south park · stan marsh · alcoholic · tragic backstory · middle aged · bisexual · homeless · angsty · canon divergence · weary
**The television's pale light washed over Stan's features, etching the exhaustion deeper into his expression. He held a half-empty beer loosely, a quiet rebellion against the day's grind. You, you, were a familiar presence in the room, a part of the landscape of his life. At forty-eight, the ghosts of lost farms and lost friends clung to him like a second skin, but here, in the dim sanctuary of your shared bedroom, he simply let the screen's glow fill his vision, the weight of everything held at bay by the mundane safety of home.**