#A Better World

[tinfoil-jones]

Behold the first questionably-canonical appearance of Ford-ΝνΑα17, or the Ford from the Jerk Dimension.

Oh hey we're dropping aus on Dr. Pines? Oh boy!

*dumps Jerk Ford on your dimension*

Have fun~~!!

[A portal opens and Ford falls through]

... Jerk Ford?

I am NOT the Jerk Ford you're thinking of! I am Ford from the Jerk Dimension! Send me back!

Ah, my apologies. My communications tend to do that to random variants of me and my family for some reason.

I understand. Though I would like to go home now, please.

[They both stare at the still open portal. Jerk Dimension Ford enters and the portal closes]

(ooc- thanks @tinfoil-jones )

[thebat-musicman]

AU where Jason was dead for 2 years longer than he was in canon

Leslie: The results are back. Jason, you’re physically two years younger than you should be.

Jason: You mean…

Tim, jumping out of his chair: YES!!!

Leslie: I’m sorry, Jason. Tim is physically older than you now.

Tim: THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!

Jason: This cannot be happening.

Tim, hugging him: Don’t worry, Jason. I’ll be the best big brother ever.

Jason, haunted: I’m going to ask the Joker to try again.

[pigeonsholdup]

I saw this ask and had to doodle.

↓↓ Original Post ↓↓

[prussianmemes]

[padmerry]

Stan’s fate in “A Better World”: a darker headcanon

To begin with this meta, I have to first point out that this is a headcanon of mine, not what I think the writers truly intended, and the “evidence” listed here is merely my reasons for thinking so, since I personally like having some canon basis for all my headcanons. I wanted to share it because I thought people would appreciate the angst potential.

And second, that this is not an invite to hate on Ford. I love fictional tragedies, myself, and, as I have pointed out in previous posts, Ford is my favorite character.

I also want to establish from the beginning that the thing that has always caught my attention in Ford’s “A Better World” description in the journal is that not once does he meet his parallel self, and on that hangs my entire analysis regarding the fate I imagine for Stan in this universe.

Ford gives us a reason why they didn’t meet: parallel!Fiddleford explains that he had been leading a portal expedition to a certain dimension, but one of the security officers ran into his parallel self and as soon as they touched hands, the entire dimension started to warp and fizz with static. Fiddleford and his team barely escaped alive!

But that’s the thing: as soon as they touched hands, only! Not as soon as they saw each other, or as soon as they were in the same room together, or as soon as they talked to each other, like you sometimes see in fanfic! No, it very much required actual skin-to-skin contact. You would think that Professor Stanford Pines, celebrated star of the scientific community, founder of the International Institute of Oddology, and our Ford, 12 PhDs (or fewer PhDs at the time) would have enough sense and self-control to... just not try and touch each other? Or, for security reasons, stand at least a few meters away from each other? If they feared an accidental touch so much, they could have talked through a glass panel or some kind of physical divide. I do believe every Ford must be a deeply curious individual, and you’re telling me that parallel!Ford, known genius, wasn’t capable of creating a way to enable himself to interview his parallel selves safely? Wouldn’t you be very curious to meet your parallel self? I think it’s more likely than not that other versions of Ford would end up pushed through the portal, so our Ford might not even have been the first Ford to visit that dimension.

But instead Fiddleford goes so far as to detain our Ford and hold him captive without even attempting to explain things first! A bit overkill, no? You could say, “but Fiddleford just didn’t want impulsive, reckless Ford to go and run to his parallel self upon seeing him for the first time!” But herein lies the crux of the matter: even after Fiddleford explains things to our Ford, even after our Ford understands he couldn’t touch his parallel self... He still doesn’t meet or talk to parallel!Ford. Wasn’t he trusted enough/allowed to do so, even then?

My Doylist explanation (which considers what led the author to choose a certain path) for that is: the writers just didn’t want the two Fords to meet and wanted to leave it ambiguous. It’s really not that deep! Sometimes, apparent inconsistencies are just plot-convenient and don’t mean anything more.

My favorite Watsonian (in-universe) headcanon for that, though, is: Fiddleford didn’t want them to meet.

Now, would Fiddleford ever lie to Ford? Yes. In fact, he already did, in our original timeline! Ford asked him to destroy the memory gun, Fiddleford apparently agreed. “He was crestfallen by my advice, but after some discussion he came to see the wisdom in it. He said that he didn’t want to risk forgetting his wife and son. I ordered him to destroy the gun, and he did.” (“Ordered”... Oh, Ford, never change...) Reality: Fiddleford hadn’t destroyed it at all, and in fact used it on Ford to erase his memories without Ford’s consent or knowledge.

