When Stan got a postcard from his estranged brother, he never expected to be pulled into a supernatural nightmare. Or to be on the run from a creature intent on stealing their eyeballs. Or the shape shifting son Ford found in the woods. But he can't walk away when his brother's in trouble - even if it could cost him his life.
Emma-Mae knew things were bad with Fiddleford. She just didn't expect to find him running a cult in a backwater town in the middle of nowhere. She can't walk away, if only for the sake of their son. But what are those guys doing running around in the woods?
A/N: @alicecatfan2007-owlfallsau you asked for a one shot and I made a novel OTL this is for you!
Thank you @disregardedblasphemy for beta reading! You're amazing <3
It was nearing night by the time Stan made it to Ford’s house. The sky had darkened substantially on the drive over, first in light lines that reminded him of a gentle rain. Hours later when he was parking by the mailbox ― a neglected thing mostly hidden beneath the slush ― the wind had picked up the snow and begun whipping it around like an angry toddler.
This, it proclaimed angrily, was no place for Stanley Pines.
He couldn’t even see the house properly, just a faint shadow in the middle of the clearing.
Stan shivered, a mix of nerves and winter chill seeping into his very bones. He felt all of a child again, waiting to face a brother who had hated him the last time they met. He wondered what he’d see if he looked in the mirror ― the tired man he’d grown into or the scared boy he’d been all those years ago.
He hoped it was warm in Ford’s house. The Diablo’s heater had given up on him for the season and he was in no place to get it fixed (again). The sting of winter had settled into him and he worried he’d never feel warm again. He had, briefly, considered returning to Florida until the spring before writing it off. Miami was just too dangerous for him, even if he managed to keep his head down. New Mexico had been a safer choice, if only by a small margin.
He was running out of places to hide.
Ford sending him a plea to come was just a serendipitous coincidence.
Even though he’d had to drive through a blizzard to get to his brother, he’d been grateful for the chance to pack up and move on.
He still didn’t look forward to hiking up the rest of the driveway, though.
Stan winced and shouted as he stepped out of the car, a pile of fresh powder falling into his boots. It melted quickly, soaking his socks. His toes, already numb, were brought briefly back to life from the pain that comes with ice. The only relief he got from the sensation was to the blister on the back of his heel, a product of worn socks with holes.
He daydreamed mournfully of the days when he’d had more socks than he’d known what to do with. They had always been a staple gift from his parents and oldest brother at Hanukkah.
“Keep your feet dry, Lee.” Sherman had warned him solemnly, fresh from the fields of Vietnam. His eyes had been haunted and dark. He didn’t talk much after coming home.
Their father had grunted an agreement with the warning, going into terrible detail about black blisters and makeshift hospitals where they cut your legs off after violent battles in the trenches.
Ford had been fascinated by the stories, by the medical side and the cause and effect of the infections.
Stan had just been sick to his stomach.
He felt sick to his stomach as he climbed the stairs to Ford’s house. The thick smell of pines threatened to overwhelm him, stinging his nose. He sniffled and wiped his face with his sleeve. One more stain to add to his collection.
The building felt less like a house and more like some mad scientist’s laboratory with its satellite dishes and radio antennas. The wood looked washed out amidst all the snow, what might have been a rich brown in the warmer months now a depressing mix of grays and blacks. Deep shadows seemed to cling to the house like a bad omen. The windows were no better ― boarded up and dark between the gaps. Thick coils of barbed wire lined the yard and were capped off by a large sign ordering people to STAY OUT!!!
The porch wasn’t in much better shape. Some of the wood was beginning to rot from all the moisture. A few boards even looked melted , soaked in a thick glowing liquid that cast sickly green light. A hastily made sign that warned against trespassers had been nailed haphazardly to the front door.
Stan had only gotten the postcard a couple of days ago, but seeing the house like this made him wonder if Ford was even there at all. The place looked like it had been abandoned for months.
Maybe less mad scientist-like and more horror movie-esque.
He recalled a series of movies that had come out a few years ago ― The Thirteenth Friday at Camp Rock Lake ― and had a wild vision of some guy in a hockey mask waiting behind the door.
Stan shook his head and raised a hand to knock.
There were no serial killers waiting to chop him up here. Just a brother who had asked him to come.
All he had to do was knock.
He hesitated, just like he always did when he tried to call Ford.
Sure, it had been his brother who’d sent the postcard. Who’d asked Stan to come.
But that little voice in the back of his head hissed that it was all a trap. That his past had caught up to him and someone was just luring him there to give him everything he had coming to him.
That he’d really run out of places to hide and this was the end of the line for him.
Stan huffed at himself in annoyance.
For God’s sake, it was just Ford!
The guy may still hate him, but he was never the type to get physical when upset. He was more likely to tear Stan down with words than throw a punch.
So what if his house looked like a death trap?
He’d probably caught wind of something weird and got so focused on learning everything he could about it that he’d just forgotten to take care of the place. Maybe he’d come out of his brainy stupor long enough to realize the state of things and wanted some help getting it back to normal.
Why he chose Stan though…
Probably because he was the closest family member at the time. Heard about Stan being in New Mexico from Mom or Shermie and was too embarrassed to ask them for help.
Stan had shared a room with Ford since birth.
He knew how rancid his brother could get when he was on a roll. He didn’t judge like their mother or brother would.
Maybe some things didn’t change.
“You haven’t seen your brother in over ten years.” he reminded himself bluntly. “It’s okay. He’s family ― he won’t bite.”
With that, he took the plunge and knocked.
His fist only made contact with the door twice before it was ripped open and a disheveled head poked out to glare at him.
“Who is it?!” the maniac demanded. “Have you come to steal my eyes ?!”
Maybe Ford would bite , Stan thought hysterically as his twin aimed a crossbow at face.
He’d stared down the barrel of many guns in the past decade. This was new territory for him.
The chill of winter reached into his chest and grabbed him again, freezing him in place. His knees screamed in protest at the odd angle he was in. He was bent back, half-dangling over the porch steps as he tried to put as much room between him and the bolt as he could. The acrid stench of blood and sweat drifted strongly off Ford, clearing Stan’s nose of pine scent and hitting him like a brick in the face.
This was more than just his twin getting lost in his nerd books for a few weeks.
Ford looked even worse than he smelled ― his tie sloppily done, his shirt wrinkled and untucked, and a dirty trench coat that had seen better days hanging off his shoulders. He looked half-starved, his face gaunt and pale. Stubble covered his face and jaw and his hair stuck up at odd angles. The dark circles beneath his eyes only accentuated the madness of his expression.
His eyes.
Stan had seen a lifetime of expressions cross his brother’s face, but never anything like this.
Ford looked insane , pupils wide and shaky. His eyes were rimmed red and the whites of them nearly pink from how bloodshot they’d become. One was crusted with dried blood, the skin around it puffy and abrased.
Stan forced himself to swallow a shout of horror and locked away his shock. He had a lot of experience with compartmentalizing in dangerous situations. It wasn’t entirely effective ― he couldn’t stop the frown from curling his lip ― but he couldn’t afford to startle Ford into firing the bolt at him.
Stay calm and break the tension. Then figure out what the hell was going on with his brother.
“Well,” he croaked, his voice flat. “I can always count on you for a warm welcome.”
Ford’s face cleared, a brief moment of lucidity before the madness took hold again.
“Stanley!” he exclaimed, thankfully tucking the crossbow away. His eyes darted around nervously, searching the yard for some hidden threat. “Did anyone follow you? Anyone at all?”
It was starting to look worse than he’d imagined. Ford was acting like… like Stan did whenever he thought Rico was catching up to him.
Bile rose in Stan’s throat at the comparison and he hoped to God that Ford hadn’t gotten himself caught up in something similar.
You never know.
It always started out small ― just a buddy who needed some help getting dogs across state lines. Little pugs stolen from puppy farms, too many for him to vaccinate before smuggling them away to safety and new homes. Real easy stuff.
Then someone finds out you’re good at pug trafficking or they mishear the words and think you can move harder stuff. Stuff that could get you into more trouble than just violating the Lacey Act.
So you move further south and have to leave your pug buddy behind. You miss him ― your heart feels like it’s being ripped out ― but you’ve got some new friends with deep pockets. And they even seem to like you!
At least, until someone slips up and you get caught. Colombian prison isn’t so bad with your buddies ― beats the fish and chips that one in London had. But they don’t seem to like you as much after you break out.
They’re stricter, less forgiving.
Then, you lose a shipment. They’re not gonna let it slide, so you do what you gotta do.
Maybe you take the stage and put your dancing skills to good use. You feel dirty afterwards, but you don’t have to come back empty-handed.
It’s still not enough.
So you wake up in a motel in New Mexico with an empty feeling in your gut. Kidneys do alright on the black market and it’s bought you some time, even if you cry and puke about it. It was never a choice.
Rico wants it all back.
So you wind up at a dead end, sleeping with a baseball bat in your hand and jumping at every sound thinking this is the end .
Stan didn’t want to think about the rabbit hole his brother might have fallen down.
He schooled his face and spoke in his most unimpressed tone, ignoring his heart’s desperate attempts to claw its way up and out of his throat.
“Eh, hello to you, too, pal.” he scoffs, avoiding Ford’s wild eyes. He glanced over the treeline instead ― just in case there was someone watching them. He didn’t know how much an eye would go for on the black market, but Ford was distressed (and specific) enough to make Stan’s skin crawl.
It had been a little over ten years since they’d been close, but he’d be damned if someone thought they could mutilate his brother while he was around. They’d have to do it over Stan’s dead body.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he missed his twin’s sudden lunge, only managing a startled yelp as he was dragged inside.
It was no warmer in the cabin, but at least the wind chill couldn’t reach them anymore.
Stan didn’t get a chance to appreciate the change before Ford slammed him against the doorframe, forcing his head back and shining a penlight in his eyes.
As if the wet socks and the body odor wasn’t enough to make him miserable ― now Stan had spots in his already shitty vision.
Stan shouted at the rough treatment. Irritation took over and he shoved Ford back, nearly knocking the penlight from his shaking fingers.
Ford stumbled, nearly careening into the side table by the door before catching himself. Some kind of bird sat on the table beneath a dome, the glass rattling wildly before settling again.
Stan released a relieved breath when it didn’t break, feeling too big for the room. Like a damned bull in a china shop who still couldn’t be trusted not to destroy everything in his path. Destroy his brother’s treasures.
He hadn’t even laid a hand on the project before breaking it. Just hitting the table had broken it beyond his ability to repair, let alone with fingers as clumsy as his own. He was just a walking disaster who broke things by proximity.
Stan felt his body grow hot with rage. At himself mostly, but also at Ford.
If something else got broken while he was at Ford’s house, it would still end up being his fault. No matter that he was the one being thrown around and treated like a ragdoll.
Anger made his tone sharp, as biting as the winter wind whipping around outside.
“What the hell, Stanford?!”
Ford flinched reflexively at the sudden anger in his brother’s voice, stepping away with his hands fluttering in front of him nervously. It was a tic reserved solely for the two of them ― Stan being the only person he’d ever been comfortable enough not to hide his hands from.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, the frantic air around him fading into something resembling guilt. “I just had to make sure you weren’t… Oh, it’s nothing!”
“Nothing?” Stan repeated incredulously. His brow furrowed as he watched his brother tuck his trench coat around him like a security blanket.
Ford ignored him, darting into the next room while calling over his shoulder for Stan to follow.
