friends and family.
It might've been a crashed alien drone instead of a skyrocket, and their time together ended up being a lot shorter and more harrowing than either anticipated, but Dipper had already achieved his dream of working alongside Ford and facing the weirdness together.
And while getting something you already had can be good, getting something you've only dreamed of having but thought was impossible can be even better.
At a lake, throwing stones, Dipper finally questions his commitment to his mission, wondering if Mabel could be right since at least there's no danger here, unlike the world outside. That's when Fake Wendy appears; the moment he's expressing doubt.
I've had several discussions about Fake Wendy over the years. Some have argued that she wasn't truly Dipper's greatest desire, that she was only what the bubble interpreted as Dipper's greatest desire. That he had moved on and was no longer tempted by the idea of getting together with Wendy, and that's how he was able to resist. Usually this is because they're just not fond of the Wendip ship, or think that it goes against Dipper's character arc of moving on, the same lesson he installed in Gideon the previous episode.
I strongly disagree with these arguments. I think it's clear that - whatever he might've said or what people want him to do - Dipper still has strong feelings for Wendy. It's brought up several times after Into the Bunker, like when Ford's machine read his mind, or for the plot of Roadside Attraction, and mentioned repeatedly in The Book of Bill. And when Dipper told Gideon that he couldn't force someone to love him, he looked back at Wendy as he said it.
Like Soos with his father, Dipper might have decided to move on but that doesn't mean he has moved on. Wendy is his first crush and someone he thinks of fondly outwith his attraction. And for all his smarts and wisdom he is still a twelve-year old boy going through puberty. It will take him a long time to separate or change those feelings.
I also think this argument does a great disservice to both Bill and Dipper's characters. Bill has manipulated people throughout human history and beyond it, but famously calls the bubble his greatest trap and behaves like no one could resist it. And so far he has been proven absolutely right because it has succeeded in tricking Mabel, Wendy, and Soos into forgetting those they love more than themselves. Saying that the bubble tempts Dipper with the wrong thing not only takes away the threat and cunning of Bill Cipher and his paradise trap, but it also takes away from Dipper's victory in resisting it.
In the worst cases, arguments like this have inadvertently (or sometimes advertently) implied that Mabel, Wendy, and Soos were all weak for falling for it at all. Which is something I simply refuse to believe. We've seen how brave and strong they all are.
In other discussions, people thought that Fake Wendy is Dipper's his greatest temptation simply because she is a fake version of Wendy. That dating her is the one thing that could make his summer perfect. That's closer, but I disagree with that too.
Yes, he still has feelings for her. And he probably can't completely stop himself from thinking that one day the age difference won't matter, or how, in a town built on an alien spacecraft and filled with gnomes, illiterate mosquitoes, candy monsters, sentient golf balls, and with a Dorito in a top hat threatening reality itself, two friends eventually becoming more isn't that far-fetched.
But I think his attraction was only part of what made Fake Wendy so appealing to Dipper. That if it was simply a version of Wendy who offered herself to him he would have seen through the ruse and rejected her immediately. I've said that all of the temptations have layers to them, and I think Dipper's might have had the most. Which makes sense because it would need something special for him to fall for one of Bill's tricks again.
In the scene before Fake Wendy's arrival, Bill had just been informed that Dipper and the others had entered Mabel's bubble. Laughing at the news, Bill declares it would take a will of titanium to resist the temptations. He then hovers to the window and gazes out at the bubble. So it's possible that, for this particular temptation, Bill had a more direct influence in creating what Dipper saw.
Because Fake Wendy is unlike the other temptations in many ways. The first is that she doesn't appear immediately. She didn't kick open the door like Soos' father or pop up without explanation like Wendy's friends. The door revealing her opened so slowly Dipper was able to leave the room before seeing her. And when she appears at Giggle Creek, she offers a reason as to why she's there, one that sounds reasonable while complimentary towards Dipper at the same time. Lowering his guard further when he'd just voiced doubts about his mission.
Because if Dipper would want anyone other than Mabel or Ford by his side right now, it would be Wendy. Not just because of his desire to spend more time with her, but because she showed him first hand how capable she is during Weirdmageddon. She protected him from Gideon's goons and gave him food and shelter after three days of struggling on his own. It was Wendy who encouraged him when he was questioning himself on the roof of the mall, and Wendy who came up with the plan that let them reach the bubble in the first place.
And there is a special relationship between the two since Wendy is the only character in the show aside from Ford who shows a clear preference towards Dipper over Mabel, as much as she also loves his sister. Dipper knows Ford is gone, but Wendy is there in the bubble, and she did promise she'd be back.
It helps that from almost the moment she appears, Fake Wendy praises Dipper. She tells him that the pranks got boring quickly and that he was right, implying that the mission - and by association he - are more important than what she thought was her greatest desire. She smiles at him as she sits down beside him. She impresses him once again by throwing a stone far better than he can, and assures him that he will come up with a plan, just like always. And as they both lie back on the grass, she tells him that he's the smartest person she knows.
A boy and the girl he likes, lying next to each other by a creek with the sun shining down on them as she repeatedly compliments him. It is a scene that, for all intents and purposes, appears romantic.
