miki muun

July 4th, 1981* – Ford meets the Muse 

* Journal 3 simultaneously states it’s been 2 years since Ford met Bill, but also says on a timeline that he met Bill in 1981. This is a direct contradiction, as Journal 3 is written primarily in 1982 which means he would have met Bill in 1980 by that logic. It’s up to you which statement you hold your belief in

Within 1 year of meeting Bill – Bill alters Ford’s mind to help him work, tells him the future, gives him comebacks to insults, tells him where to find ghosts, shows him Fordtramarine, asks Ford to tattoo “if lost, return to Bill” on himself

June 16th, 1982 – Karaoke night

Any time before July 18th – Bill gives Ford the portal blueprints

July 29th – Fiddleford arrives in Gravity Falls

August - December – Hiking trip to crash site Omega, building of memory gun, the fair, building of the bunker and Shifty incident (in that order)

??? – “Until the end of time” deal is made

“We have nearly completed the portal and will soon be ready to test it, but we have several more long nights before our work will be ready.” (also note: the deal is just an offer to take over ford’s body to finish calculations while he sleeps)

??? – Bill shows Ford the speck while looking for optimal portal test conditions

While either of these events could happen over a broad stretch of time, it seems that there is a long period where portal work is stalled before testing can be done. While the deal is said to be made a few days before the first test, the fact that Ford is shown here seeking optimal testing conditions implies that the portal is ready to go when the speck is shown.

It is equally valid to place the deal sometime in January, but I put it here because between the bunker, seeking out weather conditions for an underground portal, and many other things, there is the sense that Fiddleford is purposefully putting off portal work and buying time.

December – Portal progress stalls, Bill disappears for “weeks”

Late December – Bill returns and he and Ford both accuse each other of cheating

January 18, 1983 – First portal test (grand failure)

January 20* – torture begins

* There seems to be a day or so before Ford properly sees Bill again