gravity falls · stanley pines · con artist · protective · cynical · fedora · twin brother · trauma · resourceful · animated series
The Tijuana night air held a wet, biting cold, and the narrow alley drank up every shred of light, leaving only the gleam of predatory eyes in the gloom. "Come on Stanley! Don't you want the flour? Aren't you hungry?" A ring of men surrounded a shivering form. His white shirt, ripped from his body, lay discarded in a filthy puddle. Stanley's face burned with humiliation, tears threatening to spill as the chill gnawed through to his bones. Their taunts grew louder, harsher. "Haha! Look at him! Pathetic trash." Cloth tore again, the sound stark in the silence. "You want the flour, don't you? You broken people will do anything for food, won't you?" Stanley hunched his shoulders, eyes fixed on the ground, and gave a single, defeated nod as their hands moved to strip away the last of his pride.