I don't think Dipper is going to make it without Wendy at this point in time. She's not only emotionally stabilising for him, she has the survival skills and self-confidence he needs to make it until he saves Mabel or she saves herself.
Dipper has managed to survive three days in the Weirdpocalypse on his own, but I do think that he DEFINITELY does need Wendy on an emotional level. For all intents and purposes, too, Wendy has been outright thriving in the Weirdpocalypse both physically and mentally, probably thanks to all those years of training. Although, I am worried for that one thing that breaks the camel's back for all three of the accounted for Mystery Shack residents, because just going through a normal apocalypse would be highly emotionally destructive as-is, if human psychology and psychological apocalypse movies taught me anything. Even if one were to keep it together, reality would be vastly different and near-impossible to get used to, which is kinda what Bill wants if he wishes to remain supreme, and any act of rebellion towards him would be easily met with a side of personalized trauma.
Yeah, but Dipper was kind of a mess when he ran into Wendy. If it had been 8-Ball rather than Wendy behind the nacho trap, he would have ended up as lunch. I think 3 days was his limit without some kind of emotional support. Dipper really does not do well on his own. He didn't even want to spend a single night without Mabel. IDK what Ford was smoking when he thought it was a good idea to separate them. (I love him, and I will cry like a baby if he's really actually dead, but he is sometimes the dumbest genius on earth.)
I don't think Dipper's emotional state during Weirdmageddon should necessarily be taken as proof that he wouldn't be happy or emotionally healthy living in Gravity Falls without Mabel. The situation he was in during Weirdmageddon before he found Wendy (not knowing whether Mabel is dead or alive, constantly being in mortal danger himself, no allies or support system of any kind, the flippin' world ending around him) is very different from the situation he'd be in as Ford's apprentice. He would have a roof over his head and access to the basic amenities of life, he would have Ford and his other friends in town (and hopefully Stan as well, depending on how things shake out with the elder twins) for in-person companionship and emotional support, and he would know that Mabel was safe in Piedmont and be able to communicate with her. I'm not saying that living apart, even in the best of circumstances, wouldn't be a huge and difficult adjustment for both twins. I'm not 100% sure that accepting the apprenticeship is the right thing for Dipper to do, but I don't think it's absolutely the wrong thing either. I think it's a big decision that he probably should have thought through more than he did. I might be holding him to standards of maturity and good decision making that are unreasonable for someone his age, though.
No, the reason I think he'd have a hard time as the apprentice is that he couldn't stand spending the night away from Mabel in Carpet Diem when, you know, the entire world wasn't falling apart around him. I'm not saying he couldn't do it. I'm not even sure that Ford's wrong that they're maybe a little too attached. But Dip has issues, poor bb.
I can see Dipper and Mabel's parents as being similar to the Stan twins in that they're vaguely... unsettling to hang around with? I dunno if that's the right word, but I can see the twins wanting to stick together for emotional support in a possibly toxic environment? And if you think about it, Gravity Falls may just be the first place in Dipper's life where he may have felt validation in his own abilities/person, so it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch that he'd want to stay, if not to be an apprentice, but to not return to an environment that may have been less than ideal for him.
I actually think they should both stay. It bothers me a lot that they don't seem very attached to their family and I sort of feel that the place they don't want to leave is the place they should be.
i want dipper to become ford's apprentice 'cause i think that's hella cool, basically. and i'm glad that him staying in gravity falls might be good for him. and that mabel could be there too.
If Dipper and Mabel don't have a healthy home environment, that could prompt them to depend on each other. I could see them both facing social isolation; charming as Mabel is, she and Dipper are both eccentric in their own ways, and middle school isn't a good time to be eccentric. And as stated, we don't know very much about their parents. If their home situation is unhappy, and if that's contributed to an unhealthy attachment, that would create an even stronger parallel with Stan and Ford. Of course, this is all speculation. I've seen people saying that we might learn a little bit more about their home life through exploration of Mabel's mindscape while she's imprisoned by Bill. I would be curious to see that.
I want Ford to check his ego and learn not to do things like fake emergencies, jeez, before we talk about anyone doing any apprenticing. But I'm kind of a buzzkill like that.
@OnnaStik that is a good point. i kinda think of my desire for dipper to be ford's apprentice as basically, "a hella cool thing but not necessarily one that'll work out well or that i'd want to happen to anyone in real life." one of those things where i'm really glad for the divide between real and fictional, that wanting and liking things in fiction doesn't mean i have to think they'd actually be a good idea for anyone to do.
but well, still one that i think would be really nice, for the characters, if it worked out the best way it could for them, if it could work out really well.
(assuming you're referring to the "my face is on fire" bit in D&MvtF) Yeah, I hear you. I don't think he meant any harm by it (I've seen people on tumblr saying that it was a planned-out manipulation tactic, I see it as more of a "wacky cartoon scientist with poor social skills who likes impressing people" type of situation), but that was not a good thing to do. I would be displeased if someone did something similar to me.
I'd slot it in between the two, myself- I'm sure he wasn't actively considering how best to manipulate Dipper, I just think he thinks that getting his sidekick without delay is more important than little things like "the truth" or "trust" or "not needlessly frightening a twelve-year-old". To the extent that he thought about it at all.
As the resident rabid (but polite) Ford apologist? Yeah, I think it was rude af and probably scared Dipper--briefly. And I also would be annoyed if he did it to me. Not being a) Dipper or b) 12, I am not gonna try to judge how upsetting it was for Dipper vs how upsetting it would be if he did it to me, because I love the dude but if I knew him I am sure I would spend a fair amount of time saying: "Ford! Knock it off! Not one of your more adorable moments!" I think he thought it was a funny thing to do. (I don't think giving Bill a direct port into your brain, however well and carefully disabled at any moment in time, does anything beneficial for your sense of humour. And tbh, he didn't SOUND like his face was on fire, he sounded like he was having his regularly scheduled asshole moment.) I also think it could seriously backfire because I don't think he's quite considered how being such "a kidder" will eventually lead Dipper not to take that sort of thing seriously.
It's kind of weird how no one else in the house reacted very much to that. I mean, I feel like if someone announces that they're on fire, that should draw attention from everyone in earshot. Even Dipper, as he was excusing himself to the others, seemed to have an attitude that was more "oh boy, what has Ford blown up this time" than "oh crap my uncle/friend/mentor is in serious danger". Although he did seem genuinely concerned when he actually spoke to Ford.
It's not weird at all that they didn't react much if that's just the way he is. I definitely think "what has Ford blown up this time" is probably a fairly common issue.
From a current WIP: “Don’t blow up my lab again, either, Ford. I mean it. My lab is for me to blow up. You’ve got your own.”
Hmmmm... Ford blows things up in the course of his daily ablutions (and his actual research, presumably)... Dipper and Soos like to blow up hot dogs in the microwave... Mabel is the god of destruction, not to mention that one experiment in the shorts... and Stan was the one encouraging her to shoot off those fireworks. Guys, I think I figured out how the Pines family can settle their differences... by bonding over their shared love of explosions! Maybe they can start by blowing a certain triangle sky-high...
EW article about Kristen Schaal, including a brief mention of Gravity Falls: Spoiler: Weirdmageddon part 2 hint Mabel's bubble is a dreamscape paradise of eternal summer confirmed?