Then, as he lies down, she tells Dipper something he probably never expected to hear but likely hoped was true: that if he were older, he would be her dream guy.
And as surprised and pleased as he is to hear her say that out loud, it might have also hurt him a little bit too because it came with a catch.
If he were older.
If.
Then, sounding as if she just realised something, she reminds him that here, in Mabeland, he can be anything he wants to be. And that once he changes, they can be together.
Which is the final difference between Fake Wendy and the other temptations. The others changed the world to suit their subject. Mabel got total control and a brother who would always support her, Wendy found her friends and was allowed to act out without consequence, and Soos got a father who cared. But Dipper's greatest desire isn't to change the world or the people around him, it's to change himself.
Even more frequently than his desire to impress or get close to Wendy, Dipper's insecurities have been a big part of his character arc. He wants to be taller. He wishes he were more masculine. That he had bigger muscles. That his voice wouldn't crack. That he could talk to girls. That he wouldn't get pushed around so easily. Most of all, he wants to be taken seriously instead of being mocked or ignored. And in his mind, getting older is the best way to fix all of that.
Unlike Mabel and Wendy, Dipper can't wait to grow up. Because then he thinks all of his problems will be solved.
The reason I consider Fake Wendy to be the most devious temptation in all of Mabeland is because she's like a fusion of the others but with her own twists. Like Bill offering the deal to Mabel, she appears when he's at a low point. Like Wendy's temptation, it's in the form of someone he cares for and wishes was by his side. Like Soos, it's an offer for something he thought he'd never have but still yearns for.
Not only that, but Dipper's two greatest weaknesses are his ego and his insecurities, and Fake Wendy successfully plays on both at the same time. Even her comment about him being the smartest person she knows strokes his ego while soothing the fear of not living up to everyone's expectations as 'the smart guy' that he voiced in Society of the Blind Eye. And it is almost enough to make even Dipper Pines forget the people he's trying to save.
Because he is tempted. We hear the hope in his voice. See the joy in his eyes as they light up when he scrambles to his knees in excitement. This is everything he's craved all at once. A solution to all of his physical and emotional insecurities, and the chance to be with the girl of his dreams.
All he has to do is take her hand.
And let the rest of the world die screaming.
Which he almost does. His hand moves towards hers for the briefest of moments before he pulls back and scrambles away. And in my opinion, this makes Dipper's moment here all that more impressive. Because the strength of someone's will isn't measured by how little they are tempted, it's by how they resist that temptation.
Bill was right; the bubble really was his most diabolical trap. And it would take a will of titanium to resist it. But he was wrong about there being no more heroes in his world.
Because rejecting Fake Wendy wasn't just about Dipper denying everything he thought would make him happy, it was putting himself and those he loved at risk to save others. He could have been safe, and happy, and better. But the price wasn't worth it.
Dipper has frequently sacrificed his own happiness and desires for his sister. But this time he's prepared to put his own life, his sister's, and his two best friends' at risk to help the world outside. Because he needs them. And Gravity Falls needs him.
Just like I needed him. And I doubt I'm alone in that. Sometimes fiction is the pill that makes reality tolerable. Whether as an inspiration or a metaphor, a release or a goal, we all have our own reasons for feeling so strongly about the characters and scenarios that help get us through the day.
Which leads me to the final argument I've heard about how Dipper was able to resist Bill's trap. That, logically, he just rejected it because he realised it was fake, and the temptation he and the others face doesn't truly count. Because it wasn't real.
Neither is Gravity Falls. And yet here I am, having spent most of my weekend writing a six thousand word essay about it. And you're here reading it. Whatever you think of what I've written, that you took the time to look at this proves how important fiction is to you too.
And how much more time, effort, and money have you put into this series? The show, the books, interviews and tweets, possibly reading or maybe even writing fanfics? I've personally spent over five years writing over half a million words about a cartoon that ended over a decade ago and yet I still have so much more to say. And I'm not that special. Real or not, Gravity Falls matters to others even more than it matters to me.
Wherever you are, however fortunate you are, no doubt you've longed for something more, or at least something different. An escape, or a way to get something you knew you couldn't have but greatly yearned for. Think how tempting that is.
Now imagine if that offer was put in front of you while the word was ruled by monsters and an insane god. Wouldn't you yearn to escape reality, to not only be safe but happier than you've probably ever been in your entire life? How many of us would be able to resist that? I suspect even fewer than we think, but maybe I'm trying to console myself.
If I'm honest, I don't even know what my greatest desire is. But I still don't think I could - much less would - resist an offer like that in our world, let alone during Weirdmageddon.
But Dipper did.
And as I said before, I see a lot of myself in Dipper. True, I'm not as brave or smart or kind, certainly not as wise. But he has encouraged me to be better. He's already inspired me, despite all the mistakes he made along the way. So, who knows? Maybe one day, if I make enough mistakes and learn from them like he did, I'll be a little bit closer to being like him.
And even if I don't, that's okay too.
Because if Dipper Pines has taught me one thing…it's that the best you can do is strive to be someone worthy of loving.
And those are words to live by.
Cheers, Milky Boy Blue.
