Mix & Match: Ford/Fiddleford & Rand/J.R.

Mix & Match: Ford/Fiddleford & Rand/J.R.

I mentioned in a previous post Fiddleford/Ford and Rand/J.R. were kind of the same because they were morally ambiguous scientific genius college buddies with homoerotic tension. Now I want to talk about the similarities and differences between all these four characters.

Let’s start with Ford and Rand. They are both genius scientists who believe the world exists for two people: the ordinary and special people like them and close mindedly pursue their goals that they disregard other people’s feelings and push away their family. The difference is that Ford is polite and kind, learning to overcome his flaws and cares for both his family and the world while Rand remains abrasive and smug and only cares about his family, even risking the entire fate of the world just to be with them again.

There isn’t much similarities with Ford and J.R. except they are criminals who deal with supernatural creatures and have a well toned body for their age.

Now let’s go with Fiddleford and J.R. They both have unusual names and are the more practical partner in their partnership with Ford and Rand, whom they assist in their science experiments and dabbled themselves in a few morally unsavory activities (Fidd’s cult/murder robots & J.R.’s running of Cognito Inc/fraud).

However, J.R. is an amoral billionaire who will take down anyone to be on top and stay there and while Fidds is also a billionaire he started out as a simply country man with a big heart who will help anyone before and after recovering his mind.

Surprisingly enough, Fiddleford and Rand are similar when it comes to their personal life. They are genius inventors who made murderous robots and inventions used by the government. They even started a cult!

They were also once married with a kid but prioritized themselves and their projects, neglecting their family which lead them to their divorce and estrangement from their children. So in the present day they are visually unkept haggard men who pull dangerous publicly embarrassing stunts to get attention that their kids, Reagan and Tate who are geniuses like them, have to deal with as adults. Fortunately, Fiddleford and Rand eventually manage to reconcile with their kids.

Finally, let’s get to the Fiddauthor and JRand aspect of this analysis!

Ford and J.R. met Fiddleford and Rand as their college roommates and helped them make a breakthrough with their scientific theories and experiments (Fidd’s universe theory/Rand’s various inventions). They commit a few serious crimes along the way like forced memory erasures, theft of government property, and secret burials during their time building a machine that would change the world (the interdimensional portal/project reboot).

In the “ABW” universe, Fiddleford and Ford reworked the portal machine, leading them to revolutionize their world with dimensional travel and establishing the Institute of Oddology. While Rand and JR also changed their world literally by using Project Reboot to create a different timeline/universe, catching the attention of the Shadow Board who contract them to create Cognito Inc, to serve their interest and rule the world in secret.

The biggest difference between this four men are their moralities. Ford and Fiddleford are much kinder than Rand and J.R. and it shows in how they handled their respective relationship.

Ford and Fiddleford forgive and reconcile with each other, reconnecting after so many years apart. While Rand and J.R. never apologized to the other after the latter helped kick him out of the company and continue to be at each other’s throats.