Spoiler: possible unpopular opinion I found "A Tale of Two Stans" disappointing. Not the content, but the way it was told was really infodumpy and was mostly "all tell, with show just happening in the background" the story itself was cool but I kind of wish it was broken up or told better so it felt less forced and had some more emotional weight.
Promo for the next episode! I'm gonna be in the fabled Land of No Modern Media when this airs :( Didn't post a reaction thing for DD&MD, but for the record, I enjoyed it. Spoiler: Roll 15 or higher to defeat the dreaded Spoiler Beast I was kind of underwhelmed by the villain of the week (probably an unpopular opinion; I have no beef with Weird Al in general or his performance in this episode, I just didn't find the character very entertaining) but it was fun to see tiny Dipper and Ford run around in fantasy clothes and interact with things Mabel made up. And the character/relationship development was great.
Been kinda obsessing a little over Bill Cipher's wheel. Like, I've kinda latched onto the idea that it's, like, the Wheel of These People Aren't Going to Get Totally George R.R. Martin'd. There are certainly locks, such as Dipper and Mabel, and others that are definitely shoe-ins such as Soos, Stan and Ford. But, like, the bag of ice, glasses and journal symbol are kinda up in the air. With the latter two, Ford could really be either one, though given everything that's happened. But I guess the big thing is that the characters' respective symbols are kinda their motifs that repeatedly show up in one form or another. Which begs the question: If Wendy's supposed symbol is the bag of ice, then why hasn't it ever come up ever since The Inconveniencing? Like, even the alpaca has popped up regarding Pacifica a couple of times. Guys the end of the season can't come fast enough and yet I don't want it to.
Wendy also needed ice for her bruised face in Time Traveler's Pig, and Dipper ran to get her an ice bag.
I havn't been able to watch any of the new episodes because I keep missing it on TV and the episodes aren't online (at least from what I can tell?) and it is very frustrating. >:( Something that has been picking at my brain for awhile is Stanford and his mental state. The way his notes are scribbled down in his notebooks, his paranoia and isolation, I swear if Gravity Falls wasn't actually supernatural he would have a pretty severe psychotic disorder. Heck, even in the context of the Gravity Falls universe and it's supernatural phenomena I still get the feeling that he has some kind of legit brain weird/mental disorder and he's not just an asshole to his brother/genius/cool mysterious guy. I dunno if they are willing to go that route because ...disney cartoon, but they've gotten pretty dark in the past so it's kind of up in the air where they can go with this.
Oh man, Gravity Falls is basically my special interest now. Or maybe I'm super into it because me and my friend are doing an rp loosely based around a popular Gravity Falls au. Actually showing some brainweird with Stanford and Stanley would be something I'd be super into it, but I'm also okay just headcanoning it. They DID touch on some pretty dark stuff with Pacifica's family, but they didn't get explicit with it, so?
ok so I was finally able to watch the latest episode and Stanford going from basically raging unchecked paranoia before the portal to a relatively well adjusted guy despite presumably going through even more weird shit between dimensions and making even more enemies sure is a thing. I know it's a headcanon at this point but it really feels he could have been going through some kind of episode while researching gravity falls. Also while I liked the episode and don't consider it a disappointment, I think it's slightly jarring that the two Stans were acting sort of chummy with each other this episode when the end of the last episode was a huge fight. Or generally following a really heavy episode with a really lighthearted one and not carrying over the mood when there were a lot of unresolved issues and tension. I'm sure they will still have their fights and it's not completely resolved but to compare it to Steven Universe when Garnet and Pearl had a huge fight the next few episodes were really heavy in tension and it carried it over until Garnet forgave her.
For the record, this site tends to have the episodes up in a few days at the latest. (They also have Steven Universe)
Yeah, given the note AToTS left off on with their relationship, I was very surprised when Ford asked Stan to play D&D(&D) with him and Dipper. Pleasantly surprised, to be sure, but I really don't feel like I fully understand what's going on between the two of them at this point. They were arguing about the use of communal space in the house, and Ford was all "this is my house!" which echoed the conversation they had at the end of AToTS, but then he immediately turns around and asks Stan to play with him. It was very striking. (I was also surprised that Stan accepted Ford and Dipper hanging out so soon, although it was kinda inevitable that they were gonna have contact regardless of what Stan wanted.)
