All theories pertaining to the identity of whoever wrote the Journals.
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The Author and Grunkle Stan
Stan knows exactly who wrote the books, but that knowledge isn't doing him any good.
He's been working on the Journal mysteries for 30 years, and it's been 30 years since the author of the books "was himself". He must have gotten his journal soon enough after it was written that he knows the author personally, but since the author is out of his gourd (particularly if it's McGucket) it's not like he's of any help. If it IS McGucket, they may well have been friends before he went nuts, and it's not until Dipper's book that the author states outright that no one can be trusted; he may have gotten the book directly from the author.- Alternately, Stan knows who the author is because he stole the journals from him/her. Stan clearly has no problem with "re-appropriating" things even if it's dangerous/a bad idea, like when he stole the fake Rolex from the hand-witch; and, when he prepares to steal the badger animatronic in Soos and the Real Girl, Stan implies that not only is it not the first time he used that kit to steal things, but that theft is what landed him in that Colombian prison.
- Well, he got one of the journals from the author. He didn't steal it, though. Dipper did briefly come to that same conclusion, however.
Stan wrote the book, but then met something so horrible he blocked all memories.
He still sleeps in a bunker, which he built to hide from evil creatures.- Or he may have been trying to hide the books from people like Gideon.
- Jossed. Stan's brother wrote the journals.
Grunkle Stan wrote the books.
Stan wrote all of the books while he was younger after Mabel and Dipper made a bunch of strange noises outside his one day. After which, he began to study the area more closely, and things went completely downhill from there. As a result, he wrote the books (however many there are) as a journal to keep a record of what he found so that he wouldn't seem so crazy. He also has the first book, disguised as a diary or some other type of book.- Semi-Jossed. Stan indeed does have the first book (as seen from the season 1 finale), but he says that he's been looking for the other two (Gideon's and Dipper's journals) for "quite some time", seemingly needing them to activate some sort of machine.
- And now it's entirely possible again. The show has shown us that a "Hand Witch" exists as well as a society that was erasing minds, that right there means he could have lost his six-fingered hand and had his mind wiped. In addition to this, the machine requires all three books to complete, and Stan had it built before he got 2 and 3. In Season 2, Stan has a six-fingered glove just lying around for some reason. Finally, McGucket's memories state he was working with a researcher who wasn't from Gravity Falls, and we know Stan isn't.
- Jossed. It's his brother.
The author of the book was someone who associated with Stan.
Stan was accompanied by someone; possibly a friend, a lover or a relative; who wrote down all the creatures they encountered and all the rituals. There was only one book at the time, possibly heavily encrypted in a code only Stan and his associate were able to read.Later, the author 'translated' the book into standard English, dividing the content into different books and hid them away in separated places. Originally the Author intended that the books might only be used by people who knew what they were doing and who were aware of the risks they took.- Confirmed. The author is his brother.
The Book was written by Stan's wife, who ended up getting killed in a supernatural manner.
Combined with a Never Got to Say Goodbye with Stan. His terrible joke in episode 2 could've had more behind it.- Also, she may or may not appear to Dipper as a ghost later in-series. Or she could be hiding under Stan's fez.
- Word of God says that Stan's ex will appear, but no mention if she is dead or alive.
- Jossed: As of "Into the Bunker", we now know for a fact that the author is a man.
- Double Jossed. The author is Stan's brother.
The author of the books was trying to keep them away from Stan.
Take this trip with me here. Going with the above two theories:Stanford (Stan's twin) and McGucket were friends and worked more or less together. At some point, for some reason, McGucket summoned Bill, and Bill betrayed him by cutting off his sixth finger and killing Stanford, or sending him into another dimension. However, Stanley (Gruncle Stan) was all set to simply step into his brother's empty space in Gravity Falls and no one would be the wiser, except for McGucket. The trauma of these events, coupled with the paranoia that would naturally come with seeing a friend replaced with a clone who serves his worst enemy, drove McGucket insane, made it impossible for him to trust anyone, and spurred him to desperately hide the other journals in order to keep the real Stanford's doppelganger from finding them.
