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[nocturnalgenesisforest]

The framing of Caleb is a bit unfair in my opinion.

This movie frames Caleb like the bad guy and the reaction YouTubers seems to think so too. I have no idea why they should think that.

Why is Caleb the bad guy in their eyes? He bullied Elio.

I don’t think Caleb is a bully. Firstly, Elio invited people to his radio club did he not? So the two boys who showed up aren’t doing anything wrong because they thought this was going to be like a real club. Where, they could, you know. Talk about and share their radios and junk like that?

So when Elio’s radio was doing something odd I don’t think Caleb is the bad guy for showing interest in it. Caleb might’ve even been trying to figure out what was wrong with it. It’s not like he took it in the middle of class or somewhere else. That would be theft. Elio made club flyers and pasted them all around school. So it’s not evil for someone who showed interest in his club to show interest in the subject of said club?

Instead of using his words to communicate with Caleb he turns it into a tug-of-war scenario. And in the struggle it hits his eye and breaks. Caleb out right states after the fact that he didn’t mean to break it. It was an honest mistake for crying out loud and if people can excuse Elio’s imperfect decisions in the matter “because he’s just a kid, you honestly expect him to behave perfectly in any given scenario?” Then I have no idea why they shouldn’t be able to extend some grace and understanding to Caleb too for an accident.

The next part is completely inexcusable from Elio and Caleb.

Elio attacks Caleb. Physically attacks him. Because in an accident his radio broke. There were some variables in that accident that could’ve been prevented had one party or another handled things differently. I’m not assigning blame to Elio in that whole broken radio accident. In that argument I was only stating that it wasn’t Caleb’s fault either. But attacking Caleb is completely inexcusable. Elio is old enough to know he absolutely shouldn’t do that over what’s basically spilt milk.

And Caleb attacking Elio later on was inexcusable too. Same as what I said up there.☝️

But assigning Caleb all the blame for breaking the radio from the start is still unfair. And I disagree with people who think he was a bully or a jerk for making a mistake. But I don’t disagree with them for thinking he was a jerk when he planned to beat up Elio.

[nocturnalgenesisforest]

Why wasn’t Vlad able to forgive Jack?

The reason is, at least to my interpretation, that Vlad works backwards. Instead of the emotional and mental wound healing over time, it festered, and got worse instead. Like it had gotten infected.

Out of the broken trust from the proto-portal incident and the emotional pain and confusion resulting from hospital stays and years lost in those places; something new sprang. The cut was the cut and there would likely always be a scar left there even when it had healed. But the infection? The infection is a separate thing from the cut as it can be killed with medicine or prevented. But the cut will still exist whether it gets infected or not. And if you don’t treat it well the more likely it will be to get infected. The cut still exists, the infection is only making it worse, or fatal.

So it’s not just about how his trust was broken in regards to his relationship with Jack. It’s that Vlad Plasmius has hatred stored in the bank of his heart at a compound interest rate. Each time he thinks about it, he relives it. And therefore his hatred of Jack keeps on multiplying and folding on top of itself as every time he is reminded of it, it is not only like it has happened all over again. It is like Jack has done it all over again. So each time he remembers the story; the more it changes. Little by little as it gains layers from new memories perhaps not of it. But about it.

Memories are what shape people into who they are. Like it or not experiences shape people, and memories are records of those experiences. So each time things get a tad bit more distorted, until, years later, how he knows and remembers the experience has infected who he has become beyond any recognition.

And to top it off when accidents happen it’s not likely they’re complete total accidents. Often times what that means is: “the party responsible didn’t mean to do that, your honor.”

There’re often times variables in the accident that could’ve been avoided if other people had been more careful.

Suppose you stepped on a rake and hit yourself in the face with it. The rake never would’ve been there to be stepped on by unsuspecting people if someone had not left it lying in the grass.

And the guilty party might’ve had their own reasons for leaving it out. They thought no one else would’ve been near the rake. They simply forgot to pick it up and put it away. But either way you spin it (and you could be completely in the right) it was a mistake on their part so (on the first time around that happens) they would get treated with more grace than with someone who had done it intentionally or had made the same “mistake,” a second time. And by that time it ceases to be a mistake anymore. Although none of these situations will ever absolve them of the responsibility to pick up after themselves so other people don’t get hurt.