You may have saved a life (I may have gone to page 13 or something of google search results just to find a youtube video of the episode. I don't think I even get the channel on my TV anymore?)
Yeah, watchcartoononline is a good website. Sometimes the episodes cut out early though, so you might miss a couple of seconds/minutes. I do not like Ford, but considering what we've seen of him directly & indirectly, I'll bet we'll see a lot more of him. I'm really hoping they address his issues in some way. One thing I definitely found interesting was that while Gravity Falls does have a lot of supernatural stuff, it doesn't actually seem to host a lot of aggressive things? I'm wondering how his paranoia flared out of control so badly.
yeah a lot of people like Ford and I don't see the appeal? I think he is very interesting but I don' think he's very likable. There is a chance Stan was lying to make himself more sympathetic in A Tale of Two Stans, but I think that is pretty unlikely since the only point that was controversial in his retelling was if it was an accident or sabotage. If his entire story is true (which I am inclined to think it is even though he's an unreliable narrator in general) than I think he's a lot more sympathetic. He spent his early years unable to get out of his brother's shadow, then he was kicked out of the house, spent a long time homeless and in and out of prison because he never got the chance to develop any kind of life skills besides tricking people out of their money and had no family, met with his brother again who by all means is pretty successful only to get into a huge fight and have him fall into the portal, spend the next 30 years trying to save him, only for his brother to get pissed off that he tried to save him and just didn't go back to his previous life. By contrast the thing Stan seems to fixate on is that he couldn't get into his dream school. Even though he was still able to go to a good school, do research on the stuff he wants, and make a decent enough living. He's mad that Stan tried to rescue him because it was dangerous to open the portal, and he's mad that he stole his identity and lived in his house. I think it's understandable that he's mad about having his identity stolen, and you could make an argument that the risk of destroying the universe is too great just to save one person, but I think the "dream school" conflict is just freaking ridiculous and a moot point if he still ended up well off anyways and you can't expect your twin NOT to care or try to rescue you in that situation. He just strikes me as a very selfish person who is out of touch. Yes, this. Maybe it has something to do with Cipher? But he is also noticeably less paranoid and aggressive after his interdimensional adventures when you'd think something like that would freak someone out even more. Maybe he got laid and smoked some space crystals with Rick or something and calmed the fuck down.
Definitely feel you on these two. Idk, I just feel that he's kind of awful in a lot of ways? For one, he just let his parents kick out his twin, the person he's closest to and trusts the most, without even hearing him out. That and the fact that he was surprised and angry that his brother tried to rescue him. I feel like that says a lot about his character- that he just doesn't understand something like trying to protect and look out for your sibling. I think maybe it was the realization that yes, what he's been seeing is real, no he's not crazy maybe helped him chill out? Although it also reinforced his paranoia and showed that he was right to feel that way, sooo? I also think it could've been that now he knew he could fight the things making him freak out- that he could take them down. That would definitely be reassuring. lol definitely a possibility.
I've grown rather fond of Ford and I'd like to defend him a little, if I may. This in and of itself would indeed be a rather silly reason to hold a grudge for so many years. I submitted a thing to someone on tumblr about this. tl;dr: While obsessing over a specific college ten or even forty years later is very petty, Ford believes that Stan deliberately sabotaged his chance at admission, a huge betrayal that (imo) would justify being very angry and not trusting Stan in the future. Also getting into that college was apparently a big deal to the twins' horrible demanding father, whose approval was contingent on bringing material wealth to the family, so that might be a factor in Ford's fixation with it. Yeah. I don't think punching Stan immediately upon seeing him was a great decision, but I can understand why Ford isn't responding with unmitigated gratitude. I absolutely agree that Ford (and the rest of the family) should have given Stan the benefit of the doubt. However, I don't think it's fair to blame a teenager for not controlling the actions of his parents. It would have been kind and honorable of Ford to stand up for his brother, and it's very sad that he was too angry and distraught over a false assumption to do so. I don't think it makes him awful, though. I don't have siblings, so it's not always easy for me to put myself in these characters' shoes and understand how these relationships work. I could be totally off base. In any case, I mean no disrespect to anyone who dislikes Ford or who disagrees with me on any of these points.