The Author is Stan's 6 fingered twin and he was lost to the portal
Spoilers and crackpot theories ahead, Beware!Don't know if this is anywhere else- this page is a BIT of a mess- but I'm going to go Big Hero 6 on everyone and say that the author got stuck in where ever the portal leads to and he is Stanford's all but confirmed twin Stanley. The former- and maybe even true- occupant of the Mystery Shack and all other properties. Stanley was doing good-natured, if misguided, research. Something goes wrong with the portal- probably an outcome of Bill's doings, the triangular bastard- or whatever comes out of it and the poor 6-fingered bastard got sucked into the damn thing, leaving old man McGucket (sp?) to brain erase himself into insanity and lead his Jerkass With A Heat of Gold brother to look for him, or even continue his research for the "good of the world" or/and to find him.That's why Stan had/ knew of the books, uses the six fingered glove and knows about the crazy shit going on. Maybe his brother told him about it as he researched? I bet if Dipper got a hold of the other journals there might be mention of the Author's brother/ back story. Bill doesn't want Dipper to know because knowing how he fucked over his grand-uncles would really bust shit open. And all that jazz. Insanity/ genius seems to run in the family.- Hot Belgian waffles, this was exactly on the mark, literally everything here happened in the show. Absolutely confirmed.
The Author built the machine that Stan activates and built the Mystery Shack to hide it.
Here is the evidence to support this:- Stan is seen using the journals to work the controls, which he would not need to do if he had built the machine.
- Stan puts on a six fingered glove to pull a handle, with the implication being that the glove was stored near the machine.
- The carpet in the secret room is called Experiment 78 while the shapeshifter is called Experiment 210.
- Stan is known to have been in Gravity Falls for at least 30 years which coincides with the last time the machine was activated and the author's disappearance.
- Confirmed. [[Ford did indeed build both the Mystery Shack and the portal (the latter with McGucket, however. He didn’t build the shack to hide the portal, however.]]
Stan was responsible for the Author being gone for thirty years.
An official audio file has Stan complaining that something happened thirty years ago because he got involved. This contrasts with his zeal in keeping the machine active so it could be that he had a hand in the circumstances that led to his disappearance.- Confirmed. Stan accidentally pushed Ford into the portal during an argument.
The Author's disappearance was part of a plan and Stan is in on the plan.
The journals mention an unknown enemy so the Author may have wanted to escape them by using the portal. He recruited his brother's help in one day returning and gave him one of the journals for safekeeping while hiding the other two so he could buy some time to elude his enemy. The reason it has taken thirty years to return is because Stan wasn't able to find the other two by himself.- Alternatively, Stan did know where to find Journal 3 but left it where it was because he didn't know where Journal 2 was, not knowing that Gideon had found it before him.
Stan died, the Author tried to ressurect him, and something went wrong.
This would also explain the newspaper clippings Mabel and Dipper found in Not What He Seems. Stan died, the Author tried to bring his twin brother back, and then an argument happened. The Author chalked the disagreement up to a botched ressurection, and went through the gate, either in hopes of finding something that can correct the ressurection, or something that can kill Stan properly. Both Stan and the Author will reconcile.
Perhaps the twins would be in danger and the two would work together to save them.- Confirmed.
The Author and Old Man McGucket
Old Man McGucket has something to with the book.
He made a metal creature like the Gobblewonker look real. The journal was hidden near the metal tree that also looked real.- He learned about creatures and things in the forest from all of the time he spent in Gravity Falls.
- It's pretty easy to interpret him as being post-Go Mad from the Revelation. The Shapeshifter does say, "that six-fingered freak hasn't been himself in thirty years."
- I support the hell out of this theory. The books have six fingers on the cover, and look at McGucket's arms! Bandaged! Could it be that possibly a few fingers were cut off? And maybe the blood spilled on Bill Cipher's page. Also, all three of the journals include blueprints that create a machine. It has to be McGucket.
- McGucket most likely has (or had) six fingers on his right hand. That hand is always at least partially concealed, whether by a bandage, an alligator, or work gloves. The flashbacks to the journal writer never give a full view of his right hand, where the extra finger would be. He is the journal writer, and this is distinct from Stan's twin, if any, because the glasses are a separate symbol from the six-fingered hand on Cipher's wheel.
