I know you posted about it awhile ago but I would LOVVE to hear more about ford going back in time in his own body 🥹🥹how does Stan react?? So is has Ford who has completely disregarded his anger over the perpetual motion machine accident? If so, how do you think he would respond to the inevitable questions of Stan wondering if he’s upset with him? Would Stan think this is too good to be true? How clingy is ford? I have so many questions… this au is very thought provoking…
WAAHG MY FIRST ASK.....I'm so excited I can't believe someone liked my au enough to ask about it...
Anyways I have tons of thoughts of this au, sorry if this response goes all over the place. Answering your questions in order Stan would definitely be very shocked since he's gone about, I don't know the exact timeline, about five years without a peep from Ford and suddenly Ford is calling him up to his cabin. He's even more shocked because while he isn't sure why Ford wants to see him he wasn't expecting Ford to collapse into his arms and weep, holding him like he feared Stan would dissappear if they were separated again. He's definitely really worried that something is wrong with Ford, although he's not complaining about having his twin in his arms again. All in all, Stan is confused but happy.
Ford is absolutely over his perpetual motion machine. I personally believe the main reason for Ford's lasting anger over the accident was mostly do to the fact that Stan didn’t seem to care about how badly he hurt Ford. We know it was an accident, but considering Stan immediately started talking about treasure hunting and sailing, and didn't even apologize despite seeing how furious Ford was...it makes sense Ford was so pissed. But Ford has seen firsthand what Stan is willing to do for their family, spending 30 years to bring him back and literally dying to save the world from Ford’s mistakes. (I don't subscribe to the idea that everything was Ford's fault, but unfortunately I think ford does lol. He's definitely very guilt wracked in this au.)
Does Stan think this is too good to be true...not exactly, although he is sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop. He can tell something is wrong with Ford but he obviously has no idea what and he doesn't want to push his brother because he's still walking a bit on eggshells around him. Stan at first probably thinks Ford is having some sort of isolation induced mental breakdown from living alone in the woods or something, possibly thinks someone is threatening him since Ford is so...skiddish at times. (Why does he look so scared when they go into town together?) Sidenote Ford absolutely still has his Bill trauma. He remembers quite vividly every swallowed spider, every electrocution, every threat. Even if they never happened in this timeline, he's still suffering from PTSD. It causes more and more tension as time goes on because Stan isn't stupid, he knows something is going on, his brother is terrified and Stan just wants to help him.
How clingy is Ford? Oh jeez. He'd probably watch Stan shower if he could get away with it. He's like a lost dog, and acts like a kicked puppy the few times Stan wants to be by himself. I think he's worst those first few weeks when Ford first gets Stan back and as time goes on he's able to get a bit less clingy, but he probably permanently is more clingy than he was before. Luckily for him, Stan is also extremely clingy and he relishes the attention.
(The only time Ford doesn't want to be around Stan is when Ford is tired. There's a part of him that wonders if Bill is secretly still inside his body, waiting for Ford to let his guard down. Waiting for the chance to get even with Stanley.)
All in all, Ford is constantly on the verge of a breakdown, terrified of Bill and terrified of failing Stan again, and Stan has no idea what's going on with his brother and is just trying to comfort him and appreciate their new closeness. Also they're both pining for each other but if I get into that this ask may never end. In the end if you have a different idea that's fine too, I love the thought of being able to give people cool things to think about and I'd hate to hamper anyone's creativity by setting things down in stone when the au so far is pretty much just a bunch of disjointed ideas anyway. Thank you so much for the ask, I hope my rambling was somewhat coherent, and I'm so happy you like the au!
