#breaking the abuse cycle with henry

[crime-wives]

easy on me by adele is literally so regina mills coded.

“i was still a child/didn’t get the chance to feel the world around me”

also:

“there ain't no room for things to change/when we are both so deeply stuck in our ways/you can't deny how hard I've tried”

i mean come on…

[thegroundhogdidit]

y'know psych doesn't get enough credit for shawn saying he doesn't want children and actually committing to it. usually characters who want to break the cycle of abuse by not having kids are then pressured to have one by their partner

[henrysglock]

i know i said cringe culture is dead, but if you start denying henry’s trauma…that’s cringe!

[bahoreal]

loving seeing the other traumatised kids out there whos parents put their entire emotional stability on them and then blamed a child for not being able to give a parent emotional fulfillment hate the season finale lmaoooooooooo

[awritersbro]

If I had a nickel for every time I had a wolfboy OC named Peter Andy Wolf I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, and it's a pity that I've only been able to use that name twice.

[bella-goths-wife]

How the yandere bowers gang protects you

Warnings: sexual assault, revenge porn, physical abuse, murder, gore, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, manipulation, fucked up dynamics, forced relationships, MDNI

I do not intend to romanticise or normalise any of the themes I write about, I use them simply for entertainment value and do not encourage the replication of these actions!

Henry bowers:

You never really expected any aspect of Henry to be protective

You assume the hands that lay countless bruises on your skin to be the ones to shield you from the ruthless touch of others

But below the surface, there’s a part of Henry that yearns to hide you away from the ugliest parts of the world

Even if he himself is one of the ugliest aspects of your life

He pushed that part of himself down for the sake of keeping his composure while correcting you

He can’t go soft on you and allow disrespect now can he?

But there was always a firmness in the rule of never visiting his home

You assumed it was because he was embarrassed of you and didn’t want you to meet his father, when in actuality it was quite the opposite

But belch had dropped you off in a hurry at Henry’s when the rest of the group was out of commission and he had to get home quickly, and you couldn’t avoid the bowers residence

You knocked on the door only to be greeted by Henry’s father, who stared at you leeringly and suddenly you felt like a lost lamb backed into a corner by a rabid dog

Oh, how much did Henry’s gaze replicate his fathers in certain lights

When Henry saw the scene of his father looking at you with the look of an overjoyed dog at the sight of fresh meat, his mind couldn’t stop but to wonder about his mother

Suddenly, he felt like that helpless child watching his mother squirm and scream no as a the male embodiment of terror beat her and ripped her clothes

He felt the urge to run to you, to hide you in his chest and stroke your hair that he loved so much all while reassuring you that everything was okay

Like he wanted someone to do to him when he was a child

But instead, he responds in the only language that he could speak with his father as he yelled at him while pushing him away

He positioned himself in front of you as he purposely angered his abuser in order to distract his wandering gaze to you

He screamed at you to go home, allowing you to be alone for the first time in months out of desperation

You returned to your home and oddly enough, you couldn’t remember how to act normally in your own home

Your life was a constant performance of survival, how were you supposed to act while the curtain to your theatre were momentarily shut?

You just sat for hours on the couch and listened out for the next command or for your next warning and reprimand

For hours, just sat as still as a statue with tense shoulders as you awaited the next performance

You eventually went to bed around the same time that the boys would, much later then you did before them but for some reason their schedules had merged with yours and overtaken your thoughts

Henry entered your home a few hours before sunrise and creeped into your room

He was battered and bruised as he looked down at you in your bed, you couldn’t help but think about all the times he had left you in a similar state to try and ease your misplaced sympathy

You assumed he’d punish you for your rule break, but he just slowly climbed into your bed and laid his head on your chest

He commanded your hands to stroke his hair and for you to reassure him

Small tears escaped his eyes and wet your shirt as he commanded you to tell him that he was nothing like his father, that he was a better man

The lies felt like acid on your tongue as you reassured him quietly until he fell asleep

Henry was too far gone to ever understand that he didn’t break the cycle, he replicated it perfectly

Patrick Hockstetter:

You had been weird lately, Patrick had noticed

You had always been mopey and sad, but lately you were downright depressed

You neglected your personal appearance as you refused to eat or care for yourself in any way

This had caused Patrick’s attraction to you fade slightly, and that would not do in Patrick’s eyes

His sexual attraction was the only real feeling he felt, and it was his one true connection to you in terms of outside of his obsession

So Patrick decided to do some digging

He had found that some girls from school had been harassing you daily for the last few weeks during the few times you were without them

They had taken your clothes when you were changing in the ballet studio and had ruined the clothes you had handmaid, leaving you in only a towel

Luckily belch lended you his shirt but your humiliation lasted for days

The harassment didn’t stop there, they would put sharp tacs in your ballet shoes, loosened a balancing pole so that you’d fall when using it, called you all sorts of names

Now Patrick didn’t particularly care about your general well-being, as shown by his abusive and enabling behaviours

But when something affects his attraction to you, then it becomes a problem for Patrick

And you being in this depressive mood definitely affected his attraction, so Patrick took matters in his own hands

He decided to use what he knew and slept with each of the girls, roughly and painfully but with consent which was a curtesy he never offered you, before taking pictures of them on his camera and having the pictures developed

After a night of his usual forceful abuse, he showed you the pictures as some sort of twisted aftercare

The photos made you feel physically ill as you asked him why

He claimed he was protecting you, that those girls wouldn’t bother you now

All a lie, his motives were completely selfish

You cried at the pictures and he assumed you were jealous, so he assured you that he’d fix it

