˳ IN BETWEEN HER THIGHS ﹏ an account dedicated to Bradley O'Keefe 𓏴𓏴 and HERO from TEETH the musical
i feel like there's plenty wrong with me , virgin or not.
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ❛ I feel him underneath my skin,
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ he's there behind my eyes — ❜
i ﹒﹒ irregular && inconsistent posting ࿐ i don't really comply to canon dat much when it comes to hcs ﹏ (unless i'm actually trying to analyze the musical)
ii ﹒﹒ please don't sexualize Brad here !! i know how stupid this may sound knowing what TEETH is but it's just a personal boundary
iii ﹒﹒ asks and dms are always open, just don't be a dick (get it?)
i also made the TEETH archive google doc so if u ever want it just dm me!!
@ ﹒ WHO IS HERO ? ╲ old intro
︶ ︶⠀ ⠀ 𓏼⠀ also check out: ⠀ ⠀
@occasional-dawn . ◌ ﹏ dawn account ! my dawn co-star in the upcoming teeth the musical movie! (/j)
@teethpilled ⑅ ﹏ feebee. THE teeth blog in the world!
warning! this post will contain mentions and discussions of sexual abuse, cocsa, sexual exploitation, and related subjects. all of these are matters brought up/implied in teeth, but proceed with caution.
Brad: "So [Dawn and I] both took our swimsuits down... and I was scared to let touch mine down there, so I told her she had to let me touch hers down there first..." (page 23).
Dawn: "So I asked [Brad] if I could touch it, but I was scared to touch it too, so when he asked me if he could touch me first, I said okay" (page 104).
Very early in the show, we learn about this event. We see it first through Brad's view, and it's clear that regardless of how it manifests, he is deeply disturbed by the event, even saying that he "used to feel the pain in [his] finger whenever Dawn came near", but was able to "suppress" it.
Brad is reclusive, easy to anger, and is averse to touch, Dawn's specifically.
Brad shrinks from her touch and exits, disgusted (page 20).
@hourly-brad made a post about how Brad displays signs of sexual trauma, which I deeply recommend.
The last thing I'll note about Brad right now, is the scene in the Playwright Horizons run before A Real Man. Godfather is describing a sexual act between a man and a woman, and Brad is unable to listen to him, and gets upset.
Brad: "I can't! I can't, I can't!"
When him and the Truthseekers move to a more private space, he asks "How could I let Dawn do this to me?"
There's something to be said about this scene and its version in the New World Stages run, especially in how the Truthseekers and Godfather pressure Brad into sexual acts that he isn't comfortable with.
After A Real Man, the shows stage directions read,
Pastor stands, exhausted from beating Brad, almost as if in a sexual afterglow. Brad lies shaking on the floor (page 46).
This is not to say that Pastor was sexually abusing Brad, but the imagery and symbolism is very present, and I doubt that it was unintentional.
My next point is Ryan.
Born Again contains the lyrics,
"I just can't resist getting naked with the cam'ras rolling
"And posting my ass for strangers on the internet"
Later, during Dentata,
Dentata: "Stick it in me, big boy."
Ryan: "I can't believe that used to be my line" (page 116).
If Dawn is sixteen and Brad seventeen, Ryan is likely in the same age range as them. If this is the case, his lyrics in Born Again would imply that he was exploitated as a minor, and that content is available on the internet.
He says that he's made porn in the past, and that's likely material that's available online, and he can't undo it. Later, he records him and Dawn in a sexual position as well. He rationalizes that decision, and even expects Dawn to thank him. This is behavior that is normal to him, and behavior that he repeats to Dawn later.
Lastly, Dawn. Oh, Dawn.
There isn't a man in this show who doesn't assault Dawn, or who respects her, or who sees her as a whole human being. Let's go through that.
From the start of the show, Brad hates Dawn. He's physically violent with her, often grabbing her or throwing her around during their interactions. Verbally, he's cruel, pushing her away and attempting to upset her. By the end of the show, he's reduced her to "a vaginal black hole that's just a body with no soul".
Tobey is introduced as a kind and respectful boyfriend. But he disrespects Dawn during When She Gave Birth, and doesn't respect her when she tells him to stop, or when she expresses hesitation toward what they're doing. Even when she's saying, "I feel like I'm gonna pass out", he doesn't stop. She outright says, "stop", he doesn't listen. She says that he's hurting her, he doesn't listen.
In Playwright Horizons, after Teeth, we see Dawn and Ryan talking. She's hyperventilating, unable to form complete sentences coherently, is incredibly upset by what's happened. She says,
Dawn: "It didn't feel right, and I didn't know how to tell him to- but then I told him to stop-"
A few moments later,
Ryan: It sounds like... it sounds like Tobey raped you.
Dawn: It wasn't rape, Ryan, he was my husband. I'm the guilty one.
Dawn doesn't identify the situation as what it was- assault. Whether this is because she doesn't have the words to process it as that, or because she doesn't want to believe that that's what it was, she blames herself for what happened.
Purity culture is a big theme during the show, and purity culture often teaches women that it's their responsibility to look out for men, it's their responsibility to be pure. If they tempt a man, it's their fault. Dawn is displaying the results of that belief here.
Even in the New World Stages run, where the line has been softened- "Okay. Yes. But even if that's true..." Dawn is still resistant to consider what happened rape. She allows the possibility, but doesn't seem to agree with how Ryan sees it.