The proto-portal accident is in the same vein. Jack should’ve been paying attention to see if anyone were still inspecting the portal. Or if anyone were in its “line of fire” as it were, before he turned it on. “Jack could’ve done this, Jack could’ve done that. He’s an idiot. Why couldn’t he be more vigilant that day? That jackass must’ve meant to do this to me. I bet he’s glad I’m gone so he can take Maddie for himself.”

That type of blame game could work all ways around too. “Maddie was there too, she should have done something and been paying attention too.” But Vlad loves her so of course she isn’t and wouldn’t be the one he’d assign blame to.

Heck, Vlad could even be blamed for his accident as well. “He shouldn’t have been inspecting it at that particular moment. It’s all his fault he got his face scrambled up. And besides it gave him ghost powers! He should feel grateful we created a machine and turned it on without double checking if anyone was still looking first. And he’s rich all thanks to us. So really, he should be grateful for it.”

And then you add Danny’s accident on top of all that. After the proto-portal accident you’d think they would be more careful when designing another one. And in their own home. Where they are raising their children no less!

If I were Vlad at that point I’d feel as if Danny turning half-ghost were evidence of Jack (or Maddie, but he has a bias for her) doing this shit on purpose. After an accident happened how could they not have a bazillion measures in place to make sure that never happened again? Because, if so, did Vlad’s accident mean anything to them? Did him getting his life put in shambles not warrant caution?

Does he even matter to them?

At that point Jack might as well have ruined his life on purpose. And it would be easier to attempt to murder or defame Jack and take his family for himself if he had a free conscience to do so. The underdog who’s life got scrambled by his jealous conniving “best friend” takes back what is rightfully his. What a sweet inoffensive picture of heroism on Vlad’s imagination.

To be honest though, I’m not sure Jack and Vlad could ever be buddy buddy again. That, I think, would be like killing the infection and thinking that the cut has been healed completely alongside it. The cut would still have to undergo its own healing process after the infection is gone. And there would probably still be a scar even then. And if it got infected so easily before it’s not unreasonable to think it might get infected again. That is, Vlad could and probably would backslide every now and then and would have to forgive Jack over and over again. I also don’t think forgiveness means being buddy buddy with the person who hurt you, absolving them of responsibility, or even trusting them with stuff you know they’re unreliable with. (Lab safety.) Forgiveness means letting go of hatred and resentment so specifically you can live freely. Vlad could stop making up schemes to “take back what has been stolen from him.” He could make new friends and meet a new girl and maybe have his own kids if the time came.

I’m not saying that forgiveness where you can be friendly and kind to your assailant doesn’t exist, isn’t real, or isn’t incredible. But I think it’s too big a step to imagine Vlad taking. Or at least Vlad in the present moment. But I do think Vlad could come not to carry hatred and resentment in his heart anymore while still acknowledging what is was for what it was.

That much I think he could do on his own.

[nocturnalgenesisforest]

Something I find a little funny and interesting is how Fiddlefords “homicidal pterodactyl-tron” is interpreted.

Like, there’s the headcanon that Fiddleford sent it after his wife for divorcing him. I just find that so insane and darkly humorous.

Does this imply that he tried to murder his wife for divorcing him? What else would be the endgame for sending a “homicidal pterodactyl-tron” after her? Damn Fidds were you really that mad about it?

Then there’s the headcanon that he used the pterodactyl-tron to try and look like a hero in front of her. Which I think characterizes him in a more cinnamon roll-like way. “Honey see? I can still make you proud every now and then. So there’s no need to tear the family apart or for you and Tate to leave me behind or anything drastic like that. Now let’s just go home like we used to and forget about this whole debacle.”

Or that he was just using the homicidal death robot to blow off steam. Almost like buying a punching bag during a rough time in your life and just going ham on it because you’re so pissed. Then it ends up forgotten in some corner in the house when you have no use for it anymore. And then one day you remember it and drag that old thing back out again to, I don’t know, practice some punches and kicks on it I guess.

