An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
The first Chapter of this ongoing serie: The Beast of Gravity Falls! I plan to post a chapter each month (I don’t want to burn myself out and I want to make this story work)
Early December 1980
Stanford Pines came to the conclusion that testing a new specimen with his molecular analysis device during a snowstorm was not the best idea he’d ever had.
Warning lights flashed across the machine’s console, signaling that it was overheating. Ford scrambled to check the power source’s monitors, and frowned when it’s energy output readings came out normal. Where was the additional surge coming from?
Belatedly, he realized that his backup generator must have been activated by the blizzard outside. And that same generator—which he’d built with the capacity to fuel a small city—was now feeding into the machine’s power supply.
A power surge had been created! Ford cursed and rushed to the side of the device, flipping open the control panel to initiate the emergency shutdown procedure. A bright red switch in the middle of the dashboard blinked to life. Stanford didn’t waste anymore time and slammed his hand down on the bright red switch.
Everything fell silent for a moment in his basement lab.
Ford barely had time to breathe before the molecular machine suddenly roared back to life, filling the room with a bright white light. A massive shock wave emanated from the machine and sent Ford flying all the way across the room. It knocked him against the wall and the wind out of his lungs.
After a year of working with an wonderful and passionate team... We are happy to announce the release of Ear Goes Nothing! Follow the link in our bio and it’d lead you to a ko-fi page with the product! OR use this link: https://ko-fi.com/s/03a889cc8e
It’s $6 but you are free to donate more!
Sales will end a month from now: July 15th.
Please keep in mind that all characters in this comic belong to Disney + Alex Hirsch. This is a fan-made, DIGITAL ONLY comic from Gravity Falls fans. All donations and proceeds will go to Hearing Aid Project: a Program of Sertoma (https://hearingaiddonations.org/donations/)
Thank you to the many incredible folks who have supported us, and for the team of artists for making this happen. We couldn’t have done this without you all!
This one was the absolute hardest; you guys have no idea how many freaking times I recorded it until I finally got it somewhere close to my standards. I hope you like it regardless.
This has been in the works for quite a while. I've been off and on writing it for ages and finally got it all finished up this month. You know how it goes. Sometimes you get a random burst of inspiration for something. And those random bursts got me to finish a rather crucial part of this AU...
As a refresher, this is an AU where Ford gets turned into a four-year-old by an anomaly in Gravity Falls and, through a series of events, winds up crossing paths a year later with Stan, who has been living with Shermie since he was kicked out and actually has a pretty sweet life with a wife and steady job. Stan, thinking Ford is actually Ford's son, fosters him. And now, we're finally going to see the events leading up to and including Ford finally telling Stan the truth about who he is. This is part one of three.
Enjoy.
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Ford fumed as he sat in the waiting room at the child psychologist’s office. He wasn’t a stranger to this clinic. He’d been forced to attend the entirety of his time as a child. CPS and his first foster family had been concerned about the “trauma” he had related to the circumstances he was found in. And, despite Stan and Angie both seeming hesitant about the idea of therapy, they’d continued to bring Ford to the clinic on a monthly basis.
Again, the worst thing about being a child is the inability to control where I go. If he was even a few years older, his fights against therapy might be taken seriously. But at five, they were interpreted as temper tantrums, and possibly proof that the therapy was sorely needed. Ford rested his chin in his hand, staring at the artwork on the waiting room walls.
“Can’t believe I got caught,” he muttered darkly.
Today’s extra visit was courtesy of Angie happening to come home much earlier than usual the day before. It was spring break, so Ford and Stan were both home all day. Stan put Ford down for a nap, then went to do something in a different room, assuming that Ford would obediently sleep like he typically did. Or at least, like he thought Ford did.
Very rarely did Ford actually take naps if he could avoid it. Sometimes, he had no choice, because there were people around supervising him. But this week, he’d been taking advantage of Stan’s trust. He wanted to indulge in a particular vice that he’d been craving.
