The fanmade Gravity Falls episode called Return to the Bunker is now out!!

I'll give my 2 cents below so, spoiler alert from here on out!

I loved how the episode was done. The artists did some amazing work with the animation and storyboarding for it. It surpasses in many ways even the work on Deep Woods. The VA's all did an awesome job too, with all of them being very close in getting to the voices of the original characters. I think the story was also really creative, fun and lore/character building. I've always longed for an episode diving into Mabel and Ford's bond and this episode did a great job with it. I also loved stuff like Stan and Dipper bonding, Wendy having more than just a background character role for once, how it explained stuff like the rift crack and especially that insane ending that makes it feel almost like a canon episode.

I have heard some negatives in regards to stuff like how Ford was handled by a lot of the Ford fans in the community which isn't too surprising given his character's love. I will admit personally that I felt Ford could have been handled better and as a retired fanfic and episode idea writer myself, it's not how I would have handled Ford, but I don't think for a sec it was unsalvageable. I think it would have worked better if Ford had more reasoning to why he was acting like that beyond trust no one, or that the end had him perhaps do what he did when they all were asleep so we wouldn't see the heartbreak in Mabel over that, but it is a fan episode. It's not how I would do it or probably Alex Hirsch, but that's us. I also feel there were plot holes here and there that were a bit hard to ignore that made the episode feel a bit clunky compared to how it was advertised.

But truth be told, the effort to put something like this together outweighs the flaws in it and I mean, it's fanmade so it's not actually canon or going to affect the show overall. IMO, Lost Legends had a lot more problems in how it handled the Mabel situation in ways (though that may be a bit of my left over Ford critic speaking from my younger days in the fandom when I was getting into all sorts of arguments over the Mabel issue with Ford fans on GF Amino but that's a tale for another day).

All in all, it was a great episode. If I had to give it a rating, I'd say 7.5/10 or 8/10. A huge congrats to the whole team for finishing it and releasing it. I know from speaking to Deep Woods members just how long and difficult these things can take to make and no matter the story, I'll always have respect for the artists and VA's who bring fan projects like this to life. What other cartoon has a fandom as dedicated as this one? Gravity Falls fans are one of a kind and 11 years on, we still show our love for this show in a greater way than other fandoms ever can.

To sum up, I have my pluses and minuses with this episode. Some are ones most fans will agree on and others will likely be a bit harder to do which I get. But my overall final take on it is good and my final rating out of 10 is a firm 7.5-8. I will agree though that Ford could have been handled better. Even back in 2018-2019 when I was writing fanfics and a bit more..."aggressive," in my stance of Ford to say it lightly, I did my best to write him in a way I felt was more aware and compassionate than RTTB Ford was. I am happy with how the episode handled Mabel however. I was so afraid they'd pull a Don't Dimension It type pattern but it was way better and I felt it was a decent step towards a Ford and Mabel like story. Still a way to go but not horrible.

But those are my two cents on Return to the Bunker.

Have you seen Return to the Bunker? it's a Gravity Falls fan episode by Keyan Carlile and it was posted to youtube today. the voice acting is spot on and it feels like watching an actual episode

I saw it.

I did not enjoy Return to the Bunker, personally, and had a lot of issues with the writing and characterizations of the main cast, so I don't think I appreciate it in the same way a lot of other fans seem to love it. Certain scenes bothered me, a lot of the jokes fell flat, a lot of the actions taken by characters felt out of character or even completely contradictory to what we've seen in the series. The script just had so many issues, and I suspect it was written by someone who has a completely different interpretation of this series than I do, or even dislikes many of the main characters. Still, we all connect to media in different ways, and I am not trying to sour your appreciation for this fan project.

Still, I thought the VA work and the storyboarding was actually really solid. My issues were with the script, but the voice actors and artists did a wonderful job and I can tell a lot of love went into the project.

redrew some panels from return to the bunker cuz I really liked it (don't start bitching about whether you liked it or not I promise I don't care)

original panels under readmore! rbs appreciated :)

original panels

An unpopular opinion about Gravity Falls: Return to the Bunker fanmade episode

(SPOILERS)

Okay, first of all, I want to make perfectly clear that I fully respect the crew and the job put in this episode, seriously, it's a blast to have such passioned fans that keep the fandom alive after 11 years and more to come, and honestly, I would want to see more projects like these and The Woods and Tales of Weirdmaggedon returning.

