I've Had This Idea For A While - The Dynamic Pre-finale But Post-portal-reactivation Is Brief But Super

stancest edit – me and my husband (mitski)

Omg ok I think I found another extraneous detail that I can wildly contort into something that feeds my sick Stancest needs.

Stan’s fanfiction.

So here’s an excerpt of official audio from Alex:

The setup is that the duchess cheats on the duke with this self insert “stable uncle”. Ok what you’d expect so far, he self ships himself with the attractive female lead, and his romantic rival is a very well spoken duke with whom he has some mutual disdain for (hm… well spoken and antagonistic toward him, I wonder if there’s anyone he drew real life inspiration from…?)

As a side note, I would like to point out that he describes the affair as “forbidden” implying that forbidden love is an appealing idea to him...

But what makes this really interesting is the title of his fanfic. Which is this:

The DUKE’S Temptations, not the stable uncle’s or even the duchess’s temptations. The DUKE’S. Now this is a little odd considering that this duke character isn’t his insert character but rather a RIVAL to his insert character. The assumed scenario from the audio would be that the focus is on the duchess having an affair with Stan’s insert, but this suggests that the focus would shift and that the duke himself is tempted into an affair.

Given that the duke’s speaking patterns sound awfully similar to ford’s as well the petty jabs at each other sounding just as familiar, I think it’s safe to say that the duke is the ford insert character.

And being that the title is what it is, I really don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the duke must become the main love interest for stan’s insert. I mean Stan’s character must remain the protagonist right? It would be odd for him to write an insert fic without his own romance being the main focus.

So there would be a change in attitudes on both sides. Literally enemies to lovers. Two men who come to understand each other amid their competition and develop a mutual passion that runs much deeper than their contempt ever did. A forbidden and dangerous affair. A temptation that neither can resist. Wow. Soos needs to needs to upload this to ao3 asap. I wanna read this now.

HELLO FLATLAND COMMUNITY.

I'm crying, I just wanna read any other ship, but the stans got way too much chemistry. Like, I know it's probably not intentional but DAMN 😭 this fanfic would be so much better if it was about them instead.

And me, trying to move on, I go read an actual stancest fic and guess what? Stan has more chemistry with Fiddleford than with Ford. Someone end me

Edit: Had to go back and edit bc I fully started typing in Spanish halfway through like... am I okay?? Literally mid-stancest breakdown and my brain just said ¡vamos a cambiar de idioma!

I LOVE YOUR STANCEST ART RAAAAHH what’s your top five best stancest fanfic recs?

Thank you so much!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧💕💕💕 I'm not the best person to ask this to lmao, since 1) I'm a slow reader, I don't have much time to read, and I probably yet have to find some gems and 2) I read and tend to fall in love with unfinished works, that I know many people avoid like the plague. That said, I won't do a top 5 because I don't think any of these are better than the others, but I'll recommend some of my fave Stancest fics so far. I hope you'll enjoy! ❤ "bad moon on the rise" by calciseptine. If you like teenstans and Ford being down bad for his clueless bro, this is for you.

🧡 "The Guardian" by cellard00rs. Stanford travels back in time to check on Stan during his drifter years. I did some trad sketches of this fanfics, I gotta ink them digitally one of these days. 💛 "Brand New", unfortunately by Anonymous. I won't tell you anything, it's best to go into this one blind- I'll just say it got my favorite brand of fucked-up, opportunistic, dark Ford.

💚 "Learning Commons" by Frondere. AU with so much going on, so many elements to keep you hooked...There's many chapters too, so if you're into something rich and lengthy to read, this is ideal! 💙 "Tough as Nails" by sixerstanley. If you enjoy intense, deep exploration of the Stans' feelings, thoughts and relationship, you'll love this one! There's so much tension, and then tenderness, it's such a great read.

💜 "stay (it doesn't have to hurt)" again by calciseptine. Okay, this one doesn't actually get to any Stancest, as it stops at chapter one, but is SO GOOD. Especially if, like me, you love drifter Stan, you should read it. It's just that good.

🖤 "The Pull Of You" by an orphaned account, sadly. The way they're written as teenagers here is so authentic and natural. The intimacy, the tension, the desire, the daily rituals.... Pretty great read, but get ready for the heartbreak at the end.

ford's encounter with the dream hipster revealing his greatest nightmare isnt JUST stanley dying, but it's very specifically stan dying *by his own hands*. one that he is responsible for, and where he'll be a spectator to his brother's doom, caused by HIM, and HIS hands.

And you have to wonder what scenario could possibly exist where that would happen.

