Me: I think I’m so viscerally uncomfortable with people acknowledging that Stanley might be as intelligent/more intelligent in some ways than Stanford because it makes Stanford so replaceable. I mean, Stanley is worth so much. The twins adore him. He’s so lovable and good to others. He’s charismatic, resourceful, scrappy, a wonderful parental figure, a truly driven person who could overcome anything if he had a reason to, and his positive traits vastly outweigh his flaws. Ford deserves his one thing. Stanley also having that one thing makes Ford obsolete.
The otherworldly therapist over my shoulder: Do you think that Stanford’s *only* good quality is his intelligence? Do you believe that if he wasn’t the smartest person in the room, he’d be entirely worthless?
Me, visibly sweating: Well, a bit? Yes? He has other qualities, sure, but none of them are nearly as valuable. None of them make him stand out as a person, or would allow him to compete with others. Anyone else could have those traits.
Therapist, reflecting my own face back to me: What about his creativity? His ability to tell stories? His art? His loyalty to those he trusts? His intuition? The care he also shows to his family? His survival skills? His own ability to endure hardship? Are those not worth appreciation?
Me, slapping at the spectral projection like a swarm of flies: Like I said, those are good qualities, but they’re also ones he shares. You could find a hundred people who could be as creative, or as enduring, or as loving, or anything else.
Therapist, reforming into a sentient cloud of mist: Why does he have to compete? Everyone has unique traits, yes, but everyone shares their traits too. You couldn’t name me a single trait that Stanley has that no one else in the cast also displays. Why hold Stanford to that standard and no one else?
Therapist: Do *you* believe that without your intelligence, you’d become replaceable?
Therapist: Failure has to be acceptable. As uncomfortable as that is, it just has to be. Your loved ones should value you regardless.
Therapist: Can you imagine Mabel or Stan or Dipper abandoning Ford just because he got something wrong? No. He gets many things wrong. So do you. You won’t be left behind either.
Therapist: The promise of knowing the answer every single time is always going to be a lie. That’s the point. You fell for it. You need to unlearn that, because it never ends well.
Me: … Can we go back to talking about toxic old man yaoi?