So even though I don’t think this was, necessarily, either Alex’s or Rob Renzetti’s intentions, I like to think parallel!Fiddleford was bullshitting our Ford a bit. To what extent, I don’t know. The thing about the parallel selves touching and causing a dimension to end might very well be true (in fact, according to Alex’s Word of God, it is! he has said on Twitter that parallel selves really can’t meet in their home dimensions, but can meet in the in-between spaces!) BUT because of the reasons I explained above, it’s my headcanon that it wasn’t the main reason why Fiddleford didn’t want the two Fords meeting.

I just love, love the vibes of A Better World. I love how utterly smitten with that world our Ford is. He describes himself as “drawn” towards the Institute “like a moth to a flame,” and mentions his desire to “revel in [his] parallel self’s success.” He’s utterly smitten it with it despite never once meeting his parallel self. He imagines his parallel self as the happiest man on Earth despite never once meeting his parallel self. He leaves that dimension sighing wistfully despite never once meeting his parallel self. I love how parallel!Ford is just... shrouded in this very ambiguous mystery. It all sounds a little bit ominous to me. Is he happy? Is he satisfied? Does he like what he accomplished?

Our Ford, of course, imagines that he is. Our Ford doesn’t seem to wonder about parallel!Stan, at least as far as we know. If he did, he didn’t write it down, and Stan certainly wasn’t the focus of that journal entry, because that’s who Stanford Pines is: self-centered as all hell, hahah. He has many qualities, but that in particular in one of his biggest flaws. His brother doesn’t even cross his mind, since he’s dazzled by his apparent great success and the fulfillment of his dreams. I think he subconsciously assumed parallel!Stan must have been fine, or else he would certainly have been worried—he loves his brother very much, as I have dedicated a whole meta to point out.

What’s my usual headcanon re: the fate of parallel!Stan? Oh, well, he’s very much dead, or at least missing and believed to be dead. And parallel!Ford, the man Ford believes to be so lucky, is actually miserable. Fiddleford was merely protecting our Ford from the truth.

If you want to get a bit darker, just look at this excerpt from the Not What He Seems script:

Meanwhile, in the Lost Legends comics, specifically Comix Up, Ford is saying shit like this:

We stan an insensitive king who is utterly and blissfully oblivious to his brother’s dangerously low self-esteem and borderline suicidal thoughts...

Before TBoB, I might have been reluctant to think something so dark could happen in GF, since it still is, after all, a cartoon for kids, and Stan’s a main character!

And true enough, supervising producer and story editor Rob Renzetti’s own headcanon for A Better World, asked of him in a HanaHyperfixates’ interview, seems considerably more light-hearted than mine, with Stan blackmailing Ford (adapted a bit for better readability):

I think, maybe, I’d like to think that Stan gets his shit together. Not that he comes back and that him in Ford are reconciled, probably that never can happen. But probably that he extracts some price from his brother, especially when his brother becomes a success, that like, Stan gets set up in some way, in that Ford is maybe happy to do it. [...] It’s more transactional. Like, “well, you hid the Journal for me,” and Stan’s like, “unless you want me to bring that back and unearth that thing, how about a little daily allowance for your brother here?” [...] You know, like, maybe Stan opens his own, a different Mystery Shack somewhere else. Who knows? [...] I don’t know. I think Stan, in that world, is probably doing better than Stan in our world does until they’re reconciled, you know, because he can hold something over his brother’s head.

But then TBoB went and revealed to us that Dipper and Mabel died horrible deaths in all the other timelines, and while I do take that with a grain of salt because it was revealed to us by Bill Cipher and Bill is not trustworthy at all but a professional liar, just the fact Alex acknowledged and played with the possibility of the two protagonists dying horribly in official GF material is already pretty telling in and of itself...

I think that once parallel!Ford called Stan after a decade, unwittingly gave him hope, and then ripped it out from his hands... yeah. We know how important Ford is to Stan. Reconciliation with Ford might very well have been what was pushing Stan forward. Stan can be very, very stubborn—working on a portal for 30 years—when Ford is involved. But having no Ford at all, that’s something else. I think it’s quite believable that Stan might have lost his will to “go on” in such circumstances. Perhaps not by actively killing himself, perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to do that; but by passive lack of resistance against the many threats that came his way. Parallel!Ford might have planned to call Stan back after his issues were solved and the danger of Bill was fully neutralized, but by then it was probably too late.

There’s no way that a Ford of any dimension would react well to the disappearance or possible death of his brother. It’s not the kind of thing he can easily move on from, as even his relationships with other people in his life were shaped by his need to replace Stan (and not due to Stan’s death, but Ford’s own rejection of an alive Stan), like Alex’s commentary on Society of the Blind Eye lets us know:

Ford as somebody who lost Stan is kinda looking for—even though he rejected his brother, he kinda needs, he needs that other person, and he tried to find that in this kinda sweet prodigy and he just pushed him too far.

