#I’ll be gushing over every little art piece and piece of dialogue now

[cookieshapedrat]

Some quick uncolored sketches I made of my reactions to the WH update. What a rollercoaster of emotions that was at 3AM. Spectacular voice acting, gorgeous artwork, the writing was incredible too, and the new website layout looks very nice! I struggled for two hours trying to solve the decoder puzzle. I’m horrendous at word scramble, working my brain so hard to the point of a near headache. Eventually, I did figure it out (anddefinitelydidntjustsearchuptheanswer), and man what a treat!

You know, I used to be one of the fans that thought, “Home isn’t evil. They haven’t done anything wrong yet. Surely they’re just misunderstood and actually cares a lot about Wally and is good friends with all of the neighbors.” Then this update happened. Now I’ve placed a foot on the side of Home being pretty sus actually. I may still not understand much of what happened, but what I do know is that Eddie was already having a rough day. The man deserved to have a break.

Here are my references that I used for a couple of my sketches. (If anyone knows the artists of these, do let me know so I can give proper credit. I’ve been searching but haven’t found them yet.):

[rayshippouuchiha]

I’m back again with your monthly dose of Undertale gushing! Actually, I’m pretty sure this is gonna be the last one becauseI literally can’t think of anything else to gush about without spoiling the entire game 😅 If I think of anything else I might go back on that but for now yeah.

Anyway, one of the things I adore the most about Undertale is the amount of heart that was put into it. Every inch of the game is just oozing love and care. You can really tell that the creator, Toby Fox, spent a large amount of time thinking “hey, wouldn’t it be neat if you could do X?”. So much so, that TV Tropes has an entire web-page dedicated to what they call “Developer’s Foresight” in Undertale, with 11 PAGES of things Toby figured a player might try and accounted for while coding the game.

I’ll give you an example that you’re very unlikely to find even with repeated playthroughs (because you have to be a complete dick 😂 I know I didn’t realize this until the Undertale wiki told me). In one of the areas of the game, you can find a snowman.

Since he cannot move, he will ask you to take a piece of himself so that “he” can see the world. Normally, if you eat the Snowman piece or toss it, you can go back to the Snowman and he will assume you lost it, then hand you another one. However, if you eat it right in front of him, he’ll be completely horrified and refuse to ever give you a new one. Even after you achieve the best ending and you’re being hailed a hero by all your friends during the playable epilogue, the Snowman will tell you that he knows “the truth”; that “your heart is as cold as his butt” 😂

This kinda thing not only happens with NPCs in the overworld, but even during battles you can find funny little tidbits if you experiment even after you could technically spare the monster and end the fight. Truly, I’ve never encountered a game that rewarded my curiosity more.

For example, in another area of the game you can encounter a germophobic monster. Usually, if you try to touch it, it’ll just say “yuck”. However, if you’re fighting it at the same time as a slimy enemy and happen to have hugged the latter at some point, it’ll be terrified of being touched by your slimy body and run away.

Also, none of the dialogue feels superfluous like it often does in most RPGs, where NPCs will either repeat tutorials you already know over and over or say boring, irrelevant stuff. In Undertale, I’d say ~99.9% of the dialogue is either funny, witty, or relevant to the story/characters in some way. Even dialogue that may initially seems random or unimportant tends to become relevant in some way later. It also might change depending on your actions. For example, at one point you can have a meal with one of the main characters at a bar/restaurant, and the dialogue of the other patrons will change to give you additional info about him. One in particular will tell you that he’s so lazy he mostly “reads car magazines” when he should be working. That text is highlighted in yellow, something that is usually reserved for important information, and I was puzzled as to why that was… until I reached the best ending, when we can see one of the people closest to that character has mysteriously acquired a cool sports car.

There’s also something in the game’s coding called the FUN value, which is randomly generated with every playthrough, and determines whether a few random events will occur, from getting a phone call where you usually wouldn’t to a whole new character/room appearing. There are many other secrets and easter eggs galore, from the naming screen at the beginning to the end. It makes every playthrough potentially unique depending on which ones you manage to find.

It’s always a bit frustrating to me that some of the best stuff about this game is a spoiler, and I can’t in good conscience gush about it to anyone who might play the game. If you play the game one day I would love it if we could talk about characters, exchange headcanons and share some of my favorite art. But until then, that’s all folks! Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk😊

(Note: the video is by 램Lamb on youtube, featuring cute art and my absolute favorite song from the soundtrack, Undertale)

[eggshellsreview]

Steven Universe (Season 1) review

The now incredibly popular Cartoon Network animated show created back in 2013 has only spiked even more in popularity due to the recently released movie that caught my eye and made me decide to dive into the show first hand just to see what I've been apparently missing out on the past few years.

Unfortunately for me, Steven Universe started airing on Television before the time that I was more open minded about animated series or even just wider genres as a whole. However, since then, a lot of animation and other content has made me spread out my taste and turned me not just willing to watch more animated content, but gladly willing to watch. And I will say, that so far, Steven Universe has only reinforced that new mentality as it surprised me in great ways.

Steven Universe follows a very young, very enthusiastic protagonist of the same name in his abnormal childhood adventures, rooted to his unwilling connection to what I can only describe as sentient rock extraterrestrials. These extraterrestrials are permanently referred to as Gems in the series and are equipped with what you'd expect: Super advanced technology/intellect, superhuman abilities, and a whole lotta backstory to unpack.

For context, I spent several years with a best friend who absolutely adored the series, and even though I wasn't particularly interested in the show, I'd always let her gush to me in great detail her favorite aspect of it; the lore. Because of this I'm already familiar with a decent chunk of the backstory that surrounded the main characters and their origins so to say, but I will say, that even though hearing about the show never made me want to go running and put it on to watch, watching how the information that I know unfolded through the show in its incredible pacing was a completely different experience.

The Gems that the story follows are a small group of short and sweet personalities. Pearl, the level headed scholar. Amethyst the rowdier, messy fun haver. Garnet, the quiet neutral one who doubles as the muscle of the team. And of course, the star of the show, Steven, the 10 year old rare half-human, half-gem hybrid trying to become a full fledged member of their team; The Crystal Gems. With their sworn duty to defend Earth from mystical threats, we watch as the Gems teach Steven some basic training and lessons of what it means to be a Crystal Gem as we simultaneously learn alongside him, who the Gems are and why they're here on our planet doing what they're doing.