The younger Pines hesitated, anger cooling into nerves again as he picked his way carefully through the debris on the floor.
The cabin was dark on the inside. Just like Stan had suspected, there was very little natural light to be found. Only mere wisps of weak winter sun managed to find a way in through the open door and the cracks in the boarded windows. It gave him just enough light to make out a staircase and the bird on the side table. Closer to the door, he could see a lab coat he knew to be Ford’s, if only for the fact that his brother was nerdy enough to own one. That and the six-fingered glove hanging out of the pocket.
He wondered where Ford had found a shop to buy them from. Maybe Gravity Falls had other people with polydactyly like his twin. He hadn’t seen much of the town on his way in, but there didn’t seem to be anything of real interest to entice his brother into moving there.
Stan jumped when Ford lurched out of the shadows again, slamming into the door and bolting it shut.
The room flooded with darkness, too much for the scant amount of sunlight to bear, but Stan could see a faint glow creeping around the edges of the doorframe to the next room. Ford disappeared into it again, back on track now that he was sure the door was barred. Considering there were three different kinds of locks on it, Stan felt pretty secure that no one else would get in without them hearing the door break down.
He had little time to adjust to the darkness before following after his brother. Spots lingered in his vision, remnants of the penlight blinding him, and he chose to shuffle his feet instead of running after Ford. He didn’t dare to step on anything that might be important.
The room he stepped into had the potential to be a nice living room, with a tall ceiling and a large floor plan. If someone could just clear away the mess littered the floor.
The glow had come from some sort of futuristic lamp in the corner, its oversized lightbulb no doubt some invention of Ford’s. It filled the room with enough white-blue light for Stan to see what was lining the walls.
Thick piles of paper were stacked precariously all over the floor, the occasional book and dish scattered among them. The words printed on them were small and long enough to make his brain ache. There were a few mechanical experiments mixed in with the mess, some half-finished with their contents spilling across the floor like the guts of some sad carcass. One of the finished few sat on a shelf and crackled with electricity.
Stan gave it a wide berth and tried to avoid looking at it too closely. He cast his gaze around, grimacing at the sight of jarred body parts on a shelf.
The most curious attraction in the room was an honest to God dinosaur skull Ford had sitting in an aquarium. But even more interesting was the wall safe beside it, a big red button half-hidden behind a fake stone below.
Stan felt a wild urge to press it and see if there was a revolving wall or trap door like in Scooby Doo .
He was drawn out of his curiosity by a loud clatter and zoned back in to the sight of Ford flinging things around a cluttered desk, the scientist mumbling and cursing himself for being so disorganized.
Stan crossed his arms, trying to ward off the chills the sight gave him.
“Look,” he sighed gruffly. “You gonna explain what’s goin’ on here? You’re actin’ like Ma after her tenth cup of coffee.”
That was never a pretty sight.
Ma had been a pretty laid back woman most of the time. Stan and Shermie had taken after her in that regard. But there were certain similarities that she and Ford had shared.
Ford’s manic episodes usually centered around his nerd stuff or grandiose ideas he needed to see through as quickly as possible.
Ma…
Sometimes, she got too into the psychic gimmick. Started believing she really could read minds or see into the future. She’d get so caught up in what she thought the spirits were telling her or the signs she swore she was seeing that she’d go off the deep end.
Stan and Ford had been caught by her in those states more than a few times when they were kids. For all that they loved their mother and for all that Ford loved the abnormal, it was still too much to bear when their mother started rambling.
They’d be trapped by her while she ranted and raved, Caryn unwilling to let them go because they didn’t understand how important the things she was telling them were.
Shermie could usually be counted on to rescue them, coming in and urging their mom away to her room or distracting her long enough for the twins to slip away.
On even rarer occasions, Pa was the one who stepped in.
The soft way he spoke, never raising his voice or scolding the boys when he sent them to their room while he dealt with his wife ― it was even more unnerving than anything their mother said.
Her caffeine addiction never helped the situation.
Seeing Ford emulating her worst moments made Stan’s skin crawl.
Schizophrenia, the little voice in his head hissed. He’s off his rocker and going down fast. You really wanna stick around for the fallout?
A cold brick building with barred windows and nurses with disgusted eyes flashed through his mind.
Stan threw his hands up to ward off the memories, not wanting to remember those dark days in the psychiatric hospital.
“Listen, there isn’t much time.” Ford commanded. He made a triumphant noise when he found what he was looking for. He turned back to Stan and jumped at the sight of his anatomy display in the corner. Ford paused to turn the head of the skeleton all the way around and Stan’s stomach dropped. “I’ve made huge mistakes and I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”
Paranoia. Aggression. Frenzied speech.
The little voice in his head was beginning to sound like his old doctor, a cold man with a receding hairline and a proclivity for shocking his patients into drooling lumps.
It sounded much too delighted by Ford’s state and Stan wished he could go back in time and deck the old quack.
He shook his head and tried to focus on the important parts of what Ford was saying.
He didn’t know who to trust, but he’d chosen to go to Stan for help. Chose to believe his twin would come to help him even after one huge mistake and ten years of radio silence.
He let the feeling bolster him, let it fill those cold and vacant spaces in his heart until he felt steady on his feet again.
Ford still trusted Stan to help when he couldn’t rely on anyone else.
Stan intended to make good on that trust.
“Hey, easy there.” he said softly, reaching out to catch his brother as he passed. Ford tensed at the contact, but Stan kept his hand steady. “Let’s talk this through, okay?”
He tried to remember how Shermie handled Ma when she was like this.
Stay calm, acknowledge what upset her and why, then let her talk it out.
Ford’s shoulders drooped and he leaned into Stan’s touch for a moment before pulling away.
His eyes were still pained as he turned to look at his brother, but they were clear and steady for the first time since the front door had opened.
“I have something to show you.” Ford said quietly, lifting a book between them. It was a faded maroon color with his six-fingered hand print embossed in gold on the cover. “Something you won’t believe .”
Stan smirked and waved a dismissive hand.
This was good enough, he guessed.
Maybe he could finally get to the root of all this and figure out what had Ford so freaked out.
“Look, I’ve been around the world, okay?” he said easily. “Whatever it is, I’ll understand.”
Ford looked skeptical, but his lips quirked up in the semblance of a smile. He dropped a hand from his book to grab Stan’s sleeve, twisting his fingers up in the fabric like he used to do when they were children.
His jacket was the same color as the journal, Stan noted idly.
Another point for twin telepathy being a real thing. They’d done that a lot as kids ― choosing clothes that matched without thinking about it. Red had always been a favorite color they shared.
“It’s in the basement.” Ford mumbled, swaying in place. “C’mon.”
He dropped Stan’s arm, leaving the younger twin cold again. The lack of manic energy seemed to catch up to Ford and he staggered out of the room. He looked like he would drop at any moment.
Stan took a deep breath to ground himself before following his twin into the unknown.
Wherever they went, they went together, no matter what.
Preface: So this fanfic was also cross-posted on AO3, and on AO3 there were also several beginning and end notes, so I’m going to post here, but I’m going to put other things that I think might be relevant.
AO3 Link: FYOG
Masterpost - First - Last - Bonus
Authors Note: End of the line, hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did
Twins Be Twinning
Ford and Stan repeat each other's thoughts, phrases, and actions throughout the story. Some are pretty obvious, but some are a bit more subtle. Well, I kept a list of all the times they’ve paralleled each other in some way. They don’t just parallel each other in the story, they’ll parallel each other from the OG series and supplemental materials too.
Times Ford and Stan mirrored each other:
The “It doesn’t bother me / It bothers me a lot” bit, which Ford did in CH.1, and Stan did in CH.16
The tranq gun fake-out, which Ford does in CH.1, and Stan does in CH.21
*Looks down / Looks back up / Looks back down slightly longer / Then looks back up* - Stan in CH.1, and then again in CH.13. Ford does the same thing in CH.21
One of Stan's nicknames for Fiddleford is “F”, which is how Ford refers to Fiddleford in his journals.
“Convince is… certainly a word.” -Ford to Fiddleford in CH.3
“Seen is… a word.” - Stan to Fiddleford in CH.16
"My brother would sooner chew up and swallow a gold chain before he went to the authorities for anything.” - Ford in CH.3
“I’d sooner chew up and spit out a gold chain before I fall for some Faustian bargain.” - Stan in CH.20
"What was that last thing that you just whispered to yourself?” - Ford to Stan in CH. 6
"What was that last thing that you just whispered to yourself?” - Stan to Ford in CH.13
“I think I’ve got ink in my eye!” - Stanley Pines in “Gravity Falls Lost Legends: Comix Up”
“I believe I have gotten ink into my eyes.” - Ford in CH.12
“I’ll die before I join you!” - Stanford Pines in Gravity Falls, Season 2 Episode 18 “Weirdmageddon Part 1”
Stan actually dying instead of taking a deal with Bill in CH.20
“Details ain’t important.” - Stan to Ford in CH.16
“Details are not important.” - Ford to Stan in CH.21.
“You ruined my life!” - Stan to Ford in “A Tale of Two Stans”
"I ruined your life..." - Ford to Stan in CH.20
“You ruined your own life!” - Ford to Stan in “A Tale of Two Stans”
"I ruined my own life.” - Stan to Ford in CH.20
“Left hook!” - Stan in “Dreamscaperers”
“LEFT HOOK!” - Ford in CH.23
“Your math is no match for my gun, you idiot!” - Ford in “Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons”
“Your experience ain’t no match for this gun, ya idiot!” - Stan in CH.23
“Finally! After all these long years of waiting, you're actually here! Brother!” / “Oh! Ow! What the heck was that for?!” - Stan, before / after Ford punches him in the face in “A Tale of Two Stans”
“Finally, after all of these long months of trying, you're actually back, brother!” / “Oh- ow! What was that for?” -Ford, before / after Stan punches him in the face in CH.24
“Close, but no cigar.” -Stan being mistaken for Ford in CH.24
“Close, but no cigar.” - Ford being mistaken for Stan in CH.25
“Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one-eyed demon! You're a real wise-guy, but you made one fatal mistake – you messed with my family.” - Stan in Weirdmageddon 3, facing his brother's tormenter.
“Don’t look away from me. Face me directly, Agent Powers. You think you’re such a cunning strategist, but you made one fatal mistake - you harmed my family.” Ford in CH.25, facing his brother's killer.
Ford and Stan don’t just mirror each other, they also occasionally mirror their future grand-niblings, Mabel and Dipper. Stan and Ford are not direct parallels to the second set of Pines Twins, so they’ll mirror both of them rather than just one.
Mabel Mirrors:
Stan indirectly refers to himself as Ford’s “Mystery Twin” in CH.7, Mystery Twins being a term first used by Mabel.
Ford eating an entire tube of toothpaste in CH.8
“I am the god of destruction” - Something Stan allegedly said in the past according to Rick, CH. 22
Ford suggesting death for their opponents in Globnar, CH.24
Dipper Mirrors:
“I’ll get to it. Washing clothes is a waste of time, and I’m a busy man.” - Ford in CH.7
Stan displaying an anxious chewing habit while going through nicotine withdrawal in CH.9
The reveal in CH.12 that Stan sleeps soundly around Ford is a little bit of a stretch, but it's a reference to the episode “Carpet Diem” where at the end Dipper moved back in with Mabel even after getting his own room.
“Why would you say it like that-?!" - Stan to Ford in CH.19, like how Dipper said "Who writes sentences like that?!" To the same excerpt about Gremloblins.
