(ignore the last question)
Omg how do you think Stan will make them codependent again? Mb he'll drive Ford to the point he's lashing out on everyone and they end up not liking him and Stan is like "oh don't listen to them. They just don't know you how I do. Even if the whole world is against you I'll always be by your side. Wherever we go we go together^^"
They were codependent as kids and Stan knows part of that was due to not having anyone else to rely on. It was just him and Ford against the world. So Stan just plans for it to be like that again.
Half of him is proud to see that his brother did manage to make a friend and flourish without him. The other half is frothing at the mouth that Ford did so well without him. That’s not how it’s supposed to go! >:(
Stan, through gritted teeth: oh, you made a friend, Ford? That’s so… nice.
But yes Ford is lashing out just because of his frustration with Stan being there and ignoring his boundaries. It makes him irritable, which makes him snappish with strangers. (Which gives Stan the opportunity to intervene and assert himself as the Nice Twin, thereby inclining the gravity falls public to be on his side.) Ford also complains about his Stan problem to his family and Fiddleford, and when they seem like they’re siding with Stan, or telling him to calm down, Ford lashes out at them too.
So Ford ends up kind of pushing people away because of his reactions to the situation. Stan allows this to play out, because the less friendly Ford gets with others, the more he only has Stan to turn to.
Through this all, Stan slowly transitions himself into being more helpful and reliable, someone Ford can depend on when he has no one else. At the start, Stan was lazy and rude and unhelpful. Couch potato unwanted roommate who won’t pay rent. But as Ford gets more frustrated and frazzled over time, Stan begins to set himself up as a source of help.
He brings Ford coffee and reminds him to take breaks. He starts actually tidying up sometimes and cooking meals, sharing the chores with Ford so that Ford feels less burdened with everything. He makes sure Ford sleeps and showers and remembers to eat. When Ford seems stressed, Stan directs him to journal his day, which Ford has always found comforting, or cracks jokes he knows Ford will find funny.
And then at some point, when Ford has started getting used to all that, Stan takes it away again. He leaves a note on the table one night, telling Ford that he’s gotta go for a few days but he’ll be back. Ford thinks “good riddance” at first. But after day one, he quickly realizes just how much he’d come to rely on Stan again. How there seems to be so much more to do now without someone else helping out, how he forgets to eat until he feels weak, then goes into the kitchen and realizes he actually has to cook for himself.
How empty the house feels without the background noise of someone else moving around and living there. How lonely he feels without another presence. This Ford has never really lived alone, after all. He went from his family home to university where he roomed with Fiddleford for all his school years, then as soon as he moved to Gravity Falls, Stan showed up. He’s never been truly alone before.
He doesn’t like it :( And being alone makes him realize that… he doesn’t have any other friends. He doesn’t know anyone in town well, and they all seem to like Stan much better than him. Fiddleford is too far away for regular visits, and he hasn’t seen his parents in person for a while now.
Ford is lonely. He’s so used to having someone by his side, wanted or not, that it’s jarring to be alone. He finds himself wishing for Stan to come back faster. But a few days pass, and Stan never shows up.
Then a few more days, and still no Stan.
Ford finds himself with increasing anxiety. He doesn’t know why. He should be happy Stan is gone. It’s what he wanted all this time, isn’t it? He’s been complaining and rude to his brother and—oh no. What if Stan had had enough of him? What if Ford had finally pushed him away too? Pushed away the person who knew him better than anyone and still accepted him. What if—
And then Stan comes back :)
Ford is so relieved he greets his brother warmly and hugs him. Stan holds him back, smirking over his shoulder while apologizing for being longer than he’d said.
But it’s true what they say, that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Stan makes promises like:
“I’ll never leave you, don’t worry.”
“I’d never abandon you, Ford.”
“Even if others don’t like you, I’ll always love you.”
“I’m the only one who really knows you, and we’ll always stick together, won’t we?”
Stan works subtly to transition Ford from “I” thinking to “we” thinking. So instead of Ford thinking like “I should go check out that shimmery pond in the forest” he naturally starts thinking “We should go check out that pond.” Until Ford stops thinking as independently and thinks more in a collective, “Stan and I” pattern. Until not including Stan in his activities is unthinkable. They have to do everything together, grocery shopping, research expeditions, any appointments. It’s always together.
And Stan loves it. He doesn’t care if they aren’t doing anything important. He doesn’t care if it’s just that Ford needs him to come with him to the mall because he refuses to go alone. Stan will always come along. He just wants to be with his brother :) doesn’t matter what they’re doing.
Sure would be nice to go sailing someday though.
turnnoffyourmind
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