I was honestly very hyped up with this episode since I found out it was in production, so of course having it full yesterday was an awsome surprise. The art, the storyboard, the staging, the editing and the cast was an easy 10 out of 10, and I have absolutely zero complains in the audiovisual part.

However, sadly, to me, the entire thing comes crashing down with the plot and the narrative, by basically changing and missunderstanding the main characters, specially Ford: yes, it's no secret that Ford has trust issues, I think that was pretty clear after he FELT (not saying they did, but that's his perception) betrayed by his twin brother (sabotaging his project and keeping quiet about it, accidentally trapping him in the multiverse for over half of his life during a fight he started it, stealing his house, his identity, mock his entire carreer for money and then starting the portal that almost destroyed the world), his best friend from college (who created the memory gun and used it against him after starting a cult), his pet (the Shapeshifter tried to kill him and Fiddleford) and his muse (who manipulated him, lied to him, possessed and tortured him for decades, not to mention unable to sleep in peace until he got a plate in his head, and being hunted down accross the entire universe for 30 years), alongside all the stress of re-adapting to his dimension, contain the rift and keep Bill at bay.

So yes, Ford has reasons to be the way he is, but the problem is, the Ford we see in this episode is NOT the same one we saw in the TV show or in Journal 3: Ford can be bitter, and like I said, has trust issues, but he is not an ass for the sake of it like they portrayed him here, specially towards Mabel: yes, true, they didn't spend that much time together, but the little times we saw Ford interacting with her or even just talking, or even his entries in the journal, he shows how much he adores her, he only has praise for her ("I like this kid, she is weird!", "She has a magnetic personality!", "You are a good person, Mabel!"), and openly trusted her with a crossbow and sent her to a mission to protect the Shack. This one is openly hostile to Mabel, refusing to wear her sweater because it's hot (WTF, you are LITTERALLY wearing one!), downright telling her he doesn't trust her when he did before, and even saying he likes Dipper because he listens and obeys blindly. Ford LOVES these kids and always showed it, and yet the man in this episode doesn't seem to give a crap about anyone's feelings by being a jerk without a logical reason.

Which brings me to the next point: his reunion with Fiddleford makes NO sense considering that we saw Ford BLAMING himself over and over for what happened to Fiddleford, we litterally see him thinking he hates him and actually displaying remorse, and Fiddleford showing compassion and forgiveness. Instead here, we see Ford treating Fiddleford like dirt just like he did before the portal incident 30 years ago. And Mcgucket doesn't act like Mcgucket himself either, not to mention how the writing ignores how unstable he can be, ("Dude, Mcgucket would never do that!", sure, let's ignore this is the same guy that creates huge terrifying destructive robots that reck the town on a wim like his son not paying attention to him, his wife divorcing and not getting invited to a friend's party).

The entire episode's narrative and characters bash Ford for his trust issues and traumatic experiences instead of tackling down his trauma propperly: I mean, the show EXPECTS Ford to ignore ALL his traumas for over 3 decades and trust not just Mabel, which would have been understandable, but Soos and Wendy, who he doesn't even know, with the rift, you know, the thing that can destroy them all, and then gets punished for not doing so, and paint him as an ilogical paranoid that puts down everyone around him. None of them show any empathy towards him, and they are quick to antagonize him over it and directly blame him for EVERYTHING that happened in Gravity Falls, and the narrative reassures that they are in the right, pointedly ignoring not just all Ford's trauma but everyone's own actions into all the mess that happened over the summer. For crying out loud, the narrative shows more compassion, understanding and sympathy towards the fricking Shapeshifter and blames Ford for the experiment's fate, the monster ACTUALLY having the gal to say that Ford can't change, that he promises to change but then backtracks and keeps going (ironic that this is accused to Ford, of all characters in this episode) and then getting a fricking REDEMPTION and romance partner that he didn't deserve while ignoring he tried to kill Ford and Fiddleford back in the day, traumatizing the latest one, and tried the same with Dipper, Mabel, Soos and Wendy. But hey, nevermind, he just needed some love, he deserves to be happy, NOT YOU, FORD!....I swear, I can't with this.

