Hoo boy, so just as a heads up this is one of those questions that I have thought on before and my conclusion has changed since the first time I thought about it. I also love this theoretical scenario too.

I think, initially, Ford wouldn’t be conflicted. Personally, I think that Ford would be in a panic haphazardly setting the portal back up for another activation to save Stan.

However, I think within 5 minutes or so, his mind would slow down enough for him to really think about the situation. Then that’s where he’d get REALLY conflicted.

Because here’s the thing, I think Ford’s aware that the portal activation’s danger is more so to do with Bill getting through than it creating ‘rift juice.’ That can be contained and he could figure out a way to get rid of it if he tried hard enough.

Ford’s big issue is the uncertainty of who will be ready from the other side of the portal if he opens it up again. There’s no way he can communicate to Stan and tell him he needs to be at that location for him to get back through the portal again. However, this opens up RIGHT where Bill lives so he can’t leave the portal on for long without Bill indefinitely coming through.

With that in mind… there’s no way Ford could reasonably expect Stan to hang around in Bill’s Nightmare Realm for more than a week, MAX. Even just a few hours is already being really generous here.

Ultimately… I think Ford would realize if he ever has a good chance to save Stan, it’s now or never.

And the instant he realized that I think Ford’s mind would be set again and he’d put together a VERY quickly cobbled together plan.

Toss a long chain or rope in front of the portal then tie it off to something stable along with a hasty note for Stan Set something on a timer to activate the portal in about 20 seconds

Sit down, meditate/summon Bill - distract him before the portal activates, and hope like HELL Stan gets through rather than anyone else

Which, something that caught me up before was Ford knowing the true dangers of opening the portal again. The apocalypse. Heck, this was the exact thing he’s been trying to prevent and driven himself RAGGED to ensure didn’t happen.

Yet…. here’s the thing. Even though preventing the apocalypse has been at the top of Ford’s list, I think it’s always gotten hindered by something. After all, if he wanted to prevent Bill coming through the portal - disassembling the portal would have been step 1, not step 5.

In truth, Ford probably hid his journals first rather than took down the portal because of his attachment to what had been his magnum opus in his mind for a long time. The portal was going to be the big important thing of his life and people were FINALLY going to take him seriously for it. (Another analysis post for another day….)

My point being though that, despite knowing what the ‘best’ and logical course of action was Ford still let his own bias in the way. If he went about in canon in the risky way he did, just for the portal itself and everything it could do - I think he’d risk it to save Stan.

Ford still cares about Stan, and frankly I think Ford knows he couldn’t live with himself if he’d sent Stan to his doom like that.

Which, I’m not saying that to make Ford out to be some big man. I think it’s… okay, personally, I think the stronger thing would be to accept that risking THE WHOLE WORLD is not worth one person. Something too that Ford probably also thought himself in canon and got frustrated over about Stan.

However, I think that in the moment, the emotions and the guilt is too much to genuinely stand there and let it happen.

Also… lil angsty perhaps but I do have my reasoning here… I think that while Stan was floating towards the portal and everything that Ford would unthinkingly blurt out "I’ll get you!” in his panic.