- The laptop from the bunker says "Property of F". McGucket's first name is Fiddleford.
- Also, the presence of "Experiment #78" in the Mystery Shack and "Experiment #210" in the bunker implies the same person or persons used both places, and Stan uses a six-fingered glove to yank the portal machine's power lever down.
- In "Golf Wars" the ending cryptogram says "The old man sleeping on the green, can't help but wonder what he's seen", implying that he knows more about the town than his crazy wanderings have revealed to him.
- Cofirmed! A leaked screenshot on YouTube confirms he's author, with the same reddish purple robe seen in the flashback in Season 1.
- Jossed! The implication given off by that screenshot, I mean, not this WMG overall. McGucket did NOT write the journals. He did, however, work with the person who did before actively wiping his own memory repeatedly until finally breaking his own brain. Did he add stuff to the journals? Perhaps. But he is NOT the main author.
- Trolled! The "leaked screenshot" was revealed to be fake by Alex Hirsch at the November 2014 CTN Panel "Secrets of Gravity Falls" complete with an image of him pointing gleefully at the shot.
- Completely jossed! The author is Stan's brother
McGuckett wrote a few of the journal entries
He knew about the journals and worked with the author. Maybe the author dictated a few through him. The author of the book will be a Red Herring.
About the leaked image about Old Man Macgucket being the writer is a Bait-and-Switch to Troll the viewers that he's actually writing something completely different. Or it's not Old Man Macgucket, but his ancestor.- Confirmed! The leak was merely Alex Hirsch being a Trolling Creator. The real author is Stan’s twin brother.
Other
Each volume of the book has a different author.
The books were co-authored.
Though the easy distinction is ink color, there are two sets of handwriting in the book. One of the Freeze Frame Bonuses from the first episode includes a game of Tic-Tac-Toe in red ink on the "Giant Vampire Bats" page, suggesting that more than one person had access to it before Dipper found it. The person writing in red ink usually only draws symbols in the margins (or writes reminders about overdue library books...), but sometimes he or she crosses out existing information or writes relevant notes, like an editor would. Perhaps "He" got to one of the authors, stopping work on the third book, and inspiring the remaining author to go back and add "TRUST NO ONE" once more in big, bold letters before hiding it.- Maybe this ties into the "Dipper from the future authored the books" theory, and the second author is Mabel from the future. Maybe Mabel wrote "Trust no one" because something bad happened to Dipper.
The Author will also be a Big Bad.
It wouldn't be surprising if he was a villain, possibly the antagonist of the Series Finale. The author of the journals is no longer a normal human.
Perhaps the reason why he studied the supernatural was so that he can make himself more powerful. He succeeded and turned himself into some kind of a sorcerer, superhuman, or monster, presumably evil and dangerous. "F" is someone we've never met before.
They did the same thing with Blind Ivan.- Jossed,F stands for "Fiddleford",as in Fiddleford McGucket.
The book was written by a girl.
- Jossed as of "Into the Bunker". The shapeshifter refers to the author as a "him".
The author of the journals is Manly Dan.
The author of the journals has six fingers. Other than McGucket, only Manly Dan has his right hand concealed at all times, because he always wears gloves. He could have lost that finger and be hiding the scar, or have two fingers in one glove finger. The biggest clue is that it requires lumberjack skills to open the author's secret bunker. He isn't a "nerd" now but his personality may have changed, since he "hasn't been himself for 30 years."- The personality change could be the result of Manotaur training, and his terrified reaction to Chutzpah's approach might be due to a line he crossed. Like, say, challenging Leaderaur.
The Author is Soos' father.
He's not a callous, neglectful deadbeat. He's been forced into hiding and can only contact the people he loves with a hopeful message of "maybe I'll see you next year."- Soos is too young. The Author disappeared thirty years ago; Soos is stated to be 22.
- Jossed It's Stan's brother
Mikey R. from Headhunters wrote the books
His hands were in a full cast,so we have no idea what his finger situation is like. Maybe that's why he got the cast in the first place.- Jossed It's Stan's brother
The author of the books is Bigfoot.
