Chapter 136: It's Gonna Get Weird
Art by Crash X Fusion: It's time to go back. Alternatively...
Weirdmageddon has begun and Gravity Falls descends into madness: Ford orders the agents to bring in some special backup.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Adaptation Deviation: To "Weirdmageddon". Dipper is the one trapped in a bubble, of which there are now two, with the other trapping Camila. Mabel is the one rescuing the twin sibling, while Stan, Candy, Grenda, Pacifica, and Waddles join her, Wendy, and Soos. Poolcheck is captured by the Eye-Bats, the journals aren't destroyed, and instead of Gideon (who's already undergone a Heel–Face Turn), Preston is the pawn hindering the heroes.
- Ambiguous Situation: Looking into Abigail's eyes after losing her son, Nora sees the pain of losing a child, or children. After witnessing Angel's death, who else has Abigail seen perish?
- Armor-Piercing Question: Pacifica attempts to use one on Preston by asking him if becoming Bill's pawn was honestly worth giving up his humanity and selling out the human race for the sake of revenge. Preston ultimately ignores the question and tries to kill his daughter first.
- Bait-and-Switch: The appearance of a second bubble next to Dipper's with the symbol of a pair of glasses would make one believe that Old Man McGucket has been captured by Bill. After Mabel, Stan, and Steam Punk meet up with Wendy and Mabel's friends, Candy recognizes the symbol is actually Camila's glasses, meaning she got captured sometime before Mabel and Stan were brought back to town.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Mr. Poolcheck gets Vee out of the way before she's caught under an Eye-Bat's gaze, then proceeds to distract them so she can get away.
- Gus G. gets a smaller moment for himself, successfully saving his mother from getting caught even if it meant Taking the Bullet himself.
- Big Damn Reunion: Mabel and Stan are reunited when both are brought back to Gravity Falls and one by one, they meet up with Grenda, Wendy, Candy, Pacifica, Soos, and Waddles as well as Gideon.
- Big "NO!": From Vee when Megan and Ivy are captured, then Pacifica with Priscilla, and Gus P. with Perry accompanied by a Little "No".
- Body Horror: Preston's new "Horseman of the Apocalypse" form has six red eyes on his face, and more on his chest, shoulder, and knees.
- Break the Cutie: Being away from Gravity Falls for the last few weeks has sucked all the joy and positivity out of Mabel. Being given the opportunity to go back snaps her out of her funk.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Bigfoot, of all creatures, shows up since "Viva Last Vegans!", escaping the chaos Bill's stirring up with Chutzpar and the gnomes.
- Mr. and Mrs. Pines physically reappear for the first time since "The Return of the Witchlings".
- Call-Back:
- After being taken away from Gravity Falls, Mabel and Stan return to the town to help defeat Bill and save everyone using the zodiac prophecy.
- When overlooking the town on the mall roof, Mabel thinks back to her talk with Luz in that same location.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Mabel finally becomes fed up with her parents when they refuse to let her return to Gravity Falls to help save Dipper and Ford, going as far as to drop the F-bomb on them when they don't show any concern over their son. When they reveal why they gave Dipper away, she calmly tells them to let her go since she won't abandon Dipper like they did.
- Captivity Harmonica: One of Mabel's venting methods is playing the harmonica and singing blues.Mabel: I'm doing time in my room, my parents acting like jerks… I wish my brother was here… to celebrate our birthday~! I got the 'I-Miss-Gravity-Falls-And-I-Wish-My-Brother-Was-Here' blues~!
- Cliffhanger: Mabel's party enters Dipper's bubble ready to rescue him while Gideon, Grenda, and Steam Punk deal with the Heartless, yet we get no updates on what Gus P's group are currently going through.
- Continuity Nod:
- The Mad Scientist Convention is seen in a flashback, as it is where Steam Punk met Old Man McGucket.
- Preston had Bill's power at his disposal and he still can't take a punch to the face, which is how he's ultimately defeated.
- Cope by Creating: Ever since she was brought back to Piedmont, Mabel took to drawing her family and friends from Gravity Falls as a way to vent her frustrations. She's made piles of them, so they haven't been helping that much.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Bill humors the government soldiers' assault on him for a few seconds before he starts blowing them all up.
- Steam Punk is able to dodge all of Preston's attacks and counterattack armed with his homemade tech, allowing Stan to deliver the final blow.
- A Day in the Limelight: Attention defects to Mabel and Stan as they're brought back to town and slowly put together a team to assist them in saving Dipper once the team that was assigned to help them dwindles.
