#guilty ford au

[salmon-vive]

can will be let out of the cage? as a treat?

Why he tried to check his powers when he came out. Is because he's a menace?

[tinfoil-jones]

Jerk Ford AU: Silliness V

If you mean Watchdog Ford by @nowimjustastranger, whom is sometimes called "Guard Dog Ford" Those two aren't friends. They just happen to run into each other a statistically impossible amount of times in the multiverse.

Any and all reports that they've saved each other skin at least once, and hang out sometimes are just rumours spread by their mutual ally (ALLY not friend) the Anti-Ford.

If you mean Guard Ford from the AU by @skeptiql... it's their AU, I'm not imposing on it.

If there is a cosmic security guard out there monitoring the Fordverse, considering that all Jerk Ford does in the multiverse is be a total jerk to everyone and cause trouble (and then get banned from dimensions for the two aforementioned reasons), I imagine reactions to him are typically going to be:

He's not heinous, malicious, or evil, he's just a really big jerk for no good reason.

---

Me and @nowimjustastranger are in the process of proper crossover, don't worry.

In the meantime...

Pre-Weirdmageddon:

Jerk Ford: Watch, this is Stanley. Stanley, this is Watchdog Ford and Lee.

Watchdog Ford: ...

Lee: ...

Stan: Well heya pal. It's nice to see Stanford's made more friends! I knew he had it in him to be nice and compassionate.

Jerk Ford: Stanley, I swear to God.

Watchdog Ford:...You're-

Lee: You're tall.

Stan: *looks between Watchdog Ford and Jerk Ford in an exaggerated up-and-down to annoy his brother*

Stan: *to Watchdog Ford* So are you.

Lee: *grinning* Oh, we're going to get along just fine. Let's chat.

---

Watchdog Ford: You... You aren't suffering?

Stan: If you don't call grading two hundred student assignments without assistance suffering, then sure.

Lee: ...nothings wrong?

Stan: Right now, no. I did miss my brother for the thirty years he was gone. It wasn't easy... the townsfolk truly believed I murdered him, and thought that was a good thing. And then acted like I was wrong for missing him.

Lee: So everything went okay for you?

Stan: I don't know what to tell you, pal- excluding not having Stanford in my life for thirty years and the issues that comes with that, things are going fine. If I'm having trouble I can just ask someone for help, and if I have problems emotionally I have friends and family that would lend me an ear or two. Also, I am medicated and seeing a therapist for stuff.

Lee: ...

Meanwhile Jerk Ford is in the corner sipping from his #1 Big Brother mug, and Watchdog Ford gets suspiciously misty eyed.

[Dialogue primarily by @tearosepedall]

---

It's a misconception at that Jerk Ford does not experience empathy (or at least not any for anyone besides his twin brother). This misconception is one of the reasons why The Ford Hate Club is always tripped up by him - they don't understand him. They think he's unfeeling with little to no emotional intelligence.

He has a surprising amount of empathy, you can see in this post he even says that most other Fords do not hate their Stanley, what they really have is resentment.

Jerk Ford just uses that empathy to know how to get under peoples skin and really hurt their feelings. Can't hurt feelings very well if you don't know what they are or how they work!

What he does lack is compassion, as in he doesn't help, support, or uplift people. That's a Stanley thing.

---

Jerk Ford: Your attack misses.

Dipper: Misses?! With my bonuses I had a total of twenty-three to hit!

Jerk Ford: That doesn't even touch the monsters THAC0.

Dipper: THAC0? Great Uncle Ford, 3.5 Edition is over! It's armour class now!

Jerk Ford: I'm the DM, and I rule your attack misses.

Dipper: *flips the battlemap, forgetting that the infinity dice is there*

---

Jerk Ford had such a bad habit of getting engrossed into his research and study that he would overlook things like finances (and showering). Stanley managed the finances between himself and and his brother, and he did send money back to the family, not millions but it was something.

Jerk Ford also had most of the money because he had his grant, and also a few patents, but Jerk Ford only cared about anamolies and terrorizing humanity so money wasn't something he thought about very much as long as their basic needs were being met.

When he lived back in Glass Shard Beach with his family, however...

"We should go graffiti Pines Pawns."

"Hell no, dude."

"What, you scared of Old Man Pines?"

"Forget Old Man Pines, don't know know what his son did to Crampelter? We don't need to be on his sh*t list."

[ray-of-destiny]

happy birthday @jacky-rubou!!! hope you enjoy these lil sketches for your icarus au :)

[blinday]

Ok but listen.

