Wow, okay, so the first chapter of this trash fanfiction received really good reception, and I'm super grateful that you all took the time to read, comment, follow and favourite my trashy writing- Thankyou so much!
Also, in the description I give for a non-supernatural way of the cliffs forming, I've probably messed up a little bit on the science, but if I have, please just ignore it- it was the only way I could think of to have them form like that when there is no supernatural activity in Gravity Falls in this au thing.
Chapter Two
Dipper had planned to push the infuriating youtuber out of his mind and go back to doing something productive. However, that didn't seem to restrain him from sitting for another three hours, watching mIndscape's videos. By then, he had begun to grow used to the disturbing comments that played in warped voices on the videos, and instead of placing all his attention on the unusual content that the videos held, he focused on the actual person sitting in front of the camera. Dipper had soon found a reason for the Illuminati mask that mIndscape wore- he had yet to find a video that hadn't made some form of Illuminati confirmed joke, and wearing a large yellow triangle on his face seemed to be the best way for the youtuber to accompany his own jokes. He also noticed the strange clothes that mIndscape seemed to wear- formal clothing such as waistcoats and sweater vests, all in obnoxious yellow, accompanied by a neat black bow tie that he seemed to wear in every single video.
However, Dipper knew that he couldn't sit and observe mIndscape in search of a clue to who he was all day- although he would have liked to- so he dragged himself away from the computer screen and set about writing down a script for his first video and a section of the tour.
Pulling a clump of lined paper out of a paper-rack that sat on the desk, he swept out into the hallway to grab Journal number 3 out of his bag, his legs protesting as he stood up. Flipping through the book's well-worn pages, Dipper's eyes skimmed over all the things he could incorporate into his tour. His eyes eventually settled on the page for the seemingly impossible cliffs that framed Gravity Falls' skyline, the split between the two large faces of rock making it look as if they had been created in a way that wasn't natural. The cliffs, however, had been Dipper's first major addition to the Journal- the original Author had been unable to finish his notes on the page due to the accident that occurred while he was researching them, and Dipper had managed to fill in the gaps one summer, when he was 15 years old.
Chewing on the end of his pen as he paused between sentences, Dipper began to write out notes about the cliffs, about how soft rock and an ancient waterfall that had long since dried up had contributed to the odd shape of the cliffs and valley beyond it.
He sat for at least 2 hours, rehearsing and reading over what he was going to say, his heart pulsing at a slightly faster rate out of nerves as he reminded himself that his business and the sort of people it attracted could rest on the videos he produced. Drawing in a heavy sigh after what was probably his twentieth readthrough of the script he had planned out for himself, Dipper stood up again, shaking the stiffness from his legs as he did so. Quickly emptying out the clothes and unnecessary items that sat in his bag onto the hallway floor, he picked up the Journal, his script and a few pens and sheets of paper, before moving into the giftshop and picking up a camera off the shelf, pocketing a few spare batteries too as he put them both into his satchel-style bag, and headed over to the door, before something on one of the shelves caught his eye.
The blue and white hats, decorated with a Pine-tree mural still sat on the shelf, as they had every summer as for as long as Dipper had been coming to Gravity Falls. Dipper had lost his own one of these hats at some point before he'd left for university- from what Mabel had told him, it was even a possibility that his parents had disposed of it; they had never really approved of him wearing it. But now, here they were. Ready for him to take one. Reaching out, Dipper took one of the hats off the shelf and pulled it down over his hair, the brown strands curling wildly out from the sides of it just as they had done when he was a lot younger. Moving over to a mirror that sat propped against the wall, Dipper regarded himself, jeans faded slightly, bag hanging by his side, sleeves of his red plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows, displaying the tattoos that Mabel had designed for him, Locks, keys and strange patterns decorating both of his arms, his brown hair curling out from underneath the blue and white hat, square framed reading glasses balanced on his nose. The Pine Tree hat seemed to jolt Dipper back to the mindset of adventure, the realization that he was back in Gravity Falls for good kicking in fully; the brunet finding himself excited at the prospect of heading back into the woods again.
Dipper smiled nervously at his reflection, adjusted his bag, and walked out of the door to the Mystery Shack.
He recited the script of the video under his breath as he walked through the woods, the sunlight dappling the ground as it filtered through the pine leaves, the light and shadows shifting around him in calming patterns. Heading up to the hilled area that gave a perfect view of the cliffs, he let his gaze flicker back over the town, making a mental note to go and walk around and see what had changed as soon as he had filmed and edited his first video.
