#tiagicwap

I'm curious what you think Gift Ford would make of Negotiator Stan and what Gift Stan would make of Negotiator Ford? Or just that general situation lmao.

I can't help but think Negotiator Stan would be in two minds a bit; thrilled that this is a Ford that threw everything in the air and said 'fuck you' to the world that's never done anything for him and taken that power for himself. I don't think Negotiator Stan would be particularly offput by the way that Gift Ford is either lmao; he's a bit of an obsessive weirdo himself. But then again, I think Stan - who is angling for an eventuality where he and his Ford are equals would be a little offput by the purposeful denial of power for Gift Stan. His Ford clearly can't take care of himself and he's had to step in - he's the protector. That's his job, why are you taking his job? You deny your Stanley his purpose.

Meanwhile, Negotiator Ford is staring back at Gift Stan like. Blink twice if you need help? Maybe we can escape if we work together? He's very anxious and untrusting but if this guy is in the same situation as him... maybe they can sort something out. He wouldn't hesitate to tell Stan the sorts of things Bill was capable of or show him what he did to him as a way of like warning him to not underestimate him.

Yet the situations are kinda different in a drastic sense because... well, because Negotiator Stan is always planning for Ford to join him as an equal, his arrangements aren't very great. He lets Bill treat Ford in a demeaning way because it's basically just a 'hazing ritual' for him to be treated a bit like how he is in canon (minus the torture); plus if he really wants it to stop, he can just join them. If humans are an inferior lifeform, and he insists on being human, that's basically him choosing team powerless. Not that he minds too much, but he is eager for them to be working together at some point. Meanwhile, Gift Stan is relatively given everything he could want and treated fairly kindly, but without any hope for that sort of 'freedom' he could possibly want. They're both sort of condescended to in very similar but very different ways, but indeed the 'aw you can't make your own decisions' brothers prosper lol.

the 'aw you can't make your own decisions' brothers prosper 🤝🤝

(For those unaware, this is Negotiator Stan)

These guys would be such an interesting combo. Gift Ford is always a little put off by dimensions where Bill chose Stan instead of him, but one look at Negotiator Ford and he’s like “ah, I see.”

Gift Ford would be happy for a chance to talk with a Stan who isn’t sensitive. One he doesn’t have to hold back around and can be evil brothers with :) He completely understands Negotiator Stan’s decision in trapping Negotiator Ford away for his own good, and that sometimes brothers don’t make the best decisions and need decisions to be made for them :)

He’s affectionate with Negotiator Stan, but also still condescending, because as much as Negotiator Stan is a henchmaniac too, Gift Ford will always think he knows better because he’s the older brother. In this case, he’s for Negotiator Stan trying to get Negotiator Ford on his side and join Bill and be equals—because any poor Stan needs their big brother! Negotiator Ford isn’t doing a great job right now of taking care of his little brother. Of course Negotiator Stan needs him as an equal.

Equality is not needed in Gift Ford’s case, of course, because he’s the big brother. So him being the one with power and control only makes sense, and Gift Stan doesn’t need to worry about all those things, just trust his brother to care for him :) If he has no power and is completely dependent on Gift Ford for everything, then he’ll never try to leave because he’ll feel too helpless without his Ford :)

They might have an argument about the protector thing though. Gift Ford firmly believes that a Stan’s purpose is to exist as a Ford’s twin. Why does he have to do anything? He’s the younger brother, he’s the one who should be protected and taken care of! What does Negotiator Stan mean protecting is his job? He just made that up! He can’t just make things up and claim that as every Stan’s purpose!

(Gift Ford ignores the fact that he too made up what he thinks Stan’s purpose is. Of course anything he decides is correct because he is always right.)

Despite that, they’d probably get along well, being an obsessive weirdo 🤝 obsessive weirdo duo

Gift Stan meanwhile would feel quite sympathetic to Negotiator Ford. He knows what it’s like to be locked away and have your autonomy and choices taken from you. It would be a little weird to him, to see it in reverse, and he would be both appalled that another version of himself did this to his Ford, and also a little jealous. Because hey, why does that Stan get cool powers and I don’t? :(

Gift Stan and Negotiator Ford would probably do a lot of mutual complaining about their over-possessive brothers with each other, and Gift Stan… actually might be convinced to help Negotiator Ford escape his situation. But even if they did make it out, Negotiator Ford would find that Gift Stan would just watch him go and not follow. Because in the end, Gift Stan can’t bear to leave Gift Ford.