Stan dies shortly after. Because canon must follow, and Stanley Pines did die, but this time it's not forged. The journal is buried with him.

Only Ford shows up.

[wokecipher]

Billy Pines AU

Say hi to an AU I started drawing right after the book came out, it's funny to see it show my art journey of learning to draw Bill Cipher over time.

(above being something I made yesterday vs the first time ever drawing for this idea)

This is an alternate universe of Gravity Falls, where during the collapse of Weirdmageddon, the Universe makes a teensy tiny mistake...

When Weirdmageddon was thwarted, the sudden release of chaotic energy accidentally flung a younger version of a familiar face right into Gravity Falls. This younger Bill Cipher stumbles around looking for his parents, lost and alone, until stumbling upon the statue of his "future" self.

He stays by the statue until he's found by Mabel Pines, who immediately panics and kicks him, not realizing that this tinier version of Cipher isn't the same as his counterpart.

(more doodles and huge infodump below! I plan on turning this all into a comic at some point, so, SPOILERS!! if I decide to do that, that is :P)

After the initial panic, Mabel ends up calming and realizing that this sobbing smushy version of Bill may... not be Bill. At the least, not in a way she's familiar with. She ends up retrieving Grunkle Ford who takes Billy away to study him, paranoid Bill somehow returned yet again.

Billy is frantic and confused, being in an entirely new reality is incredibly overwhelming and scary. He's also lonely and worrying, being away from his caregivers is intensely stressful and he is unable to go to them for help, comfort, or advice. Stanford is sadly not very nice at all to Billy, and sees him as a ruse by Bill to trick everyone into helping him... somehow.

Stanford and Stanley are both heavily against Billy and want him destroyed, Dipper wants him gone as well... but Mabel doesn't feel the same.

After awhile, Mabel becomes increasingly anxious over the scenario. She's worried that Billy isn't an actual threat, and starts wanting to help and understand him. Mabel is also feeling slightly guilty from kicking the kid. Meanwhile Dipper is frustrated and scared of Bill's potential return and fights against Mabel's various theories about Billy. One of Mabel's leading theories is that Billy is actually Bill's child, who just happened to show up at around the same time. She notes how young and confused he seems as evidence, alongside the obvious resemblance to Bill Cipher. Dipper thinks this is insane.

The two end up getting into an argument over the theory, leading to Mabel running out on Dipper because she's very upset over everything. It'd sorta go

Mabel would sort of start it, defensive, "He's just a baby, you guys can't do this to him without knowing it's Bill first!"

Dipper is frustrated "This is obviously a trick, Mabel! Bill is trying to trick us into... whatever this is!!" He'd probably waves his hands around, not sure what to do with himself.

Mabel is upset too, she wanted to defend the defenseless, "But what if he's not? What if he's just Bill's kid??"

"You'd take that chance?!" Dipper is very much done with this.

"... :(" Mabel doesn't really have a response. Because Mabel wants to say "YES!" but also she hates Bill too, and doesn't want him to hurt the people she cares about because of her again. So she'd probably get upset and just leave because this is VERY morally conflicting for her.

Later, Mabel decides to sneak into wherever Ford's lab is, and starts attempting to communicate with Billy. She draws and lets him draw too, but she does her best to be cautious. Mabel doesn't want to make a mistake and accidentally trust Bill again, she feels enough guilt for "starting Weirdmageddon" the first time (regardless of if its really her fault, regardless of how many times others reassure her).

(To note, Bill Cipher is still very much around, and very stuck in the Theraprism! I'd like to think he, at some point, found out about this "impostor" version of himself as a child through some doodle either Billy or Mabel made. He was probably flabbergasted and furious.)

Ford would eventually conclude this is probably not some evil plot by Bill, at least if it is, it's very convoluted and doesn't make too much sense for him to actually believe it.

Mabel eventually takes Billy home with her and Dipper because Ford can't handle being around Billy without acting very disturbed, and she can't in good conscious abandon the literal child. It also helps that she seems to be the only person Billy trusts at all.

Ford only allowed this with frequent visits and check ins.

To make this VERY long plot summary a bit shorter, what happens after this is general shenanigans a la the OG Gravity Falls show (minus the Bill Cipher drama, just fun hijinks and adventures)(there's still huge drama when it's discovered that Billy IS just Bill as a kid though, that sure won't end up deeply traumatic for any reason)!

But eventually, people grow up, people die, and Billy is left with an extinct world and alone, similar to his predecessor.

