Creative Writing: More Pines Family Drabbles and Head Canons

Updated/Additional Head Canons:

• Ford's colour palette change from browns, yellows, and blues to his black and maroon stemmed from Bill's betrayal and his instinctive trust of Stanley (he now hates the colour yellow and had to borrow Stanley's clothes, although he insisted on keeping his old battered trench coat)
• Ford is more protective of Mabel than Stanley and Dipper combined
• Ford has zero common sense whether it be lab safety or what a DVD is or how to write anything helpful in his journals
• Ford is a romantic (who else would take a civil war era lantern on a quest in a dripping wet cave behind a waterfall in the 1970s?)
• Ford enjoyed jamming out to "Young Americans" during his first year in Oregon
• Ford is a good artist - he prefers drawing to photography, and his drawings are pretty realistic
• Ford is a bit of a jerk, but his arrogance comes from being told how smart he is his whole life, Stanley's perceived betrayal (in which he assumed Stanley was jealous of his intelligence), and actual high intelligence
• Ford ultimately has a good heart, but he has a difficult time expressing it
• Ford is manipulative just like all the other Pines family members, but even more prone to extreme measures than Stanley (Stan's hijinks are a result of his criminal past; Ford's are a result of a lack of common sense, like a mind control device to help his brother win the mayoral election, giving Mabel a crossbow, etc.)
• Ford's childhood nickname "Sixer" that was poisoned by Bill is eventually redeemed with good memories on the Stan O' War II with Stanley (which was originally turning a negative
• Ford's extremely guilty and remorseful about his damaged relationships (as evidenced by his thoughts in "The Last Mabelcorn" about Fiddleford)
• Ford's still deeply hurt/scarred/damaged from his childhood bullies (as evidenced by his thoughts in "The Last Mabelcorn" where he thinks about Crampelter who bullied him presumably throughout his entire childhood)
• Ford loves a good pun (literally any page from his journals), and has a pretty dorky "uncle" sense of humour (he and Stanley both love the Yuck-Em Ups 1001 Joke Book)
• Ford remembers the first day Dipper and Mabel referred to him as "Grunkle" Ford, and views it as one of his highest honours - he's loved just as much as Stanley, just for a less amount of time
• It takes a while for Bill to threaten Dipper and Mabel because he doesn't realise how much Ford has changed - how appealing to his ego and selfishness doesn't work anymore because Ford has learned to love his grand niblings and (deep down) Stanley
• The grand niblings idolise Ford by 2x14 due to his fancy genius accomplishments and heroic tales from other dimensions
• In a convoluted way, Ford being angry with Stan for bringing him back still shows that he cares for Stan's safety (although he was still angry with Stan and viewed him as a bit of a mooch like Alex Hirsch said).
• Ford is just as morally ambiguous (if not more so) than Stan - Stan may be a wanted criminal in North America, but Ford is clearly an outlaw across time and space and multiple dimensions.

Stan Head Canons

• Comparing 1x02 to 2x14 is interesting because we see how much Stan wants to be validated and appreciated by his family, and 2x14 adds another layer with his competitiveness with Ford - I think that family has always been important to Stan (especially after being disowned by his father), but it wouldn't be the Pines family if they weren't all a bit manipulative and danger prone (compared to the grandpa with his cute kids in the other boat in 1x02)
• Stan is the twins' father's father's brother.  Originally I wanted him to be their mother's uncle, but I realised that since they all share the same surname, and traditionally the mother is the one who gives up her maiden name, it makes more sense for Stan to be their father's uncle.  He could conceivably be their paternal grandmother's brother, but because there's the mention of Sherman as Stan's other brother and no sister, I think it's fairly accurate to assume that Sherman is Dipper and Mabel's grandfather, and Stan is is older brother.
• As per the tumblr post, Stan's life pre-Ford and his anomalies was genuinely mundane.  He was a criminal the normal way, and didn't have any interactions with the "spook 'ems and scare 'ems" that populate Gravity Falls.  This is the same for the grand niblings - its Ford's interest in the supernatural that bring the mystery to the Pines family.
• Stan has amnesia and memory problems for the rest of his life, but Ford and the rest of the Pines always help him remember after his lapses
• Stan still feels immensely guilty about essentially taking away 30 years of Ford's life - he eventually apologizes to Ford after never apologizing for a single thing for decades.

Pines Family Head Canons

• Sherman is younger than Stan and Ford (unlike most fanfics that have Sherman being significantly older than them).  This is based purely on the image you see in 2x12 when Stan is kicked out and you see Ma Pines in shot with a baby wrapped in a blue blanket. 
• Dipper is a night owl and Mabel is a morning person (she gets upset with Dipper keeping her up all night 2x04, wakes up at 7am looking for fireworks 2x11, etc.)
• Mabel is the key to two of the most important plot points in the entire story (bringing Ford back in 2x11, which is why her sweater has a "key" on the front, and bringing Weirdmaggedon to life when she makes a deal with Bill disguised as Blendin in 2x17) - this is a nice balance to Dipper who usually tries to protect her, is the more obvious lead protagonist (like his arc in 1x19 and 1x20 to defeating Gideon), and shows how her character develops by the end of the story