This is where the show excels most. The way the show feeds information to the audience is incredible. As a loose comparison of another family friendly animated series with lots of lore about non-human characters saving the planet, I'll use My Little Pony (MLP): Friendship is Magic. MLP is a show I binged entirely for its lore and characters after hearing about it from the same friend who put me onto Steven Universe. However, despite being very interesting world building and lore exploration, the delivery of all that information was almost exclusively the scholar characters giving us very lengthy discussions in between action of episodes. Steven Universe doesnt do that though. Instead we get the engaging method of the show dropping hints, clues, and tid bits of information in a chain of loosely related episodes. For a simple example, in the lore of the show, there's a cave of important value to Steven's character. However, instead of just having Pearl go "Oh, Steven, let me show you this important location and give you a 4 minute conversation about its importance", we see implications to this place's existence over the span of the first episodes. After that, we see Steven discover it through an entirely nontraditional manner and explore it alone not knowing what it is, therefore not giving us any information about what's truly going on. Finally, a bit after in the season, we get a formal introduction to the location by Pearl to wrap up what we need to know about it in a brief minute or two. What this does, is allow us as the audience to theorize the meaning of things or people for a while, then be gifted actual on screen information in a nonformal history lesson kind of way, then have suspense for when we finally get the last pieces of the puzzles. Its a much more engaging method of giving information while eventually saving time for the formal information which may not sound like much. But when the episodes are 11 minutes long, cutting down 4-5 minutes of a history lesson, to just 1 or 2 minutes leaves more room for episodes to visually show case the significance of key information in action rather than just spend half the episode talking about it.

I'd say the only thing more important than the lore of the show however, is the atmosphere. With its watercolor sort of aesthetic to help set the general feel good and innocent tone the show it usually carries, it tends to use its art style to also butter you up for some crazy emotions. Steven Universe may have simple characters, but their dynamic between one another ends up pretty deep. Whether it's something like Garnet's quietness dropping for a moment of genuine anger or hurt because of her reaction to something. Or Amethyst dropping her carefree attitude to reveal how much she cares about something happening. The context of these moments are always INCREDIBLY powerful and filled with sincere dialogue that has left me tearing up more than just a couple of times and in my opinion, are what truly made this first season of Steven Universe a phenomenal pleasure to watch.

Another reason this show manages to have extremely good portrayal of emotions is due to its now iconic music numbers. Though they're expected, the songs sung by the characters in their appropriate moments always portray just what they have to. Funness, sadness, distress. It's a real treat, and really helps characters with simple, but strong personalities express a larger array of emotions than natural dialogue could. My favorite parts are always when they sing during action scenes because admittedly, the non musical number tracks of the show arent especially stellar. They get the job done and fit the atmosphere, but there were fewer times than I wouldve liked that I actually thought, oh hey this background track is great.

All in all, Steven Universe is an incredible show so far. One that I'm immediately continuing as soon as this is posted. The show knows what it wants to be and how it plans to do it, leaving us just an objectively well paced, well written, and crazy fun ride through an original fantasy world where you constantly want to learn more and where teases leave you constantly engaged. There's so much more I could've said, and want to say, about things like side characters, character designs, Gem abilitied (especially Gem abilities), but with this season being so long, I'd like to prioritize the more key elements of the show. Though rest assured anyone who hasnt watched the show, the things I just listed are presented and written as well as everything that I was able to talk about. Ultimately, I give Steven Universe, Season 1, a 9.5/10 rating. With genuinely nearly no complaints, even though it took several years to even give the show a try, I was left not only entirely satisfied in every category, but it exceeded all expectations and had left me crying, jaw dropped, and emotional every time it wanted to. I'm a huge fan of the show right now, and I seriously think anyone who hasn't, should really give it a watch.

[gimmetheheadcanons]

Sinners & Scapegoats 5/?

A/N: This is a little long. I’m kinda sorry for the slow pace of this story and wrote this as a way to thank you for your patience. I’m really into slow burns (but feel free to let me know if I’m taking it that to the extreme.) Just a quick note: I re-watched some scenes from 5x12 so some of the dialogue here is inspired by that. You all may have noticed I enjoy using lines from the canon quite differently. 

read chapter one   chapter two    chapter three    chapter 4

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5. Observations

 They walked the empty school halls in silence. Rick watched the back of Michonne’s head in front of him. As the last of the light from the gym refused to follow and the hallways darkened, Rick focussed not on what he was leaving behind but what lay ahead.

Carl.

He had thought himself so careful and smart but as the conflict with Lori escalated, sad, sad secrets kept inside for so long, threatened to spill out into the clear light of day. It was arrogance on both their accounts, to think that a kid at that age wouldn’t notice his mother sneaking in and out of the guest room before the crack of dawn. Or that his father pulled every excuse he could out of his hat to avoid family dinners.

And what of himself, Rick wondered, what was it that he was determined not to hear? To see. To finally take heed. This woman before him; leading him to her classroom, with the promise of grave news regarding the emotional welfare of his boy. This mysterious woman somehow inserting herself into broken families without waiting for an invitation but because it was the right thing to do. Or the man, the friend he left behind with his son, doing the same thing in his own way – playing the surrogate father no one asked him to.

And possibly more.

Rick felt his head throb, his tired eyes welcoming the darkness but his heart wondering when things would become less so.

Once they arrived in the room, Michonne switched on a small desk lamp before pulling out a sketchbook from her drawer.

“This is Carl’s, from last year.” She said flicking through the pages for a second. “I asked the kids to bring them in when I first started so we could do a lesson on our art journey and inspirations.”

She handed him the book and Rick took a quick look at the pages.

He’d seen this before, several colorful drawings of comic book characters, some Rick recognized as already established icons from popular books and others, original creations from his son’s impressive imagination. Carl’s favorites were recreated on the larger poster pages decorating his bedroom wall.

“Carl is a big fan of superheroes.”

“Aren’t we all.” Michonne replied smiling but her tone implying there was more in store.  

“Here is his book from earlier this year.” She continued, handing him a second sketchbook. “Mrs. Randall, their previous teacher, wrote a couple of notes for you and Lori to see.”

Sure enough, there it was – in the scratchy writing of the elderly woman – everything Rick had been trying to ignore. Underneath a chilling picture of a wailing woman with bony hands grabbing at her hollowed out cheeks, her eyes empty pits and her stringy hair filling the entire page like a web she couldn’t escape.

Utter despair.

This is a still life class Carl you can draw movie monsters in your own time!

There was more, Rick flipped through the book to find many black and white pictures in the same vein. An empty baby stroller. A turned over patrol car. A house with no windows. A silhouette of a woman, hunched over as if crying, sitting in a rocker with her back to the viewer.

Inappropriate imagery. See me at break.

Rick swallowed hard before finally speaking.