I don't think he'd turn out okay what so ever given he was ripped away from his home reality, got stuck in a place where he's hated by everyone, and raised by a family that was deeply traumatized by an alternative version of him so he's always eternally guilty for things he literally never did. Also, constantly not being able to interact with society, participate in things like school and being with people like him his age... yeah this kid isn't growing up stable I'm sorry.

Don't worry! After millions or billions of years, he ends up in the... exact same place as his counterpart. Good job Billy! Get better soon. Bill hates his ass so much.

That's all byyyyeee!

[artisiumstudios]

Au where Stan finds the duffle bag.

HEAR ME OUT-

Basically it’s like a week or two before the science fair, Stan is minding his business (sort of) and while he’s going through a closet/cabinet trying to find some supplies, either for the Stan’o’War or his car, he finds a duffle bag. Curious he rummages through the bag, inside are some toiletries, 20 bucks, and clothing- wait a second. Those are his; his shirt, his pants, his socks— all stuff he has been missing for a couple of weeks. He’s confused, scared, and worried.

Why would his stuff be in here? Why are there toiletries? Why is there money? And who put them there? Unfortunately he already has his answer. Pa was always clear that none of his children would continue leech off of him. If you had nothing to prove then you had nothing to take. The conversation behind the principal’a door swarmed through his mind. How long had pa had his bag packed? Was this always the plan? Was Stanley really that worthless?

But that didn’t matter because Ford wouldn’t choose a school over him! They were going to sail the world together and that would be that, to hell with Pa if he wanted Stan gone then fine he didn’t need him, he didn’t need anyone but his brother and the sea!

At first Stan wants to tell Ford about what he found, but decides not to because in the end it won’t be important. So he keeps quiet and decides to take the bag into his car, after all hey 20 bucks and he gets his stuff back! He can’t leave it in his room cause if Pa finds out he was snooping through his stuff, well he’d rather not think about that.

Then the conversation on the swing set happens, and Stan’s head starts spinning. So it wasn’t just Pa who wanted Stan out, Ford was willing to ditch him too. Stan feels betrayed and hurt, he doesn’t know what to say or what to do. He starts to question his theory, did ford help pack his bag? Was that why he had been so distant lately, feeling guilty for letting his Pa kick him out and even helping him with the bag?

Did ma know? Eventually Ford leaves, huffing from Stan’s lack of enthusiasm and response, mumbling about being jealous that he has a better future up ahead, not just some silly childish dream. Stan snaps, not physically, not with his words: just emotionally.

Fine if they don’t want him there then he’ll just leave. That night while everyone is asleep he grabs all of his money, more clothing, a sketch book, his comics— a picture of him and ford on the stan’o’war— and some other things he thinks might be valuable or just handy. And he drives away.

Nobody notices Stanley’s disappearance the next day, not until night has fallen. Ford cheerfully excited with his new full ride scholarship, goes and tells his parents. Caryn is happy, tears of joy falling down her face as she hugs her intelligent baby boy, his father gives a small smile and a nod— he gives his approval. But the mood changes once he questions where Stanley is. No one has seen him in hours, actually his car has been gone since early morning. They wait awake all night, hoping for some sign, some clue!

Filbrick grunts as he walks up to the closet, his eyebrows furrow ever so slightly, his lips pressed in a tight line. He sighs deeply.

Eventually a report is filed, but there is not much they can do, if Stanley ran away then he isn’t missing, and the police refuse to do anything about that.

Anyways thats like yk the beginning of how this whole thing happens but here are some other thoughts and ideas:

Stan:

Without Filbrick telling him he’s not allowed back into the family without a million dollars, Stan isn’t as driven by money as in canon. He doesn’t have a need for large amounts of money therefore he doesn’t have a need to do sketchy jobs just to satisfy his need to have his family back. In other words he doesn’t have as much trauma as in canon and is actually more able to settle down without being on the run or in survival mode. The first couple of months he just spends driving as far away from the East as possible making his way over to New Mexico where he settles down, first as a bar tender then eventually as a mechanic, he lives comfortably in a crummy apartment but hey he doesn’t really need much

Unfortunately he does get bored, even if it’s not with his brother he does crave adventure. And while fixing a this guys truck he overhears of a town called Gravity Falls, where weird creatures tend to reside in. So you guessed it, he picks up and drives from New Mexico over to Gravity Falls Oregon.

He gets a small but nicer apartment this time around and first he works as a mechanic. Immediately he starts to get a sense of the place and its weirdness and he loves it! (Ford would love it here-) .