Stan protesting the suggestion of death for their opponents in Globnar, CH.24
(...)
Chapter Notes
On AO3, at the end of the chapter I would put notes at the bottom that list out references and Trivia, which I didn’t do on Tumblr because it would make the post too long. So I’m putting it here instead. This didn’t start until Chapter 3, however.
Chapter 3:
If you're wondering why I had Fiddleford minoring in Neuropsychology (memory specifically), it's to:
a) justify Ford calling him for help in the first place
b) Since he invented the memory gun in the OG series, he must have SOME understanding of psychology and neurology
Chapter 4:
Beginning Note: Like a phone, the containment cell has a deaf and mute button. The mute button makes it to where outsiders can't hear anything within the cell, while the deaf button makes the occupant unable to hear anything outside of the cell.
If you want to know the layout of the containment cell:
It's similar to a jail cell, having three concrete walls and one 'viewing' wall that is made up of metal bars. However, there's also a one-way forcefield around it, so Stan can't escape even if he broke the lock on the door. Ford isn't a monster, so there's a private bathroom with absolute no monitoring inside, a bed, and a table with a singular chair.
End Note:
Zolpidem is the trade name for Ambien
Their attempts at drugging or mind controlling Stan wasn't to make him unconscious, it was to temporarily paralyze him. While this may seem as a breach of the whole 'we have to be humane about this' that Fiddleford was spouting one chapter ago, you have to remember that Fiddleford McGucket canonically started a memory wiping cult that recruited vulnerable teens and young adults, and would even use the memory gun on Stanford without his consent, so he's only marginally more ethical than Ford here.
Stans refusal to wear a necktie, and his "tangent about necklaces" are direct references to guerrilla war tactics used during the Colombian Civil War
The "this bottled water tastes suspiciously like two crushed Ambien" isn't an original line - a while ago I saw this fancomic where Stan knocks Ford out with a similar method and Ford says something along the lines of "this tastes suspiciously like crushed sleeping pills"
Chapter 5:
Beginning Note:
Oh? A diagnosis? A theory?
End Note:
For anyone who doesn't know about stereotypes about the southern and/or midwestern United States, "Bless Your Heart" is a very passive aggressive statement.
Stanford is a bit more open and honest about how he feels because this is a situation he never thought he would be in. In his journal, any mention of Stanley is either written in code, or he crossed it out (like his concept sketch of a boat that could be the Stan O'War), and seemed to be open for reconciliation (granted, his stipulation was that Stan needed to prove himself first).
The way I try to portray Fords feelings towards Stan here, is that he always thought he could just put their relationship/bond 'on pause' until *he* was ready to reconcile. Like, once he was ready to be close again their relationship could go back to the way it was before they fell out. Stan was always so needy that Ford never considered the possibility that Stan wouldn't want to reconcile.
He never imagined a scenario that Stan would actively reject him because he didn't remember him.
Chapter 6:
Stan finally apologizes to Ford but it's all for nothing
Chapter 7:
Ford displays Dipper/Mabel -like behaviour.
Sometimes I think Ford would look at Stan's ability to survive and fight, and forget that just because he lives another day, just because he gets up when something pushes him down, it doesn't mean he's living well.
Sure is convenient that Ford keeps saying that Stan 'left home'...
Chapter 8:
Beginning Note:
This is kind of more of an anthology chapter to get the "Mystery Trio" established
End Note:
The last line is a reference to The Suite Life (of Zach & Cody) On Deck: season 2 episode 11 "Bermuda Triangle".
The toothpaste line is lifted directly from Gravity Falls, just more of the OG Mystery Twins showcasing Mabel and Dipper Behaviour
Chapter 9:
Beginning Note:
Nicknames Stan uses:
Ford: PhD, Doc, any synonym for the word ‘crazy’
Fiddleford: Specs, Stretch, F
If you ever have trouble discerning who’s talking, Ford always refers to Stan by “Stanley”, while Fiddleford calls him “Stan”. Ford is also more inclined to not use contractions when he talks (saying “will not”, instead of “won’t”) compared to Fiddleford and Stan.
Fiddleford will use southern expressions I hastily looked up on Google.
End Note:
Ford is unironically the only person who finds Stan’s really dumb jokes funny.
While Ford is the more likely of the two to display traits that later present in Mabel and Dipper, it still happens with Stan as well. Stan has a similar nervous-chewing habit that Dipper displays in the OG series, but his only comes out when he’s particularly anxious. In this case, it was because he had nicotine cravings.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII was a real historical drama series of six television plays that aired in 1970.
The Aryan Brotherhood is a neonazi prison gang, also the "oldest and most notorious racist prison gang in the United States".
The implications in the 'who did this to you' scene was that Stan has cigarette/cigar burn scars on his shoulders/collarbone. Ford didn’t notice these while he was initially stitching him up because his stab wounds were in the abdominal area and that’s where he was putting his attention.
Chapter 10:
And Bill Cipher shows up. The sad thing about AO3 is that I can’t use whatever font I want, because otherwise I was totally willing to write all of Bill Ciphers dialogue in Times New Bastard (Which is Times New Roman, but every 7th letter is Sans Serif, which is a meme that started on tumblr). Here's the post that inspired me.
Bill and Fords relationship isn’t exactly what it is in canon. Bill is more like Discord from MLP - he’s just chaotic, often to the detriment of others, but he isn’t outright malicious (anymore), and he’s too busy SIMPING to cause any real harm. Basically, Bill is Fords patron for studying weirdness - he helps Ford in his research, but the cost that Ford pays is that Bill is able to possess him when he sleeps, and has unlimited access to his brain.
When Bill called Ford aspec, you might wonder; did he mean asexual spectrum? Or Autism spectrum? The answer is yes.
“He has Risen Baby Girl” / Goo Goo dolls reference is a meme that started from the Deadpool and Wolverine movie. Variants using Bill Cipher have popped up on Tiktok and Youtube.
-Stan spent like six-seven months with Rick where they would flicker between this dimension, space, and other dimensions. The Rick that Stan was with wasn’t the Rick from the show (Rick-C137), he’s their dimensions version of Rick Sanchez, or “Rick-46'\”. Because C137 put his own original dimension on an infinite time loop of the day that Diane and Beth died.
Stan would have done just fine if he stayed with Rick. He had plenty of credits (Blemflarck/galactic credits) because of the escapades he had with Rick. He could have carved a decent life for himself on a different planet and/or different dimension, and he could have gone on even more adventures. Despite money and adventure being two things he always wanted, he willingly chose to turn those things down for… something or someone. He just doesn’t know what or who.
-The distorted text during Stans ‘pit memory’ is “Shadow” from https://pixelied.com/font-generator/glitch-text
Chapter 11:
If you’re wondering where Stan got a paddle ball, Fiddleford probably gave it to him. Stan always seems to need to be doing something with his hands (you can see he talks with his hands a lot in the OG series), so he was given the paddleball for stimming purposes to help with his anxiety.
The ‘hive mind aliens that possess people’ is another Rick and Morty reference (two known hiveminds are Unity and Beta-Seven), Stan would have suspected this due to Fords eyes being different and unnatural.
Did you know this author is a huge dungeons and dragons nerd, and dungeon master?
D38 = In Dungeons and Dragons (and probably other TTRPG) Dice are referred to a D(number of sides), the standard dice in regular D&D is the D20 (the 20 sided die), but in Gravity Falls it looks like DD&D the standard die is 38-sided and thus a “D38”
THAC0 = "To Hit Armor Class 0", it’s a mechanic from older editions of Dungeons and Dragons
The implication about Stan having DD&D knowledge despite not playing at all is that he subconsciously remembers Ford ranting about it when they were younger.
Chapter 12:
A chapter ago Stan hinted at his sleeping issues when he told Ford that he doesn’t have dreams, he only has nightmares. That being suffocated by the IRS line wasn’t something he was saying to be funny, he meant it.
Fiddleford in the beginning did privately wonder if this *was* actually Fords twin or if Ford was having some kind of episode. It was confirmed when the brain scans came out as morphologically identical (meaning they *are* genetically identical). Still, Stan’s constant dismissal and rejection of Stanford made Fiddleford wonder if maybe Stan hadn’t just repressed his memories of Ford, but completely deleted them somehow. It all started coming together (at least for Fiddleford) when he realized Stan wasn’t just staying calm for the sake of not making his situation worse, but Stan legitimately does not believe Ford would try to harm him. Why would a drifter trust a ‘stranger’ like that, let alone a stranger who abducted you off of the street?
Ford’s getting emotional because he did go into Stan’s mind earlier, and he saw Stan telling Rick that he needed to stay in the dimension because he was “looking for someone”, or “there’s a piece of him missing”. The part of Stan’s subconscious that said the ‘everywhere we go we go together’ line was distorted, so Ford didn’t hear it. So he wasn’t sure exactly what Stan stayed behind to look for. Now, he’s not so dense he didn’t suspect that it was himself that Stan was looking for, but Ford can’t ignore how Stan just walked past him on the street as if he didn’t notice him. So in a way, he was afraid that Stan didn’t have memories of him anymore, and he’s basically lost his twin as he knew him forever. But Fiddleford telling him that Stan did remember him, just unconsciously, squashed those fears.
Chapter 13:
Non-local homeless conman fails to beat up nerd and guilt trips himself into Stockholm Syndrome, more at nine.
The reason why Stanley was able to overwhelm Stanford in hand-to-hand when all other depictions of them fighting as adults have them either equally matched (their tussle in front of the portal before Ford fell through), or Ford outclassing Stan (post-portal), is because this version of mullet Stan has seen some shit. Fiddleford said it when he said that the last ten years or so Stan’s entire life has revolved around survival. Not to mention, Stan spent seven months of the past year evading and/or fighting galactic and dimensional level authorities with Rick. He wasn’t talking out of his ass when he told Ford a couple chapters ago that he was a threat inside and outside of bars.
Stanford isn’t a pushover, even without going into the multiverse. He also has the same boxing background, and he’s been dealing with paranormal phenomena by himself for the past six years. It’s just that, with the circumstances they have, Stan is on another level.
What happened between Stan and Fiddleford? Reverse honey-trap, that’s what. Look, Stan himself said that hoeing was fifth best skill, of course he was going to hoe his way out of this one. Fiddlefords a freak for real, but he wasn’t going out-hoe that absolute menace.
Chapter 14:
Ford certainly had an interesting word choice when he said Stan *was* homeless.
The look what I did to your other hand was a bit that Bill Cipher was supposed to do to Dipper, but was cut out of the final product of the episode “Sock Opera”.
Fiddleford isn’t grudging against Stan for the reverse honeytrap. If anything, it just made him way more thirsty because he finds cleverness and adaptability to be attractive. Because this author subscribes to the popular fanon that Fiddleford is a freak and Stan’s a romantic.
Stan kind of alluded to his lack of fear of heights when he was telling Ford those crime jokes in CH.9 - all of the jokes had to do with elevation/heights.