“It’s grim.”

“It is.” Michonne agreed in a soft voice.

“Now I’m all for emotional expression, but the way Carl engages with his class mates and then what is reflected in his art –  it just doesn’t seem very emotionally healthy.”

“And you’re blaming me for this.”

He closed the book slowly, pushing it back into Michonne’s hands as if it burned in his.

“No Rick. I’m not.” She said gently placing the book on her desk before stepping closer and taking hold of his hands. Rick closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Her comforting tones couldn’t reach him.

“I just wanted you to know. You should be made aware when things aren’t right.” She sounded like she had a story of her own to tell, a warning playing on her lips of something worse.

He felt sick. Imagining his happy little boy in a state of perpetual sadness.

Dark thoughts swirling underneath that beautiful head of dark hair.

Dark enough to do what?

Suddenly shuddering at the unthinkable places his mind had managed to go, Rick withdrew from Michonne.

“I’m sorry but I’m concerned.” She said in her teacher voice, reverting to her cool professional and somewhat distant self.

Feeling the immense weight of guilt, Rick reverted to what he knew best – denial.  

“We’re fine.”  He said then stubbornly repeating himself a little louder.

“Lori and I are fine. And now I know Carl will be fine.”

Michonne looked taken aback, her eyes wide and a hint of disgust forming on her face crushing Rick. Instead of speaking, she grabbed the sketchbook off the table, turned it to a page in the back and shoved it angrily into his chest.

Breathing heavily, Rick took a look.

It was a picture of a hat in a spotlight, his own sheriff’s one, on the floor of what was unmistakably a representation of their living room – wrecked.

“I need to go.”

It was all Rick managed to whisper before turning to escape a place that felt suffocating. Once in the hall, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath and take in what he’d just seen. A depiction of his failure in his son’s eyes.

There was no ounce of doubt, the banshee like woman who kept reappearing on page after page, emanating waves of sorrow and anguish was his Lori, abandoned by a man whose vows amounted to nothing.

Despite his best efforts, his son had a front seat ticket to the breakdown of his marriage and worse, he blamed him for it.

Michonne’s approaching footsteps pulled Rick out of his thoughts.

He couldn’t bear to look at her. To hear her voice.

Not now. Not after this.

“I’m sorry Ms. Anthony,” he said quickly turning to meet her. “I made you uncomfortable with my earlier remarks. It really was just a thoughtless comment. Thank you for showing me Carl’s book but if you don’t mind, I think I should return to my family.”

A face full of regret and pity was staring at him.

Even in the shadowy hall they saw each other. Completely.

“What will it take for you to believe this is real?” She begged him.

Rick rubbed his face. “Stop it. Please, Michonne. Not you too.”

He was sick of this, sick of the blame being laid at his feet, sick of being looked to for answers and consistently coming up with a big fat pile of nothingness. Sick of doing, sick of not.

“I’m doing my best.” He yelled hoping she would listen. “For Carl’s sake.”

“Do you know what that’s like, feeling like you’re the only one trying to hold together the pieces? Grasping at something you’re no longer sure exists”

Her eyes hardened. “No one asked you to just get by. To just survive.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.” He demanded, stepping in closer. Undeterred by the visible anger on his face, Michonne met him with a defiant expression of her own.

“Your only commitment should be to Carl and what’s best for him.” She said flatly and with unblinking eyes. “Everything else is an excuse.”

Outraged Rick lashed out to make himself feel better.

“Why are you so interested in the state of my marriage? Why really?”

Michonne shot him the iciest look possible.

Rick stopped for a moment, recognizing how far he had gone. The woman in front of him had done nothing untoward. She attempted to alert him to a deeper issue he’d been ignoring and as thanks he decided to tear into her. Exposing his own weakness and shameless desires as a man. Projecting onto her feelings he had no way of knowing were in anyway reciprocated.

Visibly offended and deeply disappointed, Michonne shook her head before leaving him behind.

“I’m s-.”

Rick began, attempting to make amends but she wouldn’t hear it.

“No Rick.” She said simply, turning around just once to strike him down with her words. “This is yours to deal with. Not mine.”

Rick opened his mouth to speak but then decidedly shut it, settling on a remorseful nod instead.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other parents I need to greet.” Michonne’s detached teacher voice was back. “I’ll make sure to come say hello to Mrs. Grimes when she arrives.”

If Rick ever heard a threat, that was it.

---------------------

They returned to the gym separately, Rick joining his son and best friend and Michonne disappearing into a crowd of parents and kids.

When he met up with Carl, the boy had Shane Walsh practically eating out his hand, the grown man seemed to be gushing over Carl’s work and showering him with praise and attention. The kids around them looked on with envy and Carl delighted with his cool grownup cop friend.

Rick acknowledged his partner with a small nod. The childish innocent smile beaming at him as he approached was the handiwork of Shane and Rick was grateful.

He then embraced his son, kissing him on the head and squeezing a little harder than a teen would’ve liked to be hugged in front of an audience of peers.  

“Dad.” Carl whispered blushing at the gesture.

Rick smiled a little, relieved to see he hadn’t emerged from that room to an entirely different world.

He was determined, at least for the time being, to leave behind the sketchbook and all the nightmares it contained.

Except reality had other plans.

It took Rick a moment to fully take in what he was seeing in front of him.

It was a charcoal drawing of two dark shadowy figures, hand in hand, with their backs to him, walking down a road. Faceless but not genderless, the figure on the right had feminine curves, the one on the left the frame of a tall, lean man. The road they were on was a clearing in a heavy forest of towering curved trees, boxing them in.

“It’s called The Way Back.”

“It’s about how we can get lost sometimes, like Hansel and Gretel and how when things are scary, all we can do is try and find a way back.”

“Ms. Anthony helped me name it.” Carl admitted, Rick noticed he had a slightly sad smile on his face. “I didn’t really have a name for it. I just started drawing not knowing what it was gonna be until it was finished.”

Rick had no words. At least none, that wouldn’t end with him shaking the shoulders of the small boy in front of him to stop.  

Thankfully Shane stepped in with his own commentary.

“That’s sure one hell of a picture buddy.” He said clapping Carl on the back. “Deep as a bottomless well. Making the rest of the competition look like a bunch of squiggly line drawing pre-schoolers.”

Carl’s face turned red.

“Shane.” He muttered, signalling with his eyes to the blond boy next to him.

Shane smiled awkwardly before apologizing. “Sorry. You did a great job too Kyle. Really like the use of…red in your one.”

“Kevin.” Rick said quietly, correcting his friend. But it was too late, the damage had been done and young Kevin was evidently unimpressed by Shane Walsh’s lack of respect.

