Okay but I had this really profound realization the other day
Do you realize
That
Neither of the twins
Actually ended up in love
IT'S SO GREAT!
None of Mabel's "romances" worked out for more than an episode, and she eventually hopefully realized she wasn't actually ready to sustain a relationship (she's twelve, for crying out loud). Dipper never ends up with Wendy, like he wanted, or Pacifica, like we wanted, and that one episode with Candy ended up with both of them awkwardly realizing they'd gotten in over their heads. The show slowly stopped even focusing on it (wasn't Mabel's last crush Marius?), unless you count Roadside Attraction but honestly that episode belongs somewhere between The Love God and Not What He Seems. It's so freaking anachronistic. And that episode ended in almost a condemnation of tween "romance."
This fandom has shipping, like every fandom, but do you realize that NONE OF IT BECAME CANON? After everything that happened, you know what prevailed? FAMILY. The last episode wasn't even shippy at ALL. Because it was all focused on Stan and Ford and the characters on the Wheel all working together and being FAMILY.
IT JUST MAKES ME SO HAPPY.
I mean I guess I knew it but it didn't really hit me until just recently. That, after all the gimmicks and crushes and awkwardness about romance, all of it ended up fading away and making room for the important stuff. That when it all boiled down, a broken relationship between two twin brothers was far more important than tweens thinking they know what romance even is.
I think that's one of the major reasons I love Gravity Falls. They handled romance the right way: by having it (in small doses), but ultimately putting family first. And I want so badly to emanate that in my own work someday.