The lines from the poker game with mothman are directly lifted from “The Land Before Swine” episode. I feel like Stan has a weird reverse test anxiety for card games where he’s great if the stakes are obscenely high, but he isn’t the best when it comes to more casual games. The Mothman reference is from Lost Legends, where Ford leaves for a little bit to find Mothman, who owes him money. In this case, Mothman owes him money over a poker game.
oculus dexter = OD (right eye)
oculus sinister = OS (left eye)
oculus uterque = OU (both eyes)
With visual acuity (or how good your vision is based on a distance of 6 meters / 20 feet), the standard vision is 20/20, with the second number being higher the poorer your vision is (20/200), and being lower the better your vision is (20/10). Stan in the OG series has always needed glasses just like his twin, but he was able to drive without glasses so either he was consistently breaking the law to drive (which makes sense), or the Stan twins visual acuity is 20/40, because any higher than that Stan would be required to wear glasses to drive.
A lot of people wondered if Rick fixed Stan’s vision, but it looks like that isn’t the case. Stan stopped himself from saying “Galactic Federation”, another Rick and Morty transplant. The Galactic Federation would issue out pills instead of credits or food.
Chapter 15:
Nic-sick is nicotine sickness, or nicotine poisoning. Stan wasn’t bad enough to need medical attention, but it was bad enough he’s staying off the stuff for a while.
Stan doesn’t smoke, he uses Snus for nicotine. Snus are a by mouth tobacco product, a precursor to tobacco pouches, which were not invented until the early 2000s.
In the lost pages of Journal 3 in the Book of Bill, Ford writes that he feels odd about his birthday ever since he and Stan “parted ways”. In this story, neither Ford or Stan have celebrated their birthday since their last shared one (which would have been their 17th, because Stan was kicked out before the school year ended and their birthday is mid June). He most likely told Fiddleford in their college days that he didn’t see a point because he was so focused on studying.
Ford knows that Stan still believes he isn’t actually Stanley Pines, but he’s not going to act like he isn’t. Ford would sooner eat an entire salad bowls worth of foam packing peanuts without any milk before he entertains any notion that he’s wrong about anything. Regardless, he’s gotten better at recognizing when being pushy is the wrong answer.
Ford didn’t tell Caryn that Stan was there because then he would have to further explain that they’ve technically reconciled but technically haven’t, and also Stanley has amnesia and believes he’s some guy named Stan Malone so Ford had to literally tranq and kidnap him off of the street.
Stan cried for like twenty minutes right after this when he was sure no one was listening.
Chapter 16:
Beginning Note:
When Bill and Ford are in the dreamscape together, their dialogue is written normally. But if Bill and Ford are communicating in Fords head without the mindscape, Bills dialogue is in "italics", and Fords dialogue is in 'apostrophes and italics'.
End Note:
Stan can tell Ford is Ace, he just doesn’t know the term for it. The term Asexual in regards to human sexuality had already been in use, but I imagine it wasn’t well known.
Was Fiddleford using manipulation when he chose the afterglow of all times to convince Stan to talk to a therapist? He cares a lot about his research okay. It’s not like Stan couldn’t see right through him.
The Titanic was discovered in 1985, which would be roughly 3 years after this.
The Jersey Devil story comes from Lost Legends, meaning Stan currently doesn’t remember that happening.
Ford’s gotten better at recognizing when not to be pushy. That doesn’t mean he always gets it right. Also, despite Stan calling out Ford abducting him off of the street multiple times, he isn’t above that stuff. In “Little Gift Shop of Horrors”, Stan straight up drugged and kidnapped a person to turn them into a display for his shop just because they didn’t buy anything.
Oddopoddo or “odd-o-pod-o” is a riff on “Ogopogo”, another lake monster. Scuttlebdis is a pun on Charybdis, a sea monster from The Odyssey
Muskrats/nutria are common in the Southern United States, including Tennessee.
Think-Fast is a reference to the Quick Thought ability used by Athena in Epic the Musical. The gist of it is that Bill speeds up Fords thought process (which is something he has done in canon) so Ford can do several minutes worth of thinking in the span of an instant (including talking to Bill) Ford can do this while being disembodied and/or possessed by Bill.
Its important to remember that McGucket, in his 60s, was able to pull off great feats of flexibility, speed, and acrobatics with no visible signs of joint pain. Of course in his younger years he’d be able to fit through small places not unlike a raccoon (although he doesn't have the insanity to ignore pain)
Because of their deal, Bill is able to manipulate Fords entire nervous system. In this case, he forced his nerves to send up signals to the brain as if he were extremely cold, so his body would go into oxygen conservation mode.
The implication at the end is that Stan’s concern for Ford and Fiddleford overpowered his fear of drowning. He did know he already knew how to swim because he remembers swimming out of a sinking car and cement shoes (these are the specific reasons he’s afraid of deep bodies of water). But he was willing to swim out to an island in the middle of a lake at night.
Chapter 17:
If the Stan Twins can do dead-on impressions of each other after only being re-acquainted for like 2 weeks after 30 years apart, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t be able to do them after Stans been there for over a month
Fiddleford was uncomfortable with Stans impression of Fords voice because he and Stan have a thing going on, while Ford is his best friend.
This author also subscribes to the popular Fiddlestan head canon that Stan can flirt all day but gets flustered if that flirting is reciprocated.
Yes, the costumes are a reference to the currently popular fandom trope of Vampire x Werewolf Fiddlestan
-Stan’s story about Agent Powers having a gun is a reference to the meme “Bill Ciphers Got a Gun” In this case, Stan seems to be the Dipper of the scenario
Did anyone notice in Ch.2 Ford said that a year ago Caryn kept trying to call him to update him on Stanley, but he always hung up before she could explain anything.
Did anyone notice in Ch.15 Caryn referred to an ‘accident’... but no one besides Stanley knew that the incident with the perpetual motion machine was an accident. Everyone else assumed he sabotaged Ford.
Chapter 18:
Beginning Notes:
“(italics)” Indicates that the speaker is speaking in Spanish (unless stated otherwise). This author only knows English, and I did not want to misrepresent Spanish by using Google Translate.
End Notes:
Stan’s greatest skills according to himself:
Not dying when he really should (interchangeable with no.2)
Lying (interchangeable with no.1)
Theft
Denial
Hoeing
Ms. Ramirez is Soos’ mom. We don’t know what she did for a living (or really anything about her other than she’s most likely Abuilita’s daughter). Also, there’s not a lot of canon characters who are confirmed to be the same age or older than the Mystery Trio, so I kinda had to BS this one. You could alternatively imagine it’s Abuilita.
Ketamine should have dissociated Stan from the trauma of his memories - but his tolerance towards illicit substances is so high that while it did have enough of a hypnotic effect of allowing him to go into his more unconscious memories, it did not disconnect him from the emotions he felt at the time.
From Stanley’s Secret Shames, it was noted that ‘no one came to his fake funeral except his mom and an IRS agent who whispered to the coffin “This isn’t over”.’ Shermie was going to come to the funeral but life events stopped him.
When Caryn refers to ‘The Astral Plane’ she’s talking about the Dreamscape/Mindscape, which is the term Bill and Ford use. People have noticed that Stan in Canon seems to have a pretty good manipulation of his mindscape, which is odd for someone who didn’t train for it like Ford. I’m messing around with it to say that Stan inherited it from Caryn. Caryn can’t project herself into other peoples minds because she didn’t sell her soul to a two-dimensional interdimensional being, she just has really good control of her own.
I’m trying really hard to show that Ford isn’t to blame for Stanley being kicked out - he was a minor under his fathers roof. Stanford is almost thirty of course he would look at a 17-18 year old and be like ‘thats just a kid’. He’s not an unfeeling monster, he loves Stanley. He just can’t really admit when he’s wrong about something. Even now, he doesn’t cave into any of Fiddlefords accusations even though he feels bad about it.
Chapter 19:
Beginning Notes:
When Bill and Ford are in the dreamscape together, their dialogue is written normally. But if Bill and Ford are communicating in Fords head without the mindscape, Bills dialogue is in "italics", and Fords dialogue is in 'apostrophes and italics' like thoughts are.
End Notes:
It wasn’t raining.
Compared to Ford who unironically finds Stans lame jokes to be funny, they probably drive Fiddleford up the wall
I feel like due to a lifetime of humans judging him for his six fingers, Ford’s more comfortable allowing paranormal or fantastical creatures to handle nail care for him.
For people who do not know: a ‘switch’ is a flexible rod which is typically used for corporal punishment. In some cases a kid might even be told to go outside and find the stick that would be used to beat them. Take those implications as you will.
Ford would be that guy who says ‘recapitulation’ instead of ‘recap’ like a normal person.
In Journal 3, when Ford was being given nightmares by the Dream Hipster (Category Nine Ghost), his nightmare involved his hand falling off, growing huge, and then squeezing his brother to death (implied to be Stanley and not Shermie, because he first thought that it was chasing himself). So it seems his worst nightmare is being the direct cause of Stanley being harmed.
I’m not the first person to make the observation that Ford basically gets the Princess Treatment once he returns to his home dimension (he needs to be rescued in like half of the episodes he’s actually in). But it really doesn’t mesh well with the image of Ford as this super competent badass who was facing the paranormal by himself for six years in Gravity Falls, and then demons, monsters, and the police in the multiverse for thirty additional years. The way I approach this is that Ford is indeed a super competent badass… When he’s by himself. When he’s with other people he’ll make mistakes he doesn’t normally make because he’s desperate for approval and wants to be extra.
The Gremloblin is capable of speech that’s very garbled and requires subtitles, but I wasn’t sure how to present it so I just used upside+reverse text from Here
If you’re having trouble reading, here’s what he said: ["Why doesn't my stare work on you?"] ["You are not a creature of Weirdness. My stare should force you to face your worst nightmare."]
This is the first time Stan has been angry and in despair for real. He treats most things like a joke or not a big deal, so it’s kind of whiplash for Ford even if he’s seen violent outbursts from Stanley in the past. After all, even when he cornered Ford its not like he hurt him in any way, he didn’t even put his knuckle dusters on. This is also the first time he’s actually told anyone how he personally feels about his memory loss.
Yeah this is basically the closest you’re going to get to Stan admitting he does believe he’s Fords real twin and not a glorified therapy doll.
Bill was not trying to push Ford into doing the right thing. He was mocking him because he knew what would make him feel even worse at that moment. Bills comic relief, but he’s still going to be a jerk about it.
Chapter 20:
Beginning Notes:
Believe it or not a large section of this chapter was actually one of the first things I wrote for this story, it was written out before the first chapter actually and I’ve been really excited to show it. This chapter is super long and has shifting perspectives.
This chapter also mirrors Ch.10
End Notes:
Regardless of what happened in this chapter; WEAR YOUR DAMN SEAT BELTS. Make sure you have an emergency strap cutter in reach.
Ford went a little feral when he saw Stans side of the twin bond, he just immediately jumped to trying to fix it even though he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s metaphysical, yes, but it's also a symbolic manifestation. The thing about a bond like that is that it only takes one of them to sever it, but to establish or reestablish connection, it needs both of them.
Stan’s broken into the Infinetentiary twice, a call back to having been sent to prison three times yet breaking out of five of them.
The ‘tell us where to find your boss’ scene was the backstory to the cigarette burns Stan was implied to have in Ch.9
Yes after 20 long chapters its finally unequivocally confirmed; this is the real, original Stanley Pines. This isn’t a cartoonishly similar guy, or a Stan from another dimension or different timeline. Ford was right, broken bond and ten years or not, he always knew who his twin was and he never doubted it. The only thing the reveal of Stans legal death and funeral did was drive Ford to prove that everyone else was wrong.
All of those times Stan said that Fords “real twin” probably died? He was talking about himself and didn’t even know it.