“Yeah. Kevin. That’s what I said. Isn’t that what I said? Anyway, great job kid.”

With a sour look on his face, Kevin left to find his own parents.

“Thanks for that one Shane,” Carl groaned. “I’m sure Kev’s gonna mad about that for at least a week.”

Shane simply shrugged. “Hey not my fault you artistic types are so damn sensitive!” He said playfully chiding Carl until he too was laughing at the incident.

Rick couldn’t help but watch his son more carefully throughout the rest of the evening. The boy was doing everything Michonne had warned. Laughing louder than everyone else, talking more than anyone else. Constantly on the move as if standing still weren’t an option.

It made Rick uncomfortably and by the time Lori arrived, he was surprisingly glad to see his partner. Finally! Someone he could count on being on his side. At least when it came to all matters related to Carl anyway.  

“You didn’t tell me it was formal wear Carl.” Lori lamented as she walked up to Rick, Carl and Shane.  “I would’ve gotten here earlier had a certain somebody warned me about the type event this was.” She said pinching her son’s cheek after kissing it.

Rick smiled warmly at his wife. “Yeah we didn’t get the memo on that one either.” He said offering his wife a warm smile and solidarity in his disapproval of Carl’s absentmindedness.

Unflustered by the glares he was receiving from both his parents, the boy simply shrugged. The grin on Carl’s face however was short-lived as Lori gently smacked his arm.  

“Not funny Carl! I almost showed up in overalls!”

Rick noticed she had gone to great lengths to ensure she hadn’t. Lori Grimes was wearing a completely new outfit – a long, flowy, white maxi dress with small red, green, and yellow flowers running up and down it.  Her normally wavy hair was perfectly blow-dried straight and swept behind her confidently, revealing pale freckled shoulders as she moved in to hug Shane.  

When their brief yet completely chaste embrace ended, Rick couldn’t help but notice the way Lori ran her fingers through her hair, tucking the loose strands behind her ear before smiling for the man with dark eyes firmly fixed upon her.  

“Still would’ve been the prettiest girl in the room Lor.” Shane said smoothly and to Rick’s horror, Lori blushed.

“Yeah mom you look amazing.” Carl kindly concurred, giving his mother a confidence boost Rick was ashamed of he couldn’t quite muster.

He quickly moved in to hug Lori and her lips, painted a deep red Rick hadn’t seen in years, granted him an obligatory kiss on the cheek; but making sure to pull away before his own could touch hers.

With Lori finally standing close to him, Rick noticed how his already tall wife was almost towering over them all. On her feet were brown sandals with the huge chunky, block heels –  sandals she once upon a time told Rick she loathed enough to bury.

She must’ve dug them up just for tonight.

“Prettiest girl in town.”

“Maybe at one point.” She said answering Shane, acting all unnecessarily coy.

Shane shook his head firmly.

“No. Always.”

There was nothing particularly special about Shane’s behavior, yet the way his wife was responding to it irked Rick. Thankfully, his son was there to defuse the situation. With the niceties out of the way, Carl was ready to drag Lori away and showcase his work to her.

“Mom, that’s my piece!”

The boy didn’t need to wait long for Lori’s praise.

“It’s wonderful baby. Amazing.”

“It’s called The Way Back.” Carl said addressing all three of the adults admiring his work. “It’s about finding your way back, because nothing ever changes so much that we can’t. You know?”

Sadly, Lori and Shane seemed to not know but politely nodded nonetheless. Rick on the other hand, wished he didn’t know as much as he did. He had all the context now, facts regarding how deep his son’s unhappiness ran. Well informed, however, did not mean well-equipped to handle any of it.

“If we walked a path once, we can always walk it again. Just need something to jog our memories. You know?”

“That’s really insightful of you Carl.”

Rick was spared having to answer his son by the sudden arrival of Michonne who caught Carl’s last words and responded with the sincere encouragement of a mentor.

She ignored Rick, walking straight past him and Shane to introduce herself to late addition to their party.

“Michonne Anthony.” She said warmly extending her hand to his wife.

“Lori Grimes.”

The two women meeting should’ve cracked open the ground under Rick’s feet, causing him then to fall deep into that chasm and straight towards the hell that he knew awaited him. A hell he deserved.

But it was a quiet respectful affair. Michonne showing no desire to hurt him for his earlier transgression.

“You have a special boy Mrs. Grimes. You and Rick both.”

“Call me Lori. Please.” It was supposed to be friendly, but Rick knew Lori’s every inflection. She was demanding the similar familiar treatment Rick had gotten from the sophisticated ‘city gal’ in front of her.

Rick winced a little. If left unchecked, Lori’s insecurities would undo the happy family home narrative he’d been hoping to construct for Michonne. Besides, he had let the family unit down enough for the both of them tonight.

Lori deserved to come out of the evening untarnished.  

“Whatever Carl does right in school, he got it from my wife. She’s the genius in the family.” Rick piped in, trying to play the role of the loving husband.

Lori smiled at him appreciatively, happy to play her part in the pretence. Just like a partner.  

But just as soon as he commended her, Lori switched on him.

“Always the mothers, picking up that slack!”

Michonne frowned a little, as if she had suddenly become aware of what Rick was up against. Without the others noticing she shot him a sympathetic look. The look should’ve been comforting but it had the opposite effect.

“You’re both extremely lucky to have such an amazing kid.” She said diplomatically. “Regardless of who put in the work.” Her clear laugh taking the mean-spirited edge right out of Lori’s comment.

“Guess I shouldn’t be offended.” Rick added sarcastically, feeling every bit as petty as Lori in that moment and unable to mask it.

“You shouldn’t be.” Michonne said, looking him dead in the eye. Her eyes telegraphed an apology for their tense earlier interaction and the sincerity eased Rick’s mind. He was feeling fragile, his life an act and now he found out that his son was in on the charade.

Tonight, had been devastating.

Or it should’ve been.

Michonne’s soft eyes connecting with his told him another tale.

The conversation about the joys of parenting continued without him. With Shane now unapologetically acting as a placeholder for him, an overwhelmed Rick checked out.

Then the party moved on, setting up camp by the refreshment table.

Leaving him with his thoughts.

All but Michonne.

Left together Rick took the opportunity to speak his mind and make amends, but she stopped him.

“Don’t apologize.” She said surprising him.

Rick frowned, and after a moment of contemplation she boldly placed a soothing hand on his shoulder, adding in a low pressing whisper. “Just do something. Whatever it takes to get there. Just as long as you get there.”

She was pointing at his son.