I mean him killing his brother, caused by something that's his fault?

something else i really like is how even the dream hipster's joke "LOOKS LIKE YOU FINALLY GAVE YOUR BROTHER A HAND" is a poke at repressed guilt ford had about not helping stan.

guilt ford tries to hide, because it forces him to ask— acknowledge if he had a choice in losing his brother. to write in code, asking himself, "have i been too harsh all along?" while dropping tears onto the drawing of stanley offering him one last high six

"who knows what could happen if Cipher stepped inside stanley's mind for even one minute?" i guess what happened is literally ford's worst nightmare. kind of funny

Drawn by Aimydraws

had an urge so. stancest-inspired stimboard :).

gif sources: one two three four five six seven eight nine.

No because stan and ford not realizing they’re in love until they’re like in the middle of fucking sends me

IKR😭😭😭 But fr. I know we kinda make fun of gen artists for making them too close for normal brothers but really? They themselves wouldn't be aware, too. They were always weird about each other, no matter how you see it, and post-canon mutual compliance can really go for miles. And they would really really be happy with staying just platonic bros but. The need. The pull is just too heavy to ignore, especially in such close proximity to the object of your desires. And if the other doesn't say anything, then it's fine, yes? Then this, whatever that is, is allowed.

I know it sounds silly I'm self-aware but I genuinely love this concept, thank you for listening to my ramblings 🥰

Ford is a jerk to Fiddleford McGucket in Journal 3. Let's talk about that.

First I want to preface this post by saying that I adore Ford. He is a wonderful character who has influenced my life in countless ways for the better. All of the things he does in this list a) stem from his own insecurities that he's projecting b) are symptoms of Ford's narcissistic defense mechanisms c) or come from Bill's influence on him. However, just because there are reasons for his actions doesn't excuse them, especially considering just how many there are.

Here's the list of things he does, I'll analyze at the end of the post.

Let's get the petty things out of the way first.

The cubic's cube: I think it is just straight up an absolute jerk move to scramble this thing that's clearly a comfort to him and think it's funny.

Being in shape: It's obvious his comments here are from his own insecurity but on a deeper level it just speaks to how Ford sees him, I think.

Not telling Fidds about Bill: Obviously Bill was feeding him a lot of paranoia but it's the reasoning that he writes down that gets me. It's so condescending.

The Gremloblin & The Shapeshifter

Something I think that's worth taking note of is the way Ford illustrates both of these instances. He brushes off Fiddleford's concerns multiple times and then Fiddleford pays the price and Ford sees himself as some kind of hero and Fiddleford this helpless victim. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

And then afterwards the way he handles not just Fiddleford's anxiety but the genuine trauma he went through. I know he's an old man, I know that's how he was treated, but Fiddleford is supposed to be his friend.

The Portal Test

Specifically their interaction at the diner and Ford's reaction to Fiddleford quitting the project. Fiddleford SELFLESSLY spends untold hours on this thesis for Ford because he cares about him and sees him burning out, even though Ford hasn't been great to him and Fidds has been going through his own hard things - not just with the gremloblin and the Shapeshifter, but things with his family as well. Ford does not match that selfless devotion at all. In fact, he sees it as an insult.

Analysis

The reason I've been thinking about this is because of Book of Bill and how that's influenced the shipping atmosphere. There's this weird notion that FiddAuthor is a less toxic ship but I think that's absurd. Besides their hug at Weirdmageddon, these journal entries are pretty much all we see of Ford's relationship with Fiddleford and it doesn't paint a pretty picture. Yes Ford is excited to have Fiddleford come to see him, yes Ford has that sweet conversation with him under the stars, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that all the above evidence outweighs hat. At the very least it shouldn't be ignored.

That doesn't mean Ford is a terrible person and we should hate him. I believe strongly in nuance and Ford is a character that requires nuance. I don't think he's an evil person, but I also don't think he should be babied as this perfect wittle guy who can do no wrong either. Both readings do a disservice to him.

Ford clearly had a hard childhood. He's isolated himself his whole life and he's been severely traumatized by Bill. But that doesn't mean that he deserves Fiddleford's forgiveness - Ford wasn't really that kind to him and his actions inadvertently led to the memory gun/Fidds' exposure to Bill. Ultimately it's Fiddleford's choice to make; I wouldn't fault him if he didn't want to ever see Ford again, but I think it's a testament to his goodness that he still cares for Ford as much as he does.

So what do I personally think? Man. I'm just sad we don't know more about Fiddleford McGucket than we do. He's so essential to Bill's defeat and to Ford's past and he's such a cool character but we know so little about him. I want to know what his childhood was like, I want to know how he ended up in Backupsmore, I want to know why he cares about Ford as much as he does, I want to know why things ended so poorly with EmmaMay. But we may never know those things for certain. So with the things we're left... Yeah, I think FiddAuthor is a compelling reading, one that I certainly enjoy. I just worry about the fandom babying Ford.