AUTHOR'S NOTE: hey guys! i've never actually posted on this site before (i'm usually on ao3, where this is being crossposted from), but i spent probably the better part of a decade reading gravity falls fic on here! fun fact: the gravity falls fandom is actually what got me into reading — and later writing — fanfic when i was a young teen! ironically enough, i've never actually written a fic for this fandom until now. but, with the book of bill and the resurgence of GF in 2024, i figured there's no better time to post my contribution. while i was not super into the drifting stars au back then, i've gotten into it now, and that led me to start thinking about what a reverse-drifting stars au might look like.

so, here's that. more notes at the end. hope y'all enjoy!

"Dipper, just back away."

Dipper's outstretched hand hovers inches above the shutdown button, each one of his fingers twitching with the urge to slam down against the glowing red disk and put an end to Stan's lies once and for all.

He doesn't break eye contact, almost waiting for his great uncle to finally reveal a tell. A twitch of the eye. A tremble in his hands. Something. Anything.

But, all Stan does is heave, his chest huffing with each mismatched breath. "Please don't press that shutdown button, you gotta trust me." He inches closer, his hands outstretched, one bandaged hand taunting Dipper with even more untold secrets, more shoddily kept lies.

And Dipper feels like he's losing his mind. For real this time. No dream invasions, shapeshifter brawls, or sock puppet possessions could rival the betrayal he feels at seeing his great-uncle, of all people, behind some sort of doomsday device surely predestined to destroy them all. It sits lodged in his chest like a knife, twisting and digging deeper and deeper, pulling tight as Stan's gaze ever so slightly softens in his direction.

He won't fall for it this time. "And I should trust you why?! After you stole radioactive waste? After you lied to us all summer?!" Dipper steps forward too, unable to stop himself from gesturing wildly in Stan's direction. "I don't even know who you are!"

Stan finally comes face to face with them. "Look, I know this all seems nuts, but I need that machine to stay on! If you'd just let me explain—"

He stops in his tracks, his watch letting out a shrill, rapid beeping noise. The ground beneath them begins to shake, almost as if it's ready to give way and drop them all down into the Bottomless Pit. "Uh-oh, oh, no!" Stan exclaims, his palms outstretched. "Brace yourselves!"

They all scream, their bodies thrown up into the air. Dipper's hat flies off of his head as he's sent careening into a wooden post, his cheek smacking hard against the lumber.

Dipper's ears ring as he whips around, catching sight of Mabel, kept in place by a thick wire that's wrapped around her foot. She yells out for him, thick curls flying above her head, an identical expression of fear etched into her features.

His heart flutters wildly against his ribcage. He heaves a breath. "Mabel! Hurry! Shut it down!" he yells out.

Dipper watches as Mabel pulls herself toward the button, wrapping her hands around the cord and using it as leverage. She moves with the same urgency she used when it was her and Dipper plunging off the side of a cliff — her nimble hands expertly reaching for her grappling hook. It isn't lost on him who the villain is this time, and just how far they've fallen since then.

Stan pushes himself off of the wall. "No! Mabel, Mabel, wait! Stop!" he says, swimming through the drafty, electrifying air. He cries out as Soos knocks him away from Mabel, encasing him in a bear hug.

"Soos, what're you doing?! I gave you an order!" he says as he slams his fist down on Soos' head.

Dipper can hardly hear the words that leave Soos next, his ears buzzing with adrenaline and blind terror. All Dipper has eyes on is Mabel — almost at the button now. He can't help but notice how scared she looks. How betrayed. And it's all Stan's fault.

He sees red as he throws himself away from his own position, joining Soos and Stan in their moving, sprawling fight. Dipper sends his assaults up toward Stan's face, paying no mind to the fact that his great uncle only barely, hesitantly defends himself from them. Instead, Stan keeps his bandaged hand around Dipper's skull.

He has no time to feel shocked at his own actions, the timer quickly approaching zero. "Mabel, press the red button! Shut it down!"

Stan finally pushes him down by the head. "No you can't! You gotta trust me!"

Dipper grabs hold of Stan's leg, pulling himself back up. Stan wraps his arm around him instead of fighting, keeping him steady.

"Grunkle Stan," Mabel starts, finally at the button, "I don't even know if you're my grunkle!" she cries. They all watch as her tears shoot up toward the ceiling. "I wanna believe you, but—"

"Then listen to me," Stan says, flashing those lying, manipulative eyes in his sister's direction. "Remember this morning when I said I wanted to tell you guys something?"

Dipper screams as the timer hits twenty seconds, the force of the device shooting him back-first into the rigid, stone wall. He hears something crack, his vision swimming as he tries to find Mabel's silhouette against the vortex of blues, pinks, yellows, and oranges circling behind her.

Mabel's hand goes for the button.

"I wanted to say that you're gonna hear some bad things about me, and some of them are true, but trust me. Everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family!"

Something twists in Dipper's gut. He pushes it down, his head swimming with anxiety so potent it nearly sends him spinning in a spiral of his own. "Mabel, what if he's lying? This thing could destroy the universe!" he yells. "Listen to your head!"

Lies find purchase on Stan's tongue, as if it's their home, leaving his mouth as quickly as thoughts form. "Look into my eyes, Mabel! You really think I'm a bad guy?"

It takes everything in Dipper not to pull bundles of brown locks from his head.

Dipper screams, "He's lying! Shut it down NOW!"

Mabel's gaze seesaws between them, her eyes wide and…undecided, Dipper realizes with a jolt, dread moving to rest at the pit of his stomach.

"Mabel, please!"

Ten.

Nine.

Her hand pauses over the button, her eyes squeezed shut.

All Dipper can focus on is the countdown — Mabel's hand frozen midair. It rings in his ears, rattles his body, shakes his disposition.

Tick tock, kid.

A loud, guttural scream tears its way out of Dipper's throat as he winds himself back, propelling himself off the wall once more, shooting toward Mabel and the portal.

She won't do it. He knows she can't. She's too trusting. Too good.

"Kid, no!" Stan yells, and Dipper can hear him on his tail, floating behind him.

Dipper's propulsion lands him above Mabel, floating high above the countdown button. He feels as Stan wraps his hand around his ankle, trying to pull him away from the portal and keep him from pressing the button. Electricity shoots against his back, leaving every hair on his head standing on end.

"Stop!" Dipper yells, kicking against Stan's grip. "You're gonna kill us all!"

Stan's eyes widen, his grip tightening around Dipper's sock. "Dipper, stop fighting! Get back!"

Three.

Two.

And in his last seconds, reaches his hand down, outstretched, pulling Stan up as his feet soar above his head.

He meets Mabel's eyes as his fingers brush against the tip of the button. It's not enough. It's never enough.

"Dipper!" Mabel cries.

One.

A sucking sound, a flashing, white light. Two large, warm arms wrapping around him, trying to pull him back and keep him in place simultaneously.

And then, a loss. Like a battle of tug-of-war, the loud, lightning-filled, distended goliath reaches out — winning the match.

Something large and unwieldy smacks him in the temple, the last discernible, identifiable sensation in his body as he feels himself ripping through time and space. Weird, Dipper thinks. He feels weightless.

All he sees is black.

i'm sure whatever dimension dipper and grunkle stan find themselves in next chapter will be magical and colorful and filled with lots of mysteries for dipper to solve :,,) ! i'm sure ole fordsy was in a great dimension where nothing bad ever happens! more coming real soon!

btw, title of this story is from laura palmer by bastille, and this chapter's namesake is the way by fastball! also, comments are always appreciated! :)