“When you first came to town and got to know Carl. What did you hear him say about me?”

“Nothing.”

“And Shane?”

There was a pause on her end and Rick filled in the blanks for himself.

“Sometime tomorrow or the day after, I’ll be outside my home. And without seeing inside or calling ahead, I’m gonna have to decide to open that door.” Rick admitted, his voice hoarse and fraught. He was leaning against a wall for support he hadn’t anticipated on needing.

Michonne nodded, her eyes no longer hesitant about meeting his own unblinking ones.

“You asked me before what it would take for me to believe what’s happening is real. The truth is, I’m not sure that anything can convince me to go in there. To find out.”

Rick took a step forward, bridging the gap between them before speaking once more.

“But I’m gonna see.” He promised her and only her. “I’m gonna see.”

Michonne simply nodded, relief washing over her face for a moment before being replaced by a more sombre look.

“The struggle. You gotta let it go.”

“I know it’s hard. After it’s kept you warm, your family together. Kept your vows alive. But the struggle –  turns on you. Eats away at what was there. What you thought you were fighting for in the first place. You gotta let it go. It’s the only way to find your way back to where you need to be. With Carl.”

“That’s what you were trying to tell me, back in the classroom. What to risk. What’s actually important.” Pausing to inhale deeply, Rick looked away before continuing. “I thought I knew what it meant. What being a father – a husband meant. But the rules keep changing.”

For better or worse…

Or hushed phone calls…

Or hard to explain receipts from never explained solo trips to Atlanta…

Or the tall unmistakable figure of his best friend, not sick in his own bed, but slinking out of Rick’s house, in the middle of the day.

Michonne smiled sadly as if suddenly overcome by poignant pain. “They did for me.”

He wanted to ask her exactly how, but he never got the chance. They were interrupted by loud yells from Carl, calling them to come join him at the refreshment table.

Carl. Lori.

And Shane.

A pretty enough picture to challenge the ones on any billboard or in any shopping catalogue.

To challenge the one sitting framed on his desk.  

Feeling an unexpected wetness in his eyes, Rick turned to Michonne.

“Before we get going. I gotta take a moment.”

Understanding, the woman before him nodded. Instead of waiting with him, she made her way to the join the rest of the company first, buying him that moment.

Rick waved his fingers weakly, with the last of his strength forcing one final grin for the sake of his son.

His tired eyes then turned to his beautiful bride, the woman he built a life with these last twenty-two years. The only girl he ever loved; now laughing brightly at a joke told by a man he trusted above anyone else. A good joke, Rick was sure of it, one that would’ve reduced him to tears too.

Shane loved to tell dumb cop jokes.

Rick sat and waited for a moment longer than he needed to. The strength returned to his body with each breath, his eyes hardened and the salt water turning to steel. The punchline came and went without him needing to hear it.

He knew enough.

When the laughing stopped, he walked over slowly to meet the people who had made a fool out of him for long enough.

“You’re here.” Lori said her face smug and uglier than he ever remembered it being. “We weren’t sure if you’d come back.”

Shane placed a careful hand on Lori’s shoulder, a small brief action powerful enough to command her attention and relax, suddenly forsaking her planned attack on her no good husband.

There was a pause, a friendly grin on Shane’s face clearly waiting to be thanked.

Had Shane known the extent of the hatred in his best friend’s heart, he’d know that he was the one who needed to express gratitude; simply for still having the use of the limb with which he made the fateful mistake of latching onto Lori Grimes.

“I was just telling everyone about that time whe –”

“You need to go.”

Shane didn’t blink for a second at Rick’s icy interruption.

Carl however, was openly disturbed by the foreign fury on his father’s face.

“Dad?”

“Go.”

Shane’s smiles were getting difficult to maintain. “Hey buddy, I don’t know what’s up with you bu –”

“Now and quietly.” Rick growled.

He could feel his wife’s body tense beside him and when Shane turned to Lori for even the slightest indication of support, Rick had to fight the devil himself not to put his best friend in the ground. Right here. Right now.

In a several torn parts and in front of all these damn kids.

He was pleased to see his wife had at least some sense left not to respond.

Rubbing his head, frustrated and confused Shane rocked uncomfortably. Taking glances at Carl, then Lori and then back to Carl he waited for someone to say something more.

Finally, he straightened his back, staring down Rick directly in hope something more would be said between them.

Turned to stone, Rick remained silent, numb to even Carl who continued to desperately tug at his father’s shirt.

Shane let out a sigh signalling defeat.

“Your dad is right kid.” He said with a perfectly manufactured smile to comfort the young boy. “I – I got something I need to go do. Work.”

Unconvinced but unable to argue with either men, Carl instantly twisted towards his mother, hoping to try the softer of the three.

Rick remained unmoved despite seeing the color drain from Lori Grimes’s carefully bronzed cheeks as their son looked for answers.

“What’s happening?”

The already small voice was microscopic, unable to reach any ears after being crushed to nothingness under the weight of the tension Rick had created.

Shane didn’t stay long. After a rushed, uncharacteristically solemn goodbye the man was gone, leaving behind the Grimeses to pick up the pieces.

Next Michonne, who had been forgotten by everyone but a bewildered Carl who just lost one grownup to turn to, made her own excuses and left.

It was the act of her looking straight past his son that snapped Rick out of his rage induced fugue state. She looked spooked, Rick thought, noticing her face just before she deserted them. At first, he attributed it the ethical dilemma and the uncomfortable burden of realizing some of the details surrounding Carl’s family problems but being unable to tell the boy.

However, Rick was wrong.

It was some entirely different family drama that had unnerved her.

The sudden and apparently unexpected arrival of Carol Peletier sans Sophia Peletier. To Michonne, the sunken in eyes staring from across the gym had the weighty pull of a terrible star.

Unable to press time out on his own crisis but unwilling to fully commit to it now – Rick’s attention became divided. Sensing his hesitation and choosing to view it as being granted a so-called stay of execution, Lori took her son by the hand and departed, immediately cooking up the latest lies for Carl to swallow.

Rick stayed. The Cop inside him beating out The Husband and Father.

Watching the two women standing deep under shadows of the gym bleachers, he noticed Michonne clutch at that disturbing signature brown bag a little more tightly. Their interaction, lasting a mere minute, was one wholly made up of frantic whispers. It ended in Michonne unclasping the bag and her right hand disappearing inside.

Carol’s eyes flashed with fear, her trembling hands shooting up ready to meet Michonne’s, only relaxing slightly upon seeing the hand return empty.