Since the blind eye isn’t a thing people have two reactions to the weirdness of gravity falls: freak tf out or shrug and go on with their day. Stanley being Stanley gets the great idea to act sort of like a monster hunter/ putting small attractions up with the less violent creatures, not the mystery shack, but more like the mystery circus!

Eventually Stanley gets the name Monster-Lee for his ability to be able to fight off creatures so easily (mostly through bribery or fists)

Ford:

He still leaves for West Tech, but now he's fallen into extreme stress/anxiety and a bit of depression. Why did his brother leave? Why didn't he say anything? Is he okay? Why did he ever let their father get between them, he should've spent more time with him when he had the chance-

Unlike canon, Ford has no resentment/grudges to hold over Stanley, rather he holds that anger towards Filbrick especially when he found out that he had planned to kick Stanley out-- for being the reason Stanley left.

While Ford does still want to study anomalies, he also takes engineering classes, he wants to develop better technology and hopefully resources for run away teens/homeless teens.

While he doesn't meet Fiddleford as his roommate, he does meet him at a robotics convention where they instantly become friends. After college they develop a small company based around the idea of being able to find people, now expanding into different areas.

Ford is a lot more open with the fact the not only is he a twin, but he likes to talk about his younger twin brother who supported him and always stood up for him.

Part of the development with the technology involved finding people in forest dense areas, especially with a lot of caves (please tell me someones seen that one chart) Which then leads them to gravity falls as their first test area, small enough to test their tech, but still forest dense to get sufficient results.

and then these three bozos find each other lol. anyways thats all i got , i thought of this in the shower like 30 minutes ago and decided to procrastinate on my HW writing this lol. anyways

[helis97]

A glorified hamster wheel for an oversized hamster.🐹

The aftermath of this comic:

[babyblankyerror]

Theres always the absolutely wild combo of Old Lady Mabel, Post Kickout Stan, 80s Ford, and regular age dipper

I call this "Ford is guilty and Mabel beats the shit out of Bill" Au

[alexthebordercollie]

oooo, if you're taking doodle requests for the dad ford au, i'd love to see something with Ford + Tate and or Stan + Tate.

Ford, cause it'd be interesting to see how he handles being a stepdad on top of Newt and Nick. Stan cause while he'd obviously be fiercely protective of the twins, i feel like he'd understand Tate's motivation the most between him, Ford, and Fiddleford

Thank you so much for my first proper ask/prompt. So you asked for Tate with Ford or Stan and I decided to give you both. Ford is a genius but he's not a pediatrician and Fiddleford still insisted on finding a real proper doctor to help with the twin's general medical care. But the person they found willing to help them with their alien babies without freaking out is out of town so these trips are a bit time-consuming and Fidds is the best at keeping the beans calm for their shots. Mostly I just needed to come up with an excuse for Tate to be stuck with the Stan twins for the day.

I imagine this to take place while Fidds and Emma are still in the process of getting divorced. Custody arrangments are still being worked out. This is Tates first time coming to stay in Gravity Falls with his dad's new family and he has a lot of complicated feelings.

Fidds generally is very clingy with Tate when he comes to stay with them. Showering his eldest with affection out of a mix of missing him and feeling guilty. As a result Ford and Stan rarely are put in the position of having to look after Tate and Fidds initially doesn't make much of an effort to actively include Ford in his father-son time with Tate. Again Fidds feels guilty and like asking Tate to give Ford a chance is an unfair imposition.

Ford makes genuine attempts however to get to know Tate when the opportunity arises. At first, Tate wants nothing to do with him. He's overheard his mom occasionally talking about the divorce when he's supposed to be in bed and the bits and pieces he has picked up basis him pretty strongly against Ford.

Emma isn't trying to turn Tate against his dad or even really against Ford. Don't get me wrong she really doesn't like Ford for obvious reasons but she doesn't want to expose her son to the adults interpersonal drama. She didn't mean for him to hear her talking about Fiddleford leaving them for Stanford.

I think you're suggestion that Stan would understand Tate in this situation better than the other two is pretty reasonable. Tate feels abandoned, and maybe even replaced by new babies. Stan knows better than anyone how it feels to be abandoned and he knows enough to reassure Tate rather confidently that that isn't what's happening here. Tate also finds it a bit easier to open up to Stan because he's mostly a bystander in all of this.

[ceaselesswatchersspecialboy]

NOW I NEED TO KNOW HOW HE ACTED WITH SHERMIE/THE PARENTS XD i love this soo much i'm chewing on your au like plastic btw

Thank you!!! I wouldn’t recommend chewing on plastic though, please have some molten lava to gnaw on instead!

