#family trauma

[elithelakes]

sure, we all love found family in fiction. but recently i’ve been thinking about what exactly draws me to it so much. and thinking about it, it’s unfortunately all too obvious. i’m obsessed with the idea of someone not being required to support and love another person, but doing so anyways, and doing it to such an extent that they essentially become family to each other. why? well, there were people in my life that should have automatically supported and loved me, but they didn’t; it’s the idea of someone doing something by choice what someone else wouldn’t even do by requirement. what one person saw and said “that’s an unlovable mess” another person saw said “maybe you are a mess but i’m going to go out of my way to love you anyways”. needless to say i’ve been crying for a while.

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Please take kids seriously they are actually people. sentient intelligent beings believe it or not. they know when they’re being blatantly lied to.

They might not understand it, but they know when grownups are being shady.

They know.

Please stop acting like it’s inconsequential if you lie to them or ignore them or dismiss their thoughts and feelings. It’s not. It stays with them forever.

Please take kids seriously.

[sourswitchblade777]

“jesus can always reject his father. but he cannot escape his mother’s blood.”

family tree ( intro ) - ethel cain.

[curseofsisyphus]

always an angel never a god

take my uquiz guys!! (tw teeny bit of gore)

are you the angel or the god

[mssrell]

I was a kid but I wasn't clueless, Someone who loves you wouldn't do this.

Conan Gray

family issues // generational trauma

[dittomoon]

So, I drew this back in October 2021 but only shared it on the BoJack Horseman Reddit - I liked the idea of lining up the diamonds in Bojacks family tree, ending up with Hollyhock breaking away from their family trauma. I only realised after the sketch that Honey doesn’t have a diamond but I still wanted her to be at the top.

[deerbeatrice]

no one talks about the intense pain sirius probably felt when he moved in with the potters. He spent his whole life being the "problem child" and was both mentally and physically abused by his family. To then be accepted with such love and care that the potters provided would have caused this idea that it was his fault to fracture. To believe for so long that your the reason your own family doesn't love you to meeting people who are able to love the exact same version of you as before is heartbreaking.

I'm just says that the adjustment to living with the potters would have been the hardest thing Sirius had to do because his identity broke.

[jjkyaoi]

btw i viscerally hate you if you have the whole “younger siblings are always more spoiled so their trauma doesn’t matter” mindset. younger siblings ARENT always spoiled. that might have just happened in your case, and other cases you’ve heard of, but that does not mean it’s universal for the love of GOD . AND just because your younger sibling is given more material items/physical affection or whatever it might be does not mean they don’t have their own problems in the house girl think of something outside of ur own problems i promise it’ll be eye opening

[thatweirdgirlyousatnexttoinmath]

It's been almost five years since The Haunting of Hill House came out on Netflix. And it has irrevocably changed my life.

The depiction of grief. Addiction. Depression. Loss. Identity. Family relationships. Family dynamics. Healing your inner child. Having to deal with your inner child. The fact that in some ways you never really grow up, you're that exact same person inside that is dealing with all these increasingly complex and difficult things, trying hard to not let the child in you react because you know it shouldn't.

Thinking about Theo taking her gloves off. Nell going to therapy, putting in work, and still having her demons chase her around all the way to the end. Shirley's entire life and career being based around wanting to help people in their darkest moments the way someone helped her (though isn't that what they all do, too? Especially Theo). Luke as the youngest, being left behind or not believed and eventually having to find ways to self-soothe, which as an adult are not as health-friendly as other options out there. But it's what he had to do to cope. And Steve... everyone knows a Steve.

I know people have commented before about the five Crain siblings and the five stages of grief. But they also each experience those themselves, and in some ways the five of them simply display how much grief and living can do to a person. Juxtaposing the entire modern part of the series with them as children reminded me how much the things I do now can also be drawn back to little Me. The decisions I make, what scares me, who I reach out to. What haunts me? I may not have a big scary terrifying Death House in my past, but I mean... we've all got our version of a big scary terrifying Death House.

The tragedy of Hill House, the complicated love that's shown, the connections and relationships we have with our families, the world, ourselves. I cannot, will not, should not, would not forget it.

