A Hero In His Own Way 🫡

Nunca lo había pensando para ellos, pero creo que tiene sentido(?) Uno de los creadores dijo que había pensando la canción como desamor

"Enamorado tuyo" (In love with you) by Uruguayan band, Cuarteto de Nos, is such a stancest song, and it could very well be sung to each other when trying to get over their relationship, in denial that they love each other.

"And if you think I'm in love with you, that's an invention, I intuit, don't give credit to murmurs." This part is self-explanatory: they have always been known to have each other's back, and suddenly, it's not the case. Nobody believes they stopped caring for one another.

"Because I rarely call to tell you I love you, and more than once, I've done it to the wrong number" This represents the need that they have to contact one another but won't out of pride; Stanley's call that he hanged up despite desperately needing his brother, as well as Ford saving Stanley's scam number; the final straw between him and Bill when the demon called Stanley to tell him he was going to kill himself and remark he "never loved him." Ford was angry for a reason, Bill lied.

Also, the "and more than once I've done it to the wrong number" is them convincing themselves they love other people instead of their twin. Stanley's failed marriage and Ford's "Muse."

"Rarely is the time I get desperate to have you by my side, and that doesn't mean it has a meaning." This one is entirely on Ford being the worst person ever. At his lowest point, the only person who comes to mind who he can trust is Stanley, and once he is there, he only asks him to get away instead of embracing him. Stanley's clearly not the case. He misses Ford every single day of his life, but he can hide it from others.

"If you think love is what I feel, please, don't make a fuss. Don't tell your people about our issue. " This adds to Ford's paranoia and secretive nature. He wants all the details about his private life to be private.

"Don't dress up. Don't pretend you are never seen. I have envisioned singing you 《see you later.》 Don't dress up. Don't pretend you are never seen; I have a song that says, 《See you, lady》" This is Stanley after bringing Ford back and seeing how his brother just pushes him. He wants to pretend he is stronger than that, and he would part ways at any moment despite not wanting to.

"I rarely see your picture on my cellphone. It is still there because I'm too lazy to press *delete.*" This is the holding onto pictures and objects that remind them of each other. Especially Ford, who has a picture of them as kids in his coat, which was always in his pocket.

"I'm not that obsessed, to clarify, if you think that's why I sing this song." This is just them reiterating their denial.

Overall, I already love this song and find it so fitting, even if we make it not incestuous, it would still remark their relationship.

Also, because the Latin American dub was made in Argentina (which is next to Uruguay and very culturally alike) it's easy for me to envision them singing this song and fitting them so much.

The Pines Twins: Not Carbon Copies

Something I really love about both sets of Pines twins are that they are similar but Dipper and Mabel are not carbon copies of Stan and Ford.

Mabel is creative and chaotic, not afraid to say what’s on her mind like Stan but she is way nicer and can make friends and has this whimsical optimism and love for sweets and experiments she shares with Ford.

While Dipper and Ford are eager to solve and discover paranormal mysteries and prove themselves, leaning more into the academic nerdier side than their respective twins, Dipper is a brutally honest pessimist who wants to prove his manliness like Stan.

While they share some similar traits with their grunkles, Mabel and Dipper are still their own people and those shared traits are an endearing thing that helps them bond with Stan and Ford at different points in the series.

Additionally, both sets of twins do not have much luck in the romance department but they are adventurous brawlers and artists like Mabel, Dipper, Ford, and Stan have been shown in canon to be not hesitant to throw hands and are really good at drawing especially with personal stuff they experience and all four deeply love and value their family. They are just adorable.

Thought Fiddlestan was a purely comedic ship for a while but now I get it, I see the light. It’s about a man who nurtures and cares for others to the point of heartbreak meeting a man who doesn’t remember what it’s like for anyone to care about him. It’s about them being warm together around the absence of someone they both love. It’s about Fiddleford’s innate domesticity comforting a man whose deepest desire was to come home. It’s about falling in love with the same face again but in a new context that heals your past trauma. It’s about Stan’s unbridled affection finally validating someone who desperately needed the recognition. It’s also about very funny old man yaoi.

Ford is a jerk to Fiddleford McGucket in Journal 3. Let's talk about that.

First I want to preface this post by saying that I adore Ford. He is a wonderful character who has influenced my life in countless ways for the better. All of the things he does in this list a) stem from his own insecurities that he's projecting b) are symptoms of Ford's narcissistic defense mechanisms c) or come from Bill's influence on him. However, just because there are reasons for his actions doesn't excuse them, especially considering just how many there are.

Here's the list of things he does, I'll analyze at the end of the post.

Let's get the petty things out of the way first.

The cubic's cube: I think it is just straight up an absolute jerk move to scramble this thing that's clearly a comfort to him and think it's funny.

Being in shape: It's obvious his comments here are from his own insecurity but on a deeper level it just speaks to how Ford sees him, I think.

Not telling Fidds about Bill: Obviously Bill was feeding him a lot of paranoia but it's the reasoning that he writes down that gets me. It's so condescending.

The Gremloblin & The Shapeshifter

Something I think that's worth taking note of is the way Ford illustrates both of these instances. He brushes off Fiddleford's concerns multiple times and then Fiddleford pays the price and Ford sees himself as some kind of hero and Fiddleford this helpless victim. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

And then afterwards the way he handles not just Fiddleford's anxiety but the genuine trauma he went through. I know he's an old man, I know that's how he was treated, but Fiddleford is supposed to be his friend.

