#the more emotional side to stan that we clearly see in his relationship to wendy/soos/the twins

[starlitsequins]

ship discourse is unserious but the "who would treat fiddleford better" arguments on tumblr are crazy to me because have we all forgotten nuance? anyways here's a relationship analysis:

fiddauthor has its own unhealthy aspects because ford not only tunnel-visioned on his research to the point of dismissing fiddleford, he was also being actively isolated by his abuser (bill), who was turning the two against each other. and, at the same time, fiddleford was actively lying to ford about the memory gun, then used it on ford, a complete violation of trust. in alex hirsch's own words, fiddleford was like a yes-man to ford (until he wasnt), to the detriment of both of them.

but also they found solace in each other, as two outcasts with similar interests. even if ford could be dismissive at times with his gifts, its so clear that he valued fiddleford as his one friend, that they found so much enjoyment in each other's company in both college and in gravity falls. and ignoring that is doing them both a disservice! none of the hurt they inflicted on each other was done out of malice; they were being slowly broken down by the environment around them.

fiddlestan is more difficult to dissect for obvious reasons but comparing stan's past failed relationships to a hypothetical one with fiddleford is a moot point. we're working with a vastly different scenario here. stan would need fiddleford to stay in his desperation to save ford, and fiddleford could be easily guilt-tripped despite his trauma. would stan be an asshole to fiddleford? yeah, he would probably grow impatient with fiddleford's anxiety, and they would have very clashing personalities and interests, along with bad trust issues. fiddleford would be very reliant on the memory gun at this point, and they both would be at their mental lowest: it would not be an easy or healthy relationship.

but at the same time, it's not difficult to see how two very broken people could find solace in each other, especially due to a shared grief. its a unique situation that only they could understand, so of course it would make sense that fiddleford's desire to fix vs stan's abandonment issues would lead to something, for better or for worse. at the end of the day, they both understand the broken bonds of family and they both want to feel needed. it's not farfetched to speculate that they'd find comfort in each other.

anyways. i love these three very flawed, very hurt, and very human individuals. i think they're capable of causing each other a lot of pain. they do cause each other a lot of pain. but also they grow and they heal, and it pains me to see people reduce them to their singular actions. (but also the jokes are funny so yknow...i get it carry on)

[stan-punches-blog]

Grunkle Stan’s Got Flaws

//I’ve been feeling in the mood to write some thoughts regarding characters and such and seeing it brought up on my dash. I thought I’d point out a few specific things. A lot of people like to give Ford a bad rap for a lot of his behavior (holding a 40+ year old grudge, projecting his issues with his brother onto Dipper, etc), but I think a lot of people also overlook that Stan isn’t a saint. And I don’t just mean that because he’s got an affinity for breaking the law at the drop of a hat. I mean, like, he does things that are problematic, too. Honestly, I love Grunkle Stan (he’s actually probably my top favorite character in Gravity Falls), but let’s take a looksie here, shall we?

1. His bad relationship with his brother isn’t entirely Ford’s fault. If we look at A Tale of Two Stans, we can see where Ford gets the impression that his twin can be “suffocating.” When Stanford mentions having dreams of going to a school (a dream which conflicts with sailing around the world and treasure-hunting), Stan immediately dismisses that dream and even mocks it to a certain extent (referring to his brother as a nerd robot). This is largely because Stan seems to have a kind of dependence on his brother (due to very low self-esteem issues and from considering himself the dumb twin, which probably isn’t helped by the way his parents have treated him and such) and is afraid of being away from him...

And while that can be understandable, it doesn’t really excuse the fact that it’s a lot of pressure to put on one person (Stanford), and that in healthy relationships, compromise is a necessity. You can’t always have what you want (especially when one considers the fact that Stan’s dream was... kind of on the unrealistic side. Stanford was trying to be more practical).

Another thing is that if we take the flashback where Stan is cheating off Stanford’s (quiz? worksheet?) test as any indication that Filbrick might have been telling the truth about “riding on his brother’s coattails” then we got to try and look at how that probably makes Stanford feel, too. 

Stan has basically been “using” his brother to pass through school, never really putting any effort of his own, and also jumping in on his success (probably for the attention that he never gets but it’s still kind of a bad move) if that image where he’s getting in on the photo where Stanford is posing with an award is any indication. It must be kind of hurtful to be treated like that, to be seen only for what good you can do for someone else. Now, obviously, Stan cares a lot about his brother, and I’m sure that wasn’t the intention he was trying to get across, but because both him and Stanford are sorely lacking communication skills-wise (regarding feelings, emotions, and such), it’s the impression that ends up getting across.