[moondustinfj]

"I hated the lot of them: my parents with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal..."

"..my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them... that's him. He was younger than me, and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."

"From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out."

"For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns... and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord."

"To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more - R.A.B."

[imseceracktlyspiderman]

two birds on a wire...

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Childhood trauma culture is being grown and still getting really into whatever was popular with kids/teens when you were that age because you feel like you missed out

[suffocated-dawn]

i am grieving my upcoming illusory death

counting down the days to my living funeral

where i will be as good as dead in your eyes

while i just stand here

tears, no doubt, streaming down my face

and you ignore me like a ghost

not fully dead, but in my own hellish purgatory

for not doing as you say

[fuckyeabowties]

He really is so much like his mother. Bending reality to his whim without realizing it. And having it be heavily influenced by his childhood interests. Bravo 👏🏻 fantastic parallels to Wandavision. Did not see that twist coming. Truly love how dramatic the Maximoffs are.

[traumabody]

has anyone else realized really late that actually both their parents were shitty, but one of them was loud-and-obvious-shitty whereas the other had more of a quiet-neglect thing going on

[insaincat]

Family Trauma CRK Fic

New CRK Au! I'm calling it 'Family Trauma' AU. Might make it a partner au to the 'Extract' AU, to sorta explain the absolute insanity that PV's mental illness stems from.

This is also what happens when you put a person whose stressed TF out and keeps having insomnia on workdays (I went to do the doctors today hopefully the new meds will help).

Maybe I'll make a part 2 with SMilk telling the beasts about it and a story about how Recluse would have viewed Beast-Yeast 7/8 with this au.

Warnings about au: Dead Dove for the fact that it's about severe child abuse with the ancients' childhoods. It does end well!

Please do not read if you are triggered by any of the following:

-Sexual Truama

-Physical Abuse

-Child Abuse

-A combination of those three things

-Self Harm

-Slavery

-S*icide attempt(s)

-Murder

-Eating Disorder

-Body Dysmorphia

-Heavy mentions of Grooming

-Transphobia

We're going off the deep end!

We start off at Pure Vanilla's home. Its clear that White Lily lives with him as a partner and Shadow Milk lives there half of the time, still being a beast and all. They have twins, looking like Vanilla and Shadow as Lily didn't want to mix in her fey cookie dough into the kids. This visibly worried Vanilla but Shadow Milk didn't know why.

Years later, when the kids are in school, they all start to notice them pull away and eat less. Their doctor is concerned, and CPS gets called but everything comes back clear. Vanilla starts freaking out, but Lily calms him down. It could be something, or it could be a kid thing. They look into it and know they will be there for them no matter what. Shadow Milk is still confused, but thinks its kids being brats. That's what he did when he was their age. Refuse to eat when mad, that sort of thing.

Everything comes to a head when the healer twin gets sick from it, and Pure Vanilla (despite promising not to) uses his awakened form to check out their stats, only to quickly flicker out, collapse, and started to breath rapidly while chanting like a mantra "itsmyfaultitsmyfaultitsmyfault". Takes them awhile and an auto-heal (it's in game I'ma just use it) but eventually Vanilla falls asleep clinging to both.

And finally, Lily clears up everything.

Pure Vanilla has anorexia, something he's been taking medication for. He doesn't look it, since he uses medication to help keep the weight on and now eats regularly, but it was a serious problem in his childhood. And it seems it's been passed on to the twins.

All of the ancients have mental issues and past Truama. Some of them are taking medications, some prefer remedies and religion, others decide they can deal with it on their own. But they all have each other, and that's what got them through every day. The Soul Jams helped lessen the burden considerably, but ultimately it was the love and care they held for each other that got them through. Especially when they didn't have their Soul Jams yet, when they had the scare that brought them all to realize how fragile life was.

And she starts the story.

Pure Vanilla Cookie was born to loving parents and lived his youngest childhood as a shepherd. He was a very happy kid, despite the trials of being blind from birth. Kids who disliked different cookies couldn't stay hating him, he was just too kind and sweet. Even wolves that would prey on sheep would give their belly for him. And at this time his little habit of occasionally forgetting to eat was just seen as such. Forgetfulness. Even he saw it as so. Busy tending to sheep and dreaming the day away while practicing magic. He found Vanilla Orchid during this time.