Unfortunately, Angie decided to finish grading papers at home that day and walked in on Ford removing a bottle from the liquor cabinet. The liquor cabinet that Ford had been unable to unlock until that exact moment.
And now, Ford was waiting for the therapist to finish talking to Stan and Angie about whatever he’d taken from their emergency session.
Finally, the door opened. Ford looked up.
“He’s a difficult kid to get to open up, but I feel confident that this was the first time he’s done this,” the psychologist said as he walked out of the office with Stan and Angie. “It may not be his first attempt to break in, but he’s never been successful before.” Ford looked away. One of the reasons he hated going here was because he couldn’t hide things very well from Dr. Farber. He had no idea how, but the psychologist clearly picked up on things Ford was trying to obfuscate or even outright lie about.
I didn’t tell him that I’ve tried to do this before, how the hell did he know?! Ford huffed. Of course I get sent to a competent child psychologist.
“That’s good,” Stan said. “We’re gonna move the stuff, though.”
Dammit.
“Good. Keep a close eye on him. Remember, children in his situation often act out, so the key is to reduce the impact of those moments.”
“Yes,” Angie said. Ford winced at her serious tone. “And...CPS?”
What?! Ford whipped his head around in shock.
“They were alerted about the incident, per policy,” Dr. Farber said smoothly. Stan and Angie both tensed. “Don’t worry. I’m sure everything will be fine. It’s a formality. Everyone knows the two of you have been incredibly capable parents.”
“Doesn’t feel like it,” Stan muttered. The psychologist smiled.
“I’d be more concerned if you felt like a good parent. That could mean you don’t think you can improve. And everyone can improve.” Dr. Farber looked over at Ford. “Stanford, it’s time for you to go home.”
Ford silently slid off his chair and walked over to Stan and Angie. He let out a yelp as Angie scooped him up into her arms. His guardians walked out of the clinic in silence. Ford began to fidget, uncomfortable. Just as he was about to cave and say something, Angie spoke.
“Normally, we get ice cream after therapy, but not today,” she said firmly. Ford was genuinely disappointed, though not surprised. “Do you know why?”
“I was stealing alcohol,” Ford mumbled. They got to the Stanmobile. Stan unlocked the car and opened the back door. Angie buckled Ford into his car seat.
“That’s right,” Angie said. “You broke into the liquor cabinet and tried to drink alcohol. And why is that wrong?” Ford was confused as to why she seemed to be taking charge. She recognized that Ford was more attached to Stan, and usually let Stan handle things like this, only stepping in if Stan was getting riled up.
Oh. Ford looked at the driver’s seat, which Stan was already sitting in. Stan was clenching the steering wheel with enough force to turn his knuckles white. He’s- he’s angry. Maybe not furious, but certainly too emotional to interact well with a five-year-old.
“Stanford?” Angie prompted. Ford looked up at her. Her voice was stiffer than usual, and there was an atypical tightness in her expression.
She’s upset with me, too.
“It’s wrong because I shouldn’t break into things,” Ford said dutifully.
“And?”
“Alcohol isn’t for someone my age.”
“That’s right.” Angie checked the straps of Ford’s car seat, then closed the door and got into the passenger seat up front.
“Ford...” Stan started. Angie put a hand on his shoulder. Stan rested his forehead on the steering wheel. “Why’d you do that? Why’d you try to drink our booze?”
Ford gave the same answer he’d given the psychologist.
“It looked like fun,” he lied, hoping beyond hope that Stan would believe him. He usually tried to dodge questions or give vague answers, anything to avoid lying to an expert liar.
Stan’s shoulders tensed even more. Ford looked down at his lap.
He didn’t buy it.
-----
Ford was in bed. Stan knew it. The new baby monitor they had purchased to make sure Ford was sleeping when he was supposed to sat on the kitchen counter. Faint noises came through every now and then, consistent with what the kid made in his sleep.
