#Which means something probably happened to Ford and Stan doesn't want anyone to know

[astro-b-o-y-d]

How pissed do you think Shermie was when he found out about what really happened with Stan and Ford???

#Hayley Speaks #It might not hit as hard if you headcanon him as the baby in the flashback #But if you don't and you headcanon him as older than them it's like #Okay so he comes home to find out one of his younger brothers got kicked out #And the other moved all the way to the other side of the country #And then the news about Stan being dead comes up #So I fully imagine that while Stan never outright told him about what happened; he knows damn well that he's not Ford #Even after all the time they spent apart; that is so CLEARLY Stanley Pines who is suddenly going by Stanford #Maybe Stan hides his hands around Shermie to continue the con but Shermie knows #Which means something probably happened to Ford and Stan doesn't want anyone to know #So he keeps the secret and doesn't let on that he knows #He could always confront Stan about it but also like #The last time he really saw Stan was long before he got kicked out of the house #He does NOT want to scare off what is potentially the only brother he has left #He's always felt like the third wheel when it came to them; both because of the twin thing and the 'being the oldest' thing #Combined with the whole 'Pines men don't talk about their feelings' thing; he thinks it's best to just let Stan keep pretending to be Ford #And silently mourn the loss of the brother that the rest of the family doesn't realize is even gone #But THEN the grandkids are like 'Yeah Grunkle Stan's twin brother is back now!' and he's PISSED OFF #He kept Stan's secret for THIRTY YEARS and the bastard didn't even have the gall to let him know that Ford was back face to face #Neither of the bastards had the gall to do it?! #They just took off on a fishing boat together in search of adventure?? #He's so mad at them but also...that is so painfully in character for them. At least from the memories he has of them as young kids. #But also.......he's their brother #They couldn't have told him ANYTHING???

[ckret2]

There’s theories that Stan had some past encounters with Bill during the portal days, which is how Bill was able to get into Stans head without a proper summoning in Dreamscapers.

Also, curious, but does Bill know what the brand means? I have my own theories as to what the brand does, but I like seeing others too

I don't subscribe to the "Bill and Stan have met" headcanon myself. I feel like saying "Stan already knew Bill" retroactively detracts from Weirdmageddon—it creates a lot of loose ends to give them a prior relationship that was never mentioned and none of the other characters find out. It's not as good as "Bill messes with every one of the Pines EXCEPT Stan, and then as punishment for messing with Stan's family, Bill gets punched to death by some guy he's never formally met before." That's their first and last meeting. I like it.

Ford makes a clear distinction that Bill can haunt his dreams but not enter his mind as long as they don't shake hands. We also see Bill pestering Dipper in his dreams before Dipper makes a deal with him. So I figure the rule is that Bill needs someone to summon him (like Gideon did) to get into Gravity Falls' psychic plane, and once he's in the psychic plane he can visit anybody's dreams he wants (like Stan's, Dipper's, and Ford's). Possession, and the ability to dig deeper into someone's psyche, require a handshake.

You could make a case like "well, Bill WAS digging into Stan's memories, which is the same sort of thing Ford said Bill would have to shake his hand to do in Weirdmageddon; so doesn't that mean a deal happened?" I have two explanations for that:

Out-of-universe, Dreamscaperers was a season 1 episode, before the crew decided how significant Bill would be or mapped out their season 2 plan. I figure they probably just hadn't refined his power set yet and we aren't supposed to think too hard about it.

In-universe, you could say, yeah, he COULDN'T dig into Stan's memories without making a deal—and so he had to taunt the mystery crew into doing the digging for him.

(This feels like the kind of detail a fan would probably have asked the creators about at some point, but if anyone did, I haven't found a mention of it yet. If there HAS been a comment on it, I'd appreciate a link!)

As for the brand:

STANS TATTOO MEANS WATCH YOUR STEP!

Considering that Stan got it during a fight when he stumbled against a hot piece of equipment, I assume that here Bill's referring to the fact that he got the brand in an accident—and so I also assume that Bill's coyly avoiding admitting that actually the brand doesn't actually have any deeper meaning.