The Portal Test

Specifically their interaction at the diner and Ford's reaction to Fiddleford quitting the project. Fiddleford SELFLESSLY spends untold hours on this thesis for Ford because he cares about him and sees him burning out, even though Ford hasn't been great to him and Fidds has been going through his own hard things - not just with the gremloblin and the Shapeshifter, but things with his family as well. Ford does not match that selfless devotion at all. In fact, he sees it as an insult.

Analysis

The reason I've been thinking about this is because of Book of Bill and how that's influenced the shipping atmosphere. There's this weird notion that FiddAuthor is a less toxic ship but I think that's absurd. Besides their hug at Weirdmageddon, these journal entries are pretty much all we see of Ford's relationship with Fiddleford and it doesn't paint a pretty picture. Yes Ford is excited to have Fiddleford come to see him, yes Ford has that sweet conversation with him under the stars, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that all the above evidence outweighs hat. At the very least it shouldn't be ignored.

That doesn't mean Ford is a terrible person and we should hate him. I believe strongly in nuance and Ford is a character that requires nuance. I don't think he's an evil person, but I also don't think he should be babied as this perfect wittle guy who can do no wrong either. Both readings do a disservice to him.

Ford clearly had a hard childhood. He's isolated himself his whole life and he's been severely traumatized by Bill. But that doesn't mean that he deserves Fiddleford's forgiveness - Ford wasn't really that kind to him and his actions inadvertently led to the memory gun/Fidds' exposure to Bill. Ultimately it's Fiddleford's choice to make; I wouldn't fault him if he didn't want to ever see Ford again, but I think it's a testament to his goodness that he still cares for Ford as much as he does.

So what do I personally think? Man. I'm just sad we don't know more about Fiddleford McGucket than we do. He's so essential to Bill's defeat and to Ford's past and he's such a cool character but we know so little about him. I want to know what his childhood was like, I want to know how he ended up in Backupsmore, I want to know why he cares about Ford as much as he does, I want to know why things ended so poorly with EmmaMay. But we may never know those things for certain. So with the things we're left... Yeah, I think FiddAuthor is a compelling reading, one that I certainly enjoy. I just worry about the fandom babying Ford.

you can see that the script originally had ford building an anti-gravity machine for the science fair (which i guess acts as foreshadowing to the portal?), but the sun lightbulb feels like it would've connected to the opening of stanchurian candidate....

Gimme stancest songs pls I need more for my playlist

Ford would be the type of guy to go “I’m so dark and evil,,,u don’t know what I’ve done,,,,I’m a monster,,,,” and Stan would just smack him upside the head like stfu and drink your coffee

Is this an Epic: The Musical reference. Coz Would You Fall In Love With Me Again is exactly this. And the song itself is SOOO stancest coded don't even get me started.

I think it also plays into Ford's need for narrative relevancy. He was so goddamn sure he's the main character for 30+ years, and then realizes it was Stan all along. Well, what's left for him then? If he's not the hero of the story, then... he must be it's villain. The one who ruined hero's life, the one who needs to be punished for his wrongdoings.

And Stan won't have any of that bullshit lmao he just wants his honeymoon in Arctic Ocean and that's it

I think one of the things that bugs me about the way shipping and fandom happens surrounding Ford and Stan is that a lot of times, since the artist or writer is focused on their ship, they more often than not cut out any inclusion of one brother or the other (usually Stanley since this site loves its Fid and Ford and Bill and Ford) And to me, cutting off either brother means you don't have a good grip on their characters. There's so much evidence from word-of-mouth Alex to all the myriads of details in the show and books to show that Stan was always, always, and will always think about Ford, have him in his heart like a promise or in his side like a thorn. And Ford? Holy shit Ford has complex feelings around Stan, but there's so much evidence to show that he never stopped thinking about him. Wrote a secret message saying he missed him in the back wall of the dorm he shared with Fiddle in him and his brother's secret code language... Took pictures of Stan WITH HIM into Gravity Falls and then had one on his person when he went through the portal. Even when he was angry at Stan, he still thought there was something there, even when he was a guy who was too focused on being a hero to see past his ego, he still thought of Stan. He still needed him in his own ways. Pretending like either of them don't keep the other on the mind, erasing the fact that they were both an integral and always present part of each other's lives in one way or another, or SEPERATING THEM so you can ship them and ignoring that Ford basically said he would dedicate the rest of his life to his brother at the end of Journal three isn't just misunderstanding their characters, it's just blatantly not getting the point. I don't know who these "Ford"s and "Stan"s are that you all have been playing with but I watch Gravity Falls, sorry.

Aimer jusqu’à en souffrir

We know that Ford is incredibly guilty about Stan's death, cause he's the one who pulled the trigger, but what about Mabel?

She's the one who gave Bill the rift. And true she didn't know what it was, and true she was just a kid. No one blames her for what happened... no one, except herself

If she just hadn't needed that little bit more summer, if she wasn't so scared of growing up, Stan would still be here

Stan was the only one who tried to cheer her up that day. And what had he gotten for his troubles? He had to sacrifice himself at the end of the world just to save her and Dipper

Sometimes, she wonders if escaping Mabel land was the right call. True, she had Dipper to face everything together with, but neither of them knew how to face this. At least in Mabel land, she couldn't be used as leverage. At least when she was in Mabel land Stan was still alive

Mabel's a very forgiving person by nature. She would have forgiven Ford eventually anyway, but a part of her knows that the reason she forgave Ford so easily is because she blames herself, for all of it.