In Ch.10, when Ford said "That voice?" it was because he could hear Bills voice in Stan's memory fragments, but it was so unstable he couldn't hear it clearly.
Stan came up with the fake surname ‘Malone’ because he was actually saying “I’m alone” and Rick misunderstood him.
Stan and Bills conversation was based on an Alex Hirsh interview
Bill wasn’t exaggerating. Stan was dead for a solid few minutes. He refused to make a deal with Bill, so Bill had to wait for Stan to be a *corpse* to possess his body. Stan only came back because Bill possessed him basically the instant he died and did enough activity to get his heart going again. Yes, he came back, but it doesn’t change that he died (by medical definition) and the trauma of this and confronting his greatest fear (dying alone) is what caused him to repress all of his memories. Bill even explained this while possessing Ford in Ch.11: “Why are you afraid of remembering? Are you afraid that you’ll remember loving people who couldn’t be bothered to remember you?”
Stan was able to see that Ford was possessed even though in the OG series he couldn't even tell that Dipper was. It was meant to imply one or both of two things: he unconsciously knows Ford beyond a shadow of a doubt, or he unconsciously recognized Bill who he met before.
Other than excessively using nicknames, slight Bill-like tendencies Stan had shown were pretty mild. Like; Stan and Bill are both the main sources of comic relief, they purposely have the funnier or more absurd lines in whatever scene they happen to be in. But Stan did have one very subtle fourth wall break: “Yeah, yeah Doc. For my own good. I’ve heard it a million times. Do you like, keep score of how many times you say that, is someone keeping track of it? -Ch.9
Which is not just a reference to the title being a line used throughout the story, but on tumblr one of the tags I use is #he did it guys he said the title, in chapters where the line is said
Although Stan was the one who severed the twin bond, it was that bond that ended up saving him; Bill wouldn’t have known (or cared) enough to bother trying to save him if Stan and Ford weren’t connected metaphysically.
Anyone notice that throughout the story, when Stan’s actions are annotated he’s always referred to as ‘Stan’, but in his memories immediately before death he is referred to as ‘Stanley’.
Stan threw hints of his fiery car accident and subsequent suffocation early on:
“I think I had a car at some point? But I dunno what happened with that, it makes my head burn trying to think about it.” - CH.5.
“Doc, a lot of what I remember is like smoke - it’s hazy, and it’s hard to hold onto, can you be specific?” - CH.6
“I was in the back of his shi- iiitty car, I felt like I’d just smoked an entire carton of cigarettes, but in a bad way ..” - CH.10, in regards to meeting Rick
“My chest felt really tight…” - CH.10, in regards to how he felt right before he met Rick
“C-Can’t breathe-” - CH.10, him panicking trying to remember what happened
“I only have nightmares about being suffocated. Or the IRS. Or the IRS suffocating me.” - CH.11
“He may have been suffocating in some way? All he could say was that he couldn’t breathe.” - CH.12, Fiddleford’s observations
Stan used to smoke but moved onto using Snus instead, with no outward explanation
Stans fear of bodies of water wasn’t related to the water itself. He was scared of drowning. Stan is afraid of suffocation.
Chapter 21:
Beginning Notes:
The scene between Ch.20 and Ch.21 (the immediate result of Ford seeing Stans death, and Bills reveal) was not shown on purpose. Because it was a very emotionally intimate affair. It's up to the readers' interpretation how Ford and Stan reacted after they left the dreamscape. I will tell you this time Ford was HONEST-honest, like he even told him the truth about Bill and that's how Stan came back.
Bill's Nicknames:
Ford: Fordsy, Sixer, IQ
Stan: Slick, (ex)Conman, PTSD Barnum
Fiddleford: (The) Hick, Glasses, McSuckit
Stan’s Nicknames:
Ford: PhD, Doc, any synonym for the word ‘crazy’
Fiddleford: Specs, Stretch, F
Bill: Lashes, (One-Eyed) Demon, (The) Triangle
End Notes:
Return of fem Jimmy Snakes, in this case she appears to have a thing with Emma-May. Jimmy Snakes as a character concept seems to be Ghost Rider coded, so in this story she’s pretty much Ghost Rider. Sure is a good thing she and Stan get along at least a little bit after the whole interstate incident.
Fiddleford and Emma-May are in a lavender marriage. They’re both gay and bearding each other. They had Tate because they both wanted a child, even if the nature of their relationship is platonic.
Yes, Stan is trying to create the Murder Hut / Mystery Shack. Ford is not a fan.
Remember how in the beginning Ford was prompted to kidnap Stan because he was injured with three stab wounds that he refused to go to the hospital for? Well, now you know how and why.
The return of the list. Ford didn’t just ask for it and not do anything with it. He’s been going into those peoples mindscapes and giving them debilitating nightmares. Some of them, like Jimmy, had to be crossed off because Stan is still on decent terms with them. Mayor Befufftlefumpter is not on the list because Stan does not consider three stab wounds to be an attempt on his life (five would have been a different story).
Madeline Kahn née Wolfson was a famous American actress of the 70s. She’s reportedly of Jewish and Russian descent, not unlike the Pines Brothers.
The tortillas line was a reference to Stan secret shames where he stripped for edible flour in Tijuana. Which, could just be a metaphor for cocaine or something, but in this case it was literal. It was pulled directly from a conversation I had on a discord server.
The memory Stan and Ford were watching was the other half of the story Stan was telling Fiddleford in Ch.17, with ‘Saddle up, Stan.” being another reference to the “Bill Ciphers Got a Gun” meme.
Yes, Ford was wearing the same outfit he came out of the portal with.
Ford said the same trick wouldn’t work on Stan twice. But he never considered whether or not it would be used against him.
It physically pained Stan to say that last line. Just internally cringing.
Chapter 22:
Naloxone/Narcan is an opioid antagonist - as in, it rapidly reverses the effects of opioids. Of course Stan just casually carries around some narcan he stole you’ve heard of his drug history.
Stan definitely underestimated his drug resistance. When he was tranquilized by Fords not-made-for-human tranquilizer, Stan woke up and was fine after a few hours. Ford was out for much longer, and when he woke up he was *still* paralyzed and it’s anyone's guess how long he would have stayed that way. No, Bill could not have helped him; Bill has control over his brain/nervous system, but he can’t force Fords liver to process opioids faster.
Fiddleford is uncomfortable seeing Stanford in Stan’s clothing because they look so much alike, and he and Stan still have a thing going on.
Etymology is the study of the origin of words, not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects.
Rico’s full name comes from a real Colombian Politician who was convicted of a crime: Andrés Felipe Arias Leiva
Jorge’s full name comes from a real Colombian politician who was convicted of a crime: Jorge Aníbal Visbal Martelo
Stan’s registered name in the databases of the Galactic Federation is “Staniel Danger Malone”, a nod to Rick joking about Stans real name being Staniel, and Stan telling Ford his middle name was Danger. Stan didn’t give this name to himself, Rick is the one who got him a registered I.D, and Stan didn’t understand Gromflomish at the time because it would have been early in their Sci-Fi adventures.
Schwabe cycle, or sunspot/solar cycle, is a periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity.
The formula xn+1=rxn(1−xn) is the mathematical formula in Chaos Theory.
Kalaxian Crystals are drugs in The Rick and Morty Universe.
The Hodge Conjecture is a major unsolved problem in algebraic geometry and complex geometry.
The ‘slutty shorts’ are a reference to the green short-shorts Ford is pictured wearing in his Backupsmore days.
Anyone who meets Ford can tell he’s not into the sexy stuff.
Ricks interest in Fiddlefords memory gun design is a call back to the Rick and Morty episode ‘Morty’s Mind Blowers’ where Rick has a machine that can remove memories, and store them in glass tubes. Which is hinted to have been used on Bill and Stanford because there's one tube labelled Stanford, and another labelled Bill C.
If you thought Stanfords seething dislike for Rick was bad, Fiddleford is worse.
Rick putting a tracking device on Stan that shorts out an “lesser” tracking device a a call-back to all of Fords attempts at chipping Stan failing because the chips always “short out for some reason”.
“I am the god of destruction” is a line used by Mabel in the OG series.
Stan was banned from Lottocron Nine / The Gambling dimension because he introduced Stanentology. Alex Hirsh had an episode idea where Stan started his own religion, and his holy book was a 300 page manual on Bribery called The Brible. But that episode idea was frowned on by the legal dept.
The ‘shitty copper’ joke is a reference to the worlds oldest customer complaint, called the “complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir”, it explains how Ea-nāṣir, a trader, allegedly sold sub-standard copper to a customer named Nanni.
"He did a keg stand with liquid ecstasy once. You think it sounds insane, me just saying it? Imagine what it was like to see it. He did a *keg stand* with *liquid ecstasy*." - This is a direct lifting from/reference to PARTY.MOV by hotdiggedydemon on Youtube, and his infamous series of MLP Shorts "PONY.MOV". The original line was much more unsavory and about snails.
Those two extra times Stan broke out of prison were to break Rick out.
I know that Time Baby’s domain is just the future of current Gravity Falls’ Earth, but in this case I’m just making it its own cyberpunk dimension.
The 2% margin of error is a joke from The Boondocks cartoon. But this also means it's possible that Stan and Fords DNA is 104% identical.
The year is 207̃012, and yet AI never did figure out how to properly render human fingers.
Stan still giving people 2x of The Finger. Too bad the meaning changed.
A lot of dialogue was pulled from the episode Blendin’s Game.
Chapter 23:
Ford is better at ranged, and Stan is better at close quarters. Ford isn’t bad at close quarters per se, but he’s more evasive/defensive rather than offensive like Stan. Stan isn’t bad at shooting either, but he wasn’t using his glasses when he first started figuring out how to use them, so his fundamentals aren’t good even with better eyesight. They've done most of these challenges by covering each other's weak points.
Ford was kind of triggered at the “Don’t leave me hanging” line.
Cyberpunk Potatoes are just like regular potatoes, but they have terrible haircuts and questionable neon colouring.
Ford wasn’t concerned when Lolph said he stabbed Stan four times because he remembered what Stan said in Ch.1 about not worrying about stab wounds until he gets to five, he trusted that Stan was right about his own limitations.
Blips and Chitz is an arcade themed building from Rick and Morty. It’s one of the few places Stan has been that he hasn’t been banned from.
While Literally Dying humbled Stan a lot and made him take more responsibility, another big reason he isn’t mad at Ford is because he doesn’t remember the hurt he felt when Ford closed the curtains on him, even if he knows Ford betrayed him, he doesn’t have those feelings of betrayal. He kinda hints at this when he told Fiddleford in Ch.21 he still had a hard time even seeing himself as Fords brother.
Ford suggesting death was the same thing Mabel did in “Blendin’s Game”
The time wish was the only thing that would have cleared them of their charges, that's why Ford didn’t just wish that Stan didn’t die or something, without a paradox occurring that means they both would still be held accountable for their crimes.
Planet Chorus is from Red vs Blue seasons 11-13. Whatever Stan did to get banned there, it probably created a domino effect that lead to the Chorusan Civil War.
The ‘Gromflomish’ Stan was speaking can be properly decoded here: Alien Language. Hint, he did not say ‘after you’. -This is the first time Stan actually refers to himself as ‘Stanley’. This is also the first time he directly refers to Ford as his brother.