And that fricking final...WHERE do I even start with that? Ford was affected and TRAUMATIZED because of the ray gun, he was a victim of it, he was the one who tried to stop Fiddleford from using it on himself MULTIPLE times, and who struggled to do it with Stan and broke down after being forced to do so, to his own brother, and only felt a bit relieved after they got his memories back. And you're fricking telling me he would use it on his 12 year old NIECE and friends AFTER they patched things up and he came clear, breaking THEIR trust?! No, sorry, no, that's just so out of character from Ford I don't even know where to start. I know this was done by force in an attempt to make it fit with the canon story, but it just doesn't match not just because of being completely out of character from Ford, but because it still causes bigger issues: he didn't use it on Mcgucket, therefore Mcgucket KNOWS about the rift and about Ford, therefore it breaks the canon of their reunion in Take Back the Falls since in Ford's words, "Fiddleford, I didn't see you since we parted ways, you must hate me". And then the famous lines of "How am I gonna protect the rift?" Honestly, this entire scene, if not the entire episode, just felt like the writers were just trying so hard to take any accountability from Mabel in handling the rift and just blame it on Ford and screaming "SEE?! YOU SEE HOW MUCH OF A JERK FORD IS?! MABEL DID NO WRONG, IT'S FORD'S FAULT FOR ERASING HER MEMORIES, HE IS THE JERK AND THE MAIN ANTAGONIST OF THE SERIES, WHAT A JERK!". And sorry, this still doesn't fix it, because while Mabel didn't know what the rift was, she still KNEW it belonged to Ford (Blendin told her) and that it belonged to his expedition for, in her own words, "Save the world or whatever", and Blendin telling her to steal it ("your grunkle won't even know it's gone missing!") and she agrees. So yeah, while she didn't fully know what she was taking, the fact that she knew it was something that belonged to her grunkle and that he took to his expedition was enough for her to know to NOT to take away, specially without his consent. This episode just tries so hard to paint Ford like the biggest asshole just to place Mabel and the others in a better light and ignore anything they do, so much that it breaks canon.

And Dipper's and Stan's subplot...I dunno, it felt completely unused, and once again, placing the ball on Dipper, Stan accusing him of ignoring him for a month (which makes zero sense because, Ford came out of the portal barely 2 weeks before Weirdmaggedon, there's no way a month went by, and on the top of that not making any sense considering this happened POST Dungeons, Dungeons and more Dungeons where these two had patched up, so this argument makes zero sense). This one specially dissappointed me because, the same way I wanted to see Ford and Mabel bonding, I wanted more scenes like that with Stan and Dipper, specially when we seemed to finally address the fact that yes, Stan and Dipper didn't spend that much time with him. The problem is that the narrative of the episode blames Dipper entirely and ignores whatever Stan has done wrong in regardless of their relationship that easily made Dipper distant with him: not the teasing, not the hard work to "tought him up", not his unfair treatment towards him in comparison to Mabel, not the fact that he LIED to him for the entire summer and broke his trust, nothing. In fact, just when Dipper loses his patience and actually starts to understandably tell him off putting ALL of these examples, Dipper's callout falls on deaf ears, litterally, because Stan doesn't pay attention to Dipper and is panicked due to the monster behind him. Then after that, ALL of that is forgotten, they don't patch things up, and Dipper is the one who has to apologize to Stan, after Stan, once again, not just kept him from hanging out with Ford, after he had promised he would let him go in Dungeons, Dungeons and more Dungeons, but also lied to him and got them into a bigger mess. But no, Dipper is the one who apologizes and is supposed to trust Stan...because of reasons, even if they didn't talk anything out or solved anything really.

