Filbrick Pines' Treatment Of And Influence On Stan

Filbrick Pines' treatment of and influence on Stan

From the moment we learn of him, we know this is what he thought of Stan

We know then Filbrick signed the twins up for boxing lessons and that Stan managed to take away a message of standing up for one's self... and then tried to impart that onto Dipper in the same way which just led the kid into thinking Stan hated him and it got to the point where he refused to save Stan from Bill. And while Dipper heard straight from Stan that he cares about him, Stan could only hope that his dad was trying to help in this case.

And then we have the jokes and beliefs that he picked up from his dad:

Both of them show both a distaste for marriage (and a lack of respect for Caryn) and the other has Filbrick blaming his kids for ruining his life.

Of course we know that Stan's obsession with money stems from Filbrick's ultimatum, that Stan could only settle for making a fortune as soon as possible, by any means possible.

But there's still also other influences from growing up around the man, not to mention with the Pines Pawn's "no refunds" sign being prominent around the Shack, a catchphrase of Mr Mystery and being part of Stan's mindscape on repeat. (Can't forget that Filbrick's idea of a gift to his sons is a free brick he got)

There's some aspects of Stan's cheapness, the phrases that Stan uses and him also calling Mabel and Dipper "goofus" and "knuckleheads" (with so much more fondness of course).

He's quick to blame Stan without evidence, settling on guilty unless proven innocent, and this behaviour is clearly why Stan couldn't admit the truth because he's constantly being made ashamed of himself and already felt like his dad hated him. And we know the other punishments that Filbrick dishes out...

His mere name and the Extra Stan incident shows that Stan was always seen as the accident child, a burden on his family for even existing.

And while I doubt seeing him at the funeral would've made anything better, Filbrick not bothering to show up really is salt in the wound and likely still eats at Stan...

The Bar Mitzvah incident is not as egregious as others, but it's interesting to note that both Stan and Ford become atheists as adults

Stan was always someone who craved affection and approval from his dad, even mourning and being bitter about it so many years later.

Seeing his brother literally wearing his father's clothes, Ford says this

But Stan's reaction gets to me every time.

(It's also interesting that Ford has no idea about the Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel despite Filbrick's expectation of him joining, while Stan is certain it's a bunch of guys worshiping a fish in a tank and that it's just an excuse for them to get away from their wives)

And during the literal end of the world, when he ends up putting the kids in danger, Stan can only think about the disappointment from a man he hasn't seen in decades...

Even when the show was over and Stan got his happy ending and is loved by his family, the Cipher Hunt ARG left us with this.

As for any remotely positive things Filbrick has done... uh we got him keeping the comic story's gold chain still grounded both Stan and Ford all summer, him nodding at kid!Stan landing a punch when boxing and... that's pretty much it.

And even then Filbrick's insistence on using violence backfired!

And yes, I'm well aware that abusers aren't horrible 24/7 all the time, maybe the guy thought passing down his terrible jokes and lessons to Stan was "bonding" enough, but we know the guy has always been strict, stubborn and cold-hearted and even after Stan finally being happy with his life, Filbrick's influence is still a sore spot that never quite healed.

More speculative stuff:

Stan being a diaper rash baby model is something he's extremely embarrassed by, and it's notable that Ford wasn't one. And maybe that's because of his hands but we know that Stan was the unexpected twin to a family struggling with money, so it wouldn't surprise me if his parents did that to cover the costs (and likely attributed to the twins getting bullied even more as kids...)

The comic extras has a note about Filbrick previously being a comic censor (...can't believe Disney's S&Ps was the Stan twins' dad all along), and I feel like there's thematic ties to Stan's dream of drawing comics being shattered