“You’re the best and your brother is a little bitch” is a line lifted directly from a review by frequent reviewer, @camshaft22
Fiddleford got super jealous
-If you’re wondering how long Fords known about the background Fiddlestan; the whole time. When he made that mental note a few chapters back about Stan and Fiddleford seeming like ‘such good friends’, it’s because Ford is one of those ace people who just assume all allosexuals are Like That.
Chapter 24:
The taps Rick was doing on the console screen of the memory gun corresponded with the amount of letters in Stans name.
The use of red text was to mark that it had something to do with the memory gun - which because it is currently a mix of Ricks tech and Fiddlefords tech, is red instead of blue or green (since the primary colours are Red, Green, Blue)
Anyone notice that when Stan’s actions have been annotated, for the entire story he’s been referred to as ‘Stan’, but as soon as Rick blasted him with the memory gun, he was referred to as ‘Stanley’ just like he was in his death memory?
“you looked at me like you hated me” refers to ch.1, here Stan confirms when he first saw Ford he felt like he was familiar, but ignored him because he looked angry at him.
There are several throwaway lines about the IRS that Stan makes to hint that it was the IRS (or at least someone from the IRS) tampered with his car. In his car flashback, he even says something along the lines of ‘he wouldn’t!’ and ‘that SOB’.
Although Stan treats his former addiction(s) as a joke, the effect it has is still there. There’s always going to be a risk for relapsing. Ford didn’t know about it when he first tranqed him in chapter 1, but he’s heard enough of Stans extensive drug history to not be so trigger happy with his tranqs.
Stans memories didn’t all come back equally. He’d get them in waves and surges, some of them heavier or faster and overwhelming, some of them slow enough he could speak more clearly, hence why sometimes he was speaking so quickly there wasn’t space between words, and other times he was trailing off.
The “ I just wanna get rid of him” was something Stan said people used to say about him when he was a boy, likely from Filbrick. ‘Holding a sign’ thing was something listed on Stan’s lowest moments, where he got an F- on a history test so Filbrick made him stand outside with a sign that said “Extra Stan. 3 dollars or better offer!” for two days.
The ‘one favour left’ refers to the fact Stan broke Rick out of prison twice, when Rick helped Ford and Stan in Globnar, that was using one of those favours.
“Thirty years”, reference to the OG of how long it took Stan to fix the portal.
Alongside his ability to break the fourth wall, and imbed links into his dialogue, Bill Cipher is the only character who can use the interrobang symbol: ‽
Stan “doesn’t believe in fighting fair” because he prioritizes his survival over his honour.
This was Rick during the Alleyway Scene, Stan was being serious so someone else had to be comedic relief
Stan’s first suicide attempt is how he met Jimmy and joined her Biker Gang. His second attempt was in the prison in Colombia where he attempted to put himself into a position to die via gang violence. His third attempt was the attempt he mentioned to Ford in Ch.14 where only one of his overdose episodes with Ambien was on purpose. His fourth attempt was cutting, but he passed out and was healed.“One of my exes was a Witch” isn't Stan insulting a former female partner, he is referring to Eda the Owl Lady from Owl House, which is why Witch was capitalized. They weren’t married in this case, they were just a casual fling while he was in the Owl House dimension.
-Comic strip was done by the talented dimonds456, thanks for the commission!
In the comic strip, Stan’s pupils are initially outlined in red due to the effect of the memory gun.
Stan’s hair is short in the comic because he cut his mullet to impersonate Ford for Globnar.
If you’re wondering how Filbrick survived being choked for so long, Stan kept *just* enough pressure off of his throat that he could prolong choking him as much as possible. Normally, he isn’t so dramatic or poetic, but mans literally died so he was going to make someone else suffer.
I feel like people are quick to blame Ford for Stan being kicked out, but not Caryn. I don’t doubt the time period’s attitude towards women and womens rights didn't help, but she was a whole other adult in the home.
"I hope this haunts you." Is a reference to the song "I Hope It Haunts You" by Citizen Soldier. That song inspired the whole scene between Stan and Filbrick.
Chapter 25:
This is the last chapter of the story. There's going to be a 'trivia' chapter right after this, but hey if I get enough reviews I'll post a bonus chapter that's fully written rather than dialogue only.
Stan definitely does the “The Author of the Journals; my brother” line every time Ford happens to come upstairs during tourist hours. While Stan is still Mr. Mystery, Ford is alternatively called “Dr. Mystery” or “The Author”.
Fords first three journals are on display in the Mystery Shack. Most people assume they’re props and not real research books, Ford doesn’t mind this since they’re in display glass and not handled by people. He’s turned his attention to the oddities of the multiverse rather than just Gravity Falls, so his attention and current research goals are there rather than in Gravity Falls
Yeah Ford still hangs out with Mothman, and Stan apparently has jammed out with Multi-Bear at least once.
Fiddleford was meant to be the Steve Jobs of the Gravity Falls universe, and dammit that’s what he’s gonna do even if the timeline doesn’t line up.
Jazzfest refers to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is an annual music/culture celebration held in New Orleans.
At this point Fiddleford and Stan’s relationship isn’t a secret, it’s just low key because of the prejudice of the time period, and they’re maintaining it at a long distance.
‘Tummy time’ is laying babies on their stomachs for brief periods while they're awake.
Powers used the hose cutter to cut the breaks of Stanley’s El Diablo, used the screwdriver to sabotage the seat belt buckle, and then took his emergency strap cutter. This was a deliberate, premeditated attempt on Stan’s life that technically succeeded.
Just because Stan’s criminal record was completely wiped from existence, that doesn’t mean people forgot what he did.
This might be the first time Ford’s actually said a bad word other than a general one like damn or hell.
The functions of the memory gun being blue rather than red is because this is Fiddleford’s original memory erasing gun (but it doesn;t cause brain damage this time.
Agent Powers first name being Nickolas is a reference to his voice actor, Nicholas "Nick" Offerman
Did you really think Ford wasn’t going to mess up Agent Powers? He killed Stan, even if it was only for a few minutes, he’d died because of Powers.
Stan still see’s Ms. Ramirez as his therapist. Because god, he needed therapy.
Horrible Eyesight Hawkins is a lighthouse keeper from Gravity Falls: Lost Legends.
A figure eight bend, also known as a flemish bend, is a variation of the figure eight knot, a type of sailors knot. It’s meant to create a strong connection between two ropes of similar size.
Stanley has a natural affinity for the dreamscape, so overtime as he became more adept at manipulating it, he’s realized that while it only takes one of them to sever their bond, it would take both of them to fix it. Which is why he offered fixing it to Stanford, and he insisted that they work together to do so, and that they take each others half rather than their own. It needs to be an act of genuine love and trust.
The Stranger
He’s your bonus chapter, all thats left is the trivia one. The story has already come to a narrative end, this is just extra content.
As someone who died but came back, and also has an impression of Bill Cipher in his psyche, Stan is an anomaly, hence why his internal narration implies that the weirdness magnet is what is drawing him to Gravity Falls.
The Soothsquitos (mosquitos of gravity falls who write out often misspelled premonitions) wrote ‘Brost your truther’, which is just a misspelled version of “Trust Your Brother”, which Stan totally did and just didn’t know it. Stan even notices several times that his street smarts and survival instincts seem to take a backseat to whatever ‘the stranger’ is saying and doing.
It only takes the body 24-48 hours to produce enough plasma to restore blood volume after blood loss, but it takes six weeks to replenish the blood cells lost in a unit of blood (about a pint), twelve weeks for a double unit.
I thought it’d be interesting if Stan was low-key afraid of hands (he’d never call it a fear), but Ford was the first exception because his hands are different from everyone else.
The ‘he means you’ line is from Lost Legends, and it was Stanford and Stanley speaking in unison after Filbrick yells out ‘Stan Pines’.
The Boiling Isles is the setting of The Owl House; in Ch.24 Stan tells Filbrick that one of his ex girlfriends was a ‘Witch’, capitalized. He was referring to Eda the Owl Lady (who is speculated to be Stans ex wife Marilyn), in this case he visited that Dimension.
The Red Meadows Asylum is a fictional psychiatric facility for the criminally insane from the ninth season of American Horror Story, a horror-drama television show.
Stan’s adolescent joy at both annoying Ford and proving him wrong (or at least being right), are supposed to be very ‘sibling like’. Even if he doesn’t remember being Fords brother, he still enjoys annoying him like any sibling would because those memories are there, just buried too deep for Stan to reach.
This bonus chapter is just Stan’s perspective in chapter one, hence why there wasn’t a ‘to be continued’ or ‘the end’ note at the bottom.
(...)
Bill Cipher
Bill is still limited within the constraints of the format: in this case, a web-based story that is primarily dialogue only. As such, his lines of dialogue manipulate the format differently. Originally, he was going to speak in Times New Bastard (which is Times New Roman but every seventh letter is jarringly Sans Serif), but neither tumblr or AO3 let you change the font. Instead, he can do the following, which other characters cannot:
Directly reference the readers/audience.
Directly reference the fact that they are in a fanfiction / in text format.
Embed links into his dialogue.
Use the interrobang symbol ( ‽ )
How Bill Affected Stan
Stan has been influenced by Bill on a psychological level, but it’s like Bill said, it’s not like Stan has bits of Bill's power or anything. Just some of his traits, the closest he’s been to vague fourth wall foresight is the throwaway line about how much he hates it when people (well, Ford specifically) say “for your own good” which is the title of the story, and Ford's justification for pretty much everything he’s done.
“Yeah, yeah Doc. For my own good. I’ve heard it a million times. Do you like, keep score of how many times you say that, is someone keeping track of it? Or is that your only excuse for the insane crap you’re always pulling.” - Stan in CH.9
When Stan says “But this is for your own good.” in CH.21, it physically pained him.
Other post-Bill behaviours from Stan include;
Stan not only has a habit of using nicknames instead of actual names, he also comes up with them in increments of three, like Bill seemingly does.
In CH.14 Stan did the “look what I did to your other hand” prank on Ford in CH.14; which was a bit that Bill Cipher was supposed to do to Dipper, but was cut out of the final product of the episode “Sock Opera”.
In CH.11, Stan was able to immediately recognize that Ford was possessed, when in the canon series he couldn’t tell when Dipper was possessed. Indicating that either he unconsciously just knows who Ford is beyond a shadow of a doubt, or he’s met Bill before; either or both is a valid assumption
In CH.14, Fiddleford in regards to Stan says “Last I saw him was in the attic trying to cover up the window with a sheet - some type of paranoia?” In the canon series, the attics window is triangular with panes of glass meant to stylize Bills eye. Stan was trying to cover it, which would stop Bill from seeing him because Bill can see through depictions of himself.
In CH.20, once they enter Ford’s private study / Bill Shrine, Ford says that Stan is shaking, and Stan admits he is uncomfortable.
(...)
Use of Format
Being mostly dialogue-only, describing things was difficult because annotated actions had to be used sparingly to not detract too much from the intended format and not to seem like a script. But, there were ways the text was formatting or worded to indicate something:
Wack vs Whack - When someone hits something (specifically punching), the onomatopoeia used is either WACK or WHACK. What’s the difference, and is it a spelling error?
That difference is that when the onomatopoeia used is “Whack”, that means they’re pulling their punches, while “Wack” indicates that they are not. Stan exclusively uses the WACK onomatopoeia because he never pulls his punches, which is a trait he shares with Filbrick. The only time Ford doesn’t pull his punch is when he punches Rick for inappropriately touching him, and Fiddleford pulls all of his punches.