I could go into how this would probably be a little more damaging to someone like Stanford since it seems like his family (particularly Filbrick) put a high value on his intelligence and perhaps even pressure on him to succeed (Filbrick seemed really adamant about that whole potential millions thing), but that’s probably for another time. 

Again, all of this can probably be pinned down to how Stan was raised, but if we’re going to use that as an excuse for Stan’s behavior at this point then we probably owe Stanford the same courtesy. Interestingly enough, Stan and Ford’s dynamic and how they’re treated by their family is well-documented in a lot of dysfunctional families. In dysfunctional families, there’s one kid, usually the oldest but not always, who is treated as the “golden child.” They can do no wrong and are often exemplified as the success story and “proof” that the family is normal (when they clearly aren’t). Another child in this family, however, is usually labeled as the “problem” child. They’re the one that gets blamed for all of the family’s problems. (The more children there are, there can be other roles they play; it varies from dysfunctional family to dysfunctional family). The thing to keep in mind about this kind of dynamic is that it’s very harmful to BOTH children. 

TL; DR for this part: Stan cares a lot about Ford, but he’s not very considerate of his feelings. This is probably a result of his upbringing, but if you’re going to play that card, you need to play it for Ford, too. Also, at some point, people are responsible for their own actions.

2. Stan’s temper. Now, if we’re being honest here, Ford has anger issues, too. The fight some 30 years ago between him and Stanford before the portal gets turned on? Both of them are definitely at fault for that. But here’s the thing.

When Stanford goes too far, he immediately backs off. He apologizes. He’s concerned. Stan? He’s still too angry to think straight and continues the fight, anyway. The smart thing to do would’ve been to call the fight off at that point, maybe just leave to cool his head or maybe give his brother a chance to explain himself. But no. He goes right back to punching Stanford in the face. And... Stanford actually doesn’t fight back? Maybe the blow kind of stunned him or something, but he doesn’t try to throw a punch or anything. He just lets Stan get away with punching him. And then, Stan starts advancing on him, and well you know what happens next. 

Now, we can probably speculate that besides being too angry to think straight, the pain might have also been a factor in throwing that punch, too. Stan kind of seems like he’s been in a lot of terrible, tough situations, and has probably had to “fight through the pain in order to survive” on more than one occasion. But while that provides a REASON for his behavior; it does not, under any circumstances, excuse it. Also, at this point, he’s probably about in his early thirties (according to Journal 3, anyway). He’s an adult and responsible for his own actions. Him feeling really guilty about it afterwards doesn’t excuse his behavior, either.

Especially when we consider the fact that even after 30+ years, he still hasn’t gotten any help or tried to do something about his anger issues. During Weirdmageddon, his anger issues are a contributing factor to the reason the Zodiac circle doesn’t work, Bill captures them and nearly kills the kids. Again, he expresses guilt over this and self-sacrifices make up for it, but... he’s really gotta realize at some point that punching people isn’t the answer to his problems.

TL; DR for this part: Stan has anger management issues. Like... really bad. The reason behind those anger issues or any guilt he might have about it afterwards doesn’t change that the thing he did was wrong. It also doesn’t change the fact that he still doesn’t seem to have it under control when at 60+ years old, he should really have tried getting some help for it by now.

3. Stan probably shouldn’t be put in charge of children. Dipper and Mabel are twelve years old, so they’re not exactly fragile or incapable of doing things for themselves. But... he really seems to leave them on their own an awful lot? In the Inconveniencing, he apparently sees no problem with letting them hang out with Wendy’s friends (all teenagers) really late at night. That’s... kind of a recipe for trouble. 

In Legend of the Gobblewonker, we find out that he involved the kids in a counterfeiting scheme and because it’s apparently legal to throw children in jail in Gravity Falls (you guys seriously need to consider editing the town charter), they spent a night in jail with their Grunkle Stan. Funny but... also not if you think about it.

In Headhunters, he also sees no problem with letting the children go into town to try and find out who broke into his house and vandalized his property (Wax Stan) while one of said children is holding AN AXE. He even lampshades this level of neglect by saying it’s something a responsible parent wouldn’t want them doing... And yet, he lets them do it, anyway. Yes, it’s a funny line. I laughed. But... what the fuck, Stan?