- Deal with the Devil: Seizing the opportunity upon escaping prison, Preston allows Bill's Henchmaniacs to bring him before Bill so he can obtain his power. Bill sees right through the ploy, but humors Preston and allows him to guard Dipper and Camila's bubbles while holding onto the key to the former's.
- Dwindling Party: Once Task Force-D encounters the Heartless, Powers, Trigger, Gill, and Duff are all captured, leaving Mabel and Stan with just Steam Punk to assist them until they meet up with Grenda, who takes them to Wendy, Candy, Paz, and Toby Determined at the Gravity Malls.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Steam Punk is an up-and-coming villain who looks down on capitalists such as Preston, who think they're better than everyone else. As Steam Punk says, Preston's evil, but not 'supervillain' evil.
- Explosive Leash: As a precaution for the off chance that Stan runs away, Powers has a metal bracelet armed with an explosive strapped to his wrist, which will blow his arm off. All of Task Force-D is strapped with bracelets as well, except for Steam Punk as he's a volunteer and a teenager.
- Eye Scream: Throughout the fight against Preston, Steam Punk keeps firing at his numerous eyes, causing Preston great pain but not to the point of permanently blinding him.
- The Ghost:
- The agents mention they tried to contact Jake for his help, but couldn't reach him, hence why they turned to supervillains on loan from Global Justice.
- One of Steam Punk's villainous inspirations is Sir Pentious.
- Great Escape: Thanks to Gompers, the prison's damaged enough to prompt a prison break allowing Preston to get out.
- Hate Sink: Mr. and Mrs. Pines sink lower once again. Not only do they try to prevent Agents Li and Stone from taking Mabel back to Gravity Falls despite the urgency, they end up revealing that they gave up Dipper because they only wanted a daughter and had prepared for Mabel's birth in advance. At the very least, they relent once Mabel pleads with them and the agents assure them that she won't be harmed.
- Heroic BSoD: Gus P. and Nora fall into one each after seeing their only family members being petrified and taken away, and Camila and Abigail have to encourage them to keep going for their safety and so it won't be a Stupid Sacrifice.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Megan, Ivy, and Poolcheck are all Taken for Granite due to saving Vee from the Eye-Bats, and Gus G. saves Nora from being turned to stone at the cost of being captured himself.
- History Repeats: Nora feels herself going through this due to losing her son and being unable to do anything about it, much like how she lost her husband.
- Human Sacrifice: Preston allows Teeth and 8-Ball to have Chapman for a snack in exchange for taking him to Bill. Pacifica is horrified to learn this when he admits it.
- Immediate Sequel: This chapter starts where the last one left off, with Bill making his presence known to Gravity Falls and attacking/capturing the civilians.
- In Spite of a Nail: Everything about Bill's takeover and victory over Time Baby stays the same (including Ford's capture), one Pines twin reunites with Wendy and Soos, Gideon forms thr auto-mart warriors and assists the heroes, and the Pines twin and their friends enter the bubble containing their sibling in order to rescue them.
- Internal Reveal:
- The Porters, Camila, the former Gatesfieldians, and the basilisks encounter Bill for the first time.
- Mabel and Stan learn of Gideon reforming thanks to his talks with Dipper, Wendy, and Dr. Andrews.
- Kick the Dog: Gus P. loses his father again, less than a week after getting him back while Vee loses her siblings after believing the Human Realm was a safe haven for all of them to escape certain doom.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Preston gives up his humanity to serve Bill and become a powerful being, but is taken down by the very "commoners" he had hoped to subject.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The narration points out that while the escort teams don't know what the Heartless are, the readers do.
- Meaningful Appearance: Pacifica declares that Preston's new look fits because he now looks like the monster he had always been on the inside.
- Multi-Part Episode: Part 1 of the Weirdmageddon arc.
- Mythology Gag:
- At the start of this chapter, Bill sings the titular cut song, "It's Gonna Get Weird".
- After Bill laughs at the soldiers' attempts to defeat him, he says "It's funny how dumb you are!"
- Powers lists off some of Stan's crimes besides nearly ending reality and identity theft: "pug trafficking, impersonating a dentist, a new crime he invented called 'burglebezzlement', and first-degree Llamacide" (That llama knew too much!).
- Bill mentions wanting to rearrange the functions of all the holes on Preston's face just to torment him, and nearly does it before getting interrupted.