The next day he spread the pictures across the school, forcing the girls to isolate themselves out of humiliation

Patrick assumed the problem was fixed now and told you that you owed him

Despite the heavy guilt in your gut, you couldn’t help but find enjoyment in the fact the girls presence was no longer constant

Victor criss:

Victor was an observant guy, especially when it came to you

He memorised everything he could about you

He knows your routines, your preferences, your anxiety’s and your expressions

And he knew the minute that one of the male ballet teacher helped you stretch by grabbing at your thigh, that you were extremely uncomfortable

At first he tried to brush it off as a misreading of the situation, simply not knowing enough about a ballerinas strict routine

But he definitely did not misread the situation when he came to pick you up one afternoon and saw you cornered by your teacher with a look of absolute fear on your face

You practically ran to vic and held on to him tightly as you lead him out the building, something that only confirmed your fear as you usually repulsed away from his touch

He prodded you for answers but you became snappy with him and as he was about to reprimand you, he saw the tears that were close to streaming down your face with any more pressure

Vic was enraged

who was this piece of shit to touch you? Does he not know your owned? Does he not know your bowers gang property? Did he not realise that you were victors property?

Vic’s mind is made up as he drops you off with belch before making his way back to the ballet studio

He used your teacher as a pin cushion as he used his switch blade over and over and over until vic finally felt he had gotten his message through

He cut the hands off individually before skinning them and keeping the bones and hiding them away

He informed the rest of the bowers gang and they helped him stuff the body with rocks and watched it sink to the bottom of the river, never to be found again

They didn’t question him, they didn’t question his brutality, they just helped him clean up his mess

The same as what he’d do for them

Vic never told you what happened to your ballet teacher, but you inferred it from the context clues of the bones under his bed and the hidden away bloody clothes

All he asked for in return was a kiss and to be able to hold your hand without you looking sick

You tried your best

Belch Huggins:

There’s something surprisingly soft in belch’s protection

He’s the biggest in the group and most assumed to be violent, but he’s the softest out of the boys

His protection can range from small thin to big things

He expresses his protection in many different ways

He covers the side of the table if your grabbing something from underneath it, he walks on the side of the sidewalk closet to the road, he holds you hands or your clothes in public places to keep track of you

He even protects you in the gang sometimes by positioning himself slightly in front of you in a group setting, taking the blame for your mistakes and distracting the others from your actions

But there is always going to be a dark side to belch

And that dark side was brought out specifically by some drunk grabbing at you harshly on the walk home, not knowing belch was with you

Belch felt iron hot fury in his veins as he looked at the scene of this drunk bastard grabbing you so hard it could probably bruise your skin

Your a goddess in belch’s eyes, a slice of heaven bestowed upon earth and something he can indulge in and hopefully on day overdose on

And to see this drunkenly ignorant fool dirty your perfection with his disgusting touch? Well it set off a reaction in belch that he hoped you’d never have to see

He bashed the man’s head against the pavement over and over again as he felt every scream of pain was retribution for him disgracing the religion of you that belch follows so piously

The crunch of the mans broken nose against the floor brings belch back to reality as his eyes shoot up and meet your horrified gaze

You had seen belch commit violent acts before, you had been a victim of those acts many times

But those were all on the orders of Henry’s, this time was different

This act was committed with free will

Belch hurriedly tried to explain himself and begged you to not be afraid

You swallow your fear and horror as you hold his bloodied hands in yours and belch only looks down at you with practically heart eyes

You assumed that if you rejected him the violence would turn on you, and all though you were wrong belch was too blinded with awe to understand that

In his eyes you had just accepted the most ugly part of himself, proving that the pedestal he had placed you on was correct and you were the angel on earth that he thought you was

In your eyes, you had just dodged a possibly painful punishment

In reality, you had just tamed the beast with a gentle giant underneath the surface

[faramirsonofgondor]

Insane how many TV show characters have incredibly traumatic backstories or go through a shit load of trauma only for the writers to be like “yea and then they became an asshole and ruined all their relationship for no reason whatsoever.” and then they’ll be like “what do you mean that’s so out of character? no it’s not i literally wrote the character.” LIKE YES BITCH and they used to be a GOOD person and friend??? they would do anything for their friends and family??? ANYTHING. they spent eons trying to fit in and they dedicated so much time making sure their family was safe. and now you’re saying that they’re just selfish out of nowhere???

OR EVEN WORSE. when they fucking forgive their abuser for no reason or because their abuser was on drugs or addicted to alcohol. and then they get sober and magically become a better person??? what??? you mean the person who neglected their child??? the person who abused their child??? AND THE SAME CHILD GETS HATED ON FOR BEING RUDE OR EMOTIONALLY UNAVAILABLE AND PEOPLE STILL DON’T TRUST THEM OR LIKE THEM EVEN AFTER THEY MADE CONSIDERABLE EFFORTS TO UNLEARN THE HABITS THEY DEVELOPED TO SURVIVE THE ABUSE THEY WENT THROUGH??? IM SO TIRED OF SEEING THIS HAPPEN IN SO MANY TV SHOWS. LIKE IF IT WAS ONCE OR TWICE I WOULD BE ANNOYED BUT ITS FUCKING EVERYWHERE.

Just to be clear I’m not talking about shows that have established characters perpetuating the cycle of abuse from the beginning, or progressively getting worse over time, because while I don’t necessarily like those plot lines, they can make sense when they’re done right. But I fucking hate it when it comes out of nowhere and ruins all the backstory the character had and goes against all their earlier motivations.