Upon reaching the hill, Dipper searched for somewhere to prop his camera, eventually setting it down on a pile of rocks that he hastily constructed, just stable enough to keep the shot steady. Taking a deep breath and letting his gaze skim over the script one last time, he pressed record and stepped back into place.
"Hello, watchers! My name is Dipper Pines, and this-" He was cut off as a gust of wind swept over the hilltop and knocked the camera off the pile of rocks he had constructed, then the pile toppling soon after, also falling to the ground. Letting out a noise of exasperation, he ran over, stopping the recording and began to restack the stones, trying to make it more stable this time. Repositioning the camera, he attempted to start recording again, taking a deep breath to calm himself down and reminding himself to bring a proper tripod next time he filmed. It took 5 attempts for him to actually get past the introduction to the video- he kept stumbling or messing up his lines or dropping the camera, however on the sixth try, he managed to get through the intro without a problem, only to realize that he hadn't even set the camera to record. He was quickly becoming fed up with this whole recording business. Letting out a final, angry sigh, he aggressively stabbed the record button, and started again.
"Hello, watchers! My name is Dipper Pines, and this behind me is Gravity Falls. I've started this youtube channel to document some of the strange and scientifically intriguing attractions that this town holds. In this video, I'll be explaining the odd formation behind me- the floating cliffs." With those words, Dipper launched into an explanation of how he had discovered that the cliffs had been formed due to an odd formation of hard and soft rock in the cliffs, so that when an ancient waterfall carved out the shape of the valley, it cut away the soft rock, leaving only the hard rock behind, resulting in the strange shape. He then went on to talk about how he had discovered this, by finding traces of the softer rock on the edges of the cliffs, before rounding up the video with a bit of self-promotion.
"If you enjoyed learning about the cliffs, then, if you're ever travelling close to Gravity Falls, Oregon, then don't be afraid to stop by at the Mystery Shack where I will be running tours that will not only show you the cliffs, but also many other of Gravity Falls' scientific phenomena. I hope you enjoyed, and thankyou for watching!" Walking over, Dipper pressed the button to stop the camera recording, and exhaled heavily in relief. One video done. Deciding that he would also need some other things for his channel, Dipper picked up the camera and took a photo of the cliffs, then angled the camera so that he was included in the photo, the view of the entire town his backdrop- an image that he would use as his profile picture.
Gathering up his things, pushing the camera back into his bag, Dipper made his way back through the woods towards the Mystery Shack. Once he had made it back through the door, he headed straight over to his computer, browsing the internet to try and find the best free Video Editing software that he could, eventually settling on one to download. As it was loading, he searched for a lead that would allow him to download his video footage onto the computer. It took a lot longer than he expected for the video to edit and export, but Dipper ended up with a fully produced video, one which he was, admittedly, very proud of. The video may have been a little unfocused or shaky in some points, and there were parts when his voice evidently faltered, but for a first serious video, it was definitely decent. Switching over from the editing program into youtube, Dipper clicked the option to upload the video, and typed in the appropriate information, entitling the video 'Floating Cliffs' and typing up some information about the cliffs and the Mystery Shack in the description, before, once again, sitting back and waiting for it to upload.
Opening up another tab, Dipper found himself subconsciously switching back over to mIndscape's channel, scrolling back through into some of his earlier videos, watching through a few of them, before his video finished uploading. He then set his profile picture and channel art that he had taken up by the cliffs, folded his hands behind his head, and went back to waiting. He really should have attempted to make some progress in his writing, however one of mIndscape's videos was still sitting, paused, in another tab, constantly beckoning to him. Flipping back over to the video, he made a note over how this anonymous youtuber had every right to feel powerful over the fact that nobody knew his identity. He pretty much had Dipper, and most likely many other people, addicted to finding out who he was. Dipper looked down towards the option to subscribe to the channel, and hovered his mouse over it.
'I'm doing it for research' He thought to himself, before clicking the subscribe button. Pushing away from the desk again, Dipper stood up and walked across the room, swinging his bag back over his shoulder, collecting up some money and resolving to head into the actual town to buy some food, only just noticing that he'd managed to completely forget to eat lunch.