As for how he acts, he certainly tries his best imitating Ford, and he and Stan do practice before meeting with family, but it’s almost uncanny. He tries to smile normally — not too wide, not too blank — but he can never find the right balance. He can match Ford’s tone of voice, but there’s always an air of fakeness to it, like something trying to poorly copy a human speaking.

He’s always too twitchy, a little too eager, and Bill’s personal madness and twisted humour tends to bleed through, enough that Shermie expresses concern to Stan, which is how the cover story of ‘Ford lost his mind in isolation’ began.

Caryn definitely knows something is up, and always glances at ‘Ford’ suspiciously. He seems uncomfortable around her, which he often fails to hide, and she swears his eyes seem off in certain lightings. When she asks Stan, he’s a little more honest with her, because he knows she’ll maybe believe it a bit more, admits something supernatural got to him, and he’s just not the same as he was (technically not a lie).

He doesn’t really interact with Filbrick, which is probably for the better. He almost snapped at him once, and Caryn had to pull him away.

As a whole though, they’ve become fairly used to his new quirks, but sometimes, Caryn still has her doubts on whether that’s really her son or not. She feels pretty guilty thinking that way, but she likes to think she’s got a good sixth sense for this stuff.

[fangirlingpuggle]

I am *living* for your twins being billford’s kids au. Especially fords reaction lmao

Thank you so much I'm so glad you like the AU!

Ford's reaction is initially fainting, the waking up and trying to remember a karaoke night. Especially after he's awake and looking at Stan 'What I... how do you know they're mine where did they come from I-" and then Stan shows him box the experiment was in and a sticky note with 'Me and My muses BABIES' written in his clearly drunken handwriting.

Ford is blown away...and he is angry/jealous at Stan at first. He stole his name, identity, house and he raised his kids. Stan shuts that down super quick though pointing out he found the kids after years their; experiment shoved away and Ford had forgotten about it... Ford also decides it's good he forgot and didn't find the experiment the kids came from during his paranoia era he doesn't want to think about what he would have done.

He is dealing with being back in his dimension and having kids.. kids who are 12 years old, nearly 13. He has no idea what to do with kids or how to connect and the twins have known about Ford all their lives but him now being here they aren't sure how to approach him at first. Mabel had built up idealized version in mind and Dipper was trying to connect through the journals.

The twins staying in human forms nearly constantly because they don't think Ford will like them in other form. Ford realizing when one of them changes back due and apologize to him and he feels so guilty and assures them he loves all of them and they don't need to hide a part of themselves. Him actually teaching them about how to use their powers from what Bill told him.

He loves both of them so much and is intent on keeping them safe from Bill or anyone else that would hurt them or use their powers.

[inkyrainstorms]

Oh no, no Portaled Fords telling Stanley he's never going home. D: That's just too cruel.

To be honest, I can't imagine (at least) canon Ford doing that? That man is shit at showing how much he loves and cares about his brother before Weirdmageddon, but he does.

Like Martian Stan's Ford does in this AU, he would think HE can bring Stan it while knowing how dangerous it is. But unlike Martian Stan's Ford, he'd be using his ego to cover up that he's desperate is and terrified for Stan, and is willing to risk the universe to save him.

I do think that canon Ford, meeting Martian Stan AU, could feel guilty and hate himself, and by extension AU Ford for what he did to this Stan, however. Getting his brother involved in his mistakes, then letting him be dragged into the Nightmare Realm.

He could doubt if that Ford will truly put in the effort to bring his brother back or sacrifice him to keep Bill out. Denying what he would've done to bring his own brother back if the roles had been reversed.

Whether or not he would share those thoughts with Martian Stan...

ohhh absolutely! Canon Ford would be an absolute mess of emotions at the idea that he could’ve doomed his brother to the Nightmare Realm forever, and he wouldn’t be able to see a safe way to get him home, not with the resources Ford and Stan have on hand. Ford has a really bad habit of Not Sharing his emotions though, so really, Martian Stan would probably be left in the dark about Fords true feelings.