In the end, arms linked, as a show of strength against an unknown enemy, they hurriedly exited together –  leaving Rick Grimes suddenly with a second decision made for him tonight.

It was finally time to seriously start worrying about what exactly it was that Carol Peletier and Michonne Anthony were intending to get involved in.  

 ----------

[bluriginals]

Quest for the Northwest Review

@gfdeepwoods @mysteryseeker

Sorry to keep you waiting!

It's been a long time coming, but it finally came! Not only since the last Blu Blogs (all the way back in March; yikes!) but since I made the promise to provide a review of Quest for the Northwest for a member of its crew (all the way back in June). Now I know what you're thinking and I will tackle these thoughts in order of importance:

1.) What's Quest of the Northwest?

It's the first installment of Gravity Falls: Deep Woods, a fanimatic based series chronicling some adventures in between the normal episodes of Gravity Falls

2.) jesus /march/

yes i know i'm awful

3.) Someone requested you to review their stuff?

i know it's so exciting!

ok maybe none of you were thinking that but i was and it was so flattering and cool and stuffs

4.) Does this have anything to do with the Mystery Hut review?

Only vaguely; MysterySeeker (who I'm assuming is running the project) saw it and thought I was apparently good at this so they asked me to throw some of my...'me' their way.

5.) You promised this review in mid July and it's almost October. What do you have to say about that, HydroPants?

Uuuuuuuuh...there's my ride?

Now in my defense, the first part was released January 16th and the second Hirsch Day and that's a 5 month wait so if anything I'm like, 3 months fashionably early!

Read and weep, boys.

Alright alright, in all seriousness deepest apologies for me taking SO long to get to this. Getting that feedback on time is likely important for whatever you guys are doing with Deep Woods moving forward and it's just plain unprofessional. Really sorry to you all! But enough apologizing, let's get to the review of...

If you haven't already watched it, you should check out part 1 here .

As I stated before, I might not have known about this or looked into without my Mystery Hut review and as I stated there, I was really hyping that project up. Since then I've learned to abolish hopes/dreams and reject happiness, but the thumbnail did give a good first impression. It had a well-crafted quality to it and had been made specifically TO be the thumbnail. This really contributed to my gut feeling that Quest for the Northwest would really be something special. And let me tell you it is DEFINITELY really good. However, rather than talking about it on its own, allow me to spend the entire review judging it not only by its own merits, but by comparing it to Mystery Hut. Naaah, just kidding I'll leave that ol' coot alone. Before I we go in on the story, let's talk about the presentation. Oh my.

Presentation

This presentation is just /amazing/. It's really like taking a step back into Gravity Falls as if nothing's changed (as much as you can in an animatic sense). Starting off with the sound direction, Quest for the Northwest has a distinct element that truly gives it the GF edge any project attempting to emulate the original series needs: the music and audio cues. Brad Breeck's music fills the scenes it needs to and adds to the atmosphere so much. However we aren't dealing with Johnny Test or a 4Kids dub here; the fanimatic knows when to stop talking and deliver some golden silence.

This example from early in the episode where Mrs. Northwest discourages Pacifica from playing with the commoners utilizes sound cues in a way that emphasizes what happens in it

I can't think of a true example of silence off of the top of my head, and it's likely that many scenes use a more lowkey part of the OST, but that works towards the same objective: quieter, more somber moments that appropriately juxtapose the louder ones. It never feels like these silences are too long, awkward, or the result of someone flubbing a line or not being able to think up some dialogue to put in the place of said silence. Speaking of flubbing lines, there's basically none of that: the casting and voice direction are extremely solid. I feel as though some of the people from Mystery Hut (THIS AND TWO THINGS LATER WILL BE ONLY COMPARISONS I SWEAR) may be 'reprising' their roles in Quest for the Northwest (which will hence forth be abbreviated as QftNW) and if they are I gotta give some shout outs to them and the voice director because the delivery and inflections of every line are just right and more. You really get a sense of the emotions and mindset of the characters with every word they say and on the whole the inflections feel very reminiscent of GF. Dipper, Pacifica, Jeff and Preston while not perfect matches are honestly good substitutes and deliver every one of their lines the way you'd imagine the real VAs to. Soos is honestly spot on aside from not being as deep but the real star of the show is Mabel. Though she isn't a near perfect match like Soos, whenever I hear her voice actress speak I can actually feel those Kristen Schaal-isms in her; not just through her dialogue but how she says certain words and just her voice in general. There's even special attention to detail in some places like when Jeff's voice breaks when he's pepper sprayed and in some instances, you can even tell what a character is saying based on their mouth in a single frame.

You can EASILY tell that Jeff's saying something with an 'L' sound, and while you don't have to mark little things like this in boards unless they're really important, I appreciate it a lot.

The only gripes I have with the sound (and they're admittedly minor) is that I feel like Part 1 is a bit quiet, even at max volume and Snadger's hiss audio in part 2 is loud. Like, if you have it at 100% prepare to get that faux jumpscare chord feel. But these really are nothing in comparison to the great sound in this fanimatic.

Upon my first viewing of the episode I was blown away at how well-crafted and consistent the art was. I could NOT believe that there were that many boarders; 4 at most. But I found myself shocked to see a plethora of different artists names flash on screen during the credits (16 to be exact; 4 times as many as appeared). On the second viewing, I was definitely able to distinguish more than 4 styles, but 16 is still WAY more than I'd ever guess. It's just so consistently good, on-model, and expressive, its many artists are able to carry it together with pride.

This shot in particular is really pretty, so I wanted to highlight it :)

Sure there'd be occasional hiccups like Dipper and Mabel's heads being squarshed in some frames or the first portion of Jeff's beast slaying plot but you still get a genuine sense of effort from each and every frame/artist and (Mystery Hut comparison incoming) not ONCE does it ever stoop the low, haphazard inconsistencies and disregard of the Gravity Falls artstyle as Mystery Hut did. In fact, it goes so much further beyond that. Just...take a look.

(Nearly) Every. Single. Face in this project oozes with the Falls. I absolutely loved it and it was a pure joy to look at. Not a second goes where something isn't moving and it's in the best way: each frame is logical and compliments the one preceding and succeeding it. I can honestly imagine so many of these frames transitioning smoothly from one to the other in animation and this level of attention to detail and desire to express a genuine Gravity Falls experience is commendable to say the least.

They remembered dramatic, shading using close-ups and in some shots they even bothered to put in unique towns people that fit the style! Cute!

But the biggest thing of all that propels this to new heights artistically has got to be the understanding of the characters.

QftNW has such a great understanding of Gravity Falls' characters not only in how they talk but equally as important: how their physical body works in relation to other objects as well as themselves.