The jokes honestly also felt flat and I only honestly enjoyed the Shrek 2 reference.

So yes, while I think that from terms of art, voice cast and edition this episode is amazing, the narrative, the characterization of the main cast and the development is attrocious. Honestly, it feels more like a bad fanfic hating on Ford (and to some extent, Dipper) and portraying him as the biggest jackass on earth and the reason of everything going wrong. This is not how the characters behave. I seriously have to wonder if the writers even watched the show, let alone read Journal 3 and Lost Legends.

A review of Return to the Bunker

So, a new fan episode has been released - Return to the Bunker - and that's like the newest hot topic in the Gravity Falls fandom ever since the launch of the Gravity Falls vinyl. For those who haven't watched it, below is the link to the episode.

I note that initial reception has been mixed, particularly the portrayal of Ford in this episode and especially the ending. Now, some of the criticisms are understandable, and the writing could see further polishing. But I find it's a great piece of fanwork with a lot of effort put into it.

Note: Spoilers are ahead for those who have not yet watched the episode.

There are certainly echoes of the wackiness of the original show. Not only in terms of the supernatural, but how various plot points and elements introduced eventually come together. Especially the suggestions by the others on how to tackle the Shapeshifter, and the hints of setting up a date between the two monsters featured. It attempts to balance all the new details both sweet and significant, including the Journal sweaters and the Heartstomper.

The episode also showcases two main things I'm sure the fandom wished to see in the canon - Ford and Mabel bonding, and Wendy also playing a more active role in the story (such as calling out Ford for his actions). It's a neat idea of Mabel being on board with a mystery this time. And we also have a side plot of Stan trying to go on a monster hunt with Dipper. I wish the latter part is expanded more, nevertheless.

I might agree with a few people Ford is rather unlikeable in this story... but at least he's not downright unpleasant, just unfamiliar when associating with others. I mean, this took place before Weirdmagaddeon and right after he returned to their world. At this point in canon, he usually gets along well with Dipper and rarely interacts with the others beyond interviewing them (in the Journal) and tasking them for other matters (like Mabel to find unicorns in The Last Mabelcorn).

He does have reasons to be paranoid and jumpy when they first entered since he's unaware of their first trip... though I thought Dipper would have mentioned it. And him being unwilling to trust others is something he even talked to himself about in Journal 3, though it's more that he's afraid he's a danger to others too, especially with the threat of Bill on the horizon. I might agree though that he's too dismissive of Mabel early on in this story. Nevertheless, I like that this fan episode addresses his main faults not touched much upon in the show, including his trust issues, his favouritism towards Dipper, and his ego.

The ending, when Ford memory wipes the group, is truthfully the most emotional scene of this episode. But I agree with some others it's still too contrived to explain away why the others have no memory or recall of this incident and absolves Mabel of responsibility when it comes to Dipper and Mabel vs The Future (for her to forget about the Rift featured in this story).

I guess they (the writers) added that so that it would fit in the canon, though personally I struggled where it could be (like, I doubt it would take the place of Roadside Attraction since Ford would be indebted to Mabel for retrieving some unicorn hair, and his attitude towards her seems rather out of place). Honestly, the end erases Ford's character's growth in trusting people. I understand character growth isn't linear, but I'm just saddened Ford decides to go down this route, which leaves darker implications especially with his interactions with said characters later on in the canon, particularly Mabel. It makes Ford seem very... manipulative. Or at least only experiencing regret for his brother's memory loss in the finale.

I just want to add on a tangent that I personally think not having Mabel and Ford directly interact much in the canon pre-WMG is also crucial to the fallout we see in Dipper and Mabel Vs the Future. That Ford overlooked Mabel and Dipper's bond and thought Mabel would be fine by herself. Not to say that Ford is uncaring, but I think he underestimated the bond she has with her brother.

