#yes it was that lightbulb scene in stanchurian candidate

[jacky-rubou]

was watching a VR YouTuber play a silly hand physics game and then got promptly jumpscared by a Ford and Mabel clip edited in after finishing a lightbulb puzzle...

[azelmaandeponine]

Something nobody pointed was the fact that as the show progresses, Ford's ability of reading the room are increasing. I mean, specially with Stan, maybe he did wanted to reconcille but his attempts failed, because he didn't read the room. If the headcannons of Ford being autistic are true, then, it's clear that he's doing efforts of reading the room.

I mean: in "Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons" and "The Stanchurian Candidate", I mean, he plays with Dipper and also lends him the mind-controlling tie when he sees how down he feels both times, in "The Last Mabelcorn", he tells him about Bill and conforts him after the fiasco in the private study, after well, he sees how damaged Bill left Dipper and of course when he beated himself down.

With Mabel, was in "The Last Mabelcorn", when Mabel asks him if she's a good person and he tells her: "Yes, you are, you saved this family, Mabel.".

Of course it's not perfect, because then we have what happens in "Dipper And Mabel Vs. The Future" and in Weirmdageddon. But it seems, he's trying to read the room.

Also... with Stan, since in the Journal, he wasn't aware of how his follies harmed his friends/family. Well, maybe he started to realize why his attempts of being nice with Stan failed.

I mean, in "Dungeons, Dungeons And More Dungeons" and "The Stanchurian Candidate", Ford wanted to be nice with Stan, that's true, but failed because of his inability of reading the room.

I mean, Stan wanted to watch Ducktective with Mabel and Grenda, to the point they planned everything and he and Dipper took over the room in the meanwhile, when he asked while nicely if he wanted to play, sadly he worded it in a condescending way and the weight of the times Stan gave up something for Ford's sake only to be meet with ingratitude made it worse.

When Stan returned back from the supermarket, of course, Ford created a lightbulb that lasts a lot of time to help Stan with the lighbulb issue, but failed in noticing he without wanting outshined his brother once again, like... Stan wanted to fix this to feel important, doing it for him, made Stan to feel bad at something that haunting him for too long, the feel he's Ford's shadow.

But it's until "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" / "Weirdmagedodn 4: Somewhere In The Woods", it seems Ford that is finally reading the room with Stan and why his previous attempts at getting along with him failed, also, notice he's like, starting to read the room on him:

When Stan blames himself for endangering the lives of Dipper and Mabel and of course ruining the Zodiac, even saying that Filbrick was right about him in being a "screw-up". Ford tells him that he's not the one to blame and deflects the blame on him.

In Journal 3, when Ford muses about asking Stan to sail the sea with him... to cheer himself up, he muses that knowing his twin, he'll join to find "treasures and babes", meaning he did learned from what happened with the Infinity Sided Dice, where his brother doesn't find funny or awesome the same things he does, so he's looking for something else that it's attractive to him. Of course, when Ford asks to Stan if he forgives him and wants to accomplish their dream, Stan asks him that to hide feeling sappy. If they will find "treasures and babes"?

And of course the final scene, where after Dipper and Mabel finally return to their home... Stan feels bad, because he feels alone again, Ford puts his hand on him as a sign of "I'll never leave you behind again, Stanley."

I don't know what do you think? But do you see that is like... Ford is picking up a new skill?

As someone who is autistic, reading the room is hard, and Ford definitely isn't good at it.

In DD&MD, Ford tried to extend an olive branch to Stan, which Stan rebuffed (which...yeah, they were taking up the entire living room lol). In response, Ford scoffs at the idea of watching a kids' show.

In the Stanchurian Candidate, in regards to the lightbulb thing, Ford probably thought he was doing Stan a favor, since Stan doesn't like spending money anyway.

And yeah, Ford meant well with the mind control tie, though...yeah, it wasn't all that well executed lol.

It regards to the Bill thing/Weirmageddon, Ford's blamed himself the whole time. So it's not surprising he told Stan it's his (Ford's) fault.

Though yes, after Weirdmageddon, he IS noticeably communicating with Stan better, and tries appealing to what Stan's interested in.

I think it's less he learned to read the room (that more of something you can do well or something you can't), but more that he and Stan figured out their shit and are communicating better.