Either way I like all of these headcanons. At the end of the day Fidds is still Fidds in all of ‘em.

[nocturnalgenesisforest]

A headcanon I have is that Vlad and the Fenton parents have completely differing theories on how ghosts exist and what they are.

The Soul Theory vs The Ectoplasmic Manifestations of Post-Human Consciousness Theory.

I like to think that how Vlad, Jack, and Maddie became friends was that Jack or Maddie had been explaining the logistics of how ghosts exist one day in class. “They are the results of the human mind experiencing great distress or anguish so powerful that it can imprint itself onto ectoplasm. And that is how the echo of that persons mind exist long after they’re dead. The element of great distress and or powerful emotions being necessary is a reason why dying people often imprint on ectoplasm more often than in any other situation. Because in those instances they are experiencing such powerful emotions right before death… etc. etc.”

Then Vlad would stand up and loudly proclaim that this idea was completely ridiculous. “It’s obvious that ghosts are the souls of people who have passed! What more is there to say about that?”

Then Maddie or Jack (probably Maddie) would ask him what proof he had of the “souls” as he put it, of dead people “refusing to pass on to the “afterlife” as you say they would.” And then they would spark up a heated debate on whether or not souls exist.

I headcanon that Vlad was raised religious and held onto those beliefs as he got older. (I’m leaning towards him being a Christian.) He believes in what Maddie would call “sentimental drivel” because the thought that what he knows as the miracle of life and the creation of the universe itself being some completely random series of events must not be possible. Because: “how could all of this: my mind, my family, my friends, my conscious, be random? And if it really was random then does that mean it doesn’t really matter? That there’s no purpose to be found in all of it?” The idea makes him feel more lonely, invisible, and more isolated than ever.

He believes that everything on earth and everything outside of it was designed with an intended purpose in mind. And, plus, Vlad is a guy who doesn’t have a lot of purpose in life. From what we know about his life in college, he had one friend and a love interest. And those relationships conflicted with each other because said love interest and best friend happened to like like each other which left him third-wheeling them. And after he’s been turned into a Halfa he’s got no friends. And it seems he isn’t very close to his family members either after the accident. His only mentioned passion is the Packers. Otherwise he’s just concerned with obtaining as much fame (empty recognition) or as much wealth and power as he possibly can. He doesn’t have a family of his own (a partner or kids. Well, unless you count Dani as his daughter.) he used his ghost powers to get wealthy but he hasn’t used it to pursue any sort of career that he enjoys/is passionate about like the Fentons with their ghost hunting. He is purposeless. He’s got all this money but he doesn’t know what to do with it. Play cards all alone with his cat and watch the Packers by himself in his big fancy mansion? He’s uber super wealthy but Jacks the one who really won the game of life between the two of them. And look at how his life still ended up anyway. His desire for recognition and control left him worse off than ever before.

It makes sense to me that such a lonely man he would hold on to the comfort that religion would provide for him. That despite the fact that Vlad has slipped away from the rest of the world and retreated so far back he’s become practically unreachable. Despite the fact that he feels invisible and that he hasn’t gotten the things he wants out of life; everything, from the trauma he went through and his messy relationship with the Fentons to the littlest things. Like Maddie the cat, or the Packers, or his favorite type of tea—It all means something to him even if they’re small. He matters and so does everything else. In his mind, everything about his life must be all building up to some sort of grand payoff. That the proto-portal incident happened for a reason. That he gained ghost powers for a reason. That his life must mean something. That he and Daniel must be destined for great, meaningful things. He comforts himself at night in bed with the idea that great things start out small. That some seemingly insignificant ectoplasmic accident that ended up causing a lot of pain for the recipient must be the catalyst for said recipient to slowly but surely snowball his way into history. It’s one of the things keeping his sanity intact.

Maddie, however, is a firm believer that the universe and humanity exists only because of a bunch of coincidences. A bunch of things happened by chance to create a planet hospitable enough for life and then a bunch of monkeys just so happened to have evolved brains big enough to comprehend the world they live in in a way other animals can’t. And that was because bigger brains and thereby bigger smarts gave them an advantage over other creatures in the animal kingdom. I think she and Sam are pretty much textbook materialists.

