#gf spoiler

[pluviofleur]

poorly planned!

[mythomagically-delicious]

Spoiler for one of the commentary moments on the dvd set:

Alex Hirsch does some commentary as a completely in-character Grunkle Stan as a secret, second commentary for “Land Before Swine”, and at one point he says this:

“My father was a cold hearted ex-bricklayer who’d rather list my faults at Passover than throw the old football around.”

and then he goes into a whole story about how Filbrick never played catch with him ever and that’s why he made Footbot for the science fair and some other stuff about it, but I just wanna zero in on that quote.

That is like. That is some key shit right there. 

In the same commentary he also admits to waking up, purposely breaking stuff around the Shack so that Soos has something to fix/a job to do daily. 

Back to back examples of some sad family things and some softer family things.

I don’t know what I wanna say yet. I’m just happy we heard so much about Stan’s childhood/present attitude about stuff in that special commetnary

[mythomagically-delicious]

Found a bonus commentary on the dvd!! This is so cool!

[dpgoinghost]

Has ANYONE pointed this out yet!? I went to sit down and finally read the Gravity Falls "Select Your Own Choose-Venture!" book, and apparently the tree monster is a pushy-friend that likes to read over people's shoulders.

[hollycrowned]

symbols are starting to take shape! ∆

[hollycrowned]

many fans have shown up at the post office to wait for May! I’ll be posting as soon as she arrives—and periscope links if there are any! in the meantime, this cipher hunter is still streaming. ∆

edit: ariel is on her way!

[hollycrowned]

May is still on her way! please be patient and hold on for more updates ∆

[kingofthewilderwest]

Last night was intense. We got a Gravity Falls finale on Avatar levels of awesomeness. (SPOILER QUESTION) My headcanon is that Stan never fully recovered his memories, though, because there are gaps that Ford and the twins can't fill, like the ten years Stan was estranged and bits and pieces of the thirty years that Stan was Mr. Mystery. Thus Ford asked him to come along to take care of him and make sure that Stan doesn't go the way of Fiddleford. Thoughts on that and Stan's memories?

These are really interesting thoughts! (sorry for the slow reply - just getting to it now. BUT YES SO INTENSE SO INTENSE INDED). I think I’m going to start this fun discussion by quoting some relevant words from Alex Hirsch, which he said in this interview:

It was never the plan for Stan to lose his memory fully. I love these characters. I loved to see that they are willing to risk it all, but I love them too much to have them lose it all or actually die. The idea that the memory gun would be a way to defeat Bill seemed like a good way, within our internal rules, to take down a character who seemed undefeatable, but at the end of the day, it was very important that Dipper and Mabel would have a final goodbye with their Uncle Stan that was a real goodbye—[that] the Stan we know, and the Dipper and Mabel that we know, got to look each other in the eye, see how much they meant to each other and hug before [the twins] got on that bus to leave town. If Stan had lost his memory for good, that would [have] provided some interesting narrative places for him and his brother to go, but ultimately the show is about the kids. Stan and his brother are meant to be a parable [that show] what can go wrong in a family relationship, [but also] show that, with hard work and sacrifice, the riff can be repaired. If Stan's memory had been fully erased, it wouldn't punish him so much because he'd be gone, but it would punish Ford, Dipper and Mabel most. Even though Ford might deserve that punishment, Dipper and Mabel do not. Ultimately, I felt it would be unfair for them to go through that. As an audience member, I wanted to see that final goodbye.

The big question is whether or not what Alex says contradicts your headcanon about whether or not Stan still had gaps in his memories.

I think the way Alex worded the message implies that Stan regained his memories fully. Though he does not precisely say that in his message, the way he speaks about Stan’s memories suggest that since this is “the Stan we know,” his mind fully recovers.

You’re totally right that there are gaps that the twins and Ford could not fill because they were not there to experience all of Stan’s experiences. That would make it impossible for them to directly tell Stan this information. I imagine, though, that this does not hamper Stan from fully regaining his memory. We can at least make some sense of how he might regain those memories which are not directly connected with Ford, Dipper, and Mabel.

Storage in the brain is highly linked and interconnected through a complex neural network. Thoughts on one topic can stimulate thoughts on another related topic. We can see some indirect evidence on this working in Stan’s mind canonically. Mabel did not tell Stan the name of her pig before he shouted out the word “Waddles.” It does indicate that Ford and the younger twins don’t have to directly feed Grunckle Stan information in order for him to remember it. He will remember the information through connections and related thoughts. So, as his memory returns, his mind will think of interconnected thoughts - and through that, regain information that has nothing to do with Ford, Dipper, Mabel, or the Mystery Shack.

The way Stan is characterized also seems to indicate a full memory recovery. The writers, at least, want to indicate a difference between what went on with Fiddleford and what happened to Stan. Poor Fiddleford messed his brain up so much he went insane and became a very different individual than when he was young. Even when Fiddleford starts to regain some of his memories, the damage is still irreversible and you can see that in his actions. Stan does not have that same effect. Granted, this is a very weak argument, and I can think of plenty of counterarguments, but I do think that how Grunckle Stan is shown and depicted is meant to be someone who has regained his memories fully.

Still, I like your theory a LOT, and I do gravitate toward it. It’s at least really, really interesting to think about. There’s something to be said about how retrograde amnesia works, too. I’ve read that retrograde amnesiacs “may partially regain their memories later” (emphasis is mine), which does indicate that someone with retrograde amnesia (like Stan) might regain most things, but not everything. Stan could recover the majority of things, enough to restore personality, memory, the character we know, but he might live with a few imperceptible gaps. The memory gun has to have done some damage even with a one-time shot, right?

I can still imagine that we might be consistent with what Alex says in the interview and headcanon there are a few more memory holes post-memory gun. I’m more inclined to officially say canonically “No, there are no more holes than there were before,” but I could go with it just fine this way, too. It doesn’t have to be inconsistent because memories drop from our minds all the time - his mind could have just dropped a few more than typical after the memory gun, but nothing erasing the integrity of his sense of identity and self. I wouldn’t mind seeing fics over this idea you present - I really do like it a lot.

It’s really endearing to me what you said about Ford looking after Stan. I don’t think that would be his primary motivation for joining with Stan - it truly is a brotherly reconnection and desire to go on old adventures - but I love the sentiment so much. Gives me major time feels. I could imagine Ford watching his brother carefully when they’re on the Stan of War II together, quietly observing whether or not Stan seems to have everything. I really can imagine this so well. 

There’ll be that little uneasiness, that discomfort, having seen what Fiddleford went through.

There’ll be that pang of horrible pain thinking about the fact HE SHOT HIS OWN BROTHER WITH THAT MEMORY WIPING GUN.

There’ll be those bittersweet thoughts of memories past.

And then he’ll open up his mouth, say, “Remember when?” and trail off into an ancient point of nostalgia. And his brother will respond, not with the same amount of happy nostalgia, but with a clear understanding he remembers.

And that’ll make something sing in Ford’s heart.