And while I don’t particularly like it in TV shows when a character forgives their abuser, I can understand it when the abuser actually realizes the weight of their actions, doesn’t try to excuse them, and makes efforts to do better. But almost all TV shows where the character forgives their abusers ends up with the one who was abused being labeled as a problem child or too much to handle/too difficult and the abuser gets to be forgiven without any real development or apology or effort.

Like there’s so many different examples of this happening - Jamie & James Sr. from Ted Lasso, Jess & Liz from Gilmore Girls, Buck & his parents from 9-1-1, Shawn & Henry from Psych (I said what I said), like half of the entire MCU, and multitude of other characters. Like all of the kids were emotionally neglected and abused (and sometimes physically as well) and then they “acted out” (they insulted people, were maybe a little bitchy, and acted immaturely) and then somehow them acting out and being immature or eccentric becomes a central point of their character, and other characters are often annoyed or upset with this part of the character. But then the adult who yk, abused their fucking child, is viewed sympathetically by the other characters because they “were having such a hard time” and “were really struggling” while they were abusing their child. And now that their kid is all grown up they “don’t want to have a bad relationship” and “only ever wanted what was best for them, they just didn’t know to how give it to them”. LIKE GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK MAN.

How is it the kids fault they were a bit immature or a bit of an asshole after being abused for their whole life but it’s not their abusers fault for abusing them???? like what the fuck??? Like it makes me sick to my stomach when other characters are like “wow it must have been so hard to raise them” when they literally DIDN’T raise them, they fucking abused them. Don’t even get me started on when they give the abused kid an actual parental figure and the abused kid opens up to them about how hard their life was and the parental figure does their best to support the kid only to turn around and encourage the kid to forgive their fucking abuser. Like what are these writers even on????

Anyways fuck forgiveness for the sake of forgiveness. You don’t need to forgive shit just because your abuser had a sad backstory. Womp Womp for them. Addiction doesn’t excuse abuse. Grief doesn’t excuse abuse. Divorce doesn’t excuse abuse. “Wanting what’s best for you” “being raised in a different time” or being “misguided”isn’t an excuse for abuse. Them having abusive parents isn’t an excuse for abuse. There isn’t an excuse for abuse. You don’t need to (and IMO shouldn’t) forgive an abuser just because they’re at a better or more stable point in their life than they were when they abused you or because they suddenly got FOMO and realized they’re gonna die soon and they don’t want a shitty relationship with you. And if they and other people are pressuring you to forgive them, then they clearly don’t realize the weight of their actions or how serious they were.

[chronicoverthinker]

Okay but like can we talk about how this tweet :

Shawn Levy talks about Stranger Things 5

“I’m going to direct a later episode.

People talk about mythology and The Upside Down, and all that is huge, but the magic of S5 are the characters who find sense of belonging with other and through that connection, become heroes”

It’s definitely about Mike and Will

I don’t know if you guys remember , but not too long ago somebody posted a comic book page about Mike and Nancy. In said page Mike was talking about the story and how it should end with Will being able to fight back , to be a hero as well and get his own justice.

We also know that ep 7 is probably going to be called the Paladin and the Cleric so adding two and two together it’s pretty obvious to me that Shawn Levy here is hinting at a scene specifically between Mike and Will.

And I think it will definitely be their finally much needed heart to heart. A serious one , where none of them are going to hide anything from the other. Especially considering it’s the second to last episode , we do not know how everybody’s condition is and how hard they’ve been fighting to defeat vecna. I do not know what kind of confession on Mike’side it will be , but it’s clearly going to be huge for Will ,making him feel like he finally belongs as well.

I believe this to be the case to parallel Mike’s confession in s4 , and show us that it’s going to be his love that will make Will strong enough to fight back and finally break this cycle of hatred and abuse created by Henry. Because I truly believe this to be one of the main points of the show.

Ever since season 4 we’ve seen how Vecna has targeted mentally weak people , forcing them to witness horrific visions about their deepest fears and traumatic experiences. He is a perpetrator of the abuse because he was abused as well. Mind you we’re finally going to discover why Henry decided to target Will as well , why was he the first choice ? Possibly because he saw himself in him , who knows. But even tho they may share similarities , what sets them apart is Will’s incredible resilience and kindness. And with the love of the people he cares for is going to make a difference.

He’ll finally become the hero e deserves to be :)

[beardedmrbean]

Biden supporters are raising Trump's associations with Jeffrey Epstein — again.

Recently-released docs in the Epstein investigation make no mention of Trump.

Democrats have tried deflecting concerns about Biden's age by bringing up Trump's past.

Some Joe Biden supporters are employing a tried-and-true strategy to fend off rampant debate over the President's age and mental acuity: deflection.

On social media — and even in the halls of Congress — certain Biden supporters are using Donald Trump's associations with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as an argument to disqualify him.

Discourse about Trump and Epstein was reignited after documents from Epstein's first Florida investigation in 2006 were released last week.

But the 158-page document — a grand jury transcript showing prosecutors heard testimony that Epstein raped girls as young as 14, then still cut him a sweetheart plea deal — makes no mention of Trump himself.

Still, some seized the news cycle as a way to counteract doubts about Biden's own fitness to run for office in 2024.

Why no one's writing about Trump and Epstein

During a press conference on Tuesday, Rep. Ted Lieu of California urged more media coverage of the "Epstein files," adding that a "highly disturbing" hashtag about Trump and Epstein was trending on X.

Trump had previously been photographed with Epstein, Lieu said, had flown with him on planes with young girls on board, and the two were listed on call logs together.

"It shows that Donald Trump is unfit for office," the congressman said, adding Trump was also convicted of sexual abuse in civil court.

