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“Mabeland knows just what you want and always provides.”
This is mad. Completely mad. And Mabel knows it. Dipper is sure that, deep down, she knows it.
Dipper knows all this is fake. It’s all just a dream. A dream created by Bill. How long before it becomes a nightmare ? They have to get out of here. He has to get Mabel out of here.
But Wendy and Soos are already gone, tricked by their own wishes. It’s just him and Mabel now. And this insufferable parody of him. If Dippy Fresh opens his stupid mouth again, he swears he is going to break his neck.
“Okay, this has gone too far !” he tells Mabel. “You can’t honestly think these fantasies are good for anyone.”
She looks so calm, like she doesn’t understand why he is so upset, like she doesn’t see where the problem is. “You can’t argue with the results,” she says with a smile. “People are happy here. Does it really matter if it’s real or not ?”
Yes. Yes it does. It really, really does. What’s the point of living a lie ? What’s the point of trying to convince yourself it’s true when you know deep down it isn’t ? What’s the point ?
He doesn’t have the time to say that, Mabel is speaking again. “For once, stop listening to your head, and listen to your heart. Mabeland has something for everyone, even you. In fact…”
The door behind him starts shining as it slowly opens. Dipper turns his back to it, shields his eyes. He knows what’s behind that door. He knows very well what his heart dreams about, what he wants so much and will never be his. And he knows that if he looks, even just for a second, it will be too much. He will give up and take that chance to grant this impossible wish, and there will be no going back from this. If he turns his head, if he looks at what’s behind the door, he will never be able to leave Mabeland.
“Nope,” he says, walking to the exit. “Not looking. Not looking.”
Every inch of his body is yelling at him to turn back, to run at the door, to let his dream come true. But it wouldn’t be true. It would be a lie. A lie he desperately wants to be true. A sweet and oh so perfect lie. But a lie nonetheless.
He doesn’t look back. And it takes all the self-control he has left to leave the castle and not run back to the door the next second, but he doesn’t. He is not going to fall for that. It’s a trap. It’s a trap. He knows it.
He finds himself next to a river, and ragefully throws a pebble into it. The pebble perfectly ricochets on the water. “Even my stone skips are perfect !” he complains.
Everything in this world is perfect. And he is not.
He lets out a frustrated sigh as he sits on the perfectly green grass. “Who am I kidding ? Maybe Mabel’s right.” He looks at his reflection, perfectly mirrored by the perfectly clear water of the river. He wonders what this body would be like, if it was right. If it was the body he wanted to have. The body that would fit with who he truly is. A body that would match his soul.
Another reflection appears in the water. “Dude, you’re talking to a river,” Wendy says before sitting next to him.
Dipper is happy she is here. He is happy he isn’t alone. There are too many thoughts going through his head when he is alone. “What’s up ?” he asks. “I thought you were busy wrecking the school or whatever.”
“Yeah, that got old quick,” she admits. “And this music is really starting to get on my nerves.” Yeah, he can’t disagree with her. The five second loop of disco music is driving him crazy. “I think that stuff you said about this place is right.”
“Really ?” He gives her a little smile. He is grateful he isn’t the only one thinking this is an obvious trap. Now that he isn’t alone, they can work together on a way to save the others. “Well, now we just need a plan.”
“Don’t worry,” Wendy says, grabbing a pebble and throwing it into the river. The pebble perfectly ricochets, just like his one did. “You always think of something.” She lays on the grass, looking at the infuriating perfectly blue sky. “You know, you’re so much smarter than, like, everyone else.” He can’t help but smile at the compliment. He feels touched that Wendy sees him like that, that she values him and his friendship. “You’ve got, like, a perfect brain. It kinda sucks that you don’t have a perfect body as well.”
Dipper’s heart skips a beat. “Wha– What ?”
She turns her head towards him. “Sorry, man,” she says, looking apologetic. “I’ve known your ‘secret’ for a long time. Didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or what.”
Wendy knows. She knows. That’s not how he planned to do his coming out to her, not at all. He didn’t even have to come out to her now. She knows. Wendy knows.
He wishes the ground would open and swallow him. It doesn’t.
“It’s fine, though,” she adds, with a smile. “I just find it sad that you’re trapped in the wrong body. It sounds horrible.”
He sighs, laying on the grass too. “It is, sometimes.” Now is one of those times. One of those times where he would give anything to have a better body, a perfect body, a boy’s body. “I just wish I could feel at home in my body, that’s all.”
Wendy suddenly straightens up, looking at him with sparkling eyes. “But you don’t have to be trapped in your body. Not here. You can have a different body. A boy’s body ! Wouldn’t it be great ?”
