This Goddamn Car Crash Tho

This entire scene drives me up a wall (no pun intended). Here’s what can be gleaned about it:



The car is not the Stanley Mobile

It happened early 1980s - most likely 1982. Leg warmers date the article as they rose in popularity in the early 1980s.

Car Crash coincides with the Author disappearing and the portal first opening.



While clearly happening in Oregon, it appears to have happened outside of Gravity Falls.

Some Possibilities (that make me pull my hair out):

Car Crash Happened Because:

Stan Pines faked own death, took Author’s identity

Stan Pines faked Author’s death to cover up his mysterious disappearance Author faked OWN death, to cover up the mysterious disappearance he knew would happen to him. The car is Thistle Downe’s and Stan drove it into a ravine.

Plausibility of each:

1. Plausible. We know Stan takes multiple fake IDs. Why not his own twin brother? He may have faked own death to escape the cops trying to follow him for fraud and other illegal actions. His brother’s Identity is fair game, when the man is in another dimension and nobody suspects him of illegal action. Also allows Stan to keep the Shack, without anyone questioning ownership.



We know Stan takes multiple fake IDs. Why not his own twin brother? He may have faked own death to escape the cops trying to follow him for fraud and other illegal actions. His brother’s Identity is fair game, when the man is in another dimension and nobody suspects him of illegal action. Also allows Stan to keep the Shack, without anyone questioning ownership. Holes in the Theory: Stan continued to take multiple IDs after 1982 (see below). Why not just keep the identity of “Stanford Pines, local Gravity Falls recluse” and lay low for 30 years? The grifter article says he is a mysterious unnamed grifter; if he was impersonating his brother, wouldn’t he technically have a name that could be tracked back to him: Stanford Pines? Another issue is that the Stanley Mobile is clearly Stan Pine’s car: Why not wreck his own car, if he was to wipe away his identity completely? Cars, especially noticeable cars like a red Diablo, make it easy for police to track an individual; it would be smart of a connman like Stan to simply get rid of it in a crash instead of hanging onto it for sentimental value.



2. Plausible . This happened in Oregon and if Stan knew about the portal at this time (or was living with his brother for a period of time before the portal opened), he may not want to deal with the questions down in Gravity Falls if his brother goes missing. If he fakes brother’s death, he could buy the Shack before it is foreclosed or auctioned off, which would also allow him to turn it into multiple businesses. It would also stop looters or others who may see the house as abandoned, incidentally finding the portal. Uses grifting and fake IDs to help pay off house and keep portal funded.



. This happened in Oregon and if Stan knew about the portal at this time (or was living with his brother for a period of time before the portal opened), he may not want to deal with the questions down in Gravity Falls if his brother goes missing. If he fakes brother’s death, he could buy the Shack before it is foreclosed or auctioned off, which would also allow him to turn it into multiple businesses. It would also stop looters or others who may see the house as abandoned, incidentally finding the portal. Uses grifting and fake IDs to help pay off house and keep portal funded. Holes in the Theory: The deed to the House states “Stanford Pines”. The handwriting looks similar to the Author’s, outside of the capital S. If Stan’s real name is Stanley, folks would know he wasn’t really the owner of the house. If he’s really Stanford and repossessed the house after his brother’s “death”, he may have signed his name on the deed. Or, alternatively, because possession of a home only requires owning the deed, Stan may not have needed to resign the deed as the new owner, and left his brother’s name there (meaning he really is Stanley and Gideon’s just an idiot).

3. Interesting, mostly speculation. Presumes Author planned on going into the portal after it was completed and made the trip on purpose. The faked death would cause his estranged, grifting twin brother Stan to investigate the issue (thus keeping the newspaper clipping), find Gravity Falls and the Shack where his brother was conducting experiments, and deduce what happened. This would lead Stan to Journal 1 (which may or may not have been left for him or whoever would have found it) and his lifelong obsession with getting his brother out of the portal, since he was now the only one who knew the truth of his disappearance.



Presumes Author planned on going into the portal after it was completed and made the trip on purpose. The faked death would cause his estranged, grifting twin brother Stan to investigate the issue (thus keeping the newspaper clipping), find Gravity Falls and the Shack where his brother was conducting experiments, and deduce what happened. This would lead Stan to Journal 1 (which may or may not have been left for him or whoever would have found it) and his lifelong obsession with getting his brother out of the portal, since he was now the only one who knew the truth of his disappearance. Holes in the Theory: It’s based mostly on speculation, but there aren’t many holes so it’s actually fairly possible. If Author faked own death, it would cause Stan to legitimately have to travel to Oregon in search of him (or, better yet, for the funeral). If brother faked his death, then Stan would not take his identity, and probably would not be known as “Stanford” around town (remember though the only people who call him Stanford are the Gleefuls). This may also leave out holes as to why the Author would know bad things about Stan, unless Stan did something to the Author and they were estranged far before the portal opened.



4. Not Likely, Pretty Much Debunked. This is a fun fan theory that I don’t bite into. Carla left Stan in the 70s for Thistle Downe, and we know that Stan took his car and wrecked it on a date she had with Thistle Downe. Afterwards, Carla considers him the “bad guy”, which means she confronted Stan about the incident after it happened. If she confronted him, that means Stan didn’t die in that car crash and it wouldn’t have been reported as such. Also, Carla and Stan both grew up in Jersey; it’s possible she dated Thistle Downe in Jersey, and not in Oregon which is where the crash is reported to have happened.