The Blueberry academy is where it started to turn, and where White Lily had met him the first time. It wasn't super noticeable at first, but she had noticed his lack of appetite when no one else did. Though their first bond was of forbidden books, she'd been wanting to reach out to him for weeks. She, herself, would occasionally starve herself but for different reasons. She hoped he was a shy eater. As they spent more time together, she realized this was not the case. Whether he was doing it on purpose or not, she didn't know. She wanted to focus on him, to help him, but she often squirmed in her own skin. Still, she did her best to keep him fed.

As she got older, Pure Vanilla helped her realize that she was a girl, and that there were spells to adjust one's dough just enough to be feminine in detail. Vanilla, by this point, was on the fast track to becoming one of Earth-Bread's most powerful healers, so he was able to help her transition, something her father would not approve of, but he wasn't there right now. They continued their studies like this. Lily would cast a spell to shift her dough a bit more, Vanilla would heal her from any bad effects, and Lily would keep him fed.

After school they separated. She only knew of Pure Vanilla's wondering and teachings to help every cookie he came across from other's accounts.

It's here we separate from her narrative. We see Pure Vanilla staring at himself in a reflective pool using Vanilla Orchid's borrowed sight. His robes were discarded for a bath. He was thin, much thinner than we last saw him. He frowned and placed Orchid by the water's edge. He had been skipping meals, only having a few a week. It was fine though. They didn't have enough rations otherwise. He was the only one who could do this. His healing would keep his body moving and his mind somewhat working. He couldn't die of starvation, likely, his auto-heal would kick in when he was near passing out. He wondered if one day that would make him a walking corpse. He was hungry, but the pain was dull. It was always dull. But these people needed the food more. He'd put his needs aside.

We come back to White Lily's story. She was attending University. Full scholarship thanks to her own hard work. She met Pure Vanilla there again, his cheeks a bit hollow. She knew then she'd have to step in again. He wore more black now, an oversize quilted robe instead of a fit one. His sleeves and pants were puffy, as if to hide him, but he still looked neat so maybe it wasn't too bad. And freshman year passed in a blur. She kept him fed as they both excelled (for her through sheer willpower and for him through being a god damn genius). He started to falter in their second year, accepting her food less, and becoming a bit sluggish. The second semester of their second year Vanilla all but collapsed. like a doll with its strings cut, but standing still. He was moving just fine, but his speech was little and slurred, and his grades tanked. Vanilla Orchid would occasionally freak the fuck out until eventually she insisted, they see a professional.

But the issue here is that at this time, medicine was still a rising practice. Mental illness was a new concept and many were misdiagnosed.

So taking him to a doctor she heard in horror something that Pure Vanilla fully expected. "He's fine. Just a bit Ill, but it'll pass. He'll gain back his appetite." She had seen his BONES during the exam. Pure Vanilla was a walking carcass being kept alive by his own magic. He could hardly function. And she may haven't been giving him full course meals, but it should've been enough to keep something, anything on him! Unless... Unless it was just coming right back up. And he just thanked the doctor. Said he was probably right. He'd rest for a week, and everything would be back to normal.

She realized then, that just like her, no one believed him.

She pulled them through the rest of the semester and dropped out.

It was in search for a healer who would give a shit that they met the others. Holiberry and Golden Cheese had already been working together (they met during a raid to free captives that Golden Cheese was ALREADY DOING when Holiberry just walked RIGHT THE FUCK IN) and then met Dark Cacao soon after. White Lily enlisted their help to find a way to get Pure Vanilla functioning again, as Lily was all but dragging him around at this point (he was too weak to do more than heal despite how that drained him). And they did. They managed to find an herbal remedy that would make one hungry again thanks to Dark Cacao's homeland. And they were able to watch Vanilla regain a part of him that had been missing for several months.