Wouldn’t it be great ? Oh. It would be perfect. It’s what he has dreamt about for so long. It’s what he wants so deeply. And suddenly, all of his determination not to let himself be fooled by the magic of that world is gone. Maybe Wendy is right. Maybe Mabel is right. Maybe this is the only place he can be happy, and comfortable in his body. Where he can truly feel at home in it for once.
“I bet if we asked Mabel, she could do it right now,” she says excitedly “In this place, you could finally be who you truly are.” She stands up, holding out her hand. He looks at it, ready to take it, to accept the offer and let this dream finally come true. “Come on man, just take my hand.”
She winks.
She winks .
Oh no. This isn’t right. This isn’t right at all. Wendy doesn’t wink. She never winks. This is a trap. This is definitely a trap.
“Wait,” he screams. “This isn’t real !”
And the world shatters.
***
In the end, the world didn’t end. Bill is gone, Stan found his memory back, and everybody is safe and sound.
Dipper is sitting on the roof of the Mystery Shack, watching the sunset. Tomorrow, he will be thirteen. Tomorrow, he will officially be a teenager. And soon, there will be the beginning of puberty. Just thinking about it makes his skin itches. He understands why Mabel didn’t want to grow up. And, worse than all, tomorrow he will leave Gravity Falls. He doesn’t want to leave, doesn’t want to leave the town behind. But he has to.
“Hey,” he hears a voice say, and turns to see Wendy sitting next to him, a can of Pit Cola in each hand. She hands one to him. He grabs it and thanks her with a nod. “You're doing alright ?”
“Yeah,” he says, and he doesn’t know if it’s a lie. “And you ?”
“I’m fine.” She takes a sip of her drink.
They stay in silence for a moment, watching the sun. Then, Wendy talks again. “What was your wish ?”
He blinks. “What ?”
“Back in Mabeland,” she explains. “We all saw our dreams coming true. What was yours ?”
He winces. A part of him doesn’t want to tell her, doesn’t want her to know. He is afraid that she might look at him differently, if she knew the truth about his imperfect body. But another part of him really wants to tell her. She is his friend. He trusts her.
“It’s okay,” she says. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I do,” he answers. “It’s just… It’s a bit complicated.”
Wendy shrugs. “It’s okay, take your time.”
Dipper takes a deep breath. He can do it. He can do it. “A boy’s body,” he finally mumbles.
“What ?” Wendy asks.
“A boy’s body,” he says again, forcing his voice not to shake. “I wanted a boy’s body.”
“Dipper…” Wendy starts, confused. “You already have a boy’s body.”
Dipper sighs. “No. I don’t. I– I’m trans,” he says. He definitely is bad at coming out. “I’m a boy but I was born a girl.”
Wendy frowns. “Well you’re a boy, therefore you have a boy’s body. That’s all.”
He blinks. It… It can’t be that simple, right ? “But… When I was born–”
“Who do you think knows your body the most ?” she asks. “You, who has been living in it for thirteen years, or some doctors at your birth who just assumed it was a girl's body when you were a baby ?”
He… He has never thought about it that way.
“Look, I’m not saying that gender dysphoria isn’t a thing and that it doesn’t suck,” she adds. “But I also know that whatever you may think, you are manly enough and your body is manly enough, even if it doesn’t fit into the stupid gender stereotypes society told us. You’re perfect, just the way you are. And you are enough.”
A few tears fall on Dipper’s face. It’s what he needed to hear. “Thank you Wendy.”
“Don’t thank me, man. I’m just telling the truth.” She gives him a smile. “I hope that one day you will feel at home in your body. And if it means changing some things, then don’t hesitate. You can’t have another body, you just have this one, but you can do whatever you need to be more comfortable in it. Piercings, tattoos, hormones, surgeries… Of course, you have all the time in the world to think about it. You’re in no hurry. And you’re gonna be okay, Dip. I know you will.”
He smiles back. He doesn’t have the words to express how grateful he is to have a friend like Wendy. So, instead he hugs her, and hopes it will be enough to convey how much he loves her. It seems to work, because Wendy hugs him tighter.
“I’m gonna miss you,” he says. And it’s true. He is going to miss Gravity Falls. He is going to miss his Grunkles. And he is going to miss her, so much.
“Me too, man,” she answers. “Me too.”
And they watch the sun disappear behind the pine trees. And when the next day she gives him a letter and tells him to read it the next time he misses Gravity Falls, he opens it not even an hour after the bus has left the city.
He looks at the words, scribbled on the paper. And smiles.
See you next summer