Yeah, I can definitely see that. Tbh, I feel their parents kind of set them against each other in that sense. It feels a little like they didn't bother giving Stan a chance to succeed and put too much pressure on Ford. I know that that sort of situation can be hard and could definitely cause tension between siblings. You're fine! I can understand your standpoint :) Plus I like hearing other people's opinions. That's actually the reason I can't get behind Ford, too! I'm second born out of four. My closest sibling in age is one of my lil bros and we're 18 months apart- we're best friends. I look at it like 'if I'm this close with my brother, then how close would twins be?' and I can't even imagine doing something like Ford did, so I get a little lost on his actions. I don't blame him for maybe getting intimidated by their father and not protesting but I kind of do for him not seeking Stan out later and trying to offer help once he was away from their parents. I get that he was absorbed in his own things but it still weirds me out that he didn't put forth any effort to reach out to Stan until he wanted something from him.
I think Ford is selfish, too. I actually have some meta about it. Like, uh, clearly their father favored Ford, although what little we see of their mother SEEMS more equal, but we see her so little it's hard to be sure. Even more clearly their teachers favored Ford, and Ford was the one who got built up as having a future and doing Great Things, etc. Meanwhile, Stan was the loser twin, the nobody, the dead end. Now, even if both of them weren't very social and their dad mostly got on the Ford train when he realized Ford could make money, which is a reasonable inference, I feel like... from the young age, Ford has had some idea he could have a Socially Acceptable Future. Meanwhile, all Stan had was Ford. He even says this outright in the flashback - with Ford, he was a 'dynamic duo', but without him, he felt like nothing. So the key thing there is that the emotional abuse focused on Stan more than Ford, which could have influenced how FORD saw STAN. Meanwhile, Ford had a (seemingly) healthier sense of self-esteem than Stan, and wanted to try to try being an individual for a little while, while Stan couldn't deal with that because all of his self-worth was tied up in Ford. I think Ford probably didn't actually have much healthier self-esteem than Stan at this point, though! It's just that while Stan's self-worth was tied up in Ford, Ford's self-worth was tied up in being The Smart One. So when Stan (seemingly) did something to undermine his status as the Smart One, Ford interprets this as the ultimate betrayal from the person he trusted the most, and reacts accordingly. I think Stan's big mistake was in not telling Ford right away what had happened so Ford could fix it, not the accident itself, btw. Cut to 10-odd years later. Ford is Making It in academia, and Stan is a drifter constantly wobbling on the edge of homelessness and in poverty. Objectively, Stan is the one who ended up worst off! But I don't think Ford fully understands how much Stan depended on him - after all, he handled life without Stan, so Stan was just being lazy, right? And I think it's true that Stan had more options available to him than the ones he took - he's shown to be intelligent, determined, good at reading people, an amazing salesman, etc. But he doesn't have a high school diploma, and I'm not sure if he can even SEE his good qualities, because he still identifies as a stupider, more worthless Ford knock-off. The big fight happens. They both fucked up. I think Stan's initial reaction was understandable - but I also don't think Ford meant Stan had to leave forever and never contact him again, but was seeing this as a task Stan could do best, that could help bring them closer again. Again, up for interpretation, especially when Ford is having a paranoid breakdown, but it wouldn't have hurt to listen more. However, I do think Stan's idea of destroying the portal and burning the journal was absolutely a good one if there was apocalyptic danger, and Ford wouldn't listen to it because at this point, he's also still tied up in his insecurities which manifest as academic arrogance, and couldn't allow his 'life's work' to be destroyed. Ford, come on, that was under 10 years of work and you're absolutely brilliant, you could have switched to something else. Post-portal Ford... harder for me to read. So much must have happened in those 30 years, but we see nothing of it. I do, however, tentatively believe he is not malicious, merely bitter at Stan and wrapped up in his own mind, unable to really determine the needs of others properly. His bitterness at Stan is because he's had 30 years to marinate on their history without any chance to actually talk to Stan and get his side of the story, which is going to warp memories and engrain emotions. His unwitting self-centeredness seems to be a core aspect of his character. He is so smart and so enthusiastic that he can find himself making decisions for others when he shouldn't, or over-or-underestimate other people's abilities. For example - he probably doesn't appreciate how smart Stan can be because it's not academic intelligence, but he seems to vastly overestimate Dipper's abilities because Dipper is academically brilliant like him. It's a nasty bias, but not a conscious one, I think, and it has and will lead to disaster.
