u/Hugh_Jidiot

I know everyone and their mother has discussed this moment by now. It's probably one of *the* single most divisive lines of dialogue in the series. But I wanted to give my thoughts on my specific issues with this line.

First off let me say I'm not media illiterate. I see what they were going for with this line: the Players are only human, none of them are perfect, I get that. As humans they all *have* done some bad things at some point. But there's two major issues I take umbridge with. And suprise surprise, they both relate to Jax.

The first issue is the fact that Jax willfully chooses to engage in actions that he knows will harm the others physically and emotionally, from insults and blackmail to plain old assualt. Meanwhile the worst you can say about the "bad things" that the others have done is that they were unintentionally hurtful (Zooble's general abrasiveness from dealing with their body dysphoria, Ragatha's positivity coming across as forced to the others) or made in moments of emotional weakness (Pomni abandoning Ragatha for what she thought was the exit, Gangle going overboard with her manager persona when she finally had authority after being at the bottom of the pecking order). Like, it's kinda hard to take "we've all done bad things" at face value when the actual bad things we've seen from Jax vs Everyone Else is as different as night and day.

Second, there's the timing of this line in the series. It comes at the start of episode 8, right after Jax committed his most heinous act in the series yet of choosing to keep everyone trapped in the Circus when they seemingly had a chance to escape. As Zooble (CORRECTLY) pointed out, it didn't matter that it turned out to not be real; Jax thought it *was* real when he pressed the red button. Yet once again the show doesn't allow Jax to face real consequences from the narrative with the rest of the Players deciding "no it really doesn't matter" that Jax chose to throw everyone under the bus when the chips are down. Pomni's "we've all done bad things" is just the cherry on top of that shit sundae. It's the show's way of saying "no we're never going to acknowledge what Jax did, so here's a flismy reminder that none of the characters are perfect."

TL;DR: "We've all done bad things" doesn't land for me because Jax has done objectively worse things than everyone AND it was said right after he foiled what seemed to be their only chance at escape, which the narrative just immediately moved on from.

This just occurred to me on a series rewatch and isn't super important in the grand scheme of the show, but it's a little amusing to think just how Dipper was even going to convince his parents to let him be the apprentice of a long-lost uncle they likely never even met.

Dipper: "Mom, Dad, you know how Grunkle Stan had a twin brother who died in a car crash in the 80s? Well, surprise! Grunkle Stan*ford* is actually Stan*ley* who faked his death and assumed his brother's identity. The real Stanford was trapped in another dimension for 30 years, but now he's back and wants me to stay in Gravity Falls as his apprentice!"

Mr and Mrs Pines: "..."

- Zee's nickname for Lauren is Doll because, in his words, she "looks like an antique porcelain doll from a pawn shop that might be possessed by a demon, but in a cute way."

- Lauren’s nickname for Zee is Bubbles. It's because of all the soda he drinks, but Zee thinks it's because Bubbles is his favorite Powerpuff Girl and Lauren doesn't have the heart to correct him.

- Both of them are physically affectionate, and their favorite thing to do as a couple is just sit down together and cuddle.

- While cuddling they enjoying watching some of Lauren’s favorite horror movies. If it's their first time seeing a movie they just watch it. On rewatches, Lauren starts listing off trivia about whatever they're watching and Zee hangs on to every word.

- Zee’s choice of cuddling activity is to listen to some music and just vibe. He prefers chilling to soft and prog rock like Steely Dan, Rush and King Crimson, but makes sure to include some of Lauren’s favorite metal bands like Blackbraid, Candlemass and King Diamond.

- Zee has a major sweet tooth, so Lauren often brings chocolate and/or candy along to their dates.

- When autumn rolls around, their dates consist almost exclusively of going to haunted houses. Lauren herself has experience volunteering at haunts, so knows the ins and outs and explains them all to Zee.

- After season two, Zee kept Olivia von TrashPanda as a pet, whom Lauren absolutely adores.

- Zee’s favorite physical feature of Lauren is her eyes, which he thinks are beautiful in that "painting in a haunted house where the eyes seem to follow you around the room" kind of way.

- Lauren loves hearing Zee’s stories about how he "lost his leg," especially the gory details.

Since I did this mene for All-Stars and Pahkitew, figured I'd complete the trifecta.

For context, haruspicy is the practice of divining the future by reading spilled entrails of sacrificed animals. But even an evil Dawn wouldn't dare harm one of Mother Earth's creatures. Now a person, on the other hand...

I'm genuinely asking. The adventure itself was fake, and it wasn't some big turning point for how the others view Jax since NO ONE is mad at him for seemingly choosing to keep them all trapped.

Well, Zooble was for about 5 seconds, but then the narrative was like "Nah we don't have time for that." If there were no consequences for Jax or for anyone, what the fuck was even the point of having him snap and try to keep then trapped??

Someone please explain this to me like I'm an idiot.