Cop Knock - In CH.21, Stan recognizes that the KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK at the cabin is the cops knocking. Of which, he was right. But he ironically has a similar knock - in CH.8, when he was tapping on the glass to get Fiddlefords attention, it was TAPTAPTAP
Memory Gun - When Rick uses the gun, the onomatopoeias are in red, but later when Ford uses it it’s in blue. This is because, as Rick said, when he combined his green technology with Fiddlefords blue to make a Memory Retention version of the memory gun, it turned red, which is the third primary colour alongside blue and green. Ford used the Memory Gun with its original purpose, to erase memories, so it was the original blue colour when he used it on Agent Powers. Furthermore, the number of taps used corresponded with the number of letters in the characters names. (Stan being 7 and then 5 taps, Powers being 8 and then 6 taps)
Annotations - In annotations, Stan is exclusively referred to as Stan, until CH.20 in the flashback before he died and lost his memories, and then when he regained his memories it stayed as Stanley from then on. Similarly, Ford is exclusively referred to as ‘Ford’ until the last scene when Stanley offered his end of the twin bond to fix. This is to signify that they’re both fully embracing each other as twins again.
Speech - Although the story is mostly written without accents, Stan actually picks up more and more of a Jersey drawl throughout the chapters. Hinting that just being around Ford brings more of his original self out.
Ford's dialogue is unique because he's less likely to use contractions (saying "will not" instead of "won't"), however in CH.23, after Rick tells him that speaking without contractions doesn't actually make him sound smarter, you can see Ford uses contractions more while talking directly to Rick.
(...)
Vibora Jiménez aka Jimmy Snakes
Jimmy Snakes was a concept character by Alex Hirsh that never made it to the final show. Jimmy Snakes was a male biker who was Stan’s Rival from his ‘biker days’. There isn’t a lot of information on him and his concept, other than he seemed to be very Ghost Rider coded. The episode was going to be: "Jimmy Snakes"-Stan's old biker pal comes to town (turns out pal is cursed, Ghost Rider style).
Jimmy Snakes in this story is different, the most obvious difference being gender; in this story, although Jimmy does not physically appear except in flashbacks, it’s made clear that Jimmy is a woman. Jimmy Snakes isn’t her real name, it’s just a street name - according to Stan, ‘Jimmy’ came from non-Spanish speakers pronouncing her last name wrong, as Jim-en-ez, instead of the proper pronunciation of Hee-men-ez. Also, biker gangs and gangs in general (and society overall really) don’t respect women particularly those in positions of power, so she used ‘Jimmy’ as a street name so that other gangsters and/or bikers initially assume she is a man.
She and Stan might have had a romantic relationship, but really their relationship tipped more into the mentorship territory because Stan joined her gang really early into his drifter years. Like, a mere few months or even weeks after he was kicked out, as Stan revealed that she let him join her gang because he tried walking into traffic and she hit him.
Her backstory didn’t come up but Stan mentioned she chased him on the interstate trying to drag his soul to Hell, and only didn’t because Hell apparently didn’t accept him, and Fiddleford describes her as “a partially undead psychopomp who can transform into a flaming skeleton” and she successfully send someone named Old Man Jenkins down to Hell, during a date with Emma May none the less.
So what is her backstory and how did she part with Stan only to get reacquainted later, and how are they still friends when she tried to quite literally Damn him?
She was very close to Stans age, hence them kinda-sorta being an item when Stan joined her gang, she was anywhere between 18-22 when she met Stan - but she was already pretty hardened, she’d been out on the streets since she was middle school aged so she was still a mentor / teacher figure to Stan despite not being much older than him, she just had a lot of experience already.
She was the one who got Stan into the habit of using brass knuckles - given his boxing background, he was actually quite hesitant because he was used to ‘fair fights’ and having honour, but Jimmy told him that when he’s fighting for his life, he has to ask himself what matters more to him; him, or the other guy?
The way I imagine it is that after a few short years of Stan being in her gang, Jimmy died. It was actually quite similar to Stan’s own death - an ‘accident’ - a result of gang violence - on her motorcycle, and she burned up. She didn’t die immediately, but succumbed to her wounds in the arms of one of her crew (likely Stan) after they dragged her out of the flaming wreckage. Although she always told her gang to never give their original full names up, not even to each other, in her last breaths she told them that her first name was Vibora, they already knew her original last name was Jiménez, but she never told any of them her first name.
Also like Stan, she was brought back by an enigmatic being from beyond her dimension. In this case, it was Pyronica. Pyronica isn’t a Henchmaniac like she is in canon, instead she’s an Interdimensional demon either on the level or on a comparative level to Bill Cipher. He’s the Dream Demon, representing fire and dreams? She’s the Pyre Demon, representing both fire and death. Bill Cipher can manipulate the nervous system of his ‘wards’, while Pyronica can manipulate their circulatory system (although, she can still manipulate more bodily systems of a corpse, like how Bill could manipulate more than just Stan’s nervous system when he possessed his then-dead body).
Pyronica gave a dying Jimmy a deal - she would live, but she would hunt down and feed wholly corrupted souls to Pyronica in exchange. Unlike Stan, Jimmy accepted the deathbed deal. It wasn’t just because she wanted to live, but she wanted to punish every monster she’d seen while on the streets, the monster she forced herself to be at times just to survive.
Jimmy’s body disappeared from the morgue, and the rest of her gang assumed that her estranged family must have reclaimed it, as it’s not like any of them had a legal claim as it was. Jimmy Snakes Biker Gang fell apart, because what was the point without Jimmy Snakes? Stan started doing failed product infomercials after this.
In reality, Jimmy came back. But she wasn’t the same.
[Art by @dimonds456]
Before her deal, she was a tall mixed-Hispanic woman who had unruly, shoulder length hair that was naturally black, but she bleached it blonde, and wore a red bandanna on her head to cover up when her roots would show, and her eyes were dark brown in colour but bright with mischief and pride. She wore a closed black leather bikers jacket with studs, a spiked neck collar, a red tshirt, black jeans, and brown leather cowboy boots that matched her fingerless gloves and belt.
After her deal, her hair becomes more wild and permanently whites out, her eyes become black voids with glowing pink dots that act as ‘pupils’, and the most shocking physical change is that her lower jaw is entirely skeletal, it's just a jaw bone. Because of this, she always wears reflective aviators to conceal her eyes, and her bandanna, which is now pink, is tied around the bottom half of her face rather than the top of her head. The rest of her attire also changes to reflect her now symbiotic relationship with Pyronica. It mostly stayed the same, but her black leather jacket had changed to white with pink trimming, and instead of studs it now had spikes on the shoulders, her tshirt and brown leather had all turned black.
Her spiked neck collar was gone and replaced with a chain necklace, and instead of gloves she now had permanent but disconnected wrist manacles, this was because she was now permanently chained to Pyronica and her new role as a vengeful psychopomp.
Basically, Pyronica is fueled by corrupted souls, which is why she has Jimmy collect them.
She meets up again with Stan later, and this is after hes gone through a few different identities and prison (but before his own death), and he’s so happy to see that she’s alive! Too bad that’s short lived, as she sees how crooked he’s become, and her Punisher-like disposition takes over.
She chases him on the interstate for fifty miles, but eventually catches him and tries to drag him down to Pyronica’s version of Hell, but he’s promptly spat out because as many crimes as he’s done, he still does have a genuine and good heart, so Pyronica cannot feed off his soul. Her flames require evil, nasty souls, and Stan didn’t fit that description.
For a long time, Stan did not forgive her after she let him go. Even after she told him what happened to her and how she got to that point.
And then he also died himself, and lost most of his memories. After Ford went into his mindscape and saw what really happened to him, and told him everything, Stan realized how similar his situation was to Jimmy’s and he reached out to her again. He understood her better now. Sure, he didn’t accept the deal with a demon like she did, but he also knew firsthand how the trauma of death can change a person.
They ended up making up after some long phone conversations, and he sets her up with Emma-May.
The point of having Jimmy going through death just like Stan is to kind of underline why Ford telling him about his death, and Bill Cipher bringing him back, ultimately didn’t surprise Stan too much because he already knew what happened to Jimmy.
Being a still partially undead being, Jimmy doesn’t necessarily age. I imagine, however, by the time that the twins come to Gravity Falls, she makes minor adjustments in her appearance to look closer to her real age, since her true form is a skeleton with pink and white flames and her human appearance is a mere shapeshifted imitation of what she looked like alive.
(...)
Lost Lines / Draft Changes
There were some lines that had to be changed or cut entirely to better fit the plot and the story line, and in some cases the plot point changed entirely from the draft version.
For instance, Fiddlefords honey trap in the first draft actually succeeded;
"Stanley, you need to stay."
"Oh, and are you going to stop me? Nothing you do or say is going to stop me from leaving."
*Fiddleford unbuttons the first two buttons of his shirt*
"Really, specs? You're going to try to honey trap me? That's one of the oldest tricks in the book. I know you're only doing this to buy time-"
*undoes his belt and zipper in a quick movement*
"..." *flicks eyes down, and then up, and then down longer, and then back up.* "...Okay maybe a few minutes."
(...)
"Oh thank Moses he's detained again, what did you do to convince him to stay?"
*Fiddleford has a partially unbuttoned shirt, messy hair, and is still blushing*
"Him."
"What?"
"If you ever ask me for help with a project ever again it will be too soon.”
However, Stan ended up escaping because ultimately the reason for this plot point was Stan realizing that even though Ford is Doing The Most and acting crazy, he has a strange sense of trust and attachment to Ford and he finds himself wanting to believe that he’s Fords twin because, look at how far this guy is willing to go to get you to stay when very few people you can remember have ever wanted you around.
There are some other lost lines which didn’t make it into the story because the chapter was already dragging, or because it didn’t really serve the plot in any way. You can consider these ‘canon’ the the fanfic, just not shown:
Stan not needing dentures:
"I can't help but notice you never smile with your teeth, odd for a showman such as yourself."
"Oh, I don't show my teeth unless if I want to scare people"
"Why would that scare people?"
"Remember how I lost a lot of my teeth out in the streets from beatings and chewing my way outta stuff? I saw a shady dentist out in space who injected me with something that would make me grow a whole new set. But they came out kinda big and sharp."
"Really?"
*curls his lips back and points to his teeth*
"See?"
"..."
"Stretch?"
"I’m taking you, now.”
Memory Stan
In the initial draft, Stan would have episodes of dissociating where he would appear to have his memories again, but these would be short lived and brought on by mental distress. Ford, going into his mindscape, would find a mental projection of Stan that represented who he was before the accident / his death, who would outright refuse to ‘take over’.
This was dropped because this would just cause Ford to ignore the ‘amnesiac version’ of Stan and treat him like another temporary persona of Stan, rather than, well, Stan. He’d hyperfixate on the idea that his ‘real brother’ was literally just trapped within his own head and needed to be pulled out or convinced to come free.
This didn’t fit in with the overall message that the plot was trying to convey that Stan was always Stan no matter what. And it would have validated Ford’s beliefs while contradicting Stan, as shown in this exchange from CH.6:
“...You’re just not you right now.” -Ford
“I’m never anybody but me.” -Stan
Part of Ford’s arc throughout this story was that he needed to realize that if he really, truly, wanted to help his brother he needed to treat him like a person he cared about, and not like a problem that needed to be solved or another anomaly to study. Ford needed to realize that he didn’t decide who Stan was, Stan did. In the beginning, there are several parts where Ford just assumes that Stan is lying, or not taking what Stan is telling him at face value and drawing his own conclusions instead.