I’m really glad you brought up this point, bc throwing alternate Fords into the mix is always such a good way to highlight their character arcs and growth and it’s like a really messed up funhouse mirror. I can only imagine what a conversation between Martian stan and canon ford would look like

@aroace-get-out-of-my-face this feels like it’s under your jurisdiction too. Also it’s just a fun bit to chew on

[kerink]

@illusioncanthurtme @bee-snail two for one zodiac special! something in the water today i guess lol

i don't have the start or end of my au fleshed out enough to really comment on the zodiac with confidence. while i know for certain they're not present at the start, i'm not sure how i want bill's defeat to go down. but no matter, because for at least most of the story they're wandering the wastelands.

when i was first coming up with this au, my idea had been that it would start when gideon is in jail. instead of making the deal that enabled bill to possess blendin, bill walks gideon through a ritual that will give bill a temporary physical form using gideon's blood and hair. he then uses this form to attack the pines family directly and with more of his typical abilities, allowing him to get the upper hand much more quickly and with a more serious threat.

what i liked about this idea was that it dragged gideon in from the start and really shifted more of the blame onto him. as funny as i find it for it to be "the pines family saves the world and gideon's there also," i think it brings him into the family dynamic more if ford is able to relate to him. the pines family can only be as mad at gideon as they are at ford, because both are guilty of bringing bill to gravity falls. it also allows gideon to have a clear path to redemption and gives him a role model in ford, which would be fun to have him and dipper have tension over.

what i don't like about this idea is that i feel like it'd be too complicated of a way to start, i think it introduces too many questions i don't know if i want to either answer or pretend not to see. i've toyed around with bill having the same show-down with the pines family, but it's after he shatters the rift and blendin fucks off, where instead of retreating, ford and dipper go after mabel, which prevents bills from taking her hostage. i've toyed around with it taking place right after bill captures the pines family post-failed zodiac. i don't know! i'm still leaning towards gideon and i'll just suck it up lol

but anyway, either way, the zodiac has not been assembled.

but like i said, i'm not sure how i want it to end yet! the first half of the au is horror, with everyone in bill's playpen, but the second half is scifi.

spoilers:

the pines + gideon are eventually able to escape the fearamid once time baby crashes the party. ford is able to use the distraction to lead the family away and find a space ship. because not everyone on earth is part of bill's main crew, and as much as they like to pretend at being demons, at the end of the day they're aliens and would have to travel across the nightmare realm to get to the rift.

so ford is able to find a ship he knows how to pilot manually, rips out the ai, and is able to get the family to one of the revolution base/refugee camps where he knows people from his portal days. from there the team are able to recover and regroup while ford hammers out his plan to return to alternate earth and beg fiddleford to help him build another huge fuck off gun, because HIS is back at the mystery shack and bill has that place on lock.

ive been toying for weeks with how i want the final show down to go down. do i want ford to kill him with the gun? do i want stan to pose as ford and kill him with the gun (because if he fails then at least ford has the knowledge and resources to keep the kids safe)? do i want it to fail like in the show and they HAVE to summon the zodiac? i don't know yet! work in progress!

[fordlee]

AU where Stan is the twins’ father, not their grunkle.

If he's being honest, he doesn't remember much about the kids’ mother. He fooled around with a lot of people. For money, for drugs, just to forget about the fact that he was living on the streets. A lot of people come and go, and it's easy to forget names and faces. God only knows how she managed to track him down. Or rather, track his brother down, considering Stanley is supposed to be dead.

The first time he saw his babies on his doorstep… It was like magic. There wasn't a doubt in his mind. He didn't need a paternity test. He could tell. They were his.

Which made it all the worse when the mother of his children went off on him, getting all up in his face over how Stan had ruined her life by saddling her with them. She never wanted kids. She thought she could handle it, but she can't. Stan did this to her, and she didn't care if it was him or his twin, but someone was going to take them off her hands. They were his responsibility now.

It infuriated Stan to no end. For one, he knew full well what it was like to be an unwanted child. To stand on the side of the road with a sign displaying he was up for sale. And for two, he wasn't no goddamn deadbeat dad! If she didn't want them, then good fucking riddance. They'd be raised by the parent that actually gives a shit about them!

So, The Shack and Stan's various scams end up not just being a means to pay for fixing up the big, metaphorical elephant in the basement, but also for necessities (anything for the kids), anything unnecessary (stuff for him), Soos and Wendy's pay, and saving up for two college funds. He feels guilty for splitting up his money in so many directions, but he knows Ford would understand. Ford will understand. Because Stan's getting him back.

He also feels guilty for keeping the twins in the dark about, well, everything. About their family. About why they need so much money. About where he disappears off to in the middle of the night. It's not fair to them, and he knows it, but he's doing it to keep them safe.

Everything he's done has always been for this family.

Though, Mabel and Dipper know little about their extended family. Maybe they get calls from their Grandma or Uncle Shermie, but that's pretty much it. Stan has wagered going down to New Jersey for a visit (last he checked, Ford was still legally allowed in the state), but that's a gamble he couldn't risk losing.

