Hi hi! I love your Ford Clone AU so much! I wanted to know, when Stanley and the Clone say "I love you", is that with romantic context? (I am aware it is tagged Stancest) I just wanted to know if Stan and The Clone are that far deep into this relationship or if Ford is just reading between the lines and jumping to conclusions about their relationship and getting hella jealous.
Oh, thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it.
And to answer your question, without a doubt, when the clone says "I love you," it's not in a brotherly way.
Stanford knows very well that the clone only reflects his deepest desires; he has learned to repress them and act according to expectations, only fantasizing about the idea. But his clone has no problem expressing it, speaking from his true desires.
The problem would be more that they're capturing the signals.
Stanley is certainly unaware of this; of course, he finds it very strange that his distant and unaffectionate brother suddenly showers him with kind words, but he supposes that's how it works for him.
At first he believes his brother is being sincere eventually opening up and being more emotionally honest with him; it's not uncommon for people in the family to say "I love you" to each other, He is very happy that his brother reminds him that he is loved even when he is clingy with him, because he loves his brother too.
I'd like to delve much deeper into this, but I have some drawings that better illustrate this topic, and I think I'll use them to write my whole essay explaining this whole mess.
I should mention that English is complicated when it comes to these topics
Porque el amar y querer no es igual!
En ingles no hay nada que se parezca dios mio!!