- Jossed It's Stan's brother
Waddles is the author.
- Think about it ever since he has joined the show when something important happens he's there and the shapeshifter said that the author hasn't been himself in 30 years...you can't be yourself that much if you became a pig.
- Jossed, It's Stan's brother
The author of the journals, whose name begins with "F", is Franz the Lilliputtian.
Try to prove me wrong.- Okay: Franz doesn't have six fingers.
- Jossed, The Author is Stan's brother
The author was an opponent of the Northwest family
Both the author and the Northwest family have a connection to Bill Cipher. He built the device in Stan's basement, apparently under the orders of Bill, but learned of Bill's true intentions and canceled the program. Preston, however, was a man who thought only of himself, and thus sought to carry out Bill's work. I believe that the author may have actually been trying to hide the journal's from Northwest, and vanished so Preston would have no chance of finding it. But now that the author has returned, Preston may try and complete the portal for his master. Bill and the Author
Ok, we're about to put the Wild in Wild Mass Guessing, so hold on to your hats. We see from the journals that the Author otherwise known as Stanford Pines went from trusting Bill to fearing him, and that McGucket started "the Blindeye'' before the Author even switched to invisible ink. so in a desperate attempt to link these puzzle pieces together here's what I've come up with.- The Author comes from out of town to investigate the strange goings on of Gravity Falls, and soon hires Fiddleford as a research aid. In the process they find Bill Cipher, a seemingly benevolent figure who gives them insight into building a device that he claims will help humanity. They agree to build said device, but as time goes on Bill's "Benevolence" comes further and further into question. McGucket becomes apprehensive while The Author remains optimistically blind to Bill's shadyness. Eventually something happens in the process of following Cipher's plan that proves too much for McGucket's conscience, but he can't convince the Author (or maybe even himself) that it was truly Bill's fault, so he decides to quit the project and wipe his memory, creating the Society of the Blindeye in the process. The Author continues to follow Bill, until he himself finally realizes that Bill has actually been tricking him, leading to his becoming (rightfully) paranoid and his eventual disappearance into the portal
- This prediction surprisingly lines up fairly well with the actual show. Bill had initially posed as a friend to Ford, helping him with research when Ford’s investigation hit a wall. This eventually led to Bill convincing Stan to build the portal, where McGucket ended up learning of Bill’s true plan after an accident in testing, which was what caused him to quit the project. Ford doesn’t continue to follow Bill after this however, and instead quickly finds out Bill’s true goal.
The Author in "Not What He Seems" isn't the original Author.
Stan's brother is one of the inheritors of the journals and wrote down the recent stuff, it was really Fiddleford's ancestor who was the original author and passed down to anyone writing it. Eventually Dipper would be the new author.- Jossed. Ford is directly shown writing the journals in A Tale of Two Stans.
The Author of the Journals, Stanford Pines
(Now that we know who he is)
The Author (Stan's brother) isn't named Stanley
.His name will end in "ford", continuing the theme of old men who know about the supernatural (Stanford, Fiddleford) having names that end with "ford".- Confirmed. The one we've been following throughout the series is Stanley, who's been impersonating his brother for the last thirty years.
The Author will become a Parental Substitute for Pacifica.
The Author is under Bill's control.
The next next episode is called The Stanchurian Candidate. I think it is Ford. Fiddleford went into the portal for a few second, quit, built something to forget, and lost his mind. Ford was in there for thirty years, yet he seems to be more or less sane, despite the fact that he was obviously losing it before he went in. On the Search for the Blindeye website (which I think is secretly run by Alex), it appears to detail two people speaking. I think it is Bill and the Author. I think that Bill slowly broke Ford and inputted some commands to be followed when he gave the word. Ford may look fine, but in actuality he is a ticking time bomb waiting to help Bill bring about the end of the world.- Well, if this is true, it didn't happen in Stanchurian Candidate.