“I can’t- he’s five, Angie,” Stan groaned. Angie removed the last bottle from the liquor cabinet. The rest of their alcohol was sitting on the counter near Stan. “He lied about why he did it. He knows more about booze than he should, for sure!” Stan dragged his hands down his face. “Since he moved in, the only times we’ve had alcohol was date night, when he wasn’t around! I thought-” Stan’s voice broke. He didn’t care. Angie had been there for him during worse meltdowns. “I thought we were doing everything right.”
“We were,” Angie said, her own voice a bit thick. Stan looked up at her. She quickly turned her head, but not fast enough to hide the tears in her eyes. “It’s just- sometimes kids don’t respond well even when you do everything right. Especially kids like Stanford.”
“And now CPS is gonna come...”
“It’s just a formality. They won’t find anything.”
“Yeah, ‘cause we’re giving the neighbors all our booze.” Stan took a shuddering breath. “His first foster family, they said something about how he seemed like he was addicted to coffee when he moved in with them.”
“He was prob’ly able to reach it easy at his original home.”
“First coffee, now alcohol...” Stan slid down the wall until he was sitting on the tile floor. “What the hell was my brother doing? How’d he let his kid get into that stuff? Even our parents didn’t let us, and you know how they were!” A tear traced its way down Stan’s cheek. “At this point, I don’t know if I want him to come back and take his kid!”
“Well...” Angie sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I only met yer brother once, when he visited the farm with Fidds in college. He was surprisingly patient with me bein’ such an annoying teenager.”
“There’s no way you were as annoying as you say you were.”
“All sixteen-year-olds are annoying,” Angie said firmly. Stan managed a weak smile. “He was patient and liked tellin’ me stuff, but he also seemed pretty clueless. I reckon it’d be even worse fer someone younger.” Her hand found its way to one of Stan’s. She laced her fingers with his. “I wonder if he was well-meanin’ but got in over his head.”
“That sounds more like him than being neglectful on purpose,” Stan mumbled. He sighed heavily, his shoulders sore from the weight of the world. “What happened, Angie? Why did he leave his kid in the woods during a thunderstorm? Where- where is he?” His voice broke again.
Angie didn’t say anything. She didn’t know, either.
Stan buried his face in her hair and waited for the tears to stop.
-----
In his bedroom, the cat curled up on his lap, Ford silenced the baby monitor and put it back on his bedside table. It had been easy enough to rewire the device to send audio both ways like a walkie-talkie, but he was beginning to regret that decision.
Ford pulled the covers up, disrupting the cat, who jumped down, offended. The conversation had been hard to hear. He had a tendency to forget just how his actions impacted others around him. Particularly now, when he had far less autonomy than he used to and his decisions felt so small to him.
Honestly, he’d been considering just remaining like this. Stanford Phillip Payne, son of mysteriously missing Stanford Filbrick Pines. Foster child and likely future adopted child of Stan and Angie. It was just easier. And it didn’t seem like anyone really missed or worried about his real self. Certainly not Stan. Not with their history.
But to be faced with hard proof that his ongoing disappearance truly was distressing...
Ford stifled a small sob. He pulled the blankets higher, over his head, hiding from what he knew it was past time to do.
I always wanted to create some fan art of Gravity Falls, but I never got the chance—mainly because I struggle with drawing humans. However, after doing a few pieces of fan art for Tad the Lost Explorer, I decided to give Gravity Falls another try.
I've already talked about my second Gravity Falls fan art, so this one is my third attempt, featuring my two favorite characters from the series, Stanley and Stanford Pines. To be honest, I was worried that I might not do these characters justice with my drawing style. I even went back and watched some episodes to study how they’re drawn and how they move in order to get this image right.
At first, I planned to create a medium shot of the two characters, but then I decided to go for a full-body drawing instead. I think it turned out okay, but I’d love to hear what you all think!
Support me for more awesome art! https://ko-fi.com/kimjimagery