Meanwhile Jack would hold a more neutral ground between that particular debate between them. He would often be the mediator in that argument since Vlad and Maddie strike me as the type of people to really hold their ground in a debate. But when it comes down to it he leans towards Maddie’s side, although he’s not as zealous about it as she is.

I also think this adds some depth to their relationship too. It shows that they can disagree about stuff and are understanding enough to keep on being friends. It makes their “breakup” more tragic if you headcanon that they used to be really close and had genuine connections.

I also don’t think Vlad sees himself as a dead man come back to life to haunt the earth. He sees all people as souls. And he sees their bodies as containers for their souls. They aren’t bodies that have souls in his mind. All people are souls that have bodies. So when someone dies and they come back to the earth to haunt the place for whatever reason, to him, they’re just the same as any other person on the street. Except they must have some sort of unfinished business here or some reason to stay. And of course that they don’t have bodies made of the regular matter anymore. He holds the theory that they possess ectoplasm because without possessing it it would be nigh impossible to still interact with the material world. (Earth.)

Vlad sees himself as a normal man that has ectoplasmic superpowers. He sees himself as someone who’s body survived some form of transformation. So there’s not much angst for him in that department. He’s completely at peace with his superpowers and sees ghosts as people and treats ghosts like people. (Although I don’t think he’d be very nice to them. He isn’t very nice to people who still have bodies anyway, so this wouldn’t change a thing about his attitude towards them.)

Maddie and Jack however think of ghosts just as another coincidence in the universe. Ectoplasm exists for science-y reasons. Human brains experiencing a great deal of stress can imprint themselves on ectoplasm and therefore the ectoplasm and can carry the echo of that persons already fractured mind long after they’re dead. I don’t think Jack and Maddie would devote any time to or would even care about what happens to a person when they die though. They don’t see ghosts as people at all. The real people are already dead. These are just echoes that are actively hurting people who are still living because they have one track minds due to the imprinting process.

They think ghosts have “themes” because of the nature of the imprinting. Let’s say a girl who really wants to be a rock star dies in extreme stress in a house fire and ectoplasm somehow entangles itself with her mind as she’s dying? You get Ember. The rock star ghost sensation that uses the properties of being a blob of ectoplasm to take over the world with her music. The one goal that’s driving her existence. The real girl has died. This ectoplasm blob has taken over a piece of her identity in her dying moments and now has one goal only: be a famous rock star all across the globe.

I think Jack and Maddie are more interested in ectoplasms properties, the various singleminded natures of ghosts, and how to capture and kill these pests.

Vlad views the ghost zone as an in between place between this world and the next that ghosts have taken over. To Jack and Maddie it’s a shit ton of ectoplasm that’s fascinating to study.

Vlad doesn’t want or need to study anything. He’s secure in his beliefs about the afterlife. But none of this would soften some of Vlad’s sharp edges. He’s cold, bitter, manipulative and possessive because he’s never allowed his feelings of resentment towards the people who caused him trauma to die. He’s kept them like a piece of black spiritual coal in his gut and every time he gets reminded of that incident he can’t help but relive the feelings of it every time. And then it’s like the wound is fresh again. And it gets worse and worse each time he relives that experience. He also views that situation like an injustice, so his pride won’t allow him to bury or let go of that black piece of coal he’s been holding onto for decades. “I can’t let this go! They have to face some sort of punishment for what they did to me. For breaking my trust. It’s unfair. I must lay down some righteous retribution for this crime.”

Vlad probably thinks that that “accident” must’ve happened on purpose. Because Jack was sabotaging his chances with Maddie. Because if there was no purpose behind it then it was an accident. Then he’d emotionally be back to square one: “Why? Why did this awful thing happen to me? For what reason? Why must I be the one suffering like this?”

His current reasoning for why it happened during the show. (Before the aftermath of Phantom Planet.) was that Jack did it on purpose to steal Maddie away from him. But also because it gave him superpowers. And he got superpowers because he was meant to use them to take back everything that would’ve been rightfully his and because he thinks he’s deserving of something more than what he already has.

