#a quack thinks about

[drquacken]

In Defense of the Paintress

I’ve recently completed Expedition 33 and listened to the CSB spoiler cast about the game. I’ve got some thoughts about a certain aspect of The Paintress that everyone seems to pile on to her specifically, so beware spoilers under the cut

Specifically I’m going to talk about her treatment of Canvas Alicia and Alicia in general.

One of the through lines I see a lot of is “How could Aline give the painting of her youngest the burn scars and take her voice away!” The thing is, I don’t believe she did. Given how little information we have of past events outside of what the game decides to tell us, quite a bit is up for interpretation.

I’ll go through and list my reasoning in I believe to be weakest to strongest:

First, one of the first things Canvas Verso said to Canvas Alicia was to say how his “beautiful sister didn’t need a mask” and given that Clea had warned him that Alicia was reborn as a child that he kept an eye on every so often could show that he has memories of her without the scars.

Second, as soon as she popped into the painting, Alicia was caught in Aline’s power and forcibly reborn (either intentionally or accidentally) to what appeared to be a loving family, before they gommaged.

Lastly, Aline was looking to escape the grief that had consumed her after Verso’s death, why would she keep one child scarred by the event she wants to forget? Why keep her around at all? Canvas Alicia would be a CONSTANT reminder that the story she was creating was just an illusion and at the end of the day, her son is still dead and her daughter is just a pale ghost haunting her and the manor she lives in.

Again this is all based on interpretation of stuff I picked up from the game, and because i haven’t completed it 100% (I don’t have all the journal entries and I don’t believe I’ve completed every side quest) so there might be bits of evidence that contradicts what I’ve put forward.

[understandably-odd]

irving is the father figure to helly that helena wishes she had. he loves helly. he sacrifices his life for helly. he is gentle with helly, apologizes to her, cradles her, sees her for who she is and loves her for it. i think it probably wrecked helena to know that someone cared for a version of her like that but that she never got the chance to experience that love for herself.

[bucksdaffy]

do you ever just stop and think about tommy telling buck he's renowned for his fake mouth static, only for buck to claim that their first kiss was actually better than that, lowkey implying that kissing buck should be what tommy is truly renowned for? because i do daily and i'm honestly not okay 😭

[lemonduckisnowawake]

It's SO fairytale like but also sci-fi?? I'm talking about Lost in Starlight. My sister pointed out to me that there's also a pun in the Korean title that also contains a word that can mean goodbye. And honestly I ADORED how they actually managed to interweave a romantic storyline with a going to space action adventure AND a band AU struggles flick. Also, pretty music and amazing voice acting and STELLAR animation (it's what gave it that fairytale-like feel with the backdrop of spaaaace).

[subway-boss-jericho]

Fuck it. Silly post time

My doodles from my class notes this + last week. I have been struggling to draw my guys on model lately so you can see some of the Struggles. go ahead, look at em. i am so human but watch me go. Anyways, these are in order from oldest to most recent (the ones I did in class today.) Trying to figure out how i want to draw them again, because it seems I can never quite do it the same way twice. Mildly frustrating, but it does leave space for silly posts like this. I hope someone else finds as much amusement in offended tynamo as I do.

AUs include spirit keeper (I've forgotten how to draw??? his hair??? which is like his most identifying feature???? don't know where THAT muscle memory went but it is GONE) and also Steady Tracks Ingo (who I have Never figured out how to draw in the first place tbh). Also pictured: an intentionally rare little ingo appearance. Also noticed I've been drawing more canon-compliant doodles than I normally do, so that's neat! Top right image (the third one) is my INSANELY botched attempt at drawing the One Move twins. Literally turbo fucked that one. look at ingo's face. Unrecognizable. Will I stop using an ink pen? when I die maybe

Anyways. God be damned I am Having Fun. Wanted to offer you my doodles in the hopes they make someone else smile too today. Oh the train is just a train, I just figured you guys would like that one. Even though I'm struggling to keep my pen steady or my lines consistent, I am still very happy with several things here. The smoke on the train, and the two middle Emmets on the very last image in particular I really love

silly post complete. have a great timezone

[the-ultimate-dissapointment]

The professors get together to brag about their daughters (and poor insane son)

[pigeonwithabriefcase]

Je pense dunc je suis. Guys wake up its agent twenty three tuesday

[vice-president-galade]

The push to move oversight of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act out of the Education Department is now prompting legal questions and other concerns from special education and disability advocates. “This is not a change that can be made by executive order — it would require Congress to amend the law to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to move the Office of Special Education Programs from ED to HHS,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of the Education Department’s Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush. The IDEA specifies that “there shall be, within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education, an Office of Special Education Programs, which shall be the principal agency in the department for administering and carrying out this title and other programs and activities concerning the education of children with disabilities.” Even if the president could move IDEA oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services, doing so would be “a step back 50 years,” said Michael Yudin who served as assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services under the Obama administration. Most children with disabilities are educated in general education classrooms alongside their typically developing peers, so breaking off special education is illogical, he said. “This is not a health issue, this is not a medical issue, this is about educating kids with disabilities,” Yudin said. “We’re talking about making sure kids get a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. What about health does that?” Disability advocates are also raising concerns about how prepared the Department of Health and Human Services would be to oversee special education and what message it would send to house special education inside a health agency. “Moving IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services would promote a medical model of disability that could only lead to stigmatizing, segregating, and ‘othering’ children with disabilities,” said Robyn Linscott, director of education and family policy at The Arc. “HHS is not equipped to work directly with state education agencies who are delegated the responsibility to oversee local implementation of IDEA in school districts; nor is HHS able to provide essential technical assistance to parents as is currently conducted.”