(Obviously, that doesn't HAVE to be what he's saying—you could just as easily headcanon "well Bill's a liar so maybe the brand DOES have a deeper meaning and Bill is avoiding revealing the truth by instead alluding to how Stan got it." But for my own headcanons, this is one case where I prefer Occam's Razor.)

Ford & Fidds built the portal by raiding the crashed UFO under Gravity Falls for supplies. Given that, I assume that the overheated piece of equipment Stan fell against was some symbol that has meaning on the alien ship—and, since F&F took it away from its original context, the symbol probably doesn't have an appropriate meaning within the portal equipment where it's now been installed. Maybe it just says "HOT." Maybe it was a label for engine parts to help the ship's mechanics—"BOILER" or "MAIN CONTROLS" or the like. Maybe it came from the the aliens' public restroom stalls and it says "OCCUPIED."

If we wanna get all smart, maybe the symbol says something like "CAUTION"—and so Bill was technically telling the truth when he translated it to "watch your step." I like that idea because it's funny/clever, fits in with what Bill's told us, and would be a reasonable thing for the symbol to say given where it came from.

#grunkle stan #bill cipher #gravity falls #anonymous #ask

[braveparanoiac]

What’s the lie your character says most often?

It took me, personally, too long to think of the right answer. Truthfully you both gave me questions that sort of stumped me. This one shouldn't have, though - there's a very obvious answer - his height, his tattoo, and some things regarding Bill.

I want to get into the specifics of the last one, though, because I don't think I've gotten into the details of it. I want to preface with abuse shouldn't be romanticized and that what Ford went through isn't ideal or okay whatsoever.

However, personally, I think Ford and Bill have romantic feelings for each other. Have, yes - Ford still has these, and this is the particular thing I think he lies about the ABSOLUTE most. I think he tries to even lie to himself about it some days that those feelings aren't still there, simply because of the combination of all the times Bill has hurt him or his family and the resulting trauma it has in his brain. It's extremely rare when you can get him to be completely honest about the love/hate he feels towards Bill. It's something he's also still not fully over. I think, ideally, he'd prefer to have his idea of Bill back, even if he'd be worshipping and admiring Bill in the most literal and unhealthy sense of the words. That version of Bill is the person he (romantically) loves most. He probably projected this image of Bill early on while going through grief of realizing that person never existed. I think he likely started to love the way Bill was and still is now. And I think to a certain degree, he liked the degradation he got in Weirdmageddon, where he was pretty much chained up and objectified as some sort of pet or trophy for his "Muse." Not that any of this is healthy and ideal for people, mind you - this is simply how I think Ford thinks and feels and you will be catching this in my portrayal.

But he also currently can't forgive Bill for all the wrong he has done. Bill really is his greatest enemy and if he could be confident that killing him now would mean he'd be gone forever, I think he would kill him, despite the fact that he loves him. Currently he has doubts that it'd work, however - while he does not care for Bill, he also has no reason to believe he wouldn't come back to life once more. Which is one of the reasons why he prefers to keep Bill around on the boat - he thinks it's the next best thing. The other reason being, of course, that no matter what, he will love Bill. And it'd take specific situations I think for him to stop and admit all of it - that he loves him and can't seem to get over it but also despises him with all of his being at this time. Which... has technically happened. Raoul admitting he too has gone through something similar got Ford to admit it. Raoul, and then maybe Stan? Maybe Bill? Are likely the only other people that know about the complicated ...everything... Ford has towards Bill.

And as a note, you do not have to forgive your abusers. In fact uh??? Please don't??? Do that??? But, it's possible for my portrayal to go into that direction regarding Bill and Ford after LOTS of development. And as always, if any of this needs to be tagged for anyone specifically in the future, do let me know.

tdlr: ford misses the person he thought he knew perhaps way too much and will lie to others about it, and in extreme cases, also lies to himself about it, a lot. Number one thing on his list he frequently lies about. Doesn't help that Bill is on the boat with the twins.

#the answer is still unknown(asks) #tw abuse #ask to tag #tw long post