He didn’t want to see his Pops. Sure, to everyone else he was Stanford. Everyone in town knew him as such. His kids thought of themselves as the children of Stanford Pines. Hell, his own mother couldn't tell the difference at his own funeral. But, he had a feeling the old man would see straight through him. And from what he's told the kids, they're not interested in seeing him, anyway. So Gravity Falls is where they stay and the precious little the twins know about their family is through Stan.

Maybe he tells his kids about his brother - a different one, not Uncle Shermie. A twin brother named Stanley. He doesn't mention much. Just that they used to be best friends once. He thought they'd be together forever. But, something happened. It was Stanley's fault. Stanley… Left home. And they've never seen or spoken to each other since. He doesn't even know where his twin is right now. He shuts down Mabel's idea to track him down. It wouldn't be possible. Just let that be a lesson for them, to make sure they never grow up to be like their father and his brother.

Because it's important to Stan to make sure his kids have a healthy relationship. A normal sibling relationship. See, Stan figures a lot of their problems stem from how isolated he and Ford were. They could only really spend time with and confide in each other for the most part, which led to them turning to each other even for things that siblings should be doing together. Even after Stan got with Carla, even near the end, they were still kissing and touching each other. Not only was he a shitty brother, but a shitty boyfriend to boot.

Looking back on it now, he blames himself. He can't remember how it started, but Stan knows he always had a crush on Ford. It was probably something he did. By the time they were nearing the end of high school, Ford was clearly pulling away and Stan was too blind to see it. Too stupid. And now look, he fucked up everything. Twice.

He can't let that happen to his babies, too.

So, Stan makes sure Mabel and Dipper have people outside themselves to hang out with. Like his brother and himself before them, they aren't exactly the most popular kids in school. He knows some of the little shits there pick on them. And Dipper's a little introvert, so he’s usually holed up with some mystery novel somewhere, but Wendy and her friends seem to have taken him under their wing. Mabel has ‘found her people’ with her own little friend group.

Stan also blames his father's unequal treatment between them as a favor for why he and Ford ended up the way they did. Stanley always knew he was stupid and Ford's lesser half, he didn't need the old man to rub it in his face. He always turned to his twin for comfort, and no matter how much Stanford reassured him, it only reinforced what Stan knew to be true. That he needed Ford and he was nothing without him. He'd be eternally chasing Ford's coattails. And look at him now. Eternally nipping his brother's heels while living in his house and profiting off his studies to raise his kids and fix the mistake he made.

Well, nuts to that! Both Mabel and Mason are their own complete people on their own. They're great together, but equally as wonderful as individuals. Stan makes sure to never play favorites. By God, these kids are going to love themselves even if it kills him!

… And, in truth, raising his kids this way, trying his damndest to be a good dad and fix the shit that his Pops did with his own children… It's almost healing. He's far from the perfect dad. He knows it like he knows the back of his hand. Knows it like he knows the pain of a burning, infected brand. It's a constant, screaming mantras in the back of his head. He can always do more. But, he thinks he's made a good little family for himself. He only wishes Ford was here to be a part of it.

Raising the kids, having Soos and Wendy around, it's made him soft. That must be why it hurts so bad when Ford hits him instead of hugging him. That must be why, when Ford threatens to kick him out and keep the children - “Whose name is on the custody document, Stanley?” - he just takes it. That must be why, despite everything that's happened and anything that might happen afterward, he puts on Ford's clothes and pretends to be him. Because despite everything, he still loves Ford. He always will. And the last thing he thinks, before fire overtakes him and before everything goes black, is how he knows that Ford will take care of their kids.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ⁺

The children hate him. Ford knows it, and he deserves it. He deserves it for what he's done to their father, for how he's treated him, and most horrible of all, for nearly taking Stanley from them. Everything he's said and done against Stanley aches in his heart so deep and painful that he fears dying of a heart attack decades before Bill's prediction. Hurting him, insulting him, threatening to keep his children away… He didn't mean it, only wanted to lash out against him. Ford was far from perfect, but he wasn't so cruel as to kick out his brother and prevent him from seeing his children! Truthfully, he was already considering reconciliation. But, because of him, that had almost never come to pass.

He doesn't deserve Stanley's forgiveness after weeks of pouring over photo albums and home videos restores his memories, but Ford receives it regardless. The children aren't as forgiving, which is understandable. And Ford is perfectly content to wait as long as he needs so long as he has Stanley's approval.

