So, this is gonna be relatively new territory for me…
When making my account on this site, I only saw myself as making simple, fluffy stories, with characters just having a jolly good time with each other. It's not because I hate drama-related stories in any way, it's only because I feel like I wouldn't write a good drama story myself, handling conflict and making sure it isn't forced and/or rushed; that's why we got writers like SuperGroverAway to handle conflict like this better than I can, but hey, don't know until we try, right?
Anyways, this idea was inspired by a guest reviewer who suggested on my "Sleepy Sensories" about a story involving a depressed Dipper wanting to go back to the Falls to be back with Wendy and such. Personally, I think it's a very interesting concept, and I wanted to see what I could do. At first, this was planned as a one-shot, but I figured to extend it into a semi-short multi-chapter story, as to not leave anything out. Right now, we're starting things off with a semi-short (though admittedly overly-expositioned) prologue to kick things off!
To that same guest reviewer reading this, I hope this story does suit to your needs and I apologize if this took a long while to make! To everyone else, here's hoping you enjoy my first drama-related story "Saudade"!
Gravity Falls is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun.)
SAUDADE
PROLOGUE: THE LONGING
Dipper always hated the weather back in Piedmont.
Three weeks ago, the Pines twins had returned to their hometown after their rather eventful summer, and ever since their arrival, the weather seemed somewhat gloomy non-stop. One day would have low-hanging clouds with the chilly, northern winds blowing through the sky, another day would have an all-day rain shower with the air being all humid and musky. Not one speck of sunlight had shone through the clouds as of yet.
It was enough to make Dipper feel both annoyed and gross. Wasn't California weather supposed to be sunny and nice?
Then again, he was never really used to Piedmont in general before he and Mabel had ventured to the Falls...
In Piedmont, he felt like a nobody. Another cog in the works, going to a middle school with other students that hardly even notice him, whether in the halls or in class. Sure, the school teachers admired Dipper for his high marks and attentiveness, but those features basically screamed "Grade-A bully material" to the other kids. But back in Gravity Falls however, he actually felt like he mattered there. He was carefree and adventurous. He was never afraid to show his emotions or interests to others, in spite of his timidity and awkwardness.
There, he had friends and family that loved and enjoyed being with him and Mabel. People he could speak with freely and co-mingle with in non-judgment fashion, such as allies like Grunkles Stan and Ford, Soos, Melody, Old Man McGucket, Pacifica, Deputies Durland and Blubs, Grenda, Candy, Tambry, Lee, Nate, Thompson…
Wendy…
He missed everyone's quirky, folksy, and well-meaning personalities, where even during the most hardest of times (notably including when Bill Cipher unleashed Weirdmageddon upon the sleepy town), the town still kept a close-knit bond with each other. He even missed certain residents of the Falls that he used to have bad blood with, like Gideon and even Robbie!
Granted however, almost every day in the Falls saw him getting chased, scared, and even forced into battle when coming across any one of Gravity Falls' numerous mystical beings, be it sentient lawn gnomes, zombies, Summerween monsters, shapeshifters, and even the unholy grand-daddy of all chaos himself, Bill Cipher.
But even then, Dipper felt more braver and more sure of himself during that one summer than he ever felt in his whole lifetime. Back in Piedmont, he couldn't even look at another kid in the eye without being berated at by another one of his so-called "peers". All he knew about these kids were that they were snobs and jocks, with haughty personalities so cliched and one-dimensional that it was almost laughable, almost as if these kids came straight from some dumb teen sitcom!
Regardless, that didn't mean that their mean-spirited remarks towards him still didn't hurt...
There doesn't go a day without one of the kids mocking him regarding his personality. His love for learning about the supernatural, his birthmark, his shyness and awkward behavior, his skinny limbs and lack of strength, or his inability to get a girlfriend, amongst many other "freakish quirks" that the kids laugh at him for.
Plus, in comparison to the Falls, Dipper saw Piedmont as bland and not as interesting. Sure, he still loved learning and studying his usual school subjects, but after discovering the supernatural wonders that the Falls had to offer, his thirst for adventure and mystery only spiked up more since he arrived back home.
With him being stuck back in Piedmont, several miles away from the place he would happily call home before his own, Dipper Pines was deeply yearning to go back to Gravity Falls, no matter what the cost, even if it's to visit for one whole day...
Every day during classes and every night in bed, he'd dream to himself and him and Mabel returning back to Gravity Falls and doing such activities as hanging out with their friends and discovering new and rare creatures. Basically, they'd getting into more fun and memorable misadventures just like the summer before.
But alas, here he was, stuck in his drab and glum hometown for the rest of the fall, winter, and spring...
Even then, as much as he wanted to leave this humdrum lifestyle of being a nobody in Piedmont, he couldn't just exactly leave Mabel behind neither.
Dipper loved his twin sister to death, even during times when both their personalities clash hard enough to warrant a fight between them. True, Mabel can be overbearing, hyper, and rather stubborn at most times, but she was still a sweet-hearted and helpful girl at heart, always brimming with love and positivity wherever she goes.
He hadn't the heart to tell her his feelings about wanting to go back to the Falls, only because he figured that she would tell him something like to "move on" or to "stop being a baby" about it.
He also felt that telling their parents about how he was feeling wouldn't work out as well. Not because they were strict or passive parents in any way, but Dipper still felt they wouldn't really understand his feelings. Their dad worked in an office for a law firm, along with their mom who also worked there as a lawyer, both all-day jobs where they usually come home around 5:00-ish in time for dinner.
They both led busy lives at work, on top of taking time to take care of him and Mabel, and Dipper didn't want to put any more pressure on them. It was bad enough explaining why they brought home a live pig to live with them now, so telling his parents his desire to go back to the Falls so soon would prove to be fruitless at best.
He didn't want to be more of a burden than he already thinks he is...
Despite all these feelings coursing through his mind and as much as he wanted to go back to the Falls, Dipper felt it best to just try and keep his thoughts and feelings to himself and just get on with his life as normal. It'll be a lengthy and tiresome trek until next June comes by, but for the sake of making his parents and sister happy, he'll just have to repress his yearning thoughts for the time being.
For now, he would just have to grin and bear it...for until next summer could arrive…
...Unfortunately, that there is a prime example of "easier said than done"...
TO BE CONTINUED...
With all that exposition now outta the way, next chapter will feature some events that will lead to Dipper's ultimate decision: stay and be a nobody in Piedmont or return back to the Falls to actually be somebody. Major apologies if this took longer to upload than my usual schedule, but I wanted to make sure that this comes out at least better than my other multi-chapter fics…
Until then, I'll post on my profile when the next chapter will be! Feedback is greatly appreciated and thanks for reading! :D
~Thunderbyrd