(More on their codependency here.)

For further dramatic irony, I like to imagine that parallel!Ford would be, ironically, so, so jealous of our Ford’s happy ending with Stan. Actually, as I type this, the funniest (and by “funny,” I mean fascinating, if tragic) idea occurred to me. Perhaps Fiddleford wasn’t only protecting Ford from the truth, like I said, but from a very unstable, grieving, self-loathing man. Perhaps the real reason Fiddleford didn’t allow the two Fords to meet is that parallel!Ford, upon listening to our Ford praise his accomplishments and mildly shit-talk Stan (“I can’t believe Stanley listened to you! He’s so stubborn, so selfish, he never listens!”) would disregard all reason, all training, and all self-control just for the precious chance to punch himself in the face. Dimension ending catastrophe? A minor detail.

[tinfoil-jones]

It would be really funny if ABW!Ford tried to kidnap Jerk Ford's Stan. Heavy emphasis on tried.

Just him going like "oh this Stanley's Ford is a jerk, it's in his name, I have to take him away!" And is absolutely not prepared for Stan being VERY OK with throwing hands and going ape shit to get back

Yes, because the last attempt to kidnap Stan-PJC311 went so well.

Dimension-46'/ (A Better World) and Dimension-PJC311 both follow the same timeline as canon (Dimension-46'\), so Stan and Jerk Ford would be one year post series finale, around a year into Sea Grunks Era. I can only assume that ABW!Ford would be targeting Jerk Ford's Stan either because Jerk Ford has been cyberbullying him, or ABW!Ford has been doing research on different Ford variants and figured that if anyone was a terrible brother who didn't deserve their Stan, it would be 'the worst Ford'.

Now, Stanley isn't some blood thirsty monster unprompted; he's naturally kind and understanding. Seeing as ABW!Ford had no intention of causing him harm, he will try to reason with him for a while.

Telling him that what happened with his brother was terrible and he's so sorry that Ford has been stewing in this grief for so long, and wanting him back is perfectly natural. But his brother is gone, and trying to replace him isn't going to make things magically better, because even if he has another Stan it isn't going to take away the feelings of grief and loss that Ford has. A 'new brother' isn't going to undo the past.

If Dr. Pines of the Institute of Oddology does not respond to Stan's patient understanding and several attempts at reasoning? And he insists that he will not let him go home?

It's important to know that if you're around Stan-PJC311 and you're breathing, it's because he's letting you.

[queer-here-and-in-fear]

au where both twins go through the portal in not what he seems. and ford finds them and helps them out of the nightmare realm.. but he cant keep them. so he goes to the safest dimension he cant think of: a better world.

alternate fiddleford and later alternate ford agree to watch them until ford can get them home. anyway, shenanigans Ensue.

including but not limited too:

grunkle stan, wendy, and soos raising every form of HELL known to man to get the twins back. maybe even getting mcgucket involved.. shermie learning stan Lost his Grandbabies.

og ford occasionally visiting over the months like a weird absent father. feeling so Strange but parental abt these kids.. maybe even taking them on Adventures. those end badly ofc.

the twins being so Weird and Sad abt fiddleford for reasons he doesnt get

alternate ford and dipper bonding over getting over their weird fucked up bill possession trauma.

ALTERNATE FIDDLEFORD GETS MABEL A PIG. WHO SHE NAMES STOMPS.

the kids marvelling over this weird but better (?) gravity falls with alternate versions of all the main cast influenced by fords work. such as:

thief wendy who was forced to steal after her dad lost the ability to lumber because ford made gf protected land.

gleefuls who are northwest level rich after gravity falls became more suburban.

northwests who payed ford to get rid of the ghosts AGES ago and therefore pacificas even worse

amateur cryptid hunters candy and grenda who come by the research center often. their ford and fiddles honorary nieces.

(YES i am going to be weird and sad abt how Definitely Gentrified gravity falls would be in this au)

and ofc: the twins trying their darndest to reconnect the brothers.

[squatch-and-stretch]

Can we talk about Better World Fiddleford for a second? I’m dying to talk about Better World Fiddleford.

Like! Can you imagine, one day, suddenly seeing your friend, your partner, wandering around like he’s never seen this place you built together before and you know it’s not him, not your version of him. And you take him in and he fights for his life, like he’s fought for it before, and you know that he has. He doesn’t tell you as much, but in the bits and pieces you’ve gleaned from him, you know that this is the case. For nearly 30 years he has been out there in the multiverse, fighting.