Now, Lily had a massive crush on Vanilla (and vice versa. It's how he found out being Bi isn't something every cookie does), but she only had romantic feelings. She held no sexual attraction for men, much preferring females. So, while seeing the budding romance between Cacao and Vanilla did hurt, she'd rather see them happy and find her own eventual partner than sulk around for something she thought couldn't be (spoiler: it could). Those two seemed to fit right into each other.

The group traveled for a while, half out of concern for Pure Vanilla as he was still at risk, and part because they had become like family. But all things must come to an end. They had to return home. Holi had to check and make sure her estate was still standing, Golden Cheese needed to work more on freeing other slaves and captives, Dark Cacao would see if his kingdom was still functioning despite the corrupt court running it, and White Lily had to go home to see her mother. She'd take Pure Vanilla, of course.

It was only at most two months and they had all regularly checked in with one another at least once a week. Holi had joined Cheese in freeing people, Cacao was secretly planning to tear down his kingdom from the inside out, replacing it with his own in a new part of the country, and Lily and Vanilla had gotten an apartment near the college. She was tutoring while studying witches and pretty much anything she could get her hands on. Vanilla was a healer and a teacher at the local church, despite not sharing any of their faith. Everyone was doing well.

Out of White Lily's narrative once more, we watch Dark Cacao plan to surprise his lover with a gift and an early visit. He had only told White Lily of it, so she left the door unlocked for him. Coming up on the apartment door he sees something odd poking from under the gap. A leaf. The leaf wiggles and nudges at the floor, as if trying to escape. He narrows his eyes suspiciously before recognizing the color and shape belonging to that of Vanilla Orchid. He opens the door cautiously to find the Orchid staff on the floor, trying to wiggle about. He didn't know much about the staff other than its shared sense and history with Pure Vanilla, and the fact that they would wiggle their petals and leaves while snaking vines around Vanilla's wrist when he shares his magic with them. He picks them up and asks "What are you doing on the floor?". Their response is looking back and forth between him and the bedroom door, everything straining in that direction.

Immediately Dark Cacao's alarm bells are going, but he doesn't want to scare Pure Vanilla if it's nothing. He knocks on the door and calls for him as Vanilla Orchid's vines struggle on the door's lock. Why was it locked? There was no response. Those alarm bells are getting louder. The door opens. Pure Vanilla is in bed looking like he's having a pleasant enough dream. He's just asleep, ok. Good. Everything is fine. But a bottle on the desk catches his attention. It's empty.

We come back to White Lily's narrative. She bursts through the hospital room to find an awake Pure Vanilla Cookie. She had been later than she'd like, seeing her mother in another town and messenger birds could only fly so fast, even emergency ones. She had been so very careful, she thought he was getting better! She had kept him on a good diet, made sure he took the herbs that Dark Cacao sent every two weeks, kept him from bringing it all back up (he never did it voluntarily, it just happened). But she had missed something. He nearly died from it. Thankfully his healing factor kicked in, curing him from what his body identified as poison. Was that what had happened? Did his body think the herbs were harming it and started to self-heal? Had he been sneaking away when she wasn't looking to vomit food so she wouldn't know? So, she didn't have to sorry that it wasn't working??

Was he really in so much pain that he tried to stop it the only way he knew how?

He wasn't there sitting on that bed, not really.

She sobbed on him and blamed herself. Because she wasn't there when he needed her most. Because she couldn't help him get better. Because she had failed him.

The other three arrived the next day, they had all planned to get together that week but pushed it when they got the news. They read the letter together and wept.

The letter basically went as such:

I love you all but the pain is too much. I didn't mention it.. ever... But my healing only keeps me alive. It doesn't stop the pain I feel when I walk or talk. It hurts to stand and move and think. I can't continue like this. I seem to flush out anything I'm given, and I can't seem to eat anymore. I may be giving up, but that doesn't mean I don't see what you've done for me. You are all so wonderful and I know you'll do great things. You've all done your best so don't blame yourself.

Love you all,

Pure Vanilla Cookie.

.

.

White Lily heard a shrill scream. It woke her and everyone else up. There was a trill of a whistle and nurses and guards rushed into the room where Pure Vanilla was being held. She pushed past them with great difficulty and aid from Dark Cacao. Two brute looking cookies held Pure Vanilla's small frame on the shoulders who sat and stared dead ahead. His eyes were lifeless. As if there were none to begin with.

