// could you talk about some of rev!ford's main goals? how does his relationship with stanley compare to their relationship in the prime universe?
help me develop the rev boi! || accepting!
Seeing as they had the same upbringing as their canon counterparts, Ford and Stan are actually really heckin’ close. Unfortunately, that includes all the misunderstandings and the break-up after the West Coast Tech Incident. Stan still cost Ford his ‘ DREAM SCHOOL ‘ and he went to Backupsmore as a result.
During Ford’s documentation of the journal - and honestly this is clear in the CANON journal - he thought about his brother a lot. There’s a lot of anger and resentment, but also sadness. Unlike Prime Ford, he actually does something with this.
Sometime after his roadblock in research, after he met Will Cipher, construction of the interdimensional portal began. Its goal was to explore the multiverse and to investigate the unknown. Although Reverse Ford has just as much hubris as his prime counterpart, glory and science wasn’t the ONLY reason he was in this for. To start with.
The main reason for its creation was because when he was a kid, Stan constantly talked about exploring the world together. Ford was giving him what he wanted, out of guilt and perhaps apology - except, you know, multi-verse sized.
He wanted the portal completed by their birthday, and intended to invite Stanley over on that date to surprise him. But of course, that ended badly.
Although Ford was ecstatic about the gift, eager to reconnect with his brother - Stanley sensed something off about him. This was because Ford had been dabbling in DARK MAGIC, and the lilt to his words concerned him. He was planning more than casual adventure and Stan felt it.
Knowledge of the unknown wasn’t enough. Glory wasn’t enough. For scientific pursuit WASN’T. ENOUGH. Ford wanted POWER.
After Ford’s excited ramblings went south and Stan called him out on it, an argument and the FIGHT broke out. Stan had decided this mystery nonsense had changed his brother for the worst and tried to confiscate and BURN his journal.
Now - here’s the bridge. There are subverses to this little point in time.
IN THE FIRST VERSE, events transpire as they did in canon. Stanley accidentally pushed his brother into the portal and spent the next 30 years trying to get him back.
Over those thirty years, Ford is… well, he’s not even sure how to describe it. He’s angry, certainly - but feels a sense of failure because his plan to reconnect with his brother, what he THOUGHT was the right thing to do, fell through. And at the same time, he feels a sense of betrayal because it felt like Stanley was throwing everything he’d sacrificed for the portal back in his face. It was for THEM, after all.
As he travelled dimensions, investigating and gaining power, he developed a sense of APATHY and tried not to think about it too much.
It’s to be noted that although he cares for his brother greatly, in this verse there’s a lot more bitter resentment towards him.
Interactions after his return are extremely TENSE because Stanley knows what he is. But nonetheless, Stan is family…
IN THE SECOND VERSE, events tranpsire differently. Seeing as this IS Reverse Falls, Stan was the one pushed into the portal. It was an accident, something Ford didn’t mean for ( and honestly what clicks is that one scene in canon where he immediately regrets causing Stanley that burn ) .
Ford spent the following thirty years trying to get his brother back, sending out scouts that often time didn’t return. He even left himself a few times, though the Nightmare Realm’s inhabitants didn’t take to that kindly so he didn’t get very far.
Stanford had terrible luck throughout this, and didn’t want to assume the worse. He couldn’t deal with assuming the worse.
He was slowly losing his mind with guilt, and resorted to the most drastic measures he could think of. The usage of dark magic became a constant habit, one that only WORSENED his mindset - and eventually, ethics and empathy got thrown out of the window.
Stanford didn’t care about what anyone else wanted, or whether it was wrong. He was getting his brother back. That was the right thing to do.
When Stanley returns, Ford is ecstatic - relieved. All his sacrifices, all his hard work; it paid off. He did something RIGHT for once! His brother is alive and (mostly) well - and he’s just so happy to see that! He’s happy that his brother’s back home!
However, Stanley is less than grateful and Ford gets decked across the face just as his prime counterpart did so to his twin.
Ford is speechless, misunderstanding - though eventually explodes into fuming rage. He’d spent THIRTY YEARS, driving himself to the point of madness trying to get his brother back, and this was the thanks he got. Unlike Prime Stanley, his rage is more than just bitter resentment.
Saving Stanley was his entire goal for the last three decades; to doing something GOOD. The fact that meant nothing, coupled with his overwhelming guilt and outrage, made him snap. What was the point of it all? You didn’t get acknowledgement for it anyway. That situation doesn’t end well, and needless to say, when it does - Ford wanders off a deeper end before.
Maybe it’s just the ANGER and the punch in the face talking, but his interest in levelling this wretched town just spiked.
TLDR: Ford cares greatly for Stanley, and in one verse risks a lot for him. Unfortunately his anger / apathy gets in the way off things.
