Dipper Pines (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ghostharasser) wrote2020-08-30 03:03 pm
ghostharasser) wrote2020-08-30 03:03 pm
Open Post
All purpose open post for Dipper Pines of Gravity Falls. Top levels below
All purpose open post for Dipper Pines of Gravity Falls. Top levels below
no subject
He's also used to being homeless and jobless. It's the sort of thing that never really leaves you, even after 30 years with a stable living situation and a steady source of income. It hadn't been so bad this time--at first. It had even been sort of fun--at first. Teaching Dipper how to shoplift, dine and dash, spot security systems, pick out easy targets for scams, tell when a crowd is about to go sour... Definitely not wholesome activities, but family bonding is family bonding and Stan hadn't let himself fuss about it too much--at first.
It's not until their second night that he starts to worry. It's not like Dipper can't handle a little bit of roughing it. He'd survived for days in Bill's apocalyptic hellscape all on his own. But there's something different about this. There shouldn't be, but being homeless not because a murderous triangle dressed like Mr. Peanut turned your town inside out, but because you simply don't have the money to have a home is just a little too prosaic.
It's exhausting. Stan remembered that much, but he's had so many really, really low points in his life he'd forgotten that even the not-so-bad parts still suck. And that's what has him worried - this is the 'not-so-bad' part. They'd both eaten recently before ending up here. They're both in okay shape. It's not too cold outside. There's lots of public buildings, gyms, late-night cafes, and 24 hour convenience stores. It's exhausting, but things could get so worse with no warning at all.
So on that second night, once he's sure Dipper has somewhere secure to stay, he heads out. He's way too old for his preferred 'I need money and I need it right now' method (illegal boxing matches) to earn him anything but a broken jaw, but he knows plenty of other tricks. He liberates a few people of their wallets and uses the cash to buy in to a few round of pool, poker, blackjack, rummy... whatever he can find that people are playing. He cheats, counts cards, plays up being more drunk than he really is, and even wins a few games fair and square. By the end of the night he walks away with enough cash that he and Dipper don't have to dine and dash for breakfast (though they still do, of course), and repeating this process earns them a room at the cheapest, seediest motel that doesn't have anyone actively committing crimes on the corner.
The whole time, of course, he maintains a casual, unaffected demeanor, treating it like an unusual outing more than anything. If he lets on that things aren't fine then the kid will really start to worry, and that's the last thing either of them need. So while he doesn't have high hopes for Dipper's house hunting project, he also doesn't tell him to stop, figuring anything that keeps him occupied is good for him. That ends up being a prudent decision, because the house that Dipper shows Stan actually looks pretty promising. ]
Well whatdaya know? Good eye, kid.
[ Stan's definitely crashed in worse places - and less money spent on a hotel means more money they can stash away for a real place to stay.
... Ugh. When did he get so responsible? ]
Let's just hope no one else beat us there. Rather not have to chase off any bums.
no subject
Or monsters. Though, I haven’t noticed a lot of the monsters squatting. Lurking? Sure, but not squatting. I wonder where they’re getting their income.
[Do they have jobs?? Is there an employment office for monsters here? Wacky. Something else he is going to have to look into. If nothing else, this place has no shortage of things for him to poke his nose into. He’d be way more invested in the mysteries if he weren’t also preoccupied with their living situation.]
We could scout it out first, to be safe. If we head out now, it should only take ...maybe two hours to get to the house from here.
no subject
[ Kind of a cliche, obvious choice, but not one Stan could argue with. Even he thought twice about cheating the first time he saw a hulking, irritated troll standing outside a poorly lit dive bar (not that it had actually stopped him). ]
Guess there's lots of monster charity here, too?
[ Well, who cares. Two hours is a bit of a hike, but that's not too bad - he's had to walk further to get groceries when the Stanleymobile broke down. 'Acquiring' a car to make the trip a little shorter does occur to him but... meh. Sounds like a pain. ]
Well, let's get going then.
no subject
[That hasn’t exactly left his mind, this monster business, but it feels far enough away (and surreal as hell) that he hasn’t been dwelling on it very hard. It does ...give him a passing thought that makes him pause.]
I wonder how hard it would be to fake being a monster.
[Wow, that is the most Stan-like thought he has had yet, and it kind of startles him. Well, he’ll have time later to feel bad about all the sketchy shit they’ve gotten up to when they have a roof over their heads and actual food to eat.]
no subject
You made a pretty convincing wolf boy.
[ He never did figure out where that costumes got to, come to think of it, though the shredder getting jammed with dog hair gave him some ideas. ]
But I dunno if the people here are dumb enough for that. They seem a little more wary than the folks back home.
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Oh, right. I repressed that memory.
[He’s not even remotely sorry about it ending up in the paper shredder. That’s what Stan gets.]
You’ve got a point. I don’t know if I’d call them smarter, but they really seemed more inclined to start angry mobs than people back home.
[Well, it’s off they go. It really sucks they don’t have a car they can just take, or the money for a cab. At least this kind of hike isn’t the worst Dipper has had to make. He worries a little about Stan, but he knows better than to say anything until he’s literally keeling over.]
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Yeah, exactly. Plus there's not a bunch of whackjobs in bathrobes erasing everyone's memories.
[ Stan doesn't mind them too much - they never bothered him any, and without their gun Bill couldn't have been stopped - but they were undeniably weird. ]
But hey, if it makes 'em wary about kicking us out, I'll take it.
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Haha, yeah... Those guys...
[Wait.]
I don’t think we ever told you about them. How did you—
[Is this something else Stan’s known about the whole time?]
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[ Stan had known a lot of things about Gravity Falls that he hadn't let on, by the Society of the Blind Eye wasn't one of them. ]
He got real bent out of shape when I asked him why he made a memory-erasing gun, and even angrier when I compared it to that tie of his.
[ Stan looks a little smug as he relates the story. Eventually Ford had realized Stan was just winding him up, but not before he'd ranted a bit first. ]
Guess it makes sense, though. Always thought it was weird everyone acted like McGucket was crazy when he started yelling about that Gobblewhatchit.
[ A boring old lake monster was nothing compared to some of the stuff Stan had seen. ]
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The Gobblewonker- which, of all things in Gravity Falls, turned out to be an actual hoax! McGucket made that robot!
[Which- honestly Stan probably could have guessed since it got worked into their Mystery Shack Mech.]
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Some dumb fish monster's pretty normal by that town's standards. You ever run into any campfires with legs out there? Those are weird.