Haven't posted in a long time. My dog died, and my house got raided by police and then red-tagged immediately after. It's not the best, but I did some mini drawings today, though.
Girl with a pearl earring as a cat, because I thought I might start redrawing some famous paintings as cats :) I might go back and work on it some more, but for now it's done! Feel free to provide ideas for what to draw for this series, though I can't promise anything (if I continue...)
Stanley Caryn Pines never really felt wanted. It started at the birth of her twin brother Stanford. Their father wanted a son and had decided on the name ‘Stan’ a long time ago. So when Stanford was born, Filbrick was mildly pleased.
What he didn’t expect was that his wife wasn’t done yet. Turns out, it was twins! So much to Filbrick’s disappointment, his daughter was born 15 minutes later.
Filbrick didn’t want a daughter. He didn’t want two infant children either, always figuring a second child would come a few years later. But no, he had a daughter now. He hadn’t thought of any girl names, so he just named her ‘Stan’ as well. Caryn was not pleased as she woke up.
So Stanley had always been the spare. And she never forgot it, never could forget it. She was only reminded every moment of every day.
Stanley was lucky though. Because she had a twin. And Stanford was just about the best twin anyone could ask for. They were Ford and Lee, the kings of New Jersey. Growing up, they spent practically every moment of their lives together.
Ford was a total nerd. A once in a lifetime genius. Teachers loved him, and often Stan felt like Ford was meant for such great things, things that probably wouldn’t include her. She was pretty stupid, after all. But Ford was also an immediate target for bullies . Extra fingers would do that to you. And Ford would never be the one to fight back. So Stan learned quick that she had to fight for the both of them.
And boy, did she love the fight. She could hold her own with boys twice her size, and she never backed down. She lived for the thrill, the danger, and how strong she felt when she would win. She loved the way Ford would look at her like she was so cool. It made her feel like maybe, she could keep up with Ford.
Their parents were less than impressed to see Stan defending Ford from bullies, snd coming home covered in bruises and cuts. Caryn told her that girls shouldn’t be getting into fights that much. That boys should be fighting over her instead. Filbrick was mad that Ford had hidden behind his sister, getting her to fight his fights. He told Ford that a man had to fight, and protect the women in his life. This pissed off Stan, who was very insistent that she could handle herself.
Filbrick wasn’t easily swayed though, so Ford had to start boxing lessons. Ford and Stan both hated that, so Stan took Ford’s place, and Ford would just hide in the library. This worked until they were 13 and puberty hit. It soon became obvious, and the pair were in a lot of trouble after that.
Filbrick and Ford had a much more tumultuous relationship. Filbrick saw Ford as his heir, his only son. So he was hard on him, expected a lot from him, and often held him responsible for his sister’s mistakes.
“You’re the man, Stanford. You’ve got to take charge” he’d say. Ford hated disappointing his father, so he just nodded. Ford understood, to some degree. He was naturally protective of his sister. As Ford got older, he believed his father more. Of course Stan would need protecting, she’s just a girl. That wasn’t to say women couldn’t do anything they wanted, just that as a man, he had a responsibility to take care of her.
Stan spent a lot more time with her mother. Caryn loved her daughter more than anything, even if she was kind of butch and a bit of a troublemaker. Caryn was a troublemaker as a kid too. They would both go to the mall together, stealing jewellery from the fancy shops, then going to get their nails done. Caryn knew that Stan didn’t particularly like getting her nails done, but appreciated that she wanted to spend time with her mother. Also, she was pretty sure Stan was sweet on one of the nail techs. She pretended not to notice.