Dipper's (audience) right hand has such a nice depth to it and the way Pacifica's hair bends on the bench looks like it jumped straight outta the show.

But there's on example that stood out to me above the rest. Just...look at this beautiful  8 frame scene where Dipper and Mabel take off their Pacifica costumes.

Forgot how tumblr shrinks wide images like this, so here: bask in the full glory of these frames!

Whoever drew this is my Super Star, the 1-Up Boy (or Girl). It's on model, it understands how the individual 'pieces' of Dipper and Mabel work (hair, arms, face etc.), it has touches like their changing facial expressions and Dipper turning his hat forward. I just can't do it justice this scene is so /good/. MysterySeeker when you get to this, please give that boarder special shout outs. I love this scene so much aaaaaaaaaah

Alright that's enough gushing about the glorious art and sound. There's one last remark I'd like to make about the presentation. The episode managed to get in a special monochromatic full version of theme which is great, but in the end the episode totaled out to /27/ minutes. Now, if that's what they want to go with that's absolutely fine. Nothing wrong with having your Gravity Falls fan series run a couple over the normal limit. But if they really want to go for that Gravity Falls feeling they should cut 5 of those minutes.

Story and Characters

Quest for the Northwest's basic premise is that Dipper and Mabel decide to go out to a parade being held to honor the election of the holder of the best running gag, Tyler Cutebiker. However upon seeing a miserable Pacifica in the parade Dipper and Mabel (mostly Mabel) callout to her and try to get her away from the parade and by extent her parents. All isn't right however as with Jeff's role as leader being questioned due to his inability to find a new queen, the town's precious princess may find herself in more trouble than she's bargained for. The basic story definitely shows lots of promise, particularly in the idea of having an episode where the Pines twins both interact with Pacifica. But before we really go in on that let me talk about the structural elements that hold up this story.

As stated in the presentation section, the visuals here are on point and they really propel the episode forward with great action based gags, both subtle and dynamic. Jeff rubbing his eyes after being pepper sprayed and Preston's reactions to all of the filthy commoners being near him (Soos especially) added to the scene SO much.

Don't touch me, PEON. And on a similar note...

Don't touch me phone, PEON.

The characters aren't just moving through each scene as lifeless dolls, occasionally making flanderized quips that are supposed to remind you "YUP THAT'S THEM". That wasn't uh, that wasn't supposed to be a Mystery Hut sneak diss either I just wanted to say that the characterization is great. Speaking of that third Mystery Hut diss, it's finally time to get to it as we talk about the characterization. Mabel's characterization is MILES better than it is in Mystery Hut. There she was a spouting faux-Mabel non-sequiturs and generally being a flanderized nuisance. But here? Her dialogue isn't substanceless; it's endearing, and smart, and feels SO Mabel. And being that this is QftNW, it's not just her dialogue. It's her actions. How she moves and the things she does: licking the beard hair twice (and ultimately eating some at the very end), her "balloon sense" in scene 2, picking the cotton candy off the bench when they hear people calling for Pacifica and then sliding next to them when they look behind the wall.

It culminates into making Mabel feel well represented and because she's one of our two protagonists, it's pretty important to have her on point. And that my friends is that LAST you'll hear of Mystery Hut for the rest of this review. Probably ;)

I think that Pacifica was handled really well too! Some fans would've had her be a complete 180 from her appearance in Northwest Mansion Mystery, having her be all nice, and kind, and forcing Padippica down our throats in a way that feels unnatural, Pacifica still retains a lot of her personality. She's clearly only JUST learning to be better person and it's the gradual type of character development that I love to see.

Pacifica says "It's ok, most people are terrible at what they do." and not only is this a funny line but it feels perfect for a kid who's only steadily learning to drop her rich girl tendencies.

Sort of reminds me of the Steven Universe episode "Beta" where Peridot is showing Amethyst and Steven the Beta Kindergarten and making remarks about the gems that emerged there that really bring out her more Homeworld-like habits.

Jeff's pretty well-handled as well. Due to him being more of a recurring character in the series he's got nothing that really stands out but he's still well represented, especially in relation to the show. Basically all of his dialogue feels right at home with him. Though there is one action he takes in the story that particularly stands out, and that's retrying the Norman scheme from Tourist Trapped. I know this seems like the type of thing that'd I normally whine about and call forced reference/fan-pandering, but the way it goes about is such a unique parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. The Gnomes are NOT the smartest creatures in Gravity Falls, so it makes perfect sense for them to double down on such a make-shift plot. It further expands on the parallel by having the plot fall apart very plainly. Him stumbling over his words, dropping the hand, and just coming on too strong coupled with Pacifica not buying it at any point and eventually fighting her way out is a serves as a smart subversion of Mabel's encounter with them, helps advance the plot in a unique direction. On the topic of throwbacks that brings us to Dipper and well...

For the most part I believe Dipper's also himself. At first I was thinking he was being a bit of a downer but honestly, it fits Dipper to be resistant against things like going to the parade. Him not thinking about Pacifica's huge milestone in Northwest Mansion Mystery (NMM) where she disobeys her parents is a little bit harsh but things really go over the edge when after the twins manage to get Pacifica off the float, Pacifica mentions that while appreciative, she doesn't want to be caught with them for fear of more punishment from her parents. Dipper replies to this by saying "See Mabel, she hasn't changed at all. And here I thought you were gonna start trying to break the world's worst chain".

Barring the fact that reprising the "world's worst chain" in the context of demeaning Pacifica comes off as absolutely brutal seeing as the line was such a landmark part of NMM (it was the thing that made Pacifica finally consider a change of heart), it feels very forced. Dipper didn't need to say something that cut so deep AGAIN especially after Pacifica saved ALL of their lives not out of obligation but out of wanting to do the right thing. And that's just the world's worst chain part; the fact that he says she hasn't changed at all? Way too much. And considering that she's just doing something as little as running away from a boring parade and not tricking Dipper into exorcising a ghost it was really unwarranted for him to go nuclear on her like that. Honestly this is the only instance of bad writing in this entire fanimatic. Like, Pacifica not wanting to consistently disobey her hella strict parents again makes sense. Has the Fear of God never been put into this boy by Mr. and Ms. Pines?

But don't let this minor blemish make you think it's NO good. The episode's writing is honestly SO good. And it's referential/injoke humor definitely isn't a hit or miss in most cases. You know, based on the fact that I gave 1 hit example and 1 miss example; I didn't want it to come off as QftNW being a crapshoot when it comes to reference jokes. It's very subtle but you can catch things like 'Dope Dog', an obvious reference to Cool Cat who we all probably know from YMS, Pizza Guy being jibbed YET again,

Shout outs to whoever boarded the first montage too btw

Alex Hirsch's face being on the TV and name somewhere else in the episode, the former Mayor's honorary statue and the fact that it has 2012 on it,

You guys KNOW they would've had to vague the date if this was a real episode.

