This is also just an excuse to draw Fidds before he ruined his entire marriage and feel very sad about it (I'm sobbing it's just him and his little tater tot oh god I can't do this)
Fiddtober was created by the amazing artist @oobbbear !!! Please check them out!
Wouldn’t it be horrible if he’d witnessed something so scary while in Gravity Falls that he makes a memory gun and ends up using too much to the point he loses his own self identity for the next 30 years and never returns home.
You think that Fiddleford offers advice to Ford, Mabel, Dipper, Wendy and Soos on how to handle certain side effects of Stan's memory loss? Like think about it-
Fiddleford is the creator of the memory gun, and the founder of the Blind Eye. He out of everyone knows this thing better than anyone else. Even with his own memories all messed up, he still knows it best. I can see Mabel and Dipper going to seek him out, to ask him questions about it. Or to just see how Fidds himself is recovering from his invention, and how he's become more like himself in some aspects. Just to be reassured that their Gruncle Stan is going to be okay even if it takes awhile. Or Soos just taking everything Fidds says about the memory gun to heart and keeping a closer eye on his father figure so he can be around to help if Stan needs it. Wendy always keep mental notes when Fiddleford mentions memory lapses Stan might experience and be ready to intervene should Stan need to be taken out of a situation where he experiences it in a public setting.
And Ford.
Dude would be absorbing every piece of information he can from his friend. From the side effects to the memory lapses Stan may experience to what's useful to help his brother as well as Fidds when he's in need of help. And Fiddleford he'd just help in anyway he can, wanting to help Ford and his family who've helped him with this whole thing.
And I can see Stan and Fiddleford bonding over this.
They'd click, having this mutual experience involving this gun and how it completely effectively changed their lives forever. How it left them both jumbled up and confused about parts of their lives and the people involved with them. From Stan with his brother, niece, nephew and adopted son and unspoken rebellious daughter to Fiddleford with his beloved son Tate. I can see them being unintentionally a comfort for one another. Just two old men bonding and helping each other.
I don't know y'all I think too much on this don't mind me-
Where this universe immediately diverges from canon is when Fiddleford and Emma-May divorce pre-portal incident.
Fidds ends up having to take Tate to Stanford's home.
The day they send a mannequin into the portal.
Tate was left up stairs but had heard the machinery and the men talking and crept down to the laboratory. He watched as a rope pulled his father toward the portal.
Ford was able to pull Fidds away before he was pulled in but as McGucket's wrists are released from the rope his five year old son crashed into Ford. Fiddleford was pushed backwards but he force of the portal pulled Tate and Ford towards it.
Fidds had reached for the rope but it was too late.
He watches his son and his partner disappear through the pool of blue light.
I do have more story in mind and will be working on an actual fanfiction when I don't feel like I'm dying. I wanted to publicize my vision so that Tumblr could talk about it. This was very much inspired by Drifted Stars. I intend to write Fiddauthor into the ff but this AU can be taken in a different direction than that
I was watching a gravity falls edit compilation and saw an edit with this song and immediately realized…dang *proceeds to spend half of the time making this trying to find that damn screenshot of Stan being kicked out by Filbrick*
I might finalize this and make it an animatic
Edit: here’s the animatic! https://youtu.be/WCJSrMZI924?si=BrFg4iqAlSPLW92r
also some background info because idk how to chill tf out and dump a bunch of stuff without context 😓😓😓😓
Co-Parenting AU
- In this dimension, Fiddleford and Emma-May split up soon after their marriage and they make the collective decision to leave Tater Mcgucket in the custody of his father.
- For some reason, Fiddleford doubles down and joins Stanford at the shack to help with research as he takes care of Tate. Together, they make an odd unlabeled family and Stanford doesn't mind the company.
- Events in the original story play out and Fiddleford gets sucked into the portal and sees Bill being 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂, he refuses to help anymore and distances himself from Ford, living in some motel in gravity falls.
- However, in this universe, Fiddleford made the memory-gun but never chose to use it with the hindsight of it getting in the way of his relationship with his son.
- He stays in this situation, working at Greasy's diner, until Stanley comes over and Stanford asks for him to hide the journals and gets sucked in with their argument.
- Word of this quickly gets to Fiddleford through Stanley as a last resort once he registers the little tidbits of evidence of his former presence in the shack. Together, Fiddleford and his highly intelligent son, Tater, help Stanley out to restore the portal and bring Stanford back and they all live together.
- Despite all of their efforts, they still end up getting Stanford back 30 years later, but things are a lot better.
The shape fuckers. (Left Stanford+Bill, Middle Stanley+Tad, and Right Tate+Supernova) BTW Supernova is NOT my oc! He's my one of my best friend's ocs!! The human design is mine though
After Tate was born McGucket sent Ford an excited letter and several photos including one of McGucket cradling the swaddled infant and in response Ford sent back some heartfelt congratulations and a picture of himself holding his PhD wrapped in a blanket in the exact same pose