TLDR: after having some time to think and process it. I headcanon that Vlad is a Christian or at least a religious man who believes that ghosts are the souls of dead people.

Jack and Maddie believe they’re ectoplasmic blobs that have been imprinted on by human consciousness undergoing extreme stress in their last moments.

Vlad is a Christian but he isn’t very good at being one. Pride man. He’s got bucketfuls of Pride. And it’s all because he thinks placing himself above everyone will prevent him from ever getting hurt in the same way he had been again.

[nocturnalgenesisforest]

Hot take: I dislike how Pacifica Northwest’s character is treated.

This is in no way to send hate to the creators or anyone else that thinks just the opposite of this.

This is just me rambling, I am in no way stating facts, just my own opinions. I could be totally wrong about the truth of this character and how she’s handled, but I digress…

I don’t like how Paz is abased when it comes to her working at Greasy’s Diner. She used to be this sassy proud girl with more money than she can count, but now she works at a gross diner as a waitress? Didn’t her parents say they can still afford her a pony at the end of the series?

I dislike this because her whole things is that she’s the silly villain-of-week who’s fun to laugh at and mess around with and can be funny when you let her. She’s a stereotype. Without her money she isn’t a stereotype anymore! And I don’t know how I feel about taking Paz seriously. This is like chopping off her fingers or disemboweling her character for Pete’s Sake! What on earth? Give Pacifica Northwest her billions back! This is not who she is.

Although it’s a bit interesting, she never gets portrayed in a serious light. Even when her family has “lost everything” (cough cough, her mom can still buy her a pony, cough cough, they are so not poor at all) and she now works at a gross diner. This should be a pretty traumatic experience for her. And so should her parents mistreatment of her. But it’s still so cartoony the way she’s framed by the narrative in all circumstances. It’s like mixing roast fish with ice cream.

The intrinsic whimsy and silliness of Paz taking herself seriously as a proud beautiful rich sophisticated girl with sophisticated hobbies but really being this funny jerk who acts like a wet gremlin by verbally attacking anyone who displeases her even a little and is so sensitive her butler might as well push her around in a stroller with how much she can act like a baby vs her family “going broke” or her family abusing her. It’s a clash that doesn’t mix well in my opinion.

Why I don’t think Paz works well as a serious character: she’s a stereotype.

I don’t think Paz has any values or core characteristics that contradict how she’s a stereotype. Now I’m not talking about hobbies or likes or interests here. I mean who she is. Not what she likes.

Northwest Mansion Mystery did not transform Paz from stereotype to character. It transformed her into stereotype with a shitty home life. And then it transformed her into a stereotype who did something for a murderous ghost I guess.

I mean. That guy didn’t have anything to do with Paz. Only her ancestors. So what did all that matter to her really?

And what does Paz even believe in? Why is she so mean? These things are not explained away by how cartoonishly mustache twirling-y her parents are. Who Paz is comes entirely from her. Because who she is cannot be derived from anybody other than herself. It’s the part of her that chooses what to do with what raw material she’s been given by life.

And letting in a bunch of strangers into her house because a ghost was rightfully pissed at something that (while justified) was not something Paz was responsible for and there for should not have been held accountable for. Since there was nothing that Paz or her parents actually did to him. He might as well go into the afterlife and beat the shit out of the Northwest’s that locked him out that day if he truly wanted them to face the music for what they did to him and everyone else whom they broke the trust of. (Even though that deal was lowkey bogus anyway. Communal parties once a year instead of money paid to the people you hired to build your house?)

A true accountability story for Paz would be about the girls she’s bullied. Actual things she herself did and her perhaps even coming to terms with how what she says hurts other people.