Ben Meiselas, the cofounder of liberal news network Meidas Touch, also posted on X about "the release of new Epstein files with Trump's name on it." Other Biden boosters have suggested a coordinated media cover-up to boost Trump's chances or doom Biden's.

But Trump isn't named in the latest records, a fact reiterated on X by Julie Brown, the Miami Herald investigative journalist who helped break the Epstein story.

Media outlets haven't reported on Trump's connection to the new Epstein files because there isn't one.

What we know about Trump's relationship with Epstein

Trump has appeared in previous unsealed and uncovered documents connected to the Epstein case.

Trump was also connected to 14 different numbers in Epstein's little black book of contacts that surfaced before the financier's arrest on sex trafficking charges in 2019. Among the contacts were Trump's wife, Melania; ex-wife, Ivana; and daughter, Ivanka.

The contact book also included the names of high-profile celebrities like Courtney Love, Alec Baldwin, and Naomi Campbell, as well as politicians and dignitaries like John Kerry, Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kissinger, and Prince Andrew.

Unsealed flight logs in 2019 revealed Trump took a flight on Epstein's private jet in 2017; billionaire couple Glenn and Eva Dubin joined him on the flight from Palm Beach to Newark.

And in January, a Business Insider analysis of then-unsealed court records determined Trump appeared in the documents multiple times under the moniker "Doe 174."

However, the mentions in those documents weren't all damning for the former President, BI's Jacob Shamsian reported at the time.

In one instance, a woman denied in a deposition that she'd massaged Trump. In another, a woman claimed — then recanted — that her friend had had sex with him. And Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of the key accusers of sexual abuse by Epstein and his associates, said in one document that she didn't think Trump was involved.

Trump had previously faced allegations by an anonymous woman that claimed he had violently raped her at an orgy when she was 13 years old. The woman — who went by the pseudonym "Katie Johnson" — even filed a lawsuit against Trump, twice.

The first was a civil rights suit in April 2016 that was thrown out on a technicality. Vox noted that the original suit listed the woman's apparent address as an abandoned home.

She filed a second lawsuit that removed some of the lurid details. Still, the case was connected to strange characters, including a Jerry Springer producer who tried to sell a video of the purported accuser to news outlets for $1 million and an anti-Trump activist who promoted the lawsuit — and had a history of spreading untrue gossip.

The woman abruptly dropped the lawsuit in November 2016, just days before the election that Donald Trump would win. Her lawyer didn't share a reason for why the lawsuit was dropped at the time.

Trump had publicly praised Epstein before his sexual abuse allegations came to light. He called Epstein a "terrific guy" in 2002, adding, "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

But the Washington Post reported the two men had a falling out in 2004 after they both wanted to buy a prime Palm Beach property.

After Epstein's arrest, Trump told reporters, "I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you." Trump has also said he barred Epstein from Mar-A-Lago.

Four Pinocchios from WaPo for congressman Lieu's claims about Trump in the epstein files, that's gotta hurt both wapo and lieu

Guy must think everyone else is a idiot and will take him at his word instead of actually looking,

[fatherramiro]

so the thing about 1899's overarching themes first and foremost is that we don't know fully what they would've been, given that we got 1/3 of the story before cancelation. the other thing is i think a lot of the show would've revolved around the concept of how trauma freezes someone in a moment, and how in order to fully free themselves from the cycles they find themselves in, these characters need to let go and heal from/grow past their respective traumas.

in episode two, eyk tells maura, after asking if she's ever lost someone, that when someone you love dies "they can move on, you're stuck." if we break down the individual stories of the characters on the ship, they are all stuck in moments of trauma. jérôme is there because he cannot forgive lucien's betrayal. similarly, olek is there because he's seeking revenge after a vicious betrayal as well. ramiro and ángel are fleeing persecution and abuse that culminated in ramiro having to kill someone to protect them both. ling yi is racked with guilt over accidentally killing someone in her attempt to find something better. tove's family is frozen in a moment of extreme violence and trauma (and, depending on the timeline, iben's descent into religious fervor could've started from a traumatic event even before that.) eyk drinks to cope with the traumatic loss of his entire family. everyone is stuck in their worst selves as a result of these traumatic events. everyone is struggling to move forward. they're all stuck in these memories, as well as stuck literally in an eight day time loop where they will never get the chance to fully heal because they'll all die before that's possible.

and of course there's daniel, stuck in a loop because he can't let go of his wife and willingly subjecting himself to the pain of losing her over and over in an attempt to change what's happening. elliot is a literal ghost in the machine because his mom couldn't let go of him. maura describes henry as being incapable of letting go of his wife, and what little we know of ciaran is that he's angry that he was passed over for his sister. and of course maura -- the architect of the simulation, who cannot let go of her pain so she wanted to forget instead. this is a show where pain is written into every code in the simulation, and until daniel wakes maura up, that is just inescapable for everyone. maura is now left to face reality, a reality in which we don't know if her son is alive or the status of her husband. but she's now tasked with fixing the situation she created as a result of being unable to move past her own grief and her own pain.

the other potential themes of the show -- what makes a person who they are (and if their nature is inescapable), what is fate versus what is choice -- are all tied to this too, because we see moments where the characters are able to confront these demons and show glimpses of who they could be beyond these terrible events. two scenes that i think really illustrate this are the final scenes krester and tove have together in episodes four and five. krester throws tove's trauma back in her face in an ugly manner despite the fact he's the one who refuses to try and heal from what's happened to him (as evidenced by him helping to abduct and murder elliot), while tove is the one who finally says that she's had enough of that and she tries to leave her terrible situation and find a way to resolve the conflict tearing her family apart. krester, unable and unwilling to move on, does not survive much longer; tove makes it to the end of the loop, into the archive, and survives until the simulation is deleted. if tove had stayed with her parents and krester, i don't know if she would've made it that far.

as with all my analysis, there's no easy conclusion given that we simply do not know what would've happened next, but im very confident in saying that a large part of this show, beyond cosmic discussions of science and religion and who created the universe, is about how pain traps us in loops of our own, and that to free ourselves we need to confront our pain and our trauma. obviously, the show would've likely had a bittersweet read on that, but this is one thing im fairly confident in discussing about the series.