Here are some dropped lines from the draft where Stan would go into these dissociative episodes and he’d temporarily regain his memories, but only for a minute or so. Some of these were so early, it was before I committed to writing this as dialogue only:
*eyes go blank* "I'm... I'm sorry Ford." *dissociating* "I didn't mean to. It was an accident."
"I believe you Stanley... I believe you, now. I wish I believed you back then. I... I let my anger and my pettiness ruin our relationship, ruin your life."
"...I ruined my own life. I ruined your life, too."
*Ford cried, he thinks Stanley was as well but he couldn't be sure*
"...Uhh, you okay PhD? Didn't take you for the huggy type."
Misc. Removed and/or changed dialogue
(Ford)
"Stanley... you got into a car accident. A terrible one. The event was so traumatizing, you repressed a lot of your memories. You were so resigned to the fate of being alone, of having nobody... that you made yourself forget that you ever had anybody. Your mind made you think you were always alone, because it was less painful than having had people in your life once... who weren't there for you when you needed them."
(Stan)
"Hey. I'm... I'm sorry you lost your brother." "And I know I'm *not* him but... seems like you really need a brother. I could... ya know, stick around, and... be that. If... you want me to.”
(Fiddleford and Stan)
"What type of women do you like?"
"All of them."
"All of them?"
"I'm not picky"
"Okay, what about men?"
"I have a very specific type."
"Which is?"
"Tall lanky guys who are extremely smart but have questionable morals.”
(Ford and Stan)
"Stanley, why you you only chew with one side of your mouth?"
"Doc, I got one tooth being held together by nothing wire and prayers."
"How did you break it?"
"Lead pipe to the face."
(Ford and Stan)
"Oh for- I have six fingers!"
"No, you have 12"
"That besides the- wait, you noticed I had extra fingers?"
"Kinda hard not to when you keep pressing your hand against the glass and looking at me like I'm a stray at the pound about to be put down."
"And you never asked about it?"
"With all of your other weird crap, it didn't seem to matter.”
References
"'-only one thing to do now, Stan', and she pulls out a gun too. 'Agent Powers's got a fucking gun? So will I'. And then they just have a shootout in the middle of the street." - Line by Stan in CH.17. Which is a reference to the “Bill Ciphers Got a Gun” Fandom meme
Originally, the line was actually another Epic the Musical reference:
“-we found a ship with no crew. I realized nearby, there were sirens, singing sailors-” And then Fiddleford would cut Stan off to say his stories are outlandish.
This is a reference to the song “Different Beasts” From Epic the Musical. The implication being that Stan was either making this up, or he and Rick went to an Odyssey dimension at some point. But it was changed to make room for an Agent Powers foreshadow and Jimmy Snakes mention, so their appearances and mentions later wouldn't seem so out of nowhere.
(...)
Ford’s Arc
Stan was initially written as being a bit more sensitive, but was re-written to be standoffish and casual about everything. This was so there was more contrast between when he’s being serious vs when he’s just f***ing around. In a way he kind of switched attitudes with Ford, who was initially going to be more of a jerk who was doing all of this because he wanted to be right.
But that changed because I’ve seen a lot of stories where Ford is a jerk either until it's too late, or it’s almost too late, and Stan is sad and self-depreciating the whole time. Which, it is a dynamic I like, don't get me wrong. But I wanted to do something different - so Ford was instead written with the intention of being the more sensitive one. In a way, to be ironic because he called Stan suffocating before they had their falling out, and now he’s the one insisting that Stan needs to stay with him, while Stan actively rejects him.
This was not written to bash or hate on Ford for what happened to Stan - both Stan and Fiddleford state multiple times that Ford was both allowed to be mad about the perpetual motion machine incident, and he was allowed to cut people out of his life, including Stan. It was always his right to decide who he wanted in his life.
However, the problem is that Ford took Stan for granted. Ford was the one who was wronged, so he decided on his own that he and he alone would decide if he and Stan ever reconciled or not. Ford was open to the idea of reconciling, but only on his terms, and only if Stanley proved his worth to him. He saw Stan as needy, so he never even imagined a scenario where Stan could ever possibly reject him.
The whole story, after all, started because Ford was so ready to just ignore Stan after not seeing him for an entire decade, only to be offended when Stan’s the one who completely ignored him instead. Stanley was the one who ruined things, he shouldn’t get a say in if Ford engages with him or not!
And then there was Fords lie about Stanley ‘leaving home’ rather than being kicked out.
Ford wasn’t going to admit it out loud for a while, but he did feel guilty about Stan being kicked out. More specifically, he felt guilty about how he felt when it first happened. Back then, as he was seventeen and newly betrayed by the person he thought he could trust most in the world, he was hot blooded and impulsive, and he believed that Stan ruined his machine on purpose. Back then, he thought that Stan must have done it out of jealousy towards him, and for a while even believed that Stan deserved to be kicked out.
And as Ford got older, and he started growing up and maturing, and the incident became more distant and he cooled off about it, he looked at the situation differently. As a grown man, he could look back and realize how clearly not a grown man Stanley was when he was kicked out, and that throwing a minor onto the streets was wrong. While he still believed that Stanley wrecked his machine on purpose, he changed his mind about why Stanley did it. He came to the conclusion that Stan must have just been afraid of Ford leaving him. He still believed Stan sabotaged him, but he at least didn’t think Stan was doing it to be malicious.
But still, he preferred to keep him out of sight, and out of mind. There was no reason to make attempts to reach out if Stanley himself wasn’t trying to either. He was a con artist anyways, sure his life most likely wasn’t the greatest, but Stan was tough and stubborn, he’d get up no matter what knocked him down or how hard.
And this entire mindset Ford had towards his brother beforehand became… so much more unstable and harder to hold onto once he started to get to know Stan again, albeit as an amnesiac who saw him as a stranger.
Because every time he and/or Fiddleford poked and prodded about his past, it quickly became clear to Ford that Stanley’s life since being kicked out hadn’t just been ‘not the greatest’, it was a never ending series of one horrible trauma after another horrible trauma.
How many times has he been stabbed?
How many times has he been kidnapped?
He was addicted to what?
What ‘worse’ things has he done for twenty dollars?
Why does he know what Necklacing and the Colombian Necktie are?
He’s… tried to kill himself? Multiple times?
Which States is he banned from?
Why does he think only negative things about himself?
And as Fiddleford tells him outright in CH.18, Ford overcompensates as a knee-jerk reaction - he realizes that Stan isn’t joking about these things that happened to him (specifically when he sees the cigarette scars makes the reality really sink in for him). His guilt over not doing anything when Stan was kicked out, and then his further guilt when he lied to Stan and Fiddleford about the details of the incident, causes him to get way too protective and even a little controlling over Stan because again he hyper focuses on the idea that that he can make up for this, that he can fix this. That is he can keep Stan safe now, maybe he’ll be the better brother he should have been in the past decade.
But you can see that Ford changes throughout the story - in the beginning, he corrects everything Stan says in the vein of “I’m this”/“No, you’re this”, and doesn’t take anything he says at face value, he constantly projects who and what he thinks Stanley Pines is supposed to be on this amnesiac who tells him his name is Stan Malone. He also pushes or ignores his boundaries - in CH.9, he tries to force Stan to tell him who gave him the burn scars even though it’s clear that Stan is very uncomfortable with the topic.
But compare that to the end and near the end of the story - in CH.20, after the “Homeless Shelter” memory, he asks Stan if he wants to talk about it, and drops it when Stan tells him no. In CH.23, Ford also shows faith in what Stan told him about his limitations, because he isn’t concerned when Agent Lolph tells him that he stabbed Stan four times, because he remembered Stan telling him that four would only slow him down.
(...)
The IRS Killed Stan
Below is a compiled list of all the times Stan or someone else hinted towards his death, or a reference to either Agent Powers or the IRS. The IRS being the cause (even if it was just one lone agent acting of his own accord) was meant to be more subtle, because it seemed more like Stan just having a general fear/hatred of the IRS, which is understandable for someone like Stan.
“What happened to him, anyways? Did he die or something, and this is how you're coping?”- Stan in CH.2
“Reconcile? He’s still convinced I’m a mad scientist out to harvest his organs, 'or worse turn him over to the IRS'- don’t ask about that second part.” - Ford referring to Stan in CH.4
“I think I had a car at some point? But I dunno what happened with that, it makes my head burn trying to think about it.” - Stan in CH.5.
“Doc, a lot of what I remember is like smoke - it’s hazy, and it’s hard to hold onto, can you be specific?” - Stan in CH.6
“I was in the back of his shi- iiitty car, I felt like I’d just smoked an entire carton of cigarettes, but in a bad way ..” - Stan in CH.10, in regards to meeting Rick
“My chest felt really tight…” - Stan in CH.10, in regards to how he felt right before he met Rick
“C-Can’t breathe-” - Stan in CH.10, him panicking trying to remember what happened
“I only have nightmares about being suffocated. Or the IRS. Or the IRS suffocating me.”/ “Well, guess I have nothing better to do than to take a nap. I wonder how the IRS is going to suffocate me this time…” - Stan in CH.11
“He may have been suffocating in some way? All he could say was that he couldn’t breathe.” - CH.12, Fiddleford’s observations
In CH.15, Caryn references “an accident” with Stanley and it not being easy for Ford… but no one besides Stanley knew that the Perpetual Motion Machine incident was an accident, everyone else assumes he sabotaged Ford.
"'-only one thing to do now, Stan', and she pulls out a gun too. 'Agent Powers's got a fucking gun? So will I'. And then they just have a shootout in the middle of the street." - Stan in CH.17
“Don’t worry, not dying when I really should is actually my first or second greatest skill.” - Stan in CH.18
An IRS Agent going to Stanley’s ‘funeral’ and telling the coffin this isn’t over, CH.18
“I thought maybe he was always going to strike out on his own, as some act of defiance against- I don’t know, our father? Me? The IRS? Something.” - Ford in reference to Stan, CH.18
“God, I hated that guy.”/ “That IRS agent… What’s his name?”/ “Agent Powers, why?” - Stan and Ford’s conversation in CH.20
“Lots of people have tried to kill me so I can’t really think of anyone specifically who stands out. As far as hating me the most goes, it's a tie between the IRS and the City of Tijuana.” - Stan in CH.21
“Better learn quick, before the Taxman gets you first, (brother).” - Jimmy in CH.21
“Yeah I dunno what shit the IRS is on, and it didn’t matter what name I was using, they always managed to find me.” / “That agent you just spared went to your ‘funeral’.” / “I’m not surprised, he was always telling me that it wasn’t over.” - Stan and Ford’s conversation in CH.21
Stan used to smoke but moved onto using Snus instead, with no outward explanation
Stans fear of bodies of water wasn’t related to the water itself. He was scared of drowning. Stan is afraid of suffocation.
as the very last of humanity drifts among the stars, they desperately burn fuel trying to outrun fate. A supergiant black hole sits in the center of the universe, its gravitational pull so great that no particle of matter can escape it. They only have so much fuel left in their dying starship with nowhere left to land.
They will all die in the end.
But, until then, they will keep running. They'll keep pushing and pushing as far as they can until the bitterest of ends.
But why? If they're all going to die anyway, then what's the point of running away? Who cares?
In this existentialist, futuristic, simultaneously nihilistic and optimistic novel, follow the crew of the Borealis as they struggle to answer that very question.