When all of the staff left after chaining Pure Vanilla to the bed's rail the doctor came in and looked at the charts. And he said this:

"Sleeping Pills, huh? Your friends say you have an eating disorder, but we both know that only women get those. Probably miscounted." He tossed the papers to the side. "And I'll get you unchained soon. I understand you were just looking for the bathroom, yes? You mistook the open window for it."

White Lily's eyes went white with rage and everyone else just stood back stunned. But then Pure Vanilla said something. Something that made her fall into Holi. The one lie Pure Vanilla had ever told in his entire life.

"Yes. Your right. I mistook the window for the bathroom. As you know, I am blind. I didn't know it was left open. I'm sorry."

The room was stunned into silence. The doctor nodded and turned away, talking about discharge papers until White Lily tackled him with a ear peircing scream that could bring death to the land of the living as she took the end of her staff and rammed the end into the man, over and over, only stopping until Holiberry pulled her off. She nearly killed him with her staff. She was then banned (and later to be sued) from the hospital. But jokes on them, Golden Cheese could fly her around.

The window remained locked for the remainder of his stay, but he never stopped looking in that direction.

When they got home, they knew this wasn't going to get better. Pure Vanilla had gone unresponsive, either just sitting there with no expression and dead eyes or being asleep where he looked a bit more at peace. White Lily stayed with him the entire time, terrified of what would happen if she looked away for even a second. Dark Cacao laid on the other side only switching out with Holi when needed. Vanilla Orchid stayed laid against a corner wall to keep an eye on everything. A place they could easily collapse off of and make the most amount of noise if they saw Pure Vanilla taking a turn for the worst. Vanilla was only keeping small amounts of food down and liquids, so they kept him on that diet while taking turns caring for him.

He didn't want to be a burden.

After weeks of this, they knew something had to change. And it started with Holiberry.

"I used to be a really rowdy kid, when I was real little." She said quietly, the quietest anyone had ever heard her.

"No shit." Golden Cheese rolled her eyes but paused when she saw the tears peaking out.

"They sent me to my uncle, so I could learn from him and his daughter." Her tears rolled down her cheek and Golden Cheese walked over, placing a hand on her back and rubbed to sooth her. "They ignored me for a while and it scared me. I thought I'd been abandoned. But one day.. one day he took me aside and told me if I loved him, he'd love me too. That I'd-id play with him." She tried to wipe tears that wouldn't stop, the room inhaled at the implication. "H-he wouldn't stop. No one believed me. Not even my parents when they visited. My cousin said it was just how he showed he cared. She did it too. That we were... connected because of this. We were family now." She sniffled and decided to let her crocodile tears flow. "He didn't stop." She whispered, barely heard through sniffles and hiccups. "Not until he died." And she fell silent.

Golden Cheese hugged her from behind and White Lily grappled her with a sob. They stayed quiet like that for a moment, her crushing words sinking in. The reality of it all.

"My village was crushed as a child. Couldn't have been any older than three, four? I don't remember." Golden Cheese lifted her head. "All the women and children were sold. Me, included. I was passed around as a shit version of a gift for awhile till I found myself in a brothel. It was great, actually. I didn't need to be the entertainment. Just do my job as an assistant. Get the girls ready, clean up, serve refreshments and what-not. And even though I wasn't part of the attraction, everyone seemed to love me. Workers and customers alike. They'd praise me, give me extra money. I think some thought I'd be going into the business and wanted to help groom me. Would've worked too. I was respected and loved. I had found a home. But then the country was invaded and once again I was the only one left." Her expression changed from longing to anger and hatred. Her teeth clenched and grated as her eyes grew wild and furious, like a goddess who would smite any who dared to look at her wrong. "I vowed to get my vengeance. To create a place where people like me could live free and without care. Where they could indulge in their desires without fear of being trapped and killed or turned into a slave." She growled, looking much like a lioness rather than an eagle her wings perceived her to be.