A story that made her a character would not have mentions of her past stereotype persona. It would let us completely know the girl under the mask. And it’s not that the vain rich mean girl can do nice things every once in a while for people who don’t entirely like her or trust her. It’s that she has character traits and story beats that are separate entirely from being a stereotype. Plus no more jokes that are about her being a stereotype! For her to be more than that she has to be more than that. And if she’s more than that then how are you going to make jokes about what Pacifica no longer is? Anyway…

For example: Mabel or maybe even some other girl somehow outs Paz for mistreating her and Paz’s parents promise to her that they’ll be by her side no matter what. But when it comes time to meet with Mabel’s guardian (or some random girls guardian) and have a discussion they completely throw Paz under the bus. Like REALLY do. “How could she have done this!” The main point would be the betrayal of someone close to Paz. I think it ties in nicely with Gravity Falls’s “trust” motif/theme. The worst part is they’re only saving face. They do the exact same thing but no one calls the out for it. Paz would be truly, truly hurt by this. Like, her relationship with her parents will never be the same ever and it would take decades for Paz to even consider a relationship with them.

Maybe they could threaten to disown her if she does something that goes against them. They would never actually do it but Priscilla is an emotionally volatile person like her daughter. So…

Maybe we could see how abuse affected her and has caused her to be distrustful of the world to a degree which is unreasonable. Maybe she attacks people because she subconsciously believes everyone is out to get her or will hurt her if she lets people get too close. Maybe her selfishness stems from a place of thinking that if people try to befriend you they’re really only going to betray you in the future. So it’s best to look out for your own interest.

Maybe the raw material she’s been given by life has shaped her in ways that aren’t like her stereotype. Maybe she retreats into the digital world too much or begins to rely on material things like makeup, clothes, or stuffed animals or collections of cute or pretty things for comfort instead of turning to a person for comfort. She could be soft and sweet and sensitive in ways that are different to Mabel. Kind of child-like in a sense where she still depends on mommy and daddy because the hole they’ve left in her development still shows.

We could see her truly hate her parents. Fantasize about getting her revenge when they’re too old to take care of themselves. Making others feel the pain she’s feeling in that feeling abandoned or having your family torn apart. (Dipper could certainly sympathize with the last one.) struggle to forgive them for hurting her. Struggle with feeling resentment for people who haven’t done something so terrible as to earn it. Like someone making an off hand mean comment and Pacifica being too tender emotionally from her recent betrayal not to feel truly hurt by it. We could see her struggle with living in the past. One of her traits could be sensitivity. And she would certainly be sensitive to people who can be brash and abrasive. Like Dipper or Stan.

Maybe another one of her core values is how she can be quite modest or even self deprecating at times. Maybe it could be based on how she values quality over quantity in things. Or her dreams or aspirations. Or maybe she doesn’t have any of those good traits! We could dive deeper into her pride and vanity and take those things about her seriously. We could see how it erodes her attempts to make a relationship with the Pines twins.

Just something other than: she is a rich mean spoiled arrogant vain valley girl. And it’s partially because her parents are mean to her. And we’re not going to show them doing that in any realistic way or even show Paz cry because of what they do to her. We’re not going to delve into why she’s the way she is by examining Paz herself. We’re going to examine her environment, but not seriously, we’re not going to show her mom making scathing remarks or invasive comments about her body or restricting Paz against her will in what she’s allowed to or how much she can eat. We’re going to do this cartoonish thing where her crazy vain mom rips out the last pages of the Ugly Duckling and practically loudly proclaims to the world the value of vanity and how vain she is and how she’s going to push it onto her daughter. We’re not going to examine a character struggle within Paz. We’re going to examine struggles originating outside of Paz. Things her family did 150 years ago. Or things that come from her stereotype like her snooty attitude, arrogance, or vanity. She’s still not being taken seriously. She’s a joke stereotype still with lackluster depth. This is how pretty much all of Paz’s arcs go. She’s wrong, realizes she’s wrong, it’s not because of something she did all by herself or something that comes from within her. Because then she might gain a trait which is entirely her own. It all starts at the source of her cartoonishly evil parents. Or because grandpa was a criminal and now a ghost is angry at her because of it. Or because she’s a stereotype (genuinely snooty, arrogant, rude, vain valley girl) which we’re now trying to take seriously. Then she does something to aid the Pines twins. The end. Paz is pretty boring to be honest.

She’s not a character with a redemption arc. She’s a stereotype with an equally basic backstory.