Though Gift Stan would also try and sell Negotiator Ford on pretending to join the dark side, then once he has powers and can do what he wants, turning on Bill and leaving. Just scam himself into position to be able to be strong enough to oppose Bill and Negotiator Stan.

Summary:

An anthology of "What if...?" Based on the "(Never) Bite the Hand That Feeds" saga, in which Stan and Ford deal with some things... This contains spoilers for chapter 18 Additionally, it is recommended to read the OneShot "Midas Is King and He Holds Me So Tight" ...   Incidentally, the "Stockholm syndrome" warnings refer to something platonic, and all of this is platonic; I thought about writing a chapter focused on Stockholm syndrome with Stan getting confused, Thinking he's in love with Ford, but he's actually mentally unstable and Ford realizes it. But then I thought, "I don't know, I wouldn't want to..." So it's up to him. If you have any ideas, feel free to comment.

Notes:

For Ilentari.

Inspired by This Is a Gift, It Comes With a Price by Ilentari

Anyway. This Is a Gift, It Comes With a Price snippet.

Shermie looked as though he was trying to keep his distance, angry as he was, backing up whenever Ford got too close. Ford kept advancing whenever he did though, jabbing Shermie in the chest with a finger and waving his other hand about.

Stan didn’t allow himself to think too much about it; if he did, he wouldn’t act. Instead he rushed forward, aiming to slip between the two of them and attempt to appease Ford.

His lack of thought came back to bite him—not for the first time—when he failed to take Ford’s erratic movements into account. He had just come around Ford’s side when Ford made another angry gesture, and his hand collided with Stan’s face with an audible noise.

Stan yelped, mainly out of surprise, and reeled back, clutching at his cheek.

Ford and Shermie both froze, Shermie’s eyes going wide as Ford whipped around. A yellow-ringed stare landed on Stan, and something interesting happened then. Stan saw something he hadn’t yet seen on his twin paint Ford’s face:

Horror.

Ford covered his open mouth with a hand in shock, eyes huge.

“Are you alright, Stan?” Shermie asked, brows furrowing.

Stan almost said yes, because he was. It wasn’t as if Ford had been trying to hit him, so there hadn’t been much strength behind the gesture. The smack hadn’t really hurt much, just been unexpected. But more unexpected was Ford’s reaction, and Stan wondered if he could…

Twisting his expression into something pained and making his lip wobble, Stan put on what he hoped was a believable whine and said, “Y-You promised you’d never hurt me!”

He hunched his shoulders and crinkled his eyes as if he were going to cry, staring at Ford with hurt accusation.

Little Heart

(For context this is set few years after the "What if Ford let Stan leave except jk it was a test and he failed so Ford's never letting him outside again" thing so Stan's been heavily conditioned by Ford into the "Big Brother" esc stuff)

"We're almost there, no peaking" Ford said.

"I'm not gonna peak" Stan promised.

Stan was blindfolded and being led by Ford to his present. It was their birthday and Big Brother said he had a big surprise planned for him.

Eventually they left the hallway and went into a room.

There must've been a fan or something in here because there was a slight breeze. It was warm, almost like there was sunlight beaming down, and it smelled like Pine needles. The ground was softer here, like dirt instead of hardwood like most of the Fearamid.

"Now the ground it a little uneven here so be careful. Don't worry, Big Brother will make sure you don't fall"

He was right, the ground was very uneven here. It felt like tree roots.

"Alright" Ford said as they stopped. "This should be far enough. Take off your blindfold"

Stan did just that and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright light.

His jaw dropped at what he saw. They were in a forest, a forest just like the ones on Earth. It had trees that towered above them, Stan could make out an open sky above them, it was everything he had dreamed of since Big Brother brought him home.

"I know how much you've missed going outside" Ford said. "And while I can't go back on my word, since it's your birthday and you've been so good lately, I've made you this" He gestured to the scene around them.

"This is a pocket dimension I've created just for you. You can walk as far as you want and explore to your heart's content without ever reaching any sort of end. It also mimics the environment outside the Fearamid so it will change with the weather, time of day, and seasons"

Stan couldn't believe his ears. "You mean it? It's all for me?"

"Well of course the rest of our family can come and go as they please but yes, I made it just for you Baby Brother. Happy Birthday"

Stan hugged Big Brother with all the thankfulness he could give. "I love it, thank you Big Brother"

Ford returned the hug. "You're welcome. Now, I've arranged for a few hours for us to explore. What do you want to do?"