"That's what we've been doing." Holi said after blowing her nose on a handkerchief Lily had given her. "Working on freeing slaves and building an army."

"That's amazing." Lily marveled before looking down. "My story is nothing like yours." She muttered but Holiberry just placed a large hand on her small shoulder and smiled.

"It's not a competition. We're sharing because we care. We want him to know he's not alone in this fight. He's got family to back him up. He always will."

Lily looked to Vanilla who sat on the bed against it's frame, motionless. She took a breath and started on a story Pure Vanilla knew well, despite having only told him once.

"My father used to beat me and my mother. Ever since I can remember, he'd come home drunk and throw things at us. Sometimes he'd drink at home, but then he'd have a bottle to use and mom would always end up bloody." Her face felt hot and cold all at once. She was admitting to a close guarded secret that she only told one person since she started at the academy, all those years ago. "When he wasnt drunk, he was the most wonderful man we'd ever know. During those times I could see why she married him. But as I got older, it got worse. I um... I.." She sniffled and scratched at the wrappings on her arms, gaining Holi's attention who whispered "Oh, love" and took her into her arms.

Lily tried not to cry again, she really did. She didn't want to make this all about her, especially after hearing what both Holiberry and Golden Cheese had gone through, but her hug reminded her of her mother's when she'd come into her room with a bleeding head and several cuts and hugged her while singing a broken song until she fell asleep. Her mother supported her when she came home from four years at the academy as a woman, while her father dragged her by the hair and threw her out. Her mother tried to come for her, but the man just threw her back like a rag doll and slammed the door closed. She was alone for a long time after, having to stay at an orphanage kind enough to keep her despite her age. Only at the University did she find her mother again, the women now in prison for killing her husband and was claimed as a psychotic killer, despite the obvious signs of abuse. "They never believed me." She couldn't help but sob, voice heavy as was her heart. "They never believed me when I told them it was him. And they locked mom away for defending herself. A-and she-" she buried her head into Holi's neck. "-she blames herself!"

Holiberry rocked her as she whispered sweet nothing's with wet cheeks. Cheese reached over and ran a hand through her hair and hummed. By the Witches did she love them so much!

Once she had managed to leave her sobbing behind, she curled into Holi who continued to rock her. The point that this woman continued to love despite the abusive 'love' she endured for who knows how long was awe inspiring. She was truly the heart of them. Dark Cacao waited for her to settle before speaking.

"You know I'm the Tenno of a corrupt system. My mother had me and placed me there to puppet. Didn't have my own life or my own will. Didn't even notice it until I read The Art of War, of all things. Started to make me think about how we were treating our army, our people. When I tried to use what I learned, I noticed I had no say. My mother would scold me like a child and tell me she knew better. That I was just a child." He said calmly, as if being born into being used without any thoughts was something he had made peace with. "I started to realize I couldn't do anything, that I was a toy on a high seat." He looked down and sighed. "I gave up. My life was not mine. I would be used until I was no longer useful. My bride would be my mother's choice, and my child would be taken from me to be raised as her next king on the throne. One day I decided I would not let her do as she wished. She held no love for me, nor anyone. Only the throne. She wasn't my mother, and I wasn't her son." He looked up again, eyes closed and relaxed, as if reliving the day he spoke of and finding acceptance in his actions, no regret. "I found myself on the tip of my sword, at peace." He opened his eyes, "Then I realized I was chicken shit and backed out."

Holi gasped and Lily gaped. Cheese only blinked and smirked, asking what the all wanted to know. "What did you do then?"

Eyes half lidded, brow furrowed and a devilish smirk on his lips he said in a low base tone, "I killed her."

There was a bark of laughter and everyone turned to see Pure Vanilla rolling to his side, clutching his stomach laughing, eyes peaked with tears. "You killed her-!! Said it so simply!!" He clutched his stomach tighter as he tried not to laugh only to fail horrifically and then gasp in pain only to start all over again. "Oh, witches! Laughing hurts!!" Dark Cacao's smirk grew as he leaned against the wall, satisfied that he had been the one to bring his lover out of his trance, even if it technically was a group effort.