But overall, I think the heart and idea behind this episode are good. Plenty of plot elements could be better handled and thought out, but even for its flaws, it might fit as a proper GF episode. This is really like the best thing from fans who aren't even paid, and took out their time, effort and money to create this for us. Some people have too many expectations for a fan-made episode, especially one taking place in an already crammed timeline between A Tale of Two Stans and Weirdmagaddeon. Is it contrived? Sure, but that can be said for like plenty of GF episodes. Given it also wants to fit into the canon, I guess it did its best to retcon what it could.

Anyway, this isn't canon, so folks can just relax and enjoy.

CALLING EVERY GRAVITY FALLS FAN NOWWWW

CALLING EVERY GRAVITY FALLS FAN NOWWWW

YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS FAN MADE EPISODE NOW!

I REPET

YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS FAN MADE EPISODE NOW!!!

It has everything you expect in a gravity falls episode.

It has jokes, voice acting,animation in some parts and a plot twist ending!!!

Thanks to this video my gravity falls phase came back. I'm not joking.

https://youtu.be/k2Fe-m6HWQY

Here's the link to watch it.

It's called "Return to the bunker"

It will not disappoint you.

You will get so into the story as I did.

I watched the first 30 seconds of it with no good expectations. But oh god,I was So so SO wrong.

It came out 2 days ago....

Best fan animation ever

Stupid rant about how ppl talk about Stanford and stuff- kinda like- how the Return To the Bunker wrote him and how that's how alot of ppl see him.

The amount of folks that think "Ford should've just trusted Stanley and Mabel! And everyone else!" Is like- sad.

Fords a victim of abuse and manipulation, and considering how him and Stan grew up, I wouldn't be surprised if Filbrick Pines contributed to both the twins childhood being shitty.

Ford, growing up, was always bullied and teased because of his six fingers, Stan (by accident) ruined Fords chance at becoming 'something' and not just a freak who had six fingers.

and IMO I think Ford had every right to be pissed when Stan said, "But hey! Treasure hunting??" Just completely dismissing Fords feelings.

Yes this was all caused by miscommunication which does happen, and it sucks that they had such a big fallout, Ford shouldn't have ignored his brother, but he was angry.

Now in the future wise, Ford most likely trusted Dipper more because he reminded him of himself when he was young.

But anyways, Ford was manipulated for fucking years by Bill, he trusted Bill and thought of him as a friend (untill ofc he realized what Bill's true intentions were) Bill than used Fords body WITHOUT his permission to do shit/mess with him, Ford was scared to fucking sleep. SLEEP.

Heck, Bill changed some words that Ford would use to something else.

Stan didn't mean to shove him into the portal but he did, Ford was mad that the portal was reopened bc of the threat of bill hanging around (Also in Journal three its said that he was about to kill Bill, which is why he was also pissed.)

Uhhhh, I kinda lost my train of thought, but Fords is not a bad guy. Has he made a lot of mistakes? Yes, but people change, heck one fucking line he says in weridmaggdion is-

"I'm sorry, Stanley, I know, just help me fix it, please!"

Like he knew he fucked up, and bro was also tortured.

around the age of like... thirty, i became a big baby because i learned what mortality was

at thirTy you learnt what mortality was??????

- julia + jacob

Forgot just how upsetting gloomed korok forest is

spn series finale is very much not a happy ending to me and someday im going to wrap my brain around exactly how and why

Castle Zilchester

I have spent. An insane fucking amount of time looking at MLP infection aus because a couple caught my attention. And now I have IDEAS and I need them OUT.

All under a read more because it's very rambly, and there's talks of body horror and stuff.

FUUUUCKING.

CODE ROT INFECTION AU.

It only targets those with high enough code densities. So Programs and Viruses are able to be infected, as are Code Manifestations and Offshoots. Guardians and Avatars can be infected, but they aren't adversely effected. NPCs and Abyss-borns are the only truly immune ones.

So;

Able to be infected/unimmnue

Programs

Viruses

Offshoots

Code Manifestations

Able to be infected/immune to adverse effects (carriers)(if it mutates, it could affect them..)