Stan hadn't felt as happy as he had exploring his new present in a long time. They found a lake to skip stones in, a clearing to cloud watch, a Plaidypus den (Big Brother had brought some safe animals like squirrels and birds to the Forest, and even some anomalies from the town he lived in before Bill came). It felt like a dream, the sun on his face, the wind in his hair, the chirping of birds, the smell of the trees, every little thing Stan hadn't felt in years.

Eventually Ford said they had to go back.

"Do we have to?" Stan asked Big Brother. "What if we stayed just a little bit longer?"

"Don't worry, you'll be able to come back later" Big Brother assured him. "But for now we have other things to do. And I need to show you how to get back inside"

Ford pulled out a watch from his coat. Instead of a clock face, it had a compass. He pressed it like a button and it glowed while the needle moved to a different direction.

"This will help point you back home. There's many in the entryway for you to grab and a few hidden throughout the forest if you loose it. And in the worst case scenario, I'll come looking for you eventually if I think you're lost".

They followed the compass for a little bit until they saw a room with one wall open. The walls were lined with more compasses and there was a door in the middle.

They walked through and suddenly they were in a hallway in the Fearamid like it was a normal room.

"Now", Ford said. "Let's get cleaned up and then head to the main dinning room. The rest of the family should be there waiting for us with dinner, cake, and more presents"

Stan smiled as he followed Ford.

He was so lucky to have him as a big brother

(The end! Happy Birthday Stan, enjoy the faux outside Ford gave you! Just ignore the fact that Ford's the entire reason you can't actually leave in the first place.

Also I would like to mention Ford conditions Stan into thinking of the forest room as "outside" even though its still in the Fearamid.

Hope you enjoyed! Have a good day, evening, and/or night!)

This was a delight to find in my inbox after work 🤌🤌

(If anyone doesn’t know the context Saphire is talking about it’s this oneshot right here: Rushing Towards the Skyline)

Ford made him his own pocket dimension forest 🥺 it’s so sweet 🥺🥺 If you ignore how evil the whole situation is because Ford is the cause of it. It’s sweet 🥺

I think it would be cute if at some points Ford hides or buries treasure in various places for Stan to find. His own little treasure hunts :’) just like he wanted as kids…

If this was set earlier, I would think Stan might use the pocket dimension forest to purposefully hide away from Ford and get some alone time. But since it’s been years I’d bet Stan is too conditioned to want to do that 😔 why would he hide from Big Brother?

But yay! Happy birthday Stan! :) Big Brother has given you an inside outside! He’s also conditioned you to believe you’re the reason you can’t actually go outside anymore. It’s not Ford’s fault, of course. It’s Stan’s for trying to leave and making bad choices :)

(Stan^4 by @thoughtless-in-space)

So many Stan’s and Ford’s. Gift Stan just wants to leave them to their mess until he sees the Ford’s hurt. Then he’s 🥺🥺 This is what happens to versions of his brother when Ford isn’t evil and doesn’t choose to join Bill? Hatred for Bill magnified.

Also maybe a little “why can’t my Ford be less evil and more like these Ford’s? These Ford’s seem nice.” Although a little awkward if teen or paranoid Ford show any sort of resentment to him, because Gift Stan is only used to his Ford showing him smothering amounts of love. He doesn’t really know what to do with a Ford who maybe doesn’t like him.

Gift Ford is butting into everyone’s business. If he learns Bill threatened the Stan’s he’s not happy. He likes Grunkle Ford. Look at this feral guy, doing his best to protect Stanley :) what a good Ford—hey! No biting >:(

Each Stan gets their turn being cooed over because they’ve been through “something so so scary” and big brother has to comfort them so they feel better :)

He doesn’t understand why the Ford’s won’t just open the portal and let Bill in though. Take advantage of the situation, guys! Bill can give you power and everything you want. Oh, did he try to kill Stan? This Bill can rot then :)

The youngest Stan’s get fretted over the most. Gift Ford is picking them up and cuddling kid and teen Stan and telling them how wonderful they are and how nothing is their fault, they don’t know any better, and it’s all okay because big brother will help now. He tells Mullet and Grunkle Stan this as well, and is very happy to see how close the Grunkle twins are.

This Is a Gift, It Comes With a Price chapter 21 🎉