The women blinked before letting their laughter burst forth. Because yeah. Dark Cacao said one of the most gruesome things in the most plain and silly manner. Then Holi dropped Lily into Vanilla and tackled them with ticklish fingers, refusing to let go of the renewed atmosphere after weeks of being scared of the next day. They would be ok. As long as they were together.

From the corner we see separate from White Lily's vision, Vanilla Orchid finally resting their eyes. They would be fine.

.

.

Shadow Milk Cookie had schooled his face long ago to complete neutrality as White Lily Cookie told her tale. They sensed no lies in her words. Had they been unable to feel lies being told his way, they'd just assume as such. But she wasn't. Or at least she believed them to be the truth. But also, WHEN THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!?! They were watching the entire time!! (Answer: when They were making DCPV fanart in his cell)

"Once we got our SoulJams, everything seemed to settle. Medication started working again, and when I returned to Crispia for the first time since... I was made to take a mental and physical test. It was long and... weirdly not as violating as I thought, but by the end of it they had plenty of results that helped me." She continued. "I started taking medication for my depression and even started therapy! It took a while to breach the subject of my father, but we got there, and she believed me!" She smiled brightly. "I'd have never thought things would progress so far in so little time. I mean... It's been awhile. But not really, in the grand scheme of things." She smiled brightly, her eyes squinting up as her cheeks became round like apples. "Things have improved so much, Shadow Milk! Its truly amazing!"

It was, and honestly, sometimes it scared them sometimes. The cookies of today were growing too fast.

"When he came to the Holiberry kingdom with Ginger Brave and his friends, they got him the help he needed right away. Holi said he was starting to visibly spiral, but they managed to get him medication to at least regulate his appetite until they could find better medication that fit him. I heard he was trying something when he found me. "

Shadow Milk thought for a moment, then remembered Recluse and how easily he fell into despair. They had thought, at the time, that they had been the cause. What if it wasn't them. What if it had always been there, just kept locked away with a poorly made chain and a flimsy key? What if being in their presence just made the despair resurface faster? And didn't that mean he had the medication when they met? They paused and paled.

"That medicine you said they had... It wouldn't happen to be the one he had when we met and after, did it?"

Lily looked away for a moment before turning back to smile at them. "The one you threw away. Yes." HE TOLD HER?!?!

"THATS WHY HE KEEPS BRINGING IT UP?!" the cookie in her lap winced and she shushed him. WITCHES FUCKING DAMN IT. HE DIDNT DO SHIT AFTER ALL!!! Their street cred!!!

"That was Candy Apple! I didn't know nutthen about no pills!" They defended with a finger at her chest.

"Would've died if not for that, though." Vanilla muttered; face full of Lily's hair he'd been clutching when he fell asleep. "Was able to float cuz of it." he let go of her hair and snuggled into her stomach which made her giggle.

"Ok, ok. It worked out, that's nice and all" NO ITS NOT THEIR STREET CRED!!! "But what does that have to do with the girls?"

"Recent studies show that mental illnesses can be passed down through generations. Its.. quite possibly literally baked into their dough."

Shadow Milk frowned. "Bull."

Vanilla sat up and stared at the wall with a look they hadn't seen in some years. It was the look Truthless Recluse would wear day in and day out. They had fallen in love with that face, but they had also fallen in love with the original and the new. Seeing this again... it hurt, and Shadow Milk didnt know what to do about that.

"I saw it in their status, it said [inherited]. I did this."

White Lily opened her mouth to protest before closing it to reconsider her words. She then wrapped her arms around him and lay her head on his shoulder. "We'll figure this out." Pure Vanilla did not acknowledge her, his spiral into despair growing more and more.

"I think this is all bullshit. Buuuttt. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try this... medicine thing you were talking about." Both looked to them in surprise as they glided back through the room, lounging with their arms crossed to hold his head. Shadow Milk cookie both liked and hated the new ways. They liked the freedom cookies had now, the new advances and new ways to lie and cheat. But they also hated it. Part of them was stuck in the past and getting it's foot out of there was going to be a grueling task.

But if they were willing to try, for their children, then maybe it would be ok.

Pure Vanilla's face softened.