Webcomic / GF Serendipity

GF Serendipity is a Gravity Falls fanfic comic series by OrangePhoenix6.

In the original series, Stan had been kicked out of home by his parents and estranged from his twin brother Ford after inadvertently wrecking his science fair project. Stan spent ten years as an unsuccessful con artist, while Ford teamed up with Fiddleford to build the portal to other dimensions.

Orange Phoenix, however, imagined an AU where Fiddleford met Stan Pines first before getting a call from Ford. Stan is able to use his business savvy to sell Fiddleford's invention of a laptop and the result is the two becoming multi-millionaires and captains of the computer industry within a few short years. But in the midst of his success, Stan gets a call about his missing brother, forcing him to rescue his brother from his own obesession.

The comics are published on DeviantArt. The first part can be found here, while the main story can be found here.

Tropes Are:

• Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: According to Word of God, part of the premise of the story was the belief that Stan was actually a competant and charismatic businessman, but ended up selling crappy products. Upon selling something legitimately good, he and Fiddleford become successes very quickly.
• Alternate Universe Fic
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Stan's description of Ford's situation.
  Stan: He's got no home! He's got no hands! He's got a mullet for Pete's sake!
• Berserk Button: Stan is quite upset at his parents for not caring about him during the years he spent outside their lives while they worry over Stanford's mere months. He also feels insulted by the deal offered by Bill.
• Big Brother Instinct: Stan is willing to help his brother despite being ignored by him for ten years, becomes horrified, concerned and worried when he sees what sort of trouble Ford got in and eventually clocks Bill-possessed-Ford after hearing everything Bill did and what he has planned.
• Big Fancy House: Orange Phoenix confirmed at least the fancy part in Stan's case.
• Cassette Craze: The first page of the "Fiddleford's Log" arc shows that Fiddleford is recording his narration into a cassette.
• Deal with the Devil: Ford's deal with Bill went a lot worse than in canon. He's become a deranged hermit living in a dump who is enthralled by the demon. Ford also made one with the Hand Witch: his six-fingered hands for an artifact that Ford attempted to use to summon Bill. More specifically, his hands and since Bill was an Energy Being, both he and Bill figured Bill would regenerate if just his hands were summoned. The result was the intense damage done to the Shack. Bill Cipher attempts one with Stan who, unsurprisingly, turns him down flat when he asks for Fiddleford even after Bill sweetens the deal by offering Fiddleford's half of the business.
• Demonic Possession: Bill can apparently possess Ford whenever he pleases.
• Eccentric Millionaire: Downplayed with Stan. He has a bathtub installed inside his office but otherwise the story doesn't show how he spends his money.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Stan is the last person Bill Cipher expected to show up at Ford's shack. OrangePhoenix6 mentions the estrangement between Stan and Ford to be one of Bill's reasons. Bill is later surprised that Stan wouldn't sell out Fiddleford to make him leave Ford alone.
• The Faceless: Fiddleford's wife appears but the readers don't get to see her face.
• Famed In-Story: When Stan arrives at Gravity Falls, the townsfolk all clamor around him like he is a celebrity since he runs a successful computer company. It's a mirror to the scene in "Tale of Two Stans", when the townsfolk were mistaking him for Ford.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • Stan only decides to track down Ford when his parents call him up to ask if he saw him.
  • Fiddleford ends up working with a different Stan Pines (the Grunkle Stan we all know and love) rather than Ford due to a chance meeting in a bar.
    • Without Fiddleford, Ford was never able to get the portal to work. He tried compensating with magitek and sorcery, but it didn't work and almost completely destroyed the Mystery Shack.
  • Stan indirectly led to Toby's "Razz Dazzler" dream actually going somewhere. Subverted because the author says the dream won't last long.
• Give Me Back My Wallet: In Fiddleford's Log, he says Stan became someone he could trust but not with his wallet. Page 2 ends with an unimpressed Fiddleford making a "give it back" move with his hand while Stan sheepishly returns the wallet. Word of God says Fiddleford "brings at least one decoy wallet" and "Stan usually takes it just to mess with him (most of the time...)." Word of God also says "Fiddleford's become nearly impossible to be robbed by anyone else".
• Go Mad from the Isolation: Ford, even more so than in canon without Fiddleford to help him, since Bill Cipher was able to corner him.
• Happy Ending Override: Of a sort: the original comic that kickstarted this AU ended with Stan and Fiddleford becoming successes. The comic picks up some time later, with Stan getting a call from his parents asking if he heard from Ford...
• Honorary Uncle: Stan is well-aqauinted with the McGucket family, with Mrs. McGucket even calling him "Uncle Stan" when talking to her son.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • When Stan enters the grocery store at Gravity Falls, Stan is accosted by customers who recognize him. This time though, they recognize him as himself, since he is a very wealthy and popular businessman.
  • Stan still brings up the existence of a mullet when arguing with Ford albeit when Bill is in control, and Ford having the mullet this time.
  • When Stan takes Ford with him to Palo Alto, he also takes Gompers the goat's grandfather, Meanie. Word of God says Gompers will exist in spite of this.
  • If part 11 of "Fiddleford's Log" is any indication, either Fiddleford has drawn up the blueprints for the memory gun, or has only thought them up. Keep in mind, this means he hasn't made it.