[greenjacketwhitehatdocmui]

Superman and Lois Thought--The Recurring Theme of Obsession.

I've noticed that many of the antagonists for "Superman and Lois" have been shaped by their obsessions. There will be some spoilers for the latest episode, "Break the Cycle." So, everything will be under the cut.

In Season 1, Tal-Rho is fixated on bringing back Krypton via the Eradicator, no matter the cost. Despite wanting to see his brother, the only family he has left, he's forced by the remnants of his father to carry out the mission.

Also in Season 1, we see why John Henry Irons (first dubbed "Captain Luthor" and "The Stranger) was fixated on killing Superman. As it turned out, there was a very good reason for that.

In Season 2, we see Bizarro Superman's fall, leading to his death in this season. He was obsessed with approval and fame. His life as a celebrity hero was like something out of a reality TV show. He may have done good things, but he did them for the wrong reason. And this obsession led to the dissolution of his family and his burnout as a hero. Sadly, Bizarro Superman's mission to destroy Ally Alston's pendant wasn't so much to save both worlds, but to regain his status as a hero, adored by everyone.

Season 2 also has Ally Alston's fixation with merging 2 worlds endangering both. Her obsession with feeling "complete" and preying on peoples' vulnerabilities destroyed families and, very nearly, both worlds.

Season 3 had Bruno Mannheim's obsession with curing his wife's cancer. He even went so far as to obtain Bizarro Superman's body in order to create the "cure." Unfortunately, this cure didn't take, and Peia died.

Tonight, in the episode "Breaking the Cycle," we see Luthor's obsession. He claimed that he wanted nothing more than to see his daughter, to be a father again. But, he can't seem to let go of the fact that Lois put him in jail for 17 years. Rage is what sustained him, what enabled him to rise from Suicide Slum and a life of abuse. With that rage came a polarized way of looking at the world. Those who were loyal to him were rewarded. Those who betrayed him, interfered with his goals, or otherwise offended him were dealt with.

In tonight's episode, Luthor had the chance to reconnect with his daughter Elizabeth, hidden for so many years. She extended the olive branch, if only he would leave Lois and her family alone.

He didn't take it. He insisted that Lois had to pay, that there should be balance. And in that moment, Elizabeth realized that whatever kindness he may have shown her in the past, it was nothing compared to the his outrage at Lois having sent him away. In that moment, they were no longer family in any meaningful sense.

Some goals were, in fact, laudable--or, at the very least, understandable. But those who let go of their obsessions were better off than those who couldn't. John Henry Irons turned away from his vengeance against a Superman who wasn't evil, becoming a staunch ally. Tal-Rho, after being depowered and imprisoned, had a genuine change of heart. Though, I suppose the villa and the monster trucks helped smooth things out.

And Mannheim? Who wouldn't want to cure cancer? But it was the means he pursued to that end that undid him.

Luthor has thrown away his chance at finding peace. He will not be wronged. There is no redemption for Luthor because this is just balancing the scales to him. And in the end, it really is all about him.

We as the viewers can understand what set these antagonists down the road. But that does not mean that we have to approve of them. We can empathize with these characters, but we do not have to forgive them.

What do you think?

--Doc

[peachymilkandcream]

My Husband, My Monster|Part 10|William Afton x Wife!Reader

(A/N: Wow Part 10! Our silly little serial killer is clearly a big hit with you guys. This one is going to have a major major timeskip so woohoo. So glad you're enjoying it and please comment to be added to the taglist!)

WARNINGS: noncon, dubcon, manipulation, domestic abuse, yandere themes, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, stockholm syndrome, violence, mind breaking, misogyny, etc.

============================================

The killings just escalated, he couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. He had to do more and more. It started with just the girl and then it grew. More and more kids lured in to the back rooms which then disappeared without a trace, leaving their parents to worry what had become of their sweet children.

Police swarmed the restaurant, invading their privacy and ripping apart the place to find any trace of the children. Bags appeared under Henry's eyes as the stress mounted. Money was draining from the business fast as more and more people refused to come in after all the allegations of missing children and unsafe environments. At this rate the business would close, which normally would have frightened William half to death, but at this point he wanted that.

Freddy's was behind him now, he had his own plan in mind. Behind the scenes, spending years in Henry's shadow learning his craft and how to perfect it. He was going to make his own Freddy's, inspired by his newest child Elizabeth. She had been such a perfect child thus far he would make this one for her. When she was old enough to appreciate it then he would show it to her. This would be his new legacy void of Henry. He would come out on top.

==============================================

It was complete, his jewel, his baby. Finally it was open. People were still hesitant to visit an animatronic themed restaurant especially when Funtime Freddy had his name attached to the group of robots. But fortunately enough they slowly began to come, in small groups at first since it was just beginning.

When Freddy's closed and Henry kicked William out of the business he had taken to hiding away from the light of the day. They had completely parted ways, choosing to pretend the other one didn't exist. Although William had gotten some dirty looks when he saw his old partner in public after his new venture launched.

