I was rewatching the scene where Ford comes home from the fair and accused Stan for purposefully breaking the machine and sabotaging his chance to get accepted by west cost tech and I couldn't help but pay attention to Ford's appearance and it looks like some hours like passed(like the science fair could've taken place in the morning or early afternoon and when Ford comes home it was late afternoon) at the science fair, Ford looks tidied up and had his hair combed and his bow tie neatly done and looking very presentable but during his argument with Stan, Ford looks awful like his hair look so disheveled and messy, his bow tie hanging lose around his neck and his shirt looks a bit wrinkled and is it just me cuz I also saw eyebags under Ford's eyes as well it looks like between his rejection and coming home, it looked like Ford was having a breakdown and processing the thought that Stan his brother his only best friend betrayed him
The science fair definitely took place during daylight hours, as we can see the sky through the gym's windows. I usually headcanon it as mid afternoon, maybe a little bit after school usually ends. Which does leave a gap between him leaving the gym and getting home, because it feels like it's way too late to simply be late afternoon when Stan gets kicked out.
like look at this, it's dark, the streetlight is on, and while it's not pictured here, their house is dark inside. i always thought it was evening at earliest.
i digress as this is a silly nitpick, but yeah. I definitely feel like Ford had a hell of a time in between losing the scholarship and confronting Stan, regardless of how long that gap actually is. Like... Stan was his only friend for basically his whole childhood and then he just learned that said friend really doesn't care for his feelings about his future and sabotaged an amazing chance at a school he didn't think was possible otherwise. A breakdown would be imminent, even if we and Stan know said 'sabotage' was accidental.
just imagining, if the judging was after school, that Ford could've stuck himself in some small corner to cry before finally going home to confront Stan... ugh it makes me feel so bad for him. i felt so bad for him when the judges harshly denied him, with his horrified face and devastated "But I worked so hard!!" when they start leaving the gym... oughhh. poor guy man.
anyway yeah. thanks for the ask!