In Boss Mabel, he leaves Dipper and Mabel alone (and lets Mabel run his business) for THREE DAYS. THREE DAYS. Now, we could possibly try to excuse this with the thought that MAYBE he put Wendy (a teenager, and I’m not sure teenagers should be put in charge of children for a whole three days) or Soos (he’s a young adult at least, but he’s also... kind of like a big kid himself? Though, to be fair, Stan isn’t that much better as far as maturity goes; in fact, Soos seems like he’d be at least slightly more responsible) in charge. And again, it’s not like Dipper and Mabel are super young, but yikes. 

And then there’s Soos and the Real Girl where he apparently takes a trip to Vegas for a little while?

And let’s not forget Journal 3 where Stanford makes the comment himself that Stan should not be put in charge of children (on account of the fact that Dipper doesn’t bathe nearly as often as he should and Mabel’s diet seems to consist entirely of items with the word “gummy” in them). I mean, I don’t think Stan is purposely trying to neglect his niece and nephew; he clearly loves them both dearly and would give his life for them. 

TL; DR: In Stan’s own words, he isn’t the “best” summer caretaker. Also, when you think about it, how many times have Dipper and Mabel nearly died when Stan wasn’t watching?

4. Ford might not be the only one projecting his issues. While this isn’t exactly addressed in the show, it’s clear that Stan favors Mabel over Dipper. It’s not hard to see why. Mabel and him are very similar in a lot of respects. And although Stan can see things he has in common with Dipper, it seems pretty obvious that Dipper has a lot of qualities that are similar to Ford’s. Although, Stan in his mindscape tells Soos that the reason he’s hard on Dipper is to toughen him up (and I don’t think he was lying about that), it’s also possible that Stan is tough on Dipper because it seemed to him that his dad wasn’t as tough on Ford as he was on him and that Mabel is his favorite because he himself was never the favorite.

Consider also: “It’s unnatural for siblings to get along as well as you do.” And the fact that he has also pitted Dipper and Mabel against each other (with the room key in Carpet Diem). 

This is speculation, though, and possibly a kind of nitpick, so let’s move on.

TL; DR for this part: Stan likes Mabel more than Dipper because Mabel is more like him, and Dipper is more like Ford.

5. Stan is way too hard on Dipper. And the reason he’s hard on Dipper? To toughen him up like his father did to him? Uh, yeah... Taking parenting lessons from an abusive parent who kicked you out? Not a good idea. I’ve seen people bring this up in posts before, but just take a look at Dreamscaperers. Stan is so hard on Dipper that Dipper was convinced Stan HATED him. It took actually going into his GRUNKLE’S MIND which is not something people are normally able to do, to find out otherwise. If Dreamscaperers hadn’t happened, Stan’s relationship with Dipper could’ve been just as bad as his relationship with his brother.

And the thing is... Stan seems to have no idea that what he’s doing is wrong. This kind of tension in their relationship never really got addressed. Stan is going to keep bullying Dipper because he thinks it will make him tougher, and Dipper just keeps on taking it because he seems to think it’s perfectly fine for his grunkle to bully him in this way because he thinks it’s making him tougher, too. But I’m not really sure it is exactly. I think it’s just going to cause Dipper to have some issues later on down the line. Repressed rage or even anger issues like his Grunkle Stan has might be a possibility. I’m not sure. It’s hard to say. Either way, it’s not healthy.

TL;DR: Stan almost ruined his relationship with his great nephew because taking parenting lessons from his father seemed like a good idea at the time.

Here are some major things, I think. I’m sure I might be missing a few. But I just wanted to put all of this out here. Feel free to add whatever you’d like. And again, keep in mind, I do NOT hate Stan. I am NOT demonizing Stan. I love Stan as a character. But as a character, it’s important to recognize that he is also deeply flawed.

TL; DR Overall: Stan is just as messed up as Ford, guys. I mean, really. Look at this mess.

[turtle4235-blog]

Do I love Gravity Falls? Yes. Definitely. Absolutely!!

Hot Belgian waffles do I love this show! A few years ago, I found out that the Doug Walker (aka the Nostalgia Critic) had started reviewing it, and I tend to enjoy his cartoon vlogs, so I decided to check out the first one, and see if it sounded like a show I wanted to watch. And then I proceeded to watch all 20 episodes of the first season in 1 night. And then it was 18 months of continuously waiting in vain for more episodes to come out. This show deserves every award and all the praise it has received. It is a glorious example of the golden age of cartoons and TV in general that we are currently living in. And below, I’ve listed the top 10 reasons everyone should definitely absolutely try it out.