Fake IDS Also Causing Me Grief

Fake IDs of Stan:

and the Infamous Unnamed Grifter

Facts deduced from these images:

Stan has at least been to Seattle, London, Mississippi, Idaho, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and his Visa states he left Colombia(compare to actual exit visa stamp).



A clear timeline progression. Stetson Pinefield (the most like “Stan Pines”) is the youngest; Andrew 8-Ball Alcatraz (the farthest from “Stan Pines” name-wise) is the oldest.

The Grifter at Large is years into the future due to Stan’s hair being longer, greyer, and he’s wearing his characteristic shirt and gold chain. Eyes have worry lines, eyebrows are thicker, and stubble on chin is not clean.



Possibilities and Theories:

Stan has been taking fake IDs far before even his break up with Carla. He may have even had a fake ID during his time in jail; though this is going on the assumption that Stan may have been in jail for years as opposed to just a few weeks or months. If he was in jail for years, that means there was a large timeframe where Stan and Carla were not together, or at least not dating/not in contact with each other. If he escaped prison, Stetson Pinefield could have been his fake ID to get out of the country, but this is unlikely due to that passport being US-based.



Another possibility is that, after his jailtime and subsequent return to the States, Stan went back to Columbia under a different alias (so as to not get caught and rejailed), and was there from October 25th to March 23rd the following year. No years are given, but we can assume the mid 70s, since that was when he dated Carla and his look there closely resembles the look of Stetson Pinefield.



Stan took fake IDs well after 1982 and his Possession of the Mystery Shack. If Stan was taking his brother’s ID at the time, why would he continue to forge more identities? Furthermore, if Stan has been at the Shack all this time, why are there nationwide reports still popping up of his conman activities and identity theft?

My few theories include: He stuck around the Shack and sent a clone to do the dirty work. I want to back this up with how oddly pale Stan looks in Soos and the Real Girl with the real Stan (the one that goes to Vegas, as the clone wouldn’t have survived the hot tub) waiting safely outside. The clone wouldn’t be traced to anyone, but would have all of Stan’s ideas and conning abilities in his head (like Tyrone having the same fantasy as the real Dipper). This would also effectively allow Stan to be in two places at once, with an easy surefire way to dispose of the “evidence”: water disintegrates the clone completely.

Stan has always been Stan, and consistently leaves the Shack unmanned during his first years taking care of it because there’s little he can do with it. He buys a business book in 1983 but doesn’t have luck until the Costume Shop, and later the Mystery Shack. He may have tried different business ventures that failed; he resorted to out-of-state grifting and fraud so as to not arouse suspicion regarding the Shack. This is all based on pure speculation but I like to think the “Costume Shop” is when Stan officially stopped taking fake IDs and permanently remained in Gravity Falls, possibly because authorities were getting too close to finding him. I think the costume shop was his way of selling off his old identities and outfits, so they wouldn’t be traced back to him in the end, and were no longer in his possession. Bought a suit and thought up the mystery shack after the costume shop inventory wound down; tourist trap idea became a hit, and remained that way until present day.



Got other ideas? Let me know. But from the facts given, this is what I have deduced.



My Personal Opinion?



Author built portal, faked death, entered portal. Stan comes to Gravity Falls, sees clipping, saves clipping, investigates, finds portal, finds Journal 1, starts working on getting brother back. Edit: New information is that Stan DID travel to Gravity Falls in the summer of 1982. How much he knew before the portal opened though remains a mystery.

Reclaims house so that others won’t come looting the place. Uses grifting abilities and fake IDs to continue funding payments for house and portal building. May or may not use cloning copier to help achieve this end. After cops start trying to find him, drops the nationwide grifting gig and permanently settles in mystery shack. Sells old identities through a costume shop.

Costume shop fails or goes under; Mystery Shack is born and Wax Museum is opened as main attraction. Stays that way for at least the next decade, and is successful enough that Stan doesn’t have to resort to grifting/fake IDs again.

OTHER QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN:

Who died in the car crash to be claimed as “Stan Pines Dead”? (question brought up by chrossrank ) Speculation and evidence points to a copier clone.

(question brought up by chrossrank ) Speculation and evidence points to a copier clone. Assuming the Author knew he was going into the portal, how would Stan know to look for him? Would he have really left a goodbye note for someone (like his brother) to find? Especially if the brothers were estranged? Good point, and a valid question (brought up by thewittyarsonist at their side blog, shamblingcorporatepresence) . What would be left behind that would cause the Author to leave clues for Stan to find him, or the journals?



Would he have really left a goodbye note for someone (like his brother) to find? Especially if the brothers were estranged? Good point, and a valid question (brought up by thewittyarsonist at their side blog, shamblingcorporatepresence) . What would be left behind that would cause the Author to leave clues for Stan to find him, or the journals? Who is Stanley/Stanord? Could go either way, still, though it seems as if the Grunk is Stanley and the Author is Stanford. Biggest reasoning behind it is the El Diablo, but questions remain, like the true signature of the Shack.



Could go either way, still, though it seems as if the Grunk is Stanley and the Author is Stanford. Biggest reasoning behind it is the El Diablo, but questions remain, like the true signature of the Shack. Colombia? Colombian Prison? So many questions revolve around that, that I will try to tackle it in a different meta.



SORRY THAT WAS A LOT. I really needed to get it all down though, it’s been eating me inside and out for days. Enjoy reading this and having your minds blown, kiddos.