[differentvoidglitter]

this is literally the dumbest criticism I’ve ever seen in my entire life, the fact that you disabled your own comment section proves to me that you’re just rage-baiting at this point, whatever happened to “it’s just my opinion” huh? It seems like you don’t want to hear anyone else’s opinion because you’re insecure and that’s just sad.

[nocturnalgenesisforest]

Hi, could you please give me some constructive criticism by telling me why you think my criticism was dumb/ridiculous?

I do want to hear your opinions and I do value what other people have to say about things like this even when it does disagree with my opinions.

[nocturnalgenesisforest]

Hot take: I dislike how Pacifica Northwest’s character is treated.

This is in no way to send hate to the creators or anyone else that thinks just the opposite of this.

This is just me rambling, I am in no way stating facts, just my own opinions. I could be totally wrong about the truth of this character and how she’s handled, but I digress…

I don’t like how Paz is abased when it comes to her working at Greasy’s Diner. She used to be this sassy proud girl with more money than she can count, but now she works at a gross diner as a waitress? Didn’t her parents say they can still afford her a pony at the end of the series?

I dislike this because her whole things is that she’s the silly villain-of-week who’s fun to laugh at and mess around with and can be funny when you let her. She’s a stereotype. Without her money she isn’t a stereotype anymore! And I don’t know how I feel about taking Paz seriously. This is like chopping off her fingers or disemboweling her character for Pete’s Sake! What on earth? Give Pacifica Northwest her billions back! This is not who she is.

Although it’s a bit interesting, she never gets portrayed in a serious light. Even when her family has “lost everything” (cough cough, her mom can still buy her a pony, cough cough, they are so not poor at all) and she now works at a gross diner. This should be a pretty traumatic experience for her. And so should her parents mistreatment of her. But it’s still so cartoony the way she’s framed by the narrative in all circumstances. It’s like mixing roast fish with ice cream.

The intrinsic whimsy and silliness of Paz taking herself seriously as a proud beautiful rich sophisticated girl with sophisticated hobbies but really being this funny jerk who acts like a wet gremlin by verbally attacking anyone who displeases her even a little and is so sensitive her butler might as well push her around in a stroller with how much she can act like a baby vs her family “going broke” or her family abusing her. It’s a clash that doesn’t mix well in my opinion.

Why I don’t think Paz works well as a serious character: she’s a stereotype.

I don’t think Paz has any values or core characteristics that contradict how she’s a stereotype. Now I’m not talking about hobbies or likes or interests here. I mean who she is. Not what she likes.

Northwest Mansion Mystery did not transform Paz from stereotype to character. It transformed her into stereotype with a shitty home life. And then it transformed her into a stereotype who did something for a murderous ghost I guess.

I mean. That guy didn’t have anything to do with Paz. Only her ancestors. So what did all that matter to her really?

And what does Paz even believe in? Why is she so mean? These things are not explained away by how cartoonishly mustache twirling-y her parents are. Who Paz is comes entirely from her. Because who she is cannot be derived from anybody other than herself. It’s the part of her that chooses what to do with what raw material she’s been given by life.

And letting in a bunch of strangers into her house because a ghost was rightfully pissed at something that (while justified) was not something Paz was responsible for and there for should not have been held accountable for. Since there was nothing that Paz or her parents actually did to him. He might as well go into the afterlife and beat the shit out of the Northwest’s that locked him out that day if he truly wanted them to face the music for what they did to him and everyone else whom they broke the trust of. (Even though that deal was lowkey bogus anyway. Communal parties once a year instead of money paid to the people you hired to build your house?)

A true accountability story for Paz would be about the girls she’s bullied. Actual things she herself did and her perhaps even coming to terms with how what she says hurts other people.