I don't think that Pastor is sexually abusing Dawn, but when Brad says that Pastor is just trying to protect Dawn so he can get in her pants, I don't think he's incorrect. I made a post about that, which can be read here. Pastor does not see Dawn as a person, rather as someone to be idolized and seen as perfect. The opposite of Kim.
After Brad is kicked out of their house, Dawn makes her way to Doctor Godfrey's. There, she uses Amy Sue's name, showing that she's still struggling with the shame in her body, unable to use her own name in relation to what's happened to her. Like the other men in the show, Doctor Godfrey violates her, and pays by losing an arm. Ryan calls this a violation, and tells Dawn that the teeth were protecting her.
Last thing I'll say in this section is about Ryan- I've talked about him in the section above, but it is important to note that during I'm Your Guy, Dawn is genuinely enjoying herself. This is an experience that she is enjoying and gaining pleasure from. An interesting difference from Brad- in Playwrights, he doesn't seem to think that he can gain pleasure from sex after what happened with Dawn, but Dawn is able to still experience pleasure after she's experienced it in (what she believes to be) a safe environment.
Last thing is that the word "rape" is used specifically to describe what happens to men during Dentata. Pastor, Patriarch #1, and Patriarch #2 are described as being raped. Dentata isn't above committing sexual violence of her own.
Dentata's possession of Dawn and HERO's possession of Brad can also be seen as similar to sexual abuse, or as similar narratively to what they've been through. Dawn and Brad have had control over their bodies taken away before, and by the end of the show, they have been taken over by entities beyond their control. The final act of violation done to them, their bodies forcefully taken away and used to continue the cycle.
i'd bring back brad's breakdown before a real man, regarding godfather and what he's having them do. that, and the conversation ryan and dawn have before always the woman
i can't really think of a wrong way to play dentata.
if you play her angry, i love it! her vessel has been abused time and time again, she's seen the worst of mankind, and she's hellbent on destroying them.
if you play her wild, manic, i'm all for it! she finally has a vessel to use, a way to bring about her goals. a way to set the future right, in her eyes. nothing could stop her.
hell, play her like she's sad. resigned, even. she's been around since the beginning of the universe, but the way that men treat her hasn't changed. and if they won't change, neither will she. if they force her hand, she'll fight back. she might not want to, but she doesn't have much other choice.
"it's probably a ploy to get in your pants, dawn, i hope you can see that... you've probably been dreaming about it since you first laid eyes on her."
this line is endlessly fascinating to me. it's clearly said during a tense, emotional moment, for dawn and brad both, but i can't help but feel like there is some truth to it.
we know that brad knows things that dawn doesn't, that pastor tells him things that he doesn't tell dawn. "maybe he never told you, but he told me a couple of beatings ago."
while i don't know if pastor would go as far as to tell brad about these sorts of things, i don't find it a strange leap for him to make. pastor says that dawn was a way to "fix" brad bring born- "i thank father god for bringing dawn into my life to correct that mistake". he puts her up on a pedestal, and idolizes her.
since pastor does nothing of the same for brad, he can see his favoritism. with the truthseekers radicalizing him, and the beliefs he's taken on, he sees any affection toward dawn and reads it as attraction to her.
pastor and dawn have a strange relationship. he clearly favors her over brad, he refuses to see her as doing any wrong, etc. with brad getting the opposite treatment, and utter hatred, he probably assumed that dawn was getting the inverse of his experience.
added onto how the pastor calls dawn "baby"? while not necessarily something of note, in this case, it likely only raised his suspicions.
a pop rock musical about a cheerleading team trying to survive the night when a murderer strikes. act one is more focused on the murders, act two is how they process it.
it's sharp, funny, and emotional. it has complex characters, good songs, and good jokes. if you like the comedy and character depth in teeth, consider checking this out!
love in hate nation
a rock musical about a teenage Black girl named Susannah Son in the 1960s. it's primary setting is a juvie hall, and focuses on Susannah, her situation, and her relationships with the people around her.
additionally, the show was made by joe iconis, who also made be more chill! this show has good songs, queer representation, and one of my favorite antagonists of all time. if you like teeth's complex antagonists and rebellion, give this a try!
thats all i have for now! if you have any questions related to these shows, feel free to send an ask or a dm! i'm more than open to discussing them, i love them.
to elaborate- i'm thinking specifically of dissociative amnesia. dissociative amnesia refers to not being able to recall information about yourself, beyond the extent of simply forgetting. this is usually in response to traumatic events.
dawn shows localized amnesia (inability to remember a specific event or period of tine), first in response to the incident with brad when she was five or six.
brad: "will you admit what you did to me when we were kids now?"
dawn: "i swear, i swear i don't remember."
we know from dentata's emergence that the event scared her, and it isn't a far stretch to assume that she would repress the memory. the act itself, and then seeing brad bleeding wouldn't have been easy for a child to process, especially when she was already scared to begin with.
"he was screaming, and i was screaming, and there was blood in the water and then pastor started screaming at brad."
this is not to blame brad for this- they were both affected differently by this, and they carry it differently. neither of them were at fault.
with localized amnesia, events can be remembered, which we also see with dawn. she repressed the event for about ten years, but eventually, she does remember it. this type of amnesia can last for minutes, hours, or years. in dawn's case, it was years.
"brad told me i bit him on his finger down there when we were little. i thought he was talking crazy, but it all came flooding back to me on my bike ride over here."
just wanted to elaborate on this, because i love talking about her!