Avatars

Guardians

Completely immune

NPCs

Character-level (for now? Depends on how I feel)

Code Deities

Code Rot comes from beings with incomplete code. In an attempt to try and make itself whole, it basically tries to.. take control the host and force it to find anyone who may have the slightest bit of similar code and take it by.. forceful means.

Code Rot Stages

Beings with feelings of itchiness and pain flares. Nothing too bad, but the infected down have occasional thoughts of being imperfect. But it's nothing that can't just be chocked up to as stress.

The itchiness and pain flares get worse. The infected begins to scratch, sometimes drawing blood. They'll report a feeling of imperfection and needing to fix it, but unaware why. They're a bit more finicky during this stage. They start to avoid people and feel like their mind isn't their own.

It goes from concerning to horrifying. They being to self-mutilate. The feelings of imperfection grow. Their code nearly has full control over their mind, and is deadset on finding perfect code to replace the imperfect. The infected is basically a walking host, becoming aggressive towards anyone who tries to stop it. They occasionally black out.

The infected continues to self-mutilate, and their body begins changing as well. Extra limbs, eyes, anything start appearing. The code is trying to be perfect. It can't be. The infected can't be saved.

There's nothing but a husk left at stage 5. The body is unrecognizable at this point. The Code Rot has full control, and it won't stop until its 'perfect'.

Infection can only be done through two ways; an open wound getting corrupted code into it or someone's incomplete code turning into Code Rot. So..

Who is the Patient 0?

WRONG, MFS! IT'S WHO ARE THE PATIENT ZEROES! THAT'S RIGHT! THERES MULTIPLE! BECAUSE ANGST IS MY FOOD!

So! Our Patient 0s are Juliano, Root, and Entropy. Their situations should all be self-explanatory.

Juliano was the first to realize something was wrong. Remember that he isn't fully an Avatar, but only has semi-Avatar code. So when different pains started coming up, pains different than the usual flare ups, he knew he shouldn't hide this one.

Entropy.. is just straight up fucked. There's no way around it. She's such a bad Failed Fusion that it's a miracle that, in the main au, the wireframe scars are her only problem. And if you remember.. she does have all those Programs and Viruses in those glass balls..

Root actually got attacked by a Virus with Code Rot in the code world. (I'm leaving this ambiguous for when it takes place, only that Root is on good terms with everyone.) She was incredibly freaked out by it. It was less that she was attacked and more than she got hurt, with the open wound on her shoulder to prove it. In her panic of being attacked, she accidentally cut her shoulder. The virus had some unrelated corrupted code that dropped into her, and it facilitated the Code Rot's spread.

Root and Juliano both reported what they were feeling to Vitality, coincidentally at the same time as Entropy reached about Stage 4 (her broken code made it very easy) and just started a massacre. She released all the infected prisoners she had, and the code world was thrown into absolute chaos.

Juliano and Root are both kept somewhere very secure. Juliano is allowed to free roam in the area where he and Root are kept, but Root is not. She understands why and is completely accepting of it.

They're not allowed visitors, except for those who are trying to figure out Code Rot and those confirmed to be immune.

With their limited knowledge, it's unfornately an extremely short list.

Juliano does his best to be there for Root, but as her stages progressively get worse.. he's kept away for his own safety.

Root's more 'virus-like' features come out during this time due to her slowly losing control of her code. Her antlers, her tail, her claws.. it's slow, but it's there. Meanwhile, Entropy is causing absolute chaos. Infected are running amuck, and no one has any clue what to do. It's anarchy.

AND THAT. IS ALL I HAVE.