The new animatronics would help with his insatiable bloodlust, trapping children and holding them until he could find his perfect way of disposing of them. Everything was cleaner now, it wouldn't be shutting down like the way the others had because of his stupidity. This time things would go according to plan.

==============================================

It hadn't gone according to plan.

It was supposed to be different. Some random kid was supposed to be caught and killed, not his own daughter. His darling Elizabeth, deceased in the capsule of the that robot. The machine of his own making. The thing created by his own hands, destroyed his favorite child. How could he live with himself?

He shut it down, immediately. The entire place, he couldn't bear to look at it again. It had to all go, every wire and scraps. The animatronics coming to find a permanent home in that shut up workshop, surrounded by the other hollow shells of his creations. Doomed to rot like he did.

He couldn't face his wife. After all that he had done and put her through he couldn't face the grief on her face. When he told her he expected sobbing and agony, but was surprisingly met with slight sadness before she continued with her day caring for her remaining children. As if nothing had happened.

Michael had left in his later teens, vowing to never come back because of the memories of his brother tied with this house and his father's neglect. And Vanessa remained content hiding from the busy lives of her parents. Children were fleeting creatures.

All they did was die, and leave, a vicious cycle of pain inflicted on their parents. All this pain wasn't worth it to him. William came to realize that the only ones that mattered were him and his spouse, they were the only ones that would last at the end of the day. He had to put his wife first above his machines. Do everything for her benefit, make her whole again.

He was stewing on these thoughts until the slight green glow came from Circus Baby which he thought was out of power. Funny, he remembered putting purple eyes in the machine. Why were they that same green as his sweet daughter? Something wasn't right here. It was all too....familiar.

Taglist:

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@fandomreader @n3r0-1417 @2pacl0ve

[raspberry-vinaigrette]

you're so based and real and so i MUST ask about your thoughts on henry miller

they could be ANY thoughts i just like hearing how people perceive him ... he's my favorite-ist evil scientist ever

oh i have so so so many thoughts on henry miller dude. my sister is in part to blame because she writes a damn good henry miller (she's working on a fic focusing on him during dave's first death right now. i've seen some snippets, i think you'll ADORE it if and when she finishes) and it's gotten him super in my brain but he's such a fascinating character study. beneath the cut because this got sorta long

one big detail i like is the fact he's very obviously not stopping the cycle of abuse -- we see how he treats dave and directdoggo has implied he was not good to his actual family either, and overall henry doesn't seem to value they concept of family that much in general? which i think probably ties into how his father treated him. ultimately henry likely views the idea of family as just some innate biological aspect of humanity but puts no real stock in it beyond that, and i wouldn't be surprised if he had a family largely because of his idea of a legacy. he never wants to die, and if he cannot do that literally, he will do it metaphorically by keeping his research and name alive forever. overall i think because his father was a complete deadbeat who henry wanted to be away from as much as possible and clearly utterly despised, henry viewed family as nothing more than a base, instinctual desire, and with his view on dave it makes sense he extorted this a lot with dave. dave is an animal to him (which i glean from the one DSaF tale that directdoggo wrote -- henry's narration is SO dehumanizing/anamalizing towards dave and it's very interesting) and henry views him as a very impulsive, instinctive creature, so of course henry uses something he views as instinct as major leverage.

BUT my original point is that henry likely believes he's doing so much more than his father could ever dream of but like. even if he's doing that in terms of education? he's ultimately ending up in a similar situation to his father mentally. he's abusive and thinks he's so much better than everyone and deserves to be treated that way, hence why he's so obviously super indignant about his doctorate being taken away. he dehumanizes the people around him and while he seems to think he's teaching everyone a lesson, making them better, and they should be grateful... how much of that is an echo of his father? abusers will take any opportunity to justify their abuse and pin blame on their victims. how many times did henry deal with being told he was being taught a lesson? but it's different, he swears, because he IS smart. he is educating the frail and the weak. they should be grateful.

henry's connections to dave and his father also make his dependency on logic and science and rationalizing things really interesting. henry views both dave and charles (in different ways but ultimately not too seperate) as irrational, illogical, impulsive monsters, either due to dave's reliance on henry or charles' vicious abuse of henry. i think he believes that this animalistic nature is what keeps people from truly breaking the chains of death and reaching immortality, especially with the way he talks about the children souls -- if i recall he basically calls them simplistic and beast-like or at least it's implied. again, he really seems to think what seperates him from the rest is the fact he is educated, when in reality he's kind of acting out of desperation just as much as dave, just in different ways.

this also kind of ties into him and jack (on the evil/legacy routes) too, though this is more headcanon than canon so like take this with a grain of salt. given that the purple text during the real fredbear fight in DSaF2's pure evil route is goading jack on and telling him to keep going, to break the real fredbear, a direct parallel to DSaF3's legacy route ending, and there's also an instance of henry's name being purple + plenty of other things i could tie into this but don't feel like digging up right now, i've always interpreted the purple text throughout the games (with the exception of things like dave's name/people referring to dave, though this still kind of counts, since dave's name comes from henry's son) as dialogue directly influenced by henry pushing jack along! which has a lot of fascinating implications! i could do a whole seperate post on this but that's kind of besides the point and i again do not feel like digging up liveblog screenshots

my point in mentioning this is that henry's influence seeping in even as early as DSaF1 (albeit that's more of a retroactive application, since i doubt directdoggo had the henry plot much in mind at the time LOL) with "WE started this and WE'LL finish it" directed at dave kind of reflects this desperation, just executed in what henry would consider a far more honorable way. instead of henry forcing himself up, he finds an appropriate vessel to leech his spite and influence and hate into, and lets the dominoes fall. it also gives this plausible deniability if and when jack ever shows hesitance -- you wanted this, didn't you? i just shared ideas with you. you carried out the plan. you can't honestly be upset with me, can you? -- which reflects exactly what henry did with dave, just in a different, more detached way. give them enough to cling to and then distance yourself until they start to doubt, then shoot them enough of a line for them to cling onto you again.