• Irony: Prior to the point when this fic diverges from canon, Stan and Ford's High School Principal thought Ford would become a millionaire and the best Stan could accomplish was being the one to scrape barnacles off a taffy shop by the boardwalk. Nowadays Stan is a millionaire and Ford lives in a ruined cabin and wears rags. The irony is bigger because Stan's fortune started when he helped Fiddleford McGucket sell an invention Ford dismissed as a waste of time.
• It Will Never Catch On: Stan was the only one to think otherwise about Fiddleford's invention and that's the only reason the latter agreed to form their business partnership.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • The Pines parents. They threw Stan out and are clearly unapologetic about it, but they called Stan so that he could check up on his missing brother, not to ask him for money.
  • Stan himself, who despite being mad at his family for not speaking to him in 10 years, calls back his mother in order to fins his brother. His frustration becomes legitimate concern when he sees what Ford got involved with. He was also unwilling to trade Fiddleford to free his brother even if accepting the trade meant getting Fiddleford's half of the business.
• Kill It with Fire: How the gnome in Ford's beard goes out thanks to Bill and a blow torch.
• Morality Pet: The comic makes the case that had Fiddleford never met Ford, the latter would have really gone off the deep end in his research. Further, it makes Fiddleford out to be one for Stanley, since with Fiddleford around Stan is not only successful but isn't as much of a con man.
• Mythology Gag: Upon seeing Ford's shack, Stan says it'd make a good tourist attraction. That's what Stan uses Ford's place for in canon.
• Nominal Importance:
  • Stan's assistant only appeared in Page 01 but Orangephoenix6 gave him a name^note Harvard "Harv" Oakland out of hope the character will be used later in the story.
  • The only canon characters to be referenced by their names are Stan, Ford, Fiddleford, Tate and Bill.
• Oh, Crap!: The gnome living in Ford's beard has this reaction when Bill Cipher pulls out a blow torch.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Stan's behavior as described in Fiddleford's Log page 7.
  Fiddleford: I reckon he must've been worried since he hadn't even picked my pocket.
• Rags to Riches: The original comic shows the beginning of the business partnership between Stan and Fiddleford and ends with Stan's Dad reading a newspaper article about the two of them becoming millionaires.
• Recruited from the Gutter: Stan Pines was a homeless grifter until Fiddleford McGucket, who was desperately looking for a way to sell his invention, recruited Stan's help just because Stan claimed all it took was "the right sales pitch" and he could sell it "in a snap". They now run "one of the most successful companies in the country".
• Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling: Stan earned his millions by helping Fiddleford sell his laptops while his twin brother Ford wasted his college grant in a failed research and now lives in a dilapidated cabin.
• Room Full of Crazy: Stan uncovers Ford's lab. It's full of drawings of Bill's eye, and a shrine to Bill containing the journals.
  Stan: Yeah, this is normal.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Before meeting Fiddleford, Stan got himself banned from some states for selling shoddy products. Orange Phoenix says Stan'll use bribery to get these bans lifted.
• Self-Made Man: Stan and Fiddleford become Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
• Shout-Out: The 3-eyed skull at page 12 is a small reference to 3×3 Eyes.
• Shrouded in Myth: Stan is so rich he's rumored to have bought a whole country. The fic's author says Stan didn't.
• Spit Take: Stan's reaction when Harv informs him there's a phone call from his parents.
• Talker and Doer: Stan is the talker and Fiddleford is the doer. Stan can talk people into buying Fiddleford's inventions and Fiddleford can make products that are so good Stan doesn't need to lie about them in advertisements.
• Tempting Fate: While looking for Ford inside the shack, Stan is freaked out by all the creepy imagery and he sarcastically comments if animal sacrifice is coming next. Upon noticing a goat, he attempts to do a Screw This, I'm Outta Here with the goat.
• The Unfavorite: Stan's parents care more about Ford than about him.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Fiddleford fully calls Stan one of his best friend, but is certainly aware of Stan's past dealings as a conman and pickpocket attempts (though Word of God does mention that this means that virtually no one else can pickpocket Fiddleford because of experience). Furthermore, Stan is well-acqauinted with the McGucket family, with Mrs. McGucket even calling him "Uncle Stan" when talking to her son. Stan also adamantly refuses to sell out Fiddleford to Bill.
• What You Are in the Dark:
  • How the story kicks off: after his parents call him up asking if he knows where Ford is, Stan tells them off for not checking in with him for ten years and only calling when Ford is missing, says Ford "can drop off the face of the Earth for all [he cares]", and hangs up. One quick glance at a photo of the two of them as he tries to calm down forces Stan to redial, asking when they last talked to Ford.
  • Bill gives Stan the following offer: Ford for Fiddleford. Stan calls him crazy and punches him out.
    • Earlier, before he even finds out about Ford's current state, Stan considers just leaving and lying to his mom about Ford's whereabouts. Meanie basically guilt trips him into sticking around.
  • Fiddleford seriously considers letting Stan deal with Bill on his own (it's implied he even considers making the memory gun). And then:
    Fiddleford: (to Stan) Let's get to work.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Stan and Fiddleford assume they can just use the Journals to figure out how to deal with Bill. As they discover, Ford had essentially scribbled out the pages.