#drafted au

PRE ACT 1: GREETINGS FROM GLASS SHARD BEACH, N.J. (1951—1969)

◈ 1951

The Pines twins are born, seven years after their older brother, Shermie. This comes as a surprise to their parents, Caryn and Filbrick, and not exactly a welcomed one. Twins mean twice as much money, and they didn't have much of that to begin with. Also, they need to find a new name, since Stan Pines is now insufficient.

Tired of the situation, Filbrick decides that they’ll both be named like that. Caryn, on the other hand, hears her oldest’s complaints and ends up signing their birth certificates with two different names: Stanford Filbrick Pines and Stanley Pines.

◈ 1962

Shermie Pines joins the army, determined to make a man out of himself and make his family and his country proud. At 17, he leaves his place as the pawn shop assistant to enter military school.

◈ 1966

Shermie’s first child is born. At 21 years old, he barely has time to enjoy being a new parent before he has to leave for Vietnam. The baby is raised almost exclusively by their mother and grandmother, as well as a couple of young uncles (14) who are more than willing to babysit.

◈ 1967

Stan and Ford have a… difficult conversation. Ford finds out how different of a childhood they’ve had, and just how much he doesn't know about what happens in his house and the people closest to him.

ACT 1: BORN TO RUN (1969—1972)

◈ 1969

-> April

Ford is called to the principal's office, who offers him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study at West Coast Tech, California. All he has to do is impress the representatives when they arrive at the science fair, and his life will change forever. Ford starts working on a perpetual motion machine right away.

-> May

The night before the science fair, a fight breaks between the twins in the ruins of their childhood dream. They share harsh truths, shameful secrets and stupid misunderstandings. They vow to stand by each other no matter what, despite the world apparently trying to break them apart. For the first time in years, they have each other's back again.

-> June - September

Ford gets accepted into WCT, and right before graduating, Stan manages to find a job. Over the summer, they both work hard to ensure their plan remains intact: Stan earns some money to prove his usefulness, and Ford starts preparations for his new life away from home and family. He leaves in September.

◈ 1970

While Stan works hard to earn money in their hometown, Shermie comes back from war. He doesn't stay for long, as he now harbors a deep resentment towards his officials for sending them to a nearly-sure death, and his father views him as a disappointment for losing the war. Stan barely has time to say goodbye before Shermie moves away to Atlantic City with his wife and their four-year-old.

Seeing as they no longer have Shermie's help, Ford starts sending part of his grant money to ease the rising tension at home.

◈ 1971

-> March

Despite his worries about leaving Stan dealing with their parents on his own and his anxiety at being alone for the first time, Ford manages to make a name for himself on campus. Soon enough, he starts churning out papers, then theses, then impressive projects that catch the eye of several investors. He starts giving lectures at other universities, trying to shift the focus of his investigations to supernatural occurrences. However, he's almost exclusively asked to study and talk about his perpetual motion machine.

In one of the few lectures he manages to do about the multiverse, a hand raises during question time that stops Ford in his tracks. By the end of the conference, he goes home brimming with excitement and a new colleague: Fiddleford McGucket.

-> November

A letter arrives to the Pines household, calling for Stanley to go take his physical exam for the army. Despite his willingness to make his family proud, he does not want to go in the slightest. In a panic, he calls Ford and asks him what to do. They decide that Stan has to try to fail the test however possible.

Unfortunately, the recruiters are used to that by then. Stan goes home with a good grade and an impending draft hanging over his head, leaving only luck to decide his fate.

◈ 1972

-> January

A recruitment letter under the name of Stanley Pines arrives at the pawn shop. The very next night, he secretly runs away.

Thank you so much to everyone who's been following this AU <3

And, as always, I promise there's more to it, I just write really really slowly :)

I was used to you never looking at anyone's face except for mine. You didn't like looking at people in the eye, except for me. You never had any trouble looking right at me, even if you didn't say a word, just staring. Everyone else made you uncomfortable, but not me.

Do I make you uncomfortable now?

I've noticed there are others you manage to look at now. Some for longer than others. Your new best friend, for example. You guys look at each other whenever you speak, especially if you're very invested in the topic. Sometimes he's the one who breaks eye contact first. I've never seen that before.