This show had some of the best humour and timing I’ve ever seen in a cartoon. Even the guest stars got to say some wonderfully absurd lines and it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen an episode, it’s always funny. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve shouted “You are my possession! OBEY ME!!” at my laptop.

All the 80s/90s nostalgia and satire. Satire and parody are some of the hardest things to do well, as it’s so easy to fall into the trap of just mocking the source material. But here, you could just feel the love that the creator, Alex Hirsch, and the other writers have for everything they portray, from the terrible anime dubbing, to arcade games of yore, to boy band fandom.

You never knew what was coming next. It was so much fun thinking about all the mythological creatures the twins might meet and in what fashion. Each species is so distinct, not only from each other, but also from previous depictions. I also love that the creatures aren’t necessarily evil, sometimes their culture just clashes with ours. Oh, and screw Friendship is Magic, these are the BEST. UNICORNS. EVER!

The amazing theme song. It’s incredible the amount of detail and easter eggs they managed to fit into roughly 40 seconds of animation. It’s one of the smoothest, most fluid openings and it never fails to hype me up for another adventure or put a smile on my face. It also gave a quick summary of each of the main characters’ tropes: Dipper is inquisitive, but easily scared; Wendy is a cool teenager, bored with her life; Mabel is wacky and loves everything; Soos is a happy-go-lucky man child; and Stan is a money hungry con artist.

To be honest, the animation of the entire show was incredible. It had such a unique look to it, like this mix between the cuteness of Disney, and the clean lines of the Simpsons. Added to that, every frame was so expressive, and detailed, and colourful, and there was always something fun or useful going on in the background (my favourite example is Blendin Blenjamin Blandin). I especially love all the little things details they remembered to keep for continuity, as it just adds to the rewatchability value of this show.

They knew when to just show things instead of saying it. Ever since The Matrix came out, it feels like everyone forgot how to take advantage of TV and films being visual mediums. You can just show the event or the emotional impact something has on someone! It’s totally allowed! For example, they didn’t need to explain the bell in Northwest Mansion Mystery (S02E10), you immediately understood that it was bad news. They also use this nifty little trick to help establish character traits. For example, Mabel almost never wears the same outfit again, and it just helps to emphasise that she is such a free spirit, doing things her own way.

The story. I’ve always loved a good mystery and this show has plenty of great ones. Clues and red herrings for the main story are sprinkled throughout the episodes all culminating in a huge reveal at the midpoint of season 2 and I have to admit, that cliffhanger was one of the most agonising waits I’ve ever had to sit through. But the smaller mysteries are all fun and intriguing in their own ways, and it was always great to see how the show would take a generic plotline and play with it.

Speaking of the story, it ended! Like, really actually ended. It has a clearly defined ending, and all the major plot points are resolved. As someone who enjoys anime, words cannot express the joy I feel when there is closure on a show I love, rather than just cutting off, or running for too long. (Although, I will admit that I love this show so much, I almost wish that there was more still coming out)

But as important as the story is, fictitious works live and die on it’s characters. It doesn’t matter if you have the most intricate, well thought out, ingenious story if your audience has no investment in your characters. My test for a well developed character is to imagine a scenario, and work out what their reaction would be. In just 41 episodes, this show managed to create a whole pantheon of characters that I can do this for, in particular Dipper, Mabel and Stan. Also, they managed to make a triangle legitimately creepy and threatening. That takes skill.

I love the relationships the characters built throughout the show. At the heart of it all lies the relationship between Dipper and Mabel. They have to have one of the strongest, most realistic sibling relationships I have ever seen. They might be complete opposites, but you know they love each other unconditionally and would be willing to do anything for each other, and their differences help to make up for each other’s weaknesses. Their respective relationships with Pacifica are also fascinating, as they evolve from enemies to frenemies (and maybe something more?? Dear god, I wanted Dipcifica to become a thing!). Even side relationships are fleshed out: Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland have one of the most caring, supportive, loving, understanding relationships I have ever seen.

What else can I say? I just love and respect this show so much. Of the big four shows that have come out in the last decade or so (Avatar The Last Airbender, Adventure Time, and Steven Universe being the other 3), this one is by far my favourite. Props to you, Mr Hirsch, and I am so so excited to see what you do next at Fox!