And, really, Ford should leave well enough alone. He shouldn't bring up the more romantic parts of their relationship. He should leave it in the past and let Stan live in ignorance about their relationship being anything but normal and platonic.

But, he doesn't. And just as he'd hoped, had prayed, Stan is more than willing to once again indulge in that aspect of their relationship. Stanley really is too good to him. But it shouldn't be a surprise. Experience has shown that when they're together, they can never resist each other for long. And when they part, they always, inevitably, come back together

When they're alone, hugs turn to cuddles and kisses on the cheek become kisses on the lips. Ford lets Soos keep his break room so that he and Stan can share their bed. Before the kids wake up in the morning, either Ford or Stan will wake up first and cuddle the other awake. Stan will cook something up for breakfast and Ford will approach from behind, wrapping his arms around his brother and resting his chin on a shoulder, slowly rocking them from side-to-side.

When it sinks in that their Uncle Ford is here to stay and their Dad (for some reason) holds no real ill will toward him, Mabel and Dipper slowly start warming back up to him - especially with how suddenly affectionate their Dad and Uncle Ford have become.

Ford takes them all on little adventures and outings. He sells inventions and patents to contribute financially alongside Stanley. He purchases a boat that they all take out to travel on during holidays. Ford and Stan share equal interest in the children's schooling and interests and interpersonal relationships. Stan drops Mabel off for sleepovers and Ford picks her up the next day. He and Dipper have a little book club. He helps out in The Shack. They have family dinners at the table and all pile together in the den for movie nights.

It's all so wonderfully domestic. It hits Stanford out of nowhere one day that they really are a family again. Not just as two brothers and his niece and nephew, but as two parents raising their children together. It's near euphoric to realize that he and Stanley are co-parenting Mabel and Dipper. That Stanley is their father but it's Ford's name on the custody papers. It's a dream come true. It's a dream come true to have Mabel and Dipper run into his arms for a hug after school, to sneak a kiss with Stanley before dinner, and to cuddle up with Stan on their shared bed every night, resting his head on his chest and listening to Stan's steady heartbeat to know he's real, he's here, he's alive.

Their perfect happy ending.

Bonus: Pinecest with a darker!Ford:

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ⁺

Despite Stan's best effort, Dipper and Mabel end up getting crushes on each other anyway. Maybe they already know the truth of their father and uncle’s relationship, maybe not.

They're doing kissing practice when Ford walks in on them. They freak out, of course, but are a bit relieved when they realize it's Ford. Their Dad would freak, but at least Uncle Ford is more comfortable around weirdness. They try to explain themselves, both talking over each other with excuses and explanations, but Ford shushes them with a smile.

He tells them this is perfectly natural behavior between siblings. Twins, especially. Who knows them better, and who is better to be with them, than each other?

Their secret is safe with him.

[urdadsceilingfan]

The headcanon that Canon Ford feeling guilty for branding Stan I feel 100% would be the same for your AU, only your Stan would likely feel even more immense guilt for hurting his brother the moment he sees the scar.

Ford could be like “Stan, you lost an arm because of me.”

And Stan would reply “I swore when we were kids that I’d never hurt you, Sixer. And I did, that’s on me.”

The guilt would eat at him and Ford doesn’t get why, because a burn doesn’t compared to the 30 years of pain Stan went through, realizes that Stan has always been a protector. And he feels like in hurting Ford even accidentally, he feels that he failed and is exactly what their father always called him, a failure, a screw up.

BINGO🗣️‼️ You read my mind

Let me add to the wound, Stanley does punch Ford when he gets back out of anger seeing the whole place covered in cobwebs and Ford not believing he’s actually back, having the audacity to think it was a trick (by bill) instead of thinking his “dumb” brother couldn’t possibly find a way out essentially discarding all the years spent surviving and fighting to get back

Although it is met with immediate regret and flashbacks to the burn and project being broken (not like Stan would tell anyone that)

Failing at his one purpose at life to protect Ford and seeing the permanent damage he had left behind really breaks him apart

[helis97]

Stanford decides to reconsider his past actions and tries to give his once beloved pet a better accommodation. His once beloved “pet” is quite horrified to find himself outside the cryogenic machine without the ability to change form.

Au were Ford, after Weirdmageddon, feels guilty about maybe not offering Shifty the best possible way to grow into a balanced individual, and asks Fiddleford to built an inhibitor for the Shapeshifter. So that Ford can try to fix some of the damage while also avoiding being mauled by and angry shape shifting monster.