- No-Sell: The agents attempt to shoot down Bill using missiles and other standard weapons, none of which has any effect on him.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: Mabel and Stan are trying to stop Bill so they can save their brothers, Duff and Gill are doing it for leniency on their sentences, and Steam Punk just wants to save McGucket but intends to see his escort mission through.
- Oh, Crap!: Gideon turns paler than he already is when Preston says Bill wants to see him: chances are Bill isn't happy about Gideon backing out of their deal to get the code to Stan's safe.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Main red flag signifying that Mabel's become depressed about being forced to come back home? She's not wearing a sweater.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": Nora's reaction to seeing Gus G. be turned to stone.
- The Reveal:
- Bigfoot came to Gravity Falls from Echo Creek at some point.
- The only reason Mr. and Mrs. Pines gave Dipper away is because they were only prepared and only wanted a daughter.
- The kids Gideon befriended in juvie are the sons of the prisoners from Gravity Falls Max Security Prison, such as Ghost Eyes Jr.
- She's Back: After falling into a funk since returning to Piedmont, Mabel is allowed to go back to Gravity Falls to save her people. To symbolize her rejuvenated mood, she dons her rainbow sweater before Li and Stone take her back.
- Shipped in Shackles: When Stan's brought to town, he's shown wearing a muzzle and straitjacket. It soon turns out that the muzzle came about from his telling his guards nonstop jokes for the sake of torturing them.
- Shout-Out:
- During his Villain Song, Bill messes with a bearded guy wearing a flannel shirt named Alex.
- As he demonstrates his power on the government agents, Bill takes down an attack helicopter by bringing it to life. The human face basically makes it a nightmare version of Harold.
- Stan is brought back to Gravity Falls sporting the typical Hannibal Lecter look.
- Among the supervillain team known as Task Force-D is Duff Killigan, Gill, and Catfish Booray, with the team being based on the Suicide Squad.Trigger: Admittedly, we did get the idea from comic books.
- Steam Punk lists Tim Curry, Al Pacino, and Jack Nicholson as his favorite actors for their tendencies for playing villains.
- Preston has numerous eyes all over his body, which could bring to mind Eye Guy.
- Steam Punk states to Preston that the difference between a villain and a supervillain is ''PRESENTATION'', and even directly alludes Will Ferrell.
- Spit Take: Performed by Alex after Bill turns his coffee into decaf.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When we see Preston in Gravity Falls Max Security Prison, we see that Chapman is there with him, having been arrested as Preston's accomplice in his crimes during the mayoral election.
- Taken for Granite: A number of citizens are petrified by Bill during his song. They're followed soon after by Megan, Ivy, Poolcheck, Priscilla, Perry, Dana, Rudo, and Gus G..
- Talk to the Fist: Stan knocks out Preston with one good hit to his face, happy that he finally got to do that to a Northwest.
- Tantrum Throwing: Preston does not handle being in prison well, as Ghost-Eyes takes his food and laughs at him alongside the other prisoners after telling him his rich boy status means nothing to him, leading Preston to have a fit over it.
- Teen Genius: Steam Punk is a juvenile delinquent who makes his own weaponry and jet boots, all powered by steam.
- Uncertain Doom:
- Powers, Trigger, Gill, and Catfish are captured by the Heartless. Duff, on the other hand, manages to escape and ends up at the mini-golf course.
- Gus P's group, Vee and Blubs are of unknown status by chapter's end, last seen trying to find a way to escape the chaos. Grenda, Gideon, and Steam Punk's fates are also unknown for now.
- The Un-Reveal: What happened to Gus P. Clara, Masha, and the moms before the agents sent for Mabel and Stan, and how did Camila get captured?
- Villain Respect: All of Task Force-D respect Stan for nearly ending all of reality, even though he was only trying to bring his brother back to this dimension.
- Villain Song: "It's Gonna Get Weird", of course. Bill begins his takeover of Gravity Falls by putting on an elaborate performance.
- Wham Episode: Weirdmageddon has begun, and Megan, Ivy, Perry, Poolcheck, Dana, Rudo, and Gus G. are turned to stone while Camila is put in a bubble prison, Powers and Trigger bring Mabel and Stan back to Gravity Falls where they reunite with Soos, Wendy, Pacifica, Candy, and Grenda, Preston becomes Bill's pawn and is defeated thanks to Gideon's assistance, and while Gideon, Grenda, and Steam Punk keep the Heartless off of them, Mabel, Stan, Soos, Wendy, Candy, and Pacifica enter Dipper's bubble to save him.
- Wham Shot: As Task Force-D escorts Mabel and Stan, they come across a group of Heartless.
