#u:ancientouroboros

[fordanoia]

your aro Stan tags are really good and deserve to be a post!

Oh bro thank you! I was gonna make a text post about aro stan pines somewhere down the line, but well- I guess this is a really good time for it.

I actually ended up rewatching the bits I remembered with Stan and dating/romance related bits. Which? Honestly? All Stan seems to really understand about dating are the pick up lines. Which don’t work.

All of Roadside Attraction he’s giving this advice to Dipper about dating, but none of it breaches very far. It all works for getting the numbers, but it’s only about that. Heck when Dipper asks if he’s suppose to call someone Stan tells him “No, no, no. You practice. The more girls you talk to, the better you get at it.”

He actually steers Dipper away from dates. Talking to girls isn’t about finding someone, but about getting ‘good at it.’

His admission at the end is really telling too.

“Alright, kid. I gotta admit something. I’m no expert on women. Truth is, I’ve been divorced once, and slapped more times than I can remember. Confidence can buy you a lot, but at the end of the day, pickup artists tend to get our heads bitten off. When it comes to women, I’m a failure.”

On that last line ‘when it comes to women i’m a failure’ he looks really genuinely downtrodden. He’s not saying that just to apologize. It’s pretty clear that he realizes his advice hasn’t been good and believes he’s not ‘good’ at this.

Then- oh man… the date with Lazy Susan in his memories. He is the picture of uncomfortable!

For all Stan seemed to genuinely like Lazy Susan and talking with her, once he’s in that romantic setting with her, it all went out the window. He’s trying there, but it is NOT working out for him.

I mean, just- we can hear his thoughts during that moment and he’s thinking about how awful this is and getting out. Then he literally can’t take the atmosphere anymore and makes some excuse as he escapes.

I really can’t emphasize how much that scene reads as an aro person having forced themselves on a date and bailing mid-dinner.

Then a small note, but the Carla flashback. Someone stole his girl and the immediate and most obvious explanation wasn’t typical romantic efforts like talking but literal hypnotic music. 

This is also one of the few times Stan admits to Dipper in his belief in something supernatural before the reveal.

Although, I’ll admit the bit around the Carla flashback could have been purely comedic effect of obliviousness, but hey.

His advice itself isn’t about actually dating. He panics when he winds up on a date with someone he interacts well with. He generally doesn’t seem to understand romance.

Overall, all his talk and everything with romance comes off as VERY performative to me. He cares more about how ‘well’ he’s doing than the actual romantic experiences and people.

And well, when everyone assumes you’re straight it can be hard to even think that there’s an actually possibility that you’re not - so my bets on him being aro and frankly never having realized that was… even a THING he could be honestly.