I'm not upset about that. I'm happy for you, I really mean it.

Things are different now. I know that. It's pretty obvious. And I expected you to have changed. I know I have, it'd be pretty selfish to think you wouldn’t. But I guess I hoped some things would stay the same.

Not that I expected to see you again.

But I see you now. You're here, really here, and no matter how much I look you don't go away. But you don't see me.

You just don't see me.

You look in my direction. You look into my eyes, and I look back. But you don't look at me. You look past me.

Looking at you, I see what I've always seen. I see you, the you I've always known, because it's still you. Your eyes still show you. I'm looking at you, and I see you.

But when you look back, you're not looking at me. You look into my eyes, but it's not me you see.

You're not looking at me. You're looking for me.

But the one you're looking for is not there anymore. All that's left is me.

You look into my eyes.

You look for your brother.

You're looking at me.

You really thought your search was over, huh? You saw me and you thought that finally, finally, you could call it a day and rest. You really thought it was over.

But you're still searching. Every time you look at me, because you haven't found him.

And it might just be me, but you seem more and more desperate every time. I was your best shot at finding him. But if I'm here, then he can't be. Not here, not anywhere else.

You're not gonna find him. Doesn't matter if I'm here or if I leave, because he won't be here even if I'm gone. He left a long time ago.

I'm sorry you don't see him when you look at me. I'm not him. I'm sorry I'm not him. I'm just the carcass he left behind.

You're gonna wanna kill me more actually

Because I just remembered this happens TWICE

(And yes I did use the verb remember as if I'm not the mf who made all of this up)

But yeah. Two different items of clothing from two different people.

Items left behind that someone else held on to.

One old and ratty, left to be forgotten, and rescued by someone who took more care of it than its owner ever would have.

One used but fairly new, lent to someone who forgot to return it, re-gifted to someone who held to it through countless nights, as if by keeping it its owner would come back for it.

But, you know, they're just clothes. I bet seeing them again would mean nothing to their owners, right?

My humble suggestion. Stan in red and Shermie in green bc my first color guess for Shermie was yellow but ultimately decided against it.

Anyway, what is Shermie's "color"?

WAIT THIS JUST REMINDED ME OF THE FORD LINES I STILL GOTTA GUESS- gonna be having fun with that tonight

Leene you have no idea how shit of a day I've had, and you've managed to make me smile regardless. Ily <3

First of all, I picture Shermie as yellow. More specifically, a muted sort of mustard or light ochre. Something like this (I hope the image uploads correctly; if not, the hex and rgb codes are in alt):

Let's get through these! You're pretty 50/50, well done!

WAIT WAIT WAIT

I DONT REMEMBZR IF ADAM RAISED A CAIN IS THE TITLE OF THE FIC WHERE FORD HAS HIS BIG FIGHT DURING ACT 2

IF THATS THE CASE THEN I WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT IT TOO 'CAUSE I STILL NEED MORE EVIDENCE FOR MY THEORY OF WHO HE'S FIGHTING

Hehehe

You'd be right :)

So far it has six chapters, we'll see if I add more, but here you have a bit!

They arrived at the Pawn Shop in the evening. Ford's mother was quick to greet them, running to hug her son and proclaim loud and clear how much she missed him and how much he's grown and how much she missed him again and... It's kind of amusing and sweet at the same time, seeing this woman take his friend's face and kiss it all over like one does with a three-year-old. He finds it even more amusing (and also sweeter) that Ford just lets her, hugging her as soon as she stops moving.

After a while, Ford introduces his mother to Fiddleford. She has a warm smile, he thinks as she shakes his hand. She looks genuinely happy to have him here as well, and she proves so by telling Fidds how happy she is that Ford finally has some friends that he can spend time with. When Fidds looks at Ford, he's looking to the side and blushing. He narrowly stops himself from taking the piss at his friend, half-worried that Ford will ultimately decide to walk all the way back to West Coast.