[cantgetworsethanthistbh]

YES YES YES I GO CRAZY ABOUT IT

there was a piece of analysis in the notes of a gen fic i read a while back where it basically said that (30s!)ford was fine putting their relationship on pause until ford was ready to reconcile or needed something from stan. there was never any consideration that stan wouldn’t “want to make it up to him” or even a passing thought that stan would reject him despite presumably never mentioning stan to fiddleford or anyone in the town he lived in, and not talking about him at all with family

anyways that piece of analysis still keeps me up at night.

God its actually so insane to think about. I was mostly joking in my post, but its pretty crazy how Ford is very much aware of Stan's loyalty to him and we've seen how far he's willing to stretch it for his own benefit without anything in return. Ford is so clearly aware of the fact Stan would literally do anything for him.

I think much of it boils down to his own belief that Stan is willing to do whatever it takes keep him around. I mean, didn't Stan ruin his future prospects at his dream school specifically so they can keep adventuring together? Why would Stan deny Ford anything at that point if he's willing to cost the family literal millions for his "selfish gains"? (and again, Ford is under the impression Stan destroyed the machine on purpose and is essentially trying to baby trap him with the Stan O War lmao)

He internalizes this, like some vault in his brain that assures him he would always have his brother, even when he doesn't want him at that moment. Or at least, believes he doesn't but he does, and that is even something he's very obviously ashamed of or else he wouldnt hide the literal decades worth of memorabilia of Stan from Fiddleford or would be writing his real feelings in secret code.

But back to the point: Ford has no qualms using this to his own benefit and he does it multiple times. He does it when begging Stan to come to Gravity Falls, he does it when he expects Stan to just shut up and take the book away even without sitting him down and explaining why these journals are so important and dangerous in the first place. It's something he even utilizes right after getting out of the portal, by telling Stan to shut down his thirty year long and successful business and leave after the summer is over and Stan agrees.

But it's worth noting too that that's the last time you will ever catch Stan doing a total favor for Ford without something in return. Stan at that point is done doing things for Ford without the proper reciprication and its not like you can blame him. He has to be convinced by Mabel to save Ford again and he puts his foot down on getting that thanks he was owed over fixing the portal even though there was a literal apocalypse happening. Make no mistake though, because until then, Ford wasn't under any delusion that Stan wouldnt do anything he asks because Stan pretty much proved he would. This is also why Ford was pretty comfortable asking Stan to join the circle because other than "Who the hell would deny holding hands to save the world?" there's also a "How could Stan ever say no to me?" Having to swallow his pride for even half a second and actually reciprocate literally 1/100 of the things Stan was willing to do for him was how we got "Grammar, Stanley" lmao

and this is my own headcanon, but i suppose that other than essentially killing Stanley by erasing his mind, I think that's also a moment where the vault opens in Ford's head and he realizes he won't always have his brother like he believes he does. The same brother who travelled halfway across the country for a brother who he hadn't contacted for 10 years. The same brother who was willing to keep him fed and sheltered under a roof that legally technically is more Stan's than it is Ford's and rescind his one condition of staying away from the kids to give Dipper his blessing of hanging out with Ford. That same brother is going to forget all about that, forget his loyalty and unconditional love towards Ford and Ford realizes he loses the one person who was always willing to fight for him, more than anyone else in the world. Its really really good shit man

[angryducktimemachine]

With getting a bit more confident and less anxious (to a slight degree, it's unfortunately still a big curse) since being on Testosterone I occasionally think about wanting to try out visiting a queer meet-up or something but unfortunately working full time and not having a car kind of limits most options.

[hivisduck]

10 + 1

[picory]

this is harder than i thought it would be. but i need to continue practicing. lining with a brush is quite fun, but with watercolor it needs to be done after coloring. got to get used to that...

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Hi soda!! ^^ if you would have a pet duck, what would u name it?? (Includes a lil baby rubber duck with note :3)

Soda picks up the duck and chuckles at it, squishing it softly before reading the note fully. And from there he thinks, and writes back.

A pet duck, huh? Well. I've never really owned a duck before. But I think I'd name one something fun, like uh... Spoons.

I like naming things based off fun stuff! Like, when I named Mickey Mouse (my old horse), I thought that was something fun.

Batarang... Squeaker.. Quackers (Like Crackers)... Soda Jr... Haha!

I dunno! Name the thing Fluffy and call it a day!

[lemonduckisnowawake]

Spoilerssss for K-Pop Demon Hunters, buuuut

I love movies that have a message that if you ever want to address your flaws, you have to put them to light first if you want to fix them. And maybe that you'll find thise flaws don't have to be fixed. Maybe what you needed was healing. And I love messages that directly address shame over actually horrible wrongs with grace, forgiveness, and repentance. (There could have been a better redemption done, but I like the almost Little Mermaid-like ending where, even though the body was lost, we visually saw and verbally heard the soul being given up). I LOVE songs being used to battle things and Korean mythology kinda vibing in the modern setting.

Anyway, point is, you give me a story with themes of healing over vanquishing, forgiveness over shame, friendship and love over hatred and death - even if battles still are necessary and must be fought - and a trio of seasoned warriors taking things down to epic music? YEAH, OF COURSE I'LL LIKE IT.

[seoulmates98]

Watching videos of onewe NA tour and seeing weves barking/meowing at them in Charlotte 😂 and yonghoon telling them to stop cause he doesn't like dogs or cats 🤣😭

[mikanferno]

It's over.

You take a bow.

Did you enjoy the show, Universe?

(isat by @insertdisc5)