Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there; I did not die.

-Mary Elizabeth Frye


Immediately after the "incident," as Weirdmageddon came to be known in Gravity Falls, the whole town was shaken by the sudden and mysterious deaths of the ten found in the woods. Visiting twins Mabel and Mason "Dipper" Pines were transported to California by their parents for burial in their hometown of Piedmont. Pacifica Northwest was laid in the family catacombs under Northwest Manor. Wendy Corduroy was cremated, and her ashes scattered in the forest by her father. All others were laid to rest in the Gravity Falls Cemetery.

On August 25, 2013, exactly a year later, a memorial to the fallen heroes was dedicated in the town square. Modeled after the strange circle seen in the Fearamid, it replaced the abstract symbols with the names of their bearers, with a flag of the Resistance flying in the center of the bronze circle.

Fortunately, in the year between these events, the townsfolk of Gravity Falls had already begun moving on from the tragedy.

On September 2, 2012, Greg and Janice Valentino, owners of Valentino Funeral Home, closed up shop for a year and traveled the world, growing closer as a couple as they healed throughout their trip. A decade later, they sold the funeral home and retired for good. They continued to travel across the country and globe for the rest of their lives, and even lived to celebrate their golden anniversary.

On September 3, 2012, Melody Belk came from Portland to visit the grave of her long-distance boyfriend, Soos Ramirez. After striking up a close friendship with his grandmother, Maria, she decided to move to Gravity Falls permanently and took a full-time job at the mall's Meat Cute stand. Melody went on to marry one of her co-workers and have three kids, one of whom she named after Soos. Maria Ramirez became an honorary grandmother to the children, loving them for many years until she peacefully passed away in her sleep at the age of 89.

On May 14, 2013, just a week shy of their thirteenth anniversary, Louise and Charles "Bud" Gleeful filed for divorce, citing irretrievable breakdown of marriage following the death of their young son, Gideon. Bud Gleeful moved back to his home state of Texas, where he remarried a widow with two teenage daughters and lived a long life with a large family, including many beloved step-grandchildren. Louise, meanwhile, stayed in Gravity Falls and married local farmer Tobias Sprott. Over the next twenty years, she was slowly able to move on from her late son's abusive behavior, eventually coming to truly forgive him before she died.

On June 3, 2013, the opening day of Fishing Season, Lake Gravity Falls Bait & Tackle was officially renamed McGuckets' Bait & Tackle, in honor of proprietor Tate McGucket's late father. Tate continued to run the store for seventeen years, until his rowboat capsized one evening while he was on the lake during a storm. When his body washed ashore the next morning, he was promptly buried next to his father.

On August 4, 2013, the first annual Pacifica Elise Northwest Memorial Gala was held at Northwest Manor—open, despite Preston and Priscilla's personal misgivings, to the townsfolk of Gravity Falls as well as wealthy invitees. Curiously, the townsfolk turned out to be not bad company, and the list of rich and famous guests gradually grew shorter over the years. On April 29, 2016, the Northwests unexpectedly gave birth to a son, Nathan Patrick Northwest. Vowing to be better parents than they were to their firstborn daughter, Priscilla and Preston did their best to be supportive and caring—and, of course, any notions of Pavlovian discipline were immediately thrown out the window. Decades later, after outliving Priscilla by three years and suffering a near-fatal stroke six months prior, Preston Northwest died at home at the age of 85. His son was at his bedside.

On September 13, 2013, after over a year of wallowing in grief for his late brothers and grandchildren, Sherman Pines retired from his job as an accountant in New York City and moved to Piedmont, California to spend more time with his son and daughter-in-law. After learning to emotionally open himself up more, he achieved further closure by driving to Gravity Falls once a year to visit his brothers' graves. It was a full day of driving each way, but Sherman refused to travel otherwise; he had always been skeptical of public transportation, and plus he said that the drive gave him a chance to think. He made the trip annually for twelve years, only stopping at the age of 78 when he had a fatal car accident just north of the Oregon-California border. As per his wishes, he was buried next to Stanley and Stanford.

In the years following the incident, several of the townsfolk noted curious happenings around Gravity Falls. Broken objects would be found inexplicably repaired. Children who ran out into the street would narrowly avoid getting hit by the cars rushing past. Such minor events were seen as unrelated, chalked up to dumb luck and human forgetfulness.

As years turned into decades, however, these occurrences became more noticeable and infinitely more mysterious. Hidden messages were found in peculiar places around town, revealed only by ultraviolet light. Residents of all ages reported having nightmares suddenly shift into pleasant dreams, often with fleeting glances of a little girl who shone like a shooting star.

It became evident that these events were of supernatural origin, a sort not seen before among the usual anomalies of Gravity Falls. Rumors swirled that the town was, in a sense, haunted—not by ghosts, per se, but by some type of benevolent spirits.

The legends came to a head on December 25, 2062, fifty years after the incident. A massive blizzard from the north was forecasted to hit Oregon on Christmas Day, leaving widespread destruction and death in its path. Thus, it came as a surprise when families statewide awoke that morning to find only mild snowfall. Meteorologists found that the blizzard had abruptly changed its course and dissipated over the Pacific Ocean. As children everywhere played in the snow, several in Gravity Falls later claimed to have spotted a girl with long red hair watching from beyond the trees.

The next morning, Manly Dan Corduroy, aged 99, was found by his sons resting against a tree near the edge of the woods, a peaceful smile spread across his cold face. As per his wishes, his sons Marcus, Kevin and Gus scattered his ashes on the same tree.

Soon the tales of mystical Guardians became intertwined with the longstanding local lore of Gravity Falls, like a mutual town secret. Though not discussed extensively with outsiders, tourists picked up on bits and pieces of the stories, causing them to spread throughout Oregon and across the Pacific Northwest region.

Eventually the legends piqued the interest of a pair of graduate students at West Coast Tech, who decided to investigate the mystery for themselves and arrived in Gravity Falls on June 15, 2112.