As Dipper made his way down into the main street, he noticed a few changes that had taken place in the time he'd been away. The most noticeable thing was that there were a few new shops in place, and some of the old businesses had been redecorated. The whole town looked a lot fresher in general since the brown-haired male had last visited, the new facilities definitely something Dipper would have to look into at a later date.
"Dipper?" There was a questioning remark from across the street, and Dipper glanced across in surprise to see a figure with a sweep of red hair dart across the road and pull him into a hug that he thought was about to crush his ribs. "Holy shit, man, it's been years since I've seen you!" Dipper took a step back as the person released him, and looked them disbelievingly up and down.
"Oh my god, Wendy! I haven't seen you in such a long time!" The woman had shorter hair than Dipper remembered, however that was pretty much all that had changed about her since Dipper had last seen her, over 3 years ago. She still had the same stature and glint in her eyes that made her seem unpredictable in a fun sort of way, and, of course, she was still wearing flannel- by now, Dipper was pretty certain Wendy's wardrobe consisted solely of the stuff.
"I know, right! We're going to have to catch up at some point. What're you doing back in Gravity Falls anyway? I thought you were at University." Wendy inquired to Dipper, placing a hand on her hip as she rocked back on her heels, waiting for an answer.
"Grunkle Stan retired from running the Mystery Shack, so I'm in charge now. I'm going to be running tours of the woods, and I've just started a youtube channel to document some of the stuff I've found." Dipper explained.
"Woah, neat! So you've got the whole place to yourself then?" Dipper nodded in response to Wendy's question, and she continued speaking."I'll have to go and check out those tours you'll be running, and that youtube channel of yours- it sounds like it'll be great!" Wendy lifted her hand to indicate the shopping bags in her hand. "I'm going to have to head off and take this lot home, but we need to have dinner and catch up on everything at some point, yeah? See you, Dipper!"
"Yeah, that'd be great. Bye, Wendy!" Dipper watched at the red-haired female left, reflecting back on the time when he was 12, when prospects of having dinner with Wendy would have probably caused him to have a seizure out of excitement. Shuddering at the memory of his first summer in Gravity Falls, when he had developed an embarrassing crush on the former Mystery Shack worker, he reminded himself that everything was all good between the two of them- they had become nothing more than good friends as the years progressed and Dipper came to the realization of how childish his crush on Wendy was.
Smiling slightly to himself, feeling a lot more secure about being back in Gravity Falls now that he had seen a familiar face, Dipper made his way down the street, spotting a Starbucks that had been constructed on one side of the road, which definitely hadn't been there three years ago. He Shrugged, and headed into the shop. Dipper decided that Coffee would most likely give him the boost that he needed to develop motivation to write, and pulled some money out of his bag, not even needing to check over the menu board to know what he wanted to buy. After all, he had spent the majority of his University years in Starbucks, living off espressos and unhealthily small amounts of sleep. However, once he got to the counter, he stopped halfway through opening his mouth to speak as he looked up from pulling the money from his bag, and his gaze fell upon the person behind the counter.
He found himself looking directly at a man with a slightly tanned face, cheeks dusted with freckles, framed by a sweep of blonde hair that fell slightly over one of his golden-coloured eyes. The Starbucks apron he wore was draped over a plain white shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, a name badge that read 'Professional Asshole' pinned to the apron, and a pair of earrings in the shape of small golden triangles were clipped to his ears. The man standing behind the counter looked almost ethereal; as if he didn't quite belong amongst the human race, and Dipper found himself almost forgetting how to speak.
"Are you going to order, or are you just going to stare at me all day?" Dipper's face flushed as the man behind the counter spoke, and he cleared his throat awkwardly, ordering hastily, rushing his words, all the while internally cursing himself.
'Great job, Dipper Pines. You see an attractive person and instantly become a highschool movie cliche. A+ first impression right there.'
The person behind the counter nodded, then moved off to make the drink, leaving Dipper to stand and wallow in his own shame. As soon as his coffee was ready, Dipper shoved the money across the counter towards the blonde-haired male, then picked up his drink and walked hastily out of the shop, already feeling his face burning with embarrassment. Looking down at the drink in his hand, Dipper noticed in surprise that there was something scrawled in sharp-edged yet neat handwriting on the side of his cup. Turning his hand, he glanced down at the writing.
Like what you see, Pine Tree?
And Dipper thought it wasn't possible to be any more embarrassed than he already was.
Ahh yes so much trash. I'm really sorry if this turned out bad- and thankyou so much for reading this chapter!