I don't know who the full list of the immune, unfornately. Only the obvious.

cracks knuckles. so, been just trying to gauge overall reception with this, but what are your thoughts on the fan made return to the bunker episode? i’ve noticed glowing reviews from people who vaguely describe it—hit the character vibes right, jokes were cool, i liked the art, etc, but scathing ones from people who go more into detail—stan would never be this explicit in his desperation, ford was never this outcast or terrified of himself/others nor did he consider dipper as below, the entire thing was misogynistic, etc. so, what’s your opinion?

i did say i wasnt going to talk/reblog anymore posts about return to the bunker, but ill answer this anyway

i feel its kind of important to say right off the bat that i never finished the episode and i certainly dont intend to. i never even got to one of the b plot scenes with stan and dipper. i stopped around the bit where they got into the bunker and ford started trying to warn them about the shapeshifter. the clearly-not-ford-ness radiating off of 'ford' was too much to ignore and i couldnt finish it

anyway- what was good about the episode? well, the art and voice acting, for sure. during the first part, it also seemed like they had gotten the characters down pretty well and i thought some of the jokes were good.

in the first part.

and then mabel comes in. this is around the time real ford goes missing and fake ford shows up. no there arent two fords in the actual episode, its just that the difference between them is stark enough that theyre completely separate entities in my mind. anyway

i noticed that the sweater thing was weird to a lot of people. glad im not the only one that was extremely confused by the guy wearing a sweater saying it was too hot to wear a sweater. maybe it was meant to be a joke? it really just came off as ford trying to make excuses not to wear mabel's sweater.

which- its not like him not wanting to wear the sweater cant coexist with him liking mabel. maybe its a situation where he doesnt want her to see all his scars, or maybe he doesnt want it to get ruined when he goes to beat the shit out of the hawktopus (since yknow that was kinda the whole point of him being outside)

the point im trying to make here is that it really seems like the episode is just trying to paint ford as unreasonable and not liking mabel. speaking of which-

the way ford treats mabel is uncharacteristic. the first time we ever see ford smile in the show is when he's meeting mabel. he literally says 'i like this kid, she weird!', why are we acting like he doesnt like her?? genuinely confused. who looks at the way he was treating her in the episode and goes 'yeah fords just like that'?

sorry, anyway, last thing i have to say-

the entire bit where theyre making their way through the bunker struck me as a bit odd. it sorta felt like the episode was trying to make a joke out of ford and his wariness about the place? hes trying to guide mabel and some other kids he barely knows through the place, theyre rushing ahead (which cant be good for his paranoia), and for some reason when theyre getting close to shifty and hes trying to warn them its framed as him being melodramatic?

shifty locked his friend in a cabinet and pretended to be said friend so it could catch a look at the creatures in ford's journal and start transforming into them. i think hes allowed to be a bit cautious/afraid about meeting shifty again

and some bonus stuff ive heard about below:

ive heard that ford wipes their memories with the memory gun. he was a victim of it (implied or directly stated multiple times- who wants to bet hes got brain damage from that?) and he struggled so much to use it on stan in a situation where it was necessary to keep the world from ending. no, theres no way ford could just hit them with it like that

ive also heard fiddleford shows up and ford is weirdly antagonistic to him? 'im sorry fiddleford' is a phrase running through ford's mind on the constant for over thirty years and his first reaction to seeing fiddleford again is to apologize to him and assume he hates him. according to the journal, he actually mentioned to everyone else in the shack that he was wondering what happened to fiddleford. its implied he did that several times.

i dont have anything else to say and i dont know how to end this so. thats all. thank you for the ask and sorry if anything i said here sounded aggressive at all. not my intention.

uh moral of the story: i didnt like it :(

In the better s9 that lives in my head Cas recognizes Gadreel and goes "Dean that's the fucker who fucked up at the gates of Eden you can't trust him" and Gadreel does his "I was tricked" speech and Cas is mad for 5 seconds but then he stops to think and goes wait why am I pissed at him I was tricked too. I am to angels what Gadreel is to humans. Which makes Metatron a shittier Lucifer. We should focus on kicking his ass instead. So yeah he and Gadreel are fine with each other now so Dean doesn't have to kick Cas out of the bunker while he's still learning to be human and Gadreel doesn't get manipulated by Metatron so Kevin stays alive and Cas and Gadreel teach him jokes in enochian and he teaches them jokes in english. And maybe Gadreel pretends to be on Metatron's side to find what's left of Cas's grace and anyways Cas has an angel bestie now.

they’re finally in the coveted men of letters bunker

really about to put on self-inflicted achromatic and be very normal about it