The three of them enter the shop, which is already closed. Caryn guides them to the second floor so they can leave their luggage, saying that Filbrick is out with some friends and will arrive later for dinner. She stops before Ford's room and announces that she'll be downstairs finishing dinner. Fiddleford doesn’t miss the way Caryn seems to avoid even getting close to the door.

As he enters the room and looks around, he notices something is missing. Specifically, he's missing his friend, who's now frozen in place in the doorway.

"Y’alright? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Stanford replies in a worryingly serious voice.

"I guess it's... different than you remembered it, right?"

"I said it's nothing."

Fidds takes the hint and doesn't ask any further. If he had to bet, he would assume it's the way the room doesn't even look like a bedroom, except for the bunk bed. There's stuff that he guesses is the shop's stock: boxes labelled "jewelry", carpets, painting frames, ornate lamps and all kinds of glass vases and ceramics. It looks clean and organized, but... it feels like he just stepped into a junk room. There aren't any pictures or posters on the walls, not even a desk where a child could do their homework. It's just... a room.

[The song is linked in the text and below the cut as well :)]

Stan has very bad sleeping habits, that much is obvious. Living in a car for seven years while escaping the military will do that to a guy. That and... well, everything else.

Ford doesn't have a good sleeping schedule either (he never had one to begin with), but in the years he's (willingly) spent away from home he's managed to get better at it. After all, fainting in the middle of class a couple of times from the lack of sleep (both from studying and from trying to find Stan) isn't the best way to keep going. Thanks to some external help, he can now sleep a "healthy" amount of hours, granted that he isn't awoken by any interruptions.

Especially if that interruption is his twin crying next to him.

It isn't like Stan is openly sobbing, either. He's very much trying to hide it, to calm himself down, but the tightness in his chest isn't helping in the slightest. Even if you're trained in sobbing quietly, there isn't much you can hide when you share a bed with someone, and Ford's sleep remains as light as ever.

It isn't the first time since their reunion that Ford has woken up because of Stan, and it isn't the first time he's held him, tightly but carefully to not add insult to injury, in an attempt to soothe him in the middle of the night. It is, however, the worst he's seen him; he's shaking like a leaf, murmuring nonsense, his face buried in Ford's shirt. But it's the fact that he isn't clinging to him like he usually does in this cases, the fact that his arms are hanging limply to his sides, that scares Ford the most.

He knows it's because Stan is exhausted. He's getting used to seeing his brother so beaten down, and it's not getting any easier. But the way he looks right now is different; it's like he isn't there at all. He looks like the Stan he used to hug in his worst nightmares, long before hope had come back to his life.

Ford wants to cry. Maybe. He isn't entirely sure. He'd also like to punch something. Or someone. But those options are not available at the moment, so he stays still, letting his rage consume him on the inside but not show, and focuses on hugging Stan. Selfishly enough, he hopes that such a simple action can be of use, even if it clearly isn't like it usually does.

What did Stan usually do when they were kids, and the roles were reversed? He vaguely remembers his brother trying to make him laugh despite the tears, and almost always succeeding. He doubts Stan is up for jokes right now.

What did their mother do? Usually just holding them, and running her slender fingers through their hair. Ford is already doing half of that, and the other half he's recently learned is not an option.

The only other comforting presence he can think of is Fiddleford. His strategy is different, though, as the one being helped was Ford. When he was in a bad mood, either sad or angry, he usually sat at a safe distance from him in silence or picked up his banjo, plucking the strings to whatever song he'd learned the most recently.

The first option is off the table: if there's anything Ford remembers about comforting his brother (in the very scarce occassions Stan would let him) is to never let go first, especially when Stan is so out of it he might not even notice he's gone. While Ford prefers to be left alone and not to be touched when when he's down, his twin is the exact opposite; physical contact used to be one of the few infallible ways in which he would calm down.

How long had it been since Stan had such a moment of comfort?

The second option, as ridiculous as it might be, gives him an idea. Obviously, 3am isn't the time to be playing any music, and he doubts that Stan would like the sound of the banjo anyways. However... Stan had told him about a singer he discovered while he was away. One from New Jersey, too. His brother had mentioned going to three different stores to steal the albums as they came out, so the car wouldn't feel so empty.

