#i kind of talk around it bc people are cagier w that subject than physical abuse

[crumbleclub]

Mike trying to rationalize why Henry is okay with his dad hurting him, even when Michael isn't okay with him hurting his siblings. Even when nobody is okay with Michael hurting his siblings.

It wasn't as bad, right? He never laid a finger on them. They were only words.

Maybe it's because Mike is older. This bleeds into his protests, his haphazard attempts to protect. "Please, he's only six." Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him the way that you hurt me.

William finds this entertaining. He makes note of these things, wonders if he'd respond differently if William tried something else.

Maybe it's because William is an adult. He learns not to trust anyone older than him, but to let them do whatever they want. He learns to freeze; to shut down.

This makes him an easy target later on.

Is it because Michael deserves it? After Evan dies, he's sure that must be it. Willian knew what he was, and he only gave him what he already had coming. Michael was a murderer, after all. He deserved everything anyone might do to him.

It was his own fault.

#really hinting at the plot point in ch 4 of blips here #i kind of talk around it bc people are cagier w that subject than physical abuse #but it's very important to me that you know it happened as a culmination of mike's conditioning #to just shut down and let people do whatever they want #it 100% wouldn't have happened without william being the way that he was. even though he wasn't present #and wouldn't be likely to do something of that nature himself #it's also related to michael growing up with a well meaning friend who doesn't respect his boundaries #as sort of a cautionary tale to actually teach kids these things #nobody commented on my themes yet so im just fucking telling you all lmao #fnaf #michael afton #william afton #character study #sort of #character meta #also sort of #mike's actual writing #cw abuse #implied csa #with the easy target line #and the ending line