idk. he's cool

[henrysglock]

i think where u and aemiron's csa theories flop at times is that. well. we have no proof henry has sexual intent.

yes, the vines and billy's lines and so on yada yada can be easily interpreted as CSA-coding - even the GA picks up on that. yes, i literally believe so much that the vines, will talking abt the MF in 2x04 and the entire possession thing is easily a metaphor for rape and CSA (i mean on character tropes it says will's possession was mind rape but who knows if character tropes is canon).

however the thing is, we have NO clue if henry is an actual pedophile. there's no textual evidence that he's sexually attracted to will or any child and thats why he did those things. the entire upside-down CSA thing is literally just a metaphor because, as far as we know, NONE of those actions had sexual intent, and the entire point of rape is quite literally, unfortunately; sexual intent.

(and even then the metaphor isn't even canon unless an ST writer etc says so. literally nothing the fandom theorizes is canon because its all a theory)

it's a common coding thing in film. they'll add metaphors that they never actually put into the explicit text so it just stays that way. for example, in wednesday, a character's in-ability to transform into a werewolf and become part of a wolf pack could be seen as a metaphor for being queer. this doesn't ACTUALLY mean the character is queer, unfortunately (personally i doubt that but nothing is canon yet) - but they use metaphors to portray that experience in their fictional world.

so while SA-coding is associated with henry and the upside down, this doesnt LITERALLY mean henry's a pedophile (because again we've literally never been shown his sexual attraction to children)

"There's no sexual intent"

How...How blunt do I have to be about this? Anon...He...There were babies involved. The entire slug thing in general (Barb included) is quite literally sexual reproduction. You can't say there's no sexual intent when there's sexual reproduction involved, anon. Like...please enlighten me on how I can possibly make that clearer. Do I have to be vulgar about it to make it click? Because I'd really rather not be.

All this without mentioning the fact that nearly every person he's targeted, lured, or said goosebump-worthy (/neg) lines to has been a teenager or younger. He's Vecna, Mindflayer, and Demogorgon. We have to look at all the seasons. Here, let's make a list of his victims and their age groups together:

Will: Preteen and teen.

El: Teen.

Nancy: Teen.

Max: Teen.

Fred: Teen.

Chrissy: Teen.

Patrick: Teen.

Barb: Teen.

Billy: Teen (but not a minor).

Heather: Teen.

Holly in S1: Child.

That's one hell of a track record lmao. The only outliers are Joyce in S1 (she's only targeted because she's connected to Will) and the Flayed (which were kind of a mixed bag since they were only there to become the Fleshflayer).

So, not a single one of the primary targets are over 20 years old...but most of them are teens. So you're right, I guess. He's not a pedophile.

He's closer to the definition of an ephebophile (with a thing for redheads).

Also, this isn't Wednesday. This isn't even in the same ballpark as Wednesday. Stranger Things is an adult supernatural horror series. It was supposed to be named Montauk for heaven's sake, as in the MKULTRA subset known for...what, exactly?

You guessed it: raping and otherwise abusing boys to break them and turn them into mindless super-soldiers.

I...don't know how much plainer I can make it without it becoming tasteless. The tentacle and the Mindflayer's possession are not a metaphors for rape. They're literal rape. The metaphor is the combination of Henry and the Shadow Monster re: cycles of abuse and the way forced conformity and weaponized trauma allow cycles of abuse to be perpetuated.

If you don't want to see what's on the screen in front of you, for whatever reason, that's totally fine. It's no skin off my nose. But don't come in here telling me my analyses flop when I incorporate the things you choose not to perceive.

[mickeys-malarkey]

How I classify:

Headcanon: there's little to no reason for me to think this – at best I'm going off Vibes™ – but it sparks joy for me to think it, so I choose to think it.

Theory: I think this because I think it's the most logical interpretation of the subtext, even if I 10K% despise it.

Headcanon/theory line straddler: I have this gut feeling that's just. So intense that on the one hand I feel like maybe I'm just imagining things, but on the other hand I just can't shake the idea. It just makes so much sense. Is this intuition? Pareidolia? What's happening to m—?

Probably the most perfect example of this difference for me is: Bendy's identity.

Used to have a theory that he was alive the whole time, maybe from the very first time Henry drew him. Love the idea, my bestie & I are still writing a fanfic around it. But it's only a headcanon to me, now.

For those who don't know, my current theory is:

Joey, Wilson, Mr. Gray/Grey, etc. never were and still aren't the real villains, it always was and still is Nathan Sr. (now better known as the Memory of Joey), who not only has been puppeteering them but has also been slowly editing history to put all the blame for his own crimes onto them, as well. He's tryna use Wilson & Audrey as weapons to destroy Ink Demon/Bendy/Real Joey or, failing that, keep him trapped in the time loop and at odds with his real friends forevermore, all without getting his own hands dirty nor besmirching his own reputation… If he can get rid of/silence them, too, that's a bonus!

