#arthur whf

