First, to talk about this panel, read this sad story and suffer, cry because we love doing these things
https://archiveofourown.org/works/19821979
Hello, they're back! Well, give the author credit and the psychiatrist's receipts, and from there I ask what an AU would be like where this happened.
First things first, this relationship is fixable. Well, let's just say it's difficult. By all the deities, not even Axolotl himself, coming out of his dimension, could fix this tremendous mess.
Secondly, Ford already had the weight of guilt for leaving Stanley (although he couldn't really have done much at that moment), but from here on things would undoubtedly be worse. Burning the ship on purpose and saying those things to Stanley will definitely hurt Ford, since in the future he'll feel worse for those actions. And don't even get me started on Stanley. If he already felt horrible for his actions (even if they were accidental), now he's undoubtedly devastated having direct confirmation that Ford hates him, and that alone would make his pessimistic and emotionless attitude even worse. Aside from how each of them lives their life, it would be interesting. With Ford, I don't think there would be much difference in his actions (although he might become twice as obsessive). After that, the main difference would be when he's betrayed by Bill. Maybe he'll try to fix things with Fidds again, leaving Stanley even further behind. But knowing that both of them were in a bad way, he'd hardly find anyone else to help, reluctantly asking Stanley for help. There's also the option that he might self-destruct even more, twice as much by doing everything alone, and perhaps end up even more hurt than he is now after his fight with Bill. And if he were to run into Stanley, he would undoubtedly be even ruder to him. If he was already struggling with his internal (literal) battle against Bill, now he'll undoubtedly be much worse, even saying worse things. And that's not even mentioning the case where he ends up in the portal. If he already harbored resentment (or so he likes to believe), now he'll undoubtedly have an even worse hatred for Stanley. This means that when Stanley gets him back, he'll undoubtedly do more than just beat him up; he'll certainly kick him out immediately, or worse.
From there, we can imagine what Stanley's life would be like. On one hand, he'll probably fall into a deep depression, since he'll take his failures much worse, becoming even more obsessed with getting money, not so much because he wants to fix things, but just to prove he's better. Perhaps the poor guy won't be able to handle the pressure and will take the easy way out (something that would weigh heavily on Stanford, since seeing that Stan ended up destroying Todo and that his last words were those insults would undoubtedly devastate them). Or perhaps he'll finally end up in a mental institution because he'll undoubtedly fall into true despair and have no chance of recovery. On the other hand, more hopefully, Stanley might choose a different path, one that goes beyond just getting money. He might decide to live his other life and live for himself, mainly because he didn't want to make the effort, because obviously (at least) From his perspective, he seriously had nowhere to go back to, so after a few falls into despair, he decided not to keep trying to fix something irreparable and moved forward just for himself. And whether by a good or bad path, maybe Stanley will get a happy life (although there's no way he still wants to recover what he lost). But then there's the problem of what if Ford comes to seek his help. On one hand, with that hatred/desperation towards Ford, he would undoubtedly put that letter in the nearest shredder. But in the far-off case that he listens and goes to Gravity Falls, maybe it would be worse. I mean, first, the brother you loved greets you with a crossbow to your face, then he acts like a madman, and finally, after showing you the portal and talking about a certain ship to destroy everything for the second time, without a doubt their fight would be worse, and yes. Stan would undoubtedly show no mercy to Ford, making this fight even worse than before (surely some broken bones or worse). It might end in tragedy, or if Ford ends up back in the portal, Stan might feel guilty but lack the same desire to get Ford back. He would certainly abandon the poor guy to his fate. And in the hypothetical scenario where he opens the portal out of a tiny bit of compassion, given Ford's attitude, Stanley would be far worse off. He'd probably leave the cabin rather than endure it any longer.
But tell me, how do you think a world would develop where things started so disastrously (and that's putting it mildly)?