Stan talked about him a lot. Supposedly, his music was outstanding. So Ford had gone to listen for himself.

And truth to be told, the music wasn't bad. Some songs he liked better, others he liked worse, but the melodies were certainly beautiful. He could easily imagine himself playing them on the piano, in a more acoustic version.

Well, the music is good. But he doesn't have a piano, and it's way too late to bring a casette player upstairs— not that he's going to let Stan go to get them.

A bigger, more violent shudder makes Ford hold Stan tighter.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

So Ford starts singing.

It's a song he remembers Stan talking about. An album that came out a few years prior, that Ford wasn't expecting much from given the cover, but that surprised him greatly on the opening tune. The soft piano notes mixed perfectly with the harmonica, both beautiful and grounding, and his brother hadn't been able to stop himself from singing, beginning to end. Ford had asked to listen to it again right as it finished, having found himself enjoying the melodies more than he expected. The lyrics had stuck after the fourth time.

The "version" that is coming out of his mouth is much slower than the actual song, both because he's imagining in its mind as a simple piano piece and because he doesn't want to raise his voice much. He feels slightly dumb, probably because this is more of an experiment than a proved theory, and he doesn't have the best voice for singing.

It doesn't seem to matter much to Stan, whose hand has slowly lifted to grab onto Ford's shirt, a tiny but very good sign that has the oldest letting out all the air he didn't know he was holding. He notices that, at some point, he's started to sway slightly, rocking Stan in his arms slowly, rhythmically. Even if that hand it's all the reaction he gets from his brother, he's cont—

Oh.

It's a small movement, barely a small vibration against his chest, that makes Ford realise that Stan is humming along. It's choppy, higher noises mixing with the hums from his full-body shudders, but it's more than Ford could've hoped for. No amount of embarrassment he might be feeling right now or after this night will stop him from singing the full song.

By the time it ends, Ford is looking down at his brother, who seems to have dozed off at some point in the last five minutes despite the slowly decreasing tremors. Before he can sigh in relief, a tiny voice breaks the silence.

"Can you sing it again?"

FIRST OF ALL::

COOOOOMMENT ÇA Y'A FORD QU'EST P'T'ÊTRE CONCERNÉ PAR CE POST????? J'CROYAIS QUE C'ÉTAIT STAN LE WHUMPEE PRINCIPAL DE DRAFTED AU (du moins par rapport à la douleur physique)

"I don't tell you which brother i'm talking about :)" ÇA VEUT TOUT DIRE- ILS VONT TOUS LES DEUX Y PASSER HEAD IN HANDS

J'PARIE COMBIEN QUE POUR FORD ÇA SE PASSE DURANT LA PHASE "Décide de faire quelque chose par rapport au boulot de son frère"

(OH BON DIEU JE VIENS D'Y PENSER MAIS SI ÇA SE TROUVE LE BOULOT DE STANLEY A QUELQUECHOSE À VOIR AVEC LE "Please don't make me elaborate" POST)

DE DEUX::

LITERALLY SHAKING AND VIBRATING AT REASON TO BELIEVE MENTION BECAUSE I DON'T EVEN HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA ABOUT HOW THEY COULD FUCKING GET TO STAN QUICKLY GIVEN THAT THEY'RE IN COLLEGE AND FIDDLEFORD'S MACHINE [SPOILER] UNLESS HE'S SOMEHOW FOUND BY SOMEONE ELSE WHO CALLS AN AMBULANCE FOR HIM

AUAUAUAUKFKZKGBZKWLLZOFKE THAT TROPE OF LITERALLY TAKING ALL THE FIGHT AND WILL TO LIVE OUT OF "LARGER THAN LIFE, FIRE SYMBOLISM" STAN PINES SIAKNALKDAIKFKAKF ZKKGEKKSKA

[in relation to this post]

OKAY BUT THE FACT YOU REMEMEBER ALL OF THOSE LITTLE DETAILS ABOUT THIS AU!!! I'm so honored

I mean... I didn't say "twin", did I? I said "brother" :)

They're all gonna suffer don't you worry lol there's angst and whump for everyone