The Author will get a serious What the Hell, Hero? from Dipper
At some point someone Dipper cares about, Mabel in this case, would be in danger because of Stanford and rather than help his family, he chooses to stay behind for research or something. At this point, Dipper will blow off in his face in front of everyone and point out how terrible a person and brother he is. 1) Blaming Stanley for ruining his chances to get to his dream college despite still graduating ahead of schedule and getting a grant and ignore that it was an accident 2) Not standing up to his father when Stanley was disowned. 3) Not using any of the money he received to help his parents, implying he just up and abandoned them, to reconcile with his brother. 4) Calling out to his brother after 10 years to give him an order without even trying to make amends. 5) Being ungrateful when Stanley spent 30 years working tirelessly to free his brother. For good measure, Dipper will throw away Journal #3 and say that Stan is the only great uncle he has and that unless he make amends with his brother, he never wants to see him again. Stanford will first brush this off, but it will finally start to dawn on him after seeing Dipper run off to save his sister in spite of how much they tend to get on each other's nerves.- Jossed. In the scenario in question, Ford opts to save the world first and leave rescuing Mabel for later, and Dipper agrees.
Mabel will be the one giving the author the What the Hell, Hero? Speech
And it will be one big Ironic Echo from "Sock Opera"- The Author: I mean, who would sacrifice everything they've worked for just for their dumb sibling?Mabel: Your brother would...
- Jossed.
Wendy will faint after seeing the Author
Just an idea.Jossed: It was Soos who fainted.- I'll start by positing that the dimensional portal is the conceptual end product of portal gun technology.
- Confirmed
The Author has read Dipper's journal entry from way back at the end of "Tourist Trapped."
It may have been at least partially influential in Ford's more trusting nature towards Dipper, despite his "TRUST NO ONE" attitude in the third journal.- Confirmed! In "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future" he praises Dipper's additions to Journal #3.
The Author will experience a Disney Death at some point of the show.
But, of course, the most observant of viewers would know he's supposed to have a heart attack at 92 and thereby can't die just yet. Someone is gonna give the Author a real talking-to for putting down Mabel and trying to break up the Mystery Twins by making Dipper his apprentice
.It might be Grunkle Stan, it might be Dipper, it might even be Mabel herself. Someone needs to give him hell for projecting his own feelings about his brother on Dipper and Mabel's relationship.- While that is a plausible issue, his offer is still realistically the best option for Dipper to move on, and anyone who attempts to do so will quickly be countered with sound reasoning. Such as learning to actually grow up. And the show prides itself on being realistic in a fantastic setting.
- And honestly, everyone in this family needs a good talking-to in how they treat Dipper. Ford's influence may not be the healthiest, but don't forget that Dipper admitted he spent most of his time with Ford because yeah, he's cool, but he also didn't make fun of him like Stan or Mabel, both of whom have had a lot of time in the show dedicated to how they each really negatively affect Dipper's self-worth and insecurities in their own right, despite how much they clearly love him. People just seem more upset with Ford because Mabel and Stan are fan favorites and the inter-family drama between the Pines has had bigger consequences since Ford's arrival. This is a broken family that hasn't figured out how to function well under the strain of the circumstances they're in; nobody's relationship is healthy right now. Stan treated Dipper how he thinks his father treated him because he truly believes his father was invoking Tough Love instead of abuse (though ironically, his relationship with Dipper seems to be the best right now). Mabel pushes her brother's interests aside for the sake of her own and yet is so afraid of separation she stopped talking about her concerns with Dipper until the absolute worst moment, and even then chose to run away rather than discuss the issue. And now Ford is projecting onto Dipper and assuming he'd benefit from separating from Mabel because he honestly doesn't remember having a twin relationship that wasn't unhealthy. So while Ford should be called out for projecting his own problems onto Dipper (even though I don't believe he meant to do so maliciously), it would look very hypocritical unless the rest were called out for their respective treatments as well, which have all had an equally negative impact on Dipper personally, even if it didn't impact Mabel or their sibling relationship. While precious, a strong sibling relationship does not come before the emotional and psychological wellbeing of an individual, and Stan and Mabel had been alienating Dipper for a long time—Ford's presence just gave him somewhere else to go, and someone that respected and even returned his interests and quirks. While Ford has a lot of faults and has made a lot of mistakes, it's hard to blame Ford for breaking up the Pines family dynamic when there was a break in the making for a long time.
- Jossed on all fronts.