And best of all Pacifica's response at the end when asked if she wants to visit the shack. If you don't get it, listen to how she responds to Dipper. You'll get it. QftNW is just plain good at balancing the worlds of emulation and fandom. I salute you fair fanimatic.

As you could guess from how much I've gushed about the characterization, the writing is a joy. The jokes are very much Gravity Falls and from start to finish this episode is doing its best to give you that feel when you have GF.

On first viewing this had me /ROLLING/, oh my god. What a great way to start off an episode.

And it keeps this kind of stuff up throughout its entire run. BTW shout outs to one of the guys who said "MS. NORTHWEST" while they were looking for her. This is so random but the way one of them said it honestly sounded like professional VA work. He knows who he is. Alright that's enough goofing around. How do I feel about the actual plot, the meat of the story separated from the writing/art framework? As stated before I truly believe this to be a great fanimatic. Its production efforts are high for a fanmade project and you can just tell lots of love and heart were put into every aspect of it. But if I'm being quite honest, I found the actual plot sort of weak. The writing itself was top notch so that did it a lot of favors but if you take a step back, you realize that not a lot really happens. Like, a lot HAPPENS but not a lot of substance happens. The episode deals with two primary conflicts: Pacifica trying to take a break from her daily routine and avoid her parents and Jeff trying to prove he's a worthy leader. Both are handled in a pretty straight forward manner: Pacifica avoids her parents all day and worries how they'll react, Dipper and Mabel come up with a valid excuse less than half way through the episode; Jeff tries to kidnap Pacifica, fails, the kids pity him and help him out by doing the classical costume farce and all is well. It's lacking the strong character plot (ex. Mabel questioning if she is a good person in Last Mabelcorn, Dipper confessing his crush in Into the Bunker, Dipper and Mabel wondering if Stan is really what he seems in well, Not What He Seems, Soos learning how to deal with girls/the fear of being alone in Soos and the Real Girl etc.) present in nearly every Gravity Falls episode. Even the segments within Bottomless Pit! and Little Gift Shop of Horrors managed to place some significant character plots that easily feel just as strong as the real episode's despite them not actually happening. Here minor conflicts arise, but they're never anything that hard to surmount or quite frankly, that interesting. After letting it sit with me for a while, I realized that

1.) The episode has two montages. Not that having two is some abominable sin they should've avoided at all costs, in fact montage 1 is great for giving an abridged showcase of the kids day together. Montage 2 on the other hand doesn't exist to parallel montage 1 (showing an advancement/decline), or show anything of interest in general. It's just your normal training montage. It has funny jokes but it seems sort of excessive. Montage 2's results are a total flop and result in them having to think up a b plan. The fact that montage 2 is ultimately not important isn't even lampshaded, in fact it's more played as unfortunate with how Jeff nearly cries. I'm not saying that montage 2's failure should've been played for laughs, especially since in episode the failure is punctuated by a gag, just that in the end montage 2 was a bit cliche and unnecessary.

2.) Pacifica's presence in the second half feels sort of extra and as if it's there primarily so we can get more Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica relationship-growing-time fanservice. Which is not to say that is at ALL a bad thing (the bit in the last scene before the credits scene is SO cute and not forced at all I love it), but when you're trying to write a good story, particularly a Gravity Falls one, having a strong central conflict to carry the episode is pretty imperative. One easy example I can think of off of the top of my head? There could've easily been parallels drawn between Jeff and Pacifica and the pressure from the obligations they have to their families. Jeff on his only simply isn't that compelling a character and making him into a compelling character that late into Gravity Falls isn't that beneficial. He isn't locked out of development due to being a recurring character, but having him have his own little arc that ultimately contributes to Pacifica's (a major character) would've been a better choice. There's obviously more than one way to do things, but that's something I thought would've worked out well.

3.) The title "Quest for the Northwest" doesn't reflect the episode's contents. Jeff's easily apprehended by Pacifica so there's no such quest to speak of and it isn't a clever bait-and-switch title like "The Ricklantis Mixup" because Pacifica defeating the gnomes on her own isn't the big bait of the episode, it's just a nice little parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. Had it actually been about Pacifica being kidnapped and Dipper and Mabel going on a quest to save her whilst say, Pacifica decides to help Jeff out of pity after she breaks free on her own, eventually coming into her own as someone who's taking the first steps to being a better person, THEN it could've been called Quest for the Northwest. It would have the double meaning of not only Dipper and Mabel being on a quest to save Pacifica (the Northwest), but Pacifica being dealt her own 'quest' in helping Jeff out. But that's just me spitting out a specific theoretical I liked, there's tons of ways the title "Quest for the Northwest" could've been justified. The episode's plot just isn't one of them.

4.) Last and certainly least, the black eyebrowed Gnome who's clearly trying to usurp Jeff really isn't relevant. He's shown as the leader of this growing insurgence, but all he really does is talk mad game in two scenes and get absolutely destroyed in an admittedly funny scene. He didn't need to be his own character and the gnomes dissatisfaction could've been more properly represented with a mob rather than a man...urr, gnome. But really, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger issues presented in #1 and #2. Had those been more refined this would just be an outlier rather than a cherry on top of a problem cake. A single layer problem cake mind you, but still a problem cake.

But enough of the negative: in the end Quest for the Northwest is a satisfying episode that captures the soul of Gravity Falls magnificently well despite its faults. An absolute must see for Gravity Falls fans, and if you for some reason read this review without watching it, check it out part 1 and part 2 here. There's plenty to see both writing, visual and gagwise that I didn't spoil, and honestly? Not seeing it is a disservice if you like Gravity Falls a lot. Definitely worth a watch. 8/10; MUCH better than Sonic Lost World.

th-that's my thing now guys. any time i give a number rating it's also quantitatively compared to sonic lost world u

Anyway enough of me babbling, if you enjoyed this fanimatic like I, you should check out their tumblr page for updates on whatever they have in the works . Pretty sure the next episode coming is being titled "Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding" so look out for that, cause I know I will! And while you're here, you might as well check out some of the rest of the this blog and see if you find anything you like. Stay tuned because next week, we're going to be talking about Sonic Forces and/or Mario Odysse-- on second thought let me not get back on my bullshit and promise next week, see you guys in june lmfao