A story that made her a character would not have mentions of her past stereotype persona. It would let us completely know the girl under the mask. And it’s not that the vain rich mean girl can do nice things every once in a while for people who don’t entirely like her or trust her. It’s that she has character traits and story beats that are separate entirely from being a stereotype. Plus no more jokes that are about her being a stereotype! For her to be more than that she has to be more than that. And if she’s more than that then how are you going to make jokes about what Pacifica no longer is? Anyway…

For example: Mabel or maybe even some other girl somehow outs Paz for mistreating her and Paz’s parents promise to her that they’ll be by her side no matter what. But when it comes time to meet with Mabel’s guardian (or some random girls guardian) and have a discussion they completely throw Paz under the bus. Like REALLY do. “How could she have done this!” The main point would be the betrayal of someone close to Paz. I think it ties in nicely with Gravity Falls’s “trust” motif/theme. The worst part is they’re only saving face. They do the exact same thing but no one calls the out for it. Paz would be truly, truly hurt by this. Like, her relationship with her parents will never be the same ever and it would take decades for Paz to even consider a relationship with them.

Maybe they could threaten to disown her if she does something that goes against them. They would never actually do it but Priscilla is an emotionally volatile person like her daughter. So…

Maybe we could see how abuse affected her and has caused her to be distrustful of the world to a degree which is unreasonable. Maybe she attacks people because she subconsciously believes everyone is out to get her or will hurt her if she lets people get too close. Maybe her selfishness stems from a place of thinking that if people try to befriend you they’re really only going to betray you in the future. So it’s best to look out for your own interest.

Maybe the raw material she’s been given by life has shaped her in ways that aren’t like her stereotype. Maybe she retreats into the digital world too much or begins to rely on material things like makeup, clothes, or stuffed animals or collections of cute or pretty things for comfort instead of turning to a person for comfort. She could be soft and sweet and sensitive in ways that are different to Mabel. Kind of child-like in a sense where she still depends on mommy and daddy because the hole they’ve left in her development still shows.

We could see her truly hate her parents. Fantasize about getting her revenge when they’re too old to take care of themselves. Making others feel the pain she’s feeling in that feeling abandoned or having your family torn apart. (Dipper could certainly sympathize with the last one.) struggle to forgive them for hurting her. Struggle with feeling resentment for people who haven’t done something so terrible as to earn it. Like someone making an off hand mean comment and Pacifica being too tender emotionally from her recent betrayal not to feel truly hurt by it. We could see her struggle with living in the past. One of her traits could be sensitivity. And she would certainly be sensitive to people who can be brash and abrasive. Like Dipper or Stan.

Maybe another one of her core values is how she can be quite modest or even self deprecating at times. Maybe it could be based on how she values quality over quantity in things. Or her dreams or aspirations. Or maybe she doesn’t have any of those good traits! We could dive deeper into her pride and vanity and take those things about her seriously. We could see how it erodes her attempts to make a relationship with the Pines twins.

Just something other than: she is a rich mean spoiled arrogant vain valley girl. And it’s partially because her parents are mean to her. And we’re not going to show them doing that in any realistic way or even show Paz cry because of what they do to her. We’re not going to delve into why she’s the way she is by examining Paz herself. We’re going to examine her environment, but not seriously, we’re not going to show her mom making scathing remarks or invasive comments about her body or restricting Paz against her will in what she’s allowed to or how much she can eat. We’re going to do this cartoonish thing where her crazy vain mom rips out the last pages of the Ugly Duckling and practically loudly proclaims to the world the value of vanity and how vain she is and how she’s going to push it onto her daughter. We’re not going to examine a character struggle within Paz. We’re going to examine struggles originating outside of Paz. Things her family did 150 years ago. Or things that come from her stereotype like her snooty attitude, arrogance, or vanity. She’s still not being taken seriously. She’s a joke stereotype still with lackluster depth. This is how pretty much all of Paz’s arcs go. She’s wrong, realizes she’s wrong, it’s not because of something she did all by herself or something that comes from within her. Because then she might gain a trait which is entirely her own. It all starts at the source of her cartoonishly evil parents. Or because grandpa was a criminal and now a ghost is angry at her because of it. Or because she’s a stereotype (genuinely snooty, arrogant, rude, vain valley girl) which we’re now trying to take seriously. Then she does something to aid the Pines twins. The end. Paz is pretty boring to be honest.

She’s not a character with a redemption arc. She’s a stereotype with an equally basic backstory.