okay so, i started writing this in the tags for another post, but i wanted to make it it’s own post

Mabel and Ford have the exact same narrative in The Last Mabelcorn



Both were tricked by magical, otherworldly beings that they admired, thought of as ‘perfect,’ and sought approval from. both found out these beings were frauds who tricked them, and both rebelled against these beings and tried to do what they believed was right

Ford was tricked by Bill’s flattery, and he truly believed that Bill was a muse and that he was a chosen once-in-a-generation genius. Ford loved this attention, but when he found out Bill was just using him for his own needs, Ford did everything in his power to undo his mistakes and prevent Bill from entering into their world. Ford didn’t want Dipper to know how badly he failed before because of the guilt he still feels over it, but this caused a tension between him and Dipper, until it finally exploded. it only calmed down when the truth came out and both were honest with each other.



Mabel, however, did not get positive attention from the C-Beth. She was immediately shot down by her hero. and Mabel tried everything she could to meet her approval, because she was that desperate for it. and then she was faced with all the mistakes she’s been making lately, and the guilt was crushing her. but when she found out C-Beth was lying, Mabel stopped trying to be perfect to absolve her ‘sins’, stopped trying to get C-Beth’s approval, and stopped trying to play nice and got the unicorn hair by force, because that was the right thing to do to protect the Shack. Once the truth came out, Mabel no longer felt so terrible about herself, and managed to get the one thing that was needed to protect the shack, and all of her loved ones.

both put their worth in the eyes of another being, both were tricked, but once they found out the truth, both were able to fight back against the ones who tricked them and did what they could to do the right thing. the moral fr both stories was that neither character’s worth can be determined by another’s.



yes, they were tricked, yes, they messed up, yes, they’re not perfect, but that’s okay. it’s okay to not be perfect, and it’s okay to make mistakes. your worth isn’t determined by the mistakes you’ve made or what other people think of you. It’s determined by you.



Ford and Mabel’s narratives in this episode are two halves of the same coin, and it’s wonderful