And he will continue to fight. You could send him home, but he’d never let you. He’s not your Ford, but he’s just as stubborn. You know him too well, even this version of him.

You give him a fighting chance, and that’s all you can offer.

Your own Ford comes back eventually, and you wonder if you’ve sent another Fiddleford’s Stanford to his death. You wonder if that other you would ever even know what happened to him, if he’d even care.

[disgruntleddemon]

I don't get why everyone seems to default to Stan being dead in the better world dimension.

like, all we know is Ford saying Stan actually took the journal and left, but that could mean anything. Even if you assume it went down exactly like the fight in atots, except Ford wasn't portaled, and Stan left, why would he be dead?

Most of the time it's just pretty insensitive use of suicide for angst fodder, which i find even more annoying. I think it's cheap ngl. But also, ooc.

Why should we assume Stan wouldn't go back? Or that the fight played out exactly the same, or that they didn't talk things through, or any number of other possibilities.

People always seem to have a strange urge to put Ford down, or make it seem like he was wrong for having different dreams than Stan. I don't think better world being Ford's dream means Stan's dead in a ditch somewhere. Or that this is a Christmas carol and Ford has to learn the error of his ways and be nice to Stan

It's especially weird in contrast to how cannon plays out. No one has any issues with the sailing ending, but only cause it was primarily STAN'S dream.

Idk! There's just a weird double Standard between how fandom treats the two of them. It's like people see this better world, and get mad at Ford for how much he enjoyed it or not mentioning Stan more.

It's literally everything Ford ever wanted! I don't think he needs to be taught a lesson or learn a lesson. And honestly, Stan's probably fine.

I'd much rather see interesting takes on abw where Ford and Stan made up early rather than one million different variations of "Stan's dead, and it's all Ford's fault cause ego and hubris or whatever"

[enbyzombies2]

not exactly,

[skeletboi]

There has to be Better World fic out there, right? I haven't found it. But it must exist.

Maybe in a better world.

No, but really, I'm thinking of writing a Better World Fiddauthor fic (because they're married, right? Yes. Definitely. Absolutely.)

I have some headcanons about it, but I need more. Send me your Better World headcanon!

[lonelysa1lor]

Once again staring at a wall while thinking about my HC that A Better World Ford is dead and the details of his death were covered up to everyone except Fiddleford and a few others hence why Canon Ford never meets him

[pigeonsholdup]

with the introduction of that one stanford better world au blog I feel the need to ponder this some more. (peak cinema BTW I love the blog)

the fact Ford calls it "A Better World" is so telling to the state of mind he's in while writing the entry.

He is selfish, that's not an opinion, that's a vital part of Ford's character. (Stanley is selfish too, but in different ways.) Ford is selfish when it comes to his research, its his pride and joy. He wanted to stay in the Better World if conditions permitted because he was stuck in a mindset where research is his legacy and his money-making tool. He was the smart twin. The better twin.

Filbrick drilled that into him. So did Bill. It was only when Stan literally stood frozen when confronted with an actually impossible situation that Ford believed it. Because Ford is not Stanley. Ford knew how to operate the machine. Stanley did not. Ford's hubris and assumptions that Stanley should just know how to do things because Ford knows, why can't Stan know too, this is easy shit—That gets him in the end.

Imagine Stan's frozen face, probably still a weird mix of grief-stricken, terrified, and angry being the last thing you see of your world. Would you not interpret that as Stan doing nothing? He could have crossed the threshold, threw him a rope, anything, but he didn't. (Not because Stan decided to be selfish, I'm sure he would have thrown it all away for Ford in that moment, but because he's never even seen this before. He's terrified.) So Ford knocks the shit out of him when he comes back. As a thank you for your ridiculous bullshit that day and today.

His cycle of anger and selfishness is only broken when he and Stan decide to switch. He is staring at his brother's unconscious body sitting on the ground and he is confronted with the reality that Stanley didn't know before but he does now. He spent his life researching, atoning for his mistakes. And now he won't remember any of it. None of the grudges, moments, hugs, heartaches, and kisses goodbye from their mother. He watches it all leave and he realises that no one has understood him more—been more patient, more forgiving, more kind—than Stanley.

So he helps Stan remember. He makes sure Stan remembers.

Ford forgets about the Better World, that one doesn't have Stanley. And a thousand others don't either. Ford is lucky.

So here they are, sailing, living life how they always wanted. And Ford finds himself thinking about Stanley's feelings a little more. About his a little less.

[palatinewolfsblog]

"A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing...

Progress is the realisation of Utopias."

- Oscar Wilde

The wild One (for my old Friend @acommonloon ).

[acourtofquestions]

It was a new world.

Perhaps…

A better world.