Ink Demon can talk now because Real Joey's soul was tethered to the soulless Ink Bendy by a failed ritual and he was unable to go to the afterlife when he died, and he's symbolic of Joey's toxic-because-of-trauma side that Nate Sr. abused and manipulated him into thinking = Helpful/Powerful/Desirable/etc. The Keepers stole Bendy's voice, specifically, to symbolize how Nate Sr. silences & villainizes his victims, because he's symbolic of Joey's good side that Nate Sr. abused and manipulated him into thinking = Helpless/Weak/Undesirable/etc. Bendy tiptoes away during fights with the Lost Ones instead of trying to “help” as Ink Demon because he knows he's lucky if he can control himself in that form and he doesn't wanna hurt his baby girl.

Audrey's “devilish” default Banish power was inherited from Daddy Joey-Bendy and is symbolic of the maladaptive coping mechanisms she inherited from Joey through generational trauma (and a bit of the weirdness of her soul being made from a piece of his and a piece of Daddy Not-Actually-Fake Henry's). Her merging with Ink Demon to stop herself from bleeding out and then choosing to reset the time loop once she sees herself hurt someone who reminds of her dad is symbolic of her processing her memories of Joey/grief over his death, coming to terms with the fact she inherited his toxic traits, and deciding to follow in Joey's footsteps by continuing trying to break the cycle of trauma/abuse and “do better next time.”

You're allowed to like as many different interpretations of a story as you want and also believe that the actual story means something entirely different.

[astrum-aetherium]

Could you elaborate more on Camilla? It's for... research purposes, an innocent research and without second or third intentions.

all too gladly — like other TSH figures, she is extremely complex and therefore interesting to dissect. i don't know how much time you have, which is why i will offer you a mere general overview of my opinions on her character. once again, sensically — tw for incest. goes without saying when it comes to her, unfortunately.

i appreciate her as a character and likewise sympathize with her greatly. in my eyes, she is an unfairly dismissed longtime victim of incest who has settled into that cycle of abuse so deeply that the reveal thereof doesn't even shock most readers — i've seen far too many people admitting it "made sense" or "was expected" for charles and camilla to be romantically involved with one another, which we can only owe to ms tartt herself, who strangely saw to that with striking intricacy via her writing. why — i may never know. dark academia, flawed characters, we're not supposed to like them, elitism, wealth — i know, i know, i know. it's still so utterly strange to me.

in addition, as the only woman in a close-knit circle of men (who are already far too privileged for their own good, predominantly heteronormative, and outspoken creatures of their time — specifically bunny), she is obviously the only one being gone after by nearly everyone. henry, her own brother, richard, even francis (on a singular occasion, but didn't he say she was the only one he ever questioned his sexuality over?), and possibly bunny, had he not been in a relationship and scared shitless of henry toward the end? plus, she is portrayed to be an indirect catalyst for the final traumatic event in the book due to being involved with both charles and henry. now, i do not attribute any fault to her, as she certainly has her own reasons to still be in that position (listed below), and what charles and henry did is their own fault and therefore between the two of them only. never blame a woman for a disagreement sparked between men, even if she was indirectly involved.

because of this depiction, i would even go as far as labeling her a "manic pixie dream girl", especially because she is described as so ambivalent and enigmatic in the novel. it truly seems to me that there are very few consistent characterization points in regard to her in the book. it's always either — oh, she is so clever and beautiful, so divine, and she amuses us all, and she is the mediator; or, oh, she is so secretive and has a palpable air of mystery, and must be hiding so much behind that pretty face and sad eyes. very manic-pixie-dream-girlish, if you ask me — but we know whose fault it is (hint: she was born on december 23rd). and yes, she does entertain the attention of most of the men interested in her, but then again, i elaborated on this matter in my post regarding her relationship with henry: i am fully convinced that she is not attracted to men whatsoever, neither romantically nor sexually, and engaging some of them is just a trauma response to partaking in incestuous activity and finding herself in an environment predominantly defined by men. i have a feeling that internally, she's longing to break free from all of it in whichever way possible, and she deserves to.

there's just no justification for not feeling bad for her in this case. camilla is done so dirty by the author of TSH in the way that she is misportrayed, it ails me. she constantly finds herself being objectified and disregarded, recognized and emphasized not for her academic skills and knowledge, but for the fact she is a beautiful, mystifying woman in a circle of intelligent, preposterously pretentious men. annoyingly, she is some sort of "feminine relief", the concept whereof outright vexes me. honestly — the way richard speaks of her sometimes (and yes, i know, it's meant to be like that, as he's an unreliable narrator and a young hormonal man on top of that, but nevertheless) is just outrageous. she is a victim of incest trapped in a position where she cannot communicate with anyone but her abuser and his male friends. is it ever mentioned that she entertains female acquaintances? i cannot recall, and that should be sufficient proof. the confinement she must feel, both in her interpersonal position and in her femininity, must be insane. she deserves so much more.

i want her to leave most of them behind, specifically those who have never seen her as anything other than an object of desire — even charles (who has fled anyway!) — and move somewhere to the warm south into a remote country cottage with a gorgeous, gigantic garden which she would tend to daily, and drive out into the city every now and again for groceries and bookstore strolls. a miss honey type, you know? hell, she could have a wife. a cat or a dog. horses or cattle, even. as far as i'm concerned, she could even see francis on occasion for a paired vacation or a lunch date here and there. i feel like they have the best shot at developing the healthiest bond, despite their shared trauma.

all in all, i think it's obvious that i have the biggest soft spot for her and am therefore convinced that she deserves nothing but the best. she was done quite dirty by ms tartt, and all the characters she ever shared a space with. i only sleep soundly at night knowing that she is very much fictional.