#the very sad no good very bad realtivity falls au that has no name because i didnt think i'd need one

[shanklin]

Okay but for the sad relavitvity au,

I’m incredibly interested in Stan closing himself off, emotionally from Ford, Mabel and Dipper.

He’s a kid who’s hurt, and his life is a mess,

I think Mabel and Dipper would feel extremely guilty about what they unknowingly taught Stan.

There’s lasting consequences, and the damage has been done.

And trust definitely has to rebuilt.

ALSO CARYN!! I wonder if she’s sees what has become of her son, her son who looks back at her with jaded eyes, shaped by the world that hurt him.

Does Stan after he murders Filbrick, live on the streets for a while? Does he meet Rico?

How angsty can we make this? Hehehehhehe!

The Context

"There’s lasting consequences, and the damage has been done."

I definitely agree with you there. 

And even without the extra baggage of them teaching Stan the exact wrong lessons, Stan would be an absolute mess after years alone with Filbrick. 

Stan would’ve still at least tried to downplay it, maybe only opening up to Ford.

But as it is now? He’s sure they would agree with Filbricks methods and even welcome them. It was all for Stan's benefit after all. He needs a strong guiding hand and lots of discipline.

[Dipper and Mabel of course have no clue what's actually going on and make it worse by believing Filbrick and having next no actual communication with Stan]

Shameless Plug for @emiliens fic where this whole miscommunication mess is written out perfectly

If they were to find Stan and get him back, they would need so much therapy to get through this.

But who needs therapy. We’re in fanfic land! Drama and Angst is the only way to move forward ♡.

Stan would just have them make an appointment and never show up and Mabel and Dipper would still need some time before they realise they should probably try therapy as well.

Uhh, what if they realise they fucked up in letting Stan stay alone with Filbrick and not checking up on him, but they still have no clue that their whole shtick about projecting themselves on the younger twins is the root cause as to why Stan never reached out. Not even to Ford.

Hell, maybe they mess up again and accidentally blame Stan for not asking his friends for help.

Stan just stares at them blankly and leaves the room.

He barely talks to and avoids them. 

They think he's annoyed at them for trying to help and apologize. And that's quite rude actually. They're doing their best! 

[Or maybe they just can’t deal with all the guilt right and want it all to be better immediately, not realising there is no quick fix for something this broken.]

Stan of course doesn’t want to be a bother. He’s also scared of messing up and has no idea what to do with himself. The flashbacks and nightmares he hides from everyone are eating him alive.

And he’s angry all the time. Angry at his father, his family, the world, but he’s not allowed to be angry at home. He mustn’t lash out or shout or punch. The last time he did that it ended with a dead father and a murder investigation. So he goes outside and gets himself into fights. 

Being beaten up and sore all over, now that’s the only therapy Stand needs! It’s the only thing that helps him fall asleep these days. He needs to be punished for what he’s done and how he’s behaving. And if Mabel and Dipper won’t do it, Stan has to do it for them. So he keeps getting into fights and doesn’t dodge as many hits as he could.

[All of this would also be so fun to explore in a version where Filbrick is just in a coma, Stan is not suspected of anything and he’s only in Gravity Falls until Filbrick leaves the hospital. Stan has an undetermined deadline and somehow that deadline feels more literal than it should.]

"ALSO CARYN!! I wonder if she’s sees what has become of her son, her son who looks back at her with jaded eyes, shaped by the world that hurt him."

As for Caryn… I’m always a bit annoyed when there is yet another fictional Mom who is perfect and just loves her children and her hugs can make anything magically better ♡. I want more bad or flawed mothers in fiction. But dear Caryn just had to be the only person in canon who asked “What about Stanley?” and actually came to his funeral so I can’t have her be too awful. Unfortunately :(

She was left with a choice during the divorce proceedings. Either take Shermie or Stanley. 

She chose Shermie. Stan wasn’t surprised. No one ever chooses Stan. He wouldn’t chose himself either. And his little brother needs their mother more than he does. Stan will be fine and they can still talk over the phone.

Only Caryn never calls or at least that’s what Filbrick tells Stanley. Phone privileges are to be earned and Stan is very bad at being good enough to warrant those.

Caryn on the other hand choses to believe Filbrick when he tells her that Stan doesn’t want to talk with her anymore. She did leave him behind after all. And when she hears from Ford that Stan didn’t want to meet him either, it just proves her right.

She refuses to consider the alternative that Filbrick is isolating her little free spirit and forbidding him to see his loved ones.

So she lies to herself that Stan’s just a teenage boy going through a phase and puts all her effort into raising Shermie right instead.

When it all comes crashing down and they find Stanley and take him back to Gravity Falls she rushes to meet him and is horrified by what she finds.

He just stares at her blankly and won’t lift his arms when she moves in for a hug.

That's not her Stanley! That’s an impostor. He’s possessed. WHAT HAS HE DONE TO STANLEY!

Long story short: She’s not taking it well, leaves Gravity Falls and is in denial for a while longer until it hits her just how much she’s really been lying to herself all these years 👍

"Does Stan after he murders Filbrick, live on the streets for a while? Does he meet Rico?"

There are so many different things as to how it could go for Stan after he runs away. 

Will he get a break and find himself some good old found family? 

Will he embrace the criminal life? Will he get forced into it? 

Join a biker gang? 

Get captured and go to prison where he starts drawing comics again and becomes a best selling comic book artist? 

Will he be a drug runner for Rico as a necessity to survive and replace one awful father figure with another? 

Or is Rico an evil drug lord but also a fantastic father who loves and supports his newly adopted son very much and Stan will see Ford again when they both accidentally get assigned the same room at West Coast Tech?

Will it all go more or less like it did in canon and Stan receives a postcard over a decade later asking him to please come because Ford built a doomsday device and needs someone to hide his journal?

Or will Ford go investigate and find signs of supernatural interference at their home. As a result he obsesses about solving the mystery and becomes a world renowned private detective specialising in the occult with the goal of finding his brother and clearing his name. But as the years go by the evidence against Stanley Pines becomes more and more damning, Ford has to struggle with the fact that maybe Stan really went dark and joined the very thing Ford is trying to fight against. Or maybe nothing is as black and white as Ford's triangular partner wants him to believe. <- that one is just my pitch for a TV spin off series 

What I’m trying to say is, please don’t make me choose just one idea XD. Tell me yours if you have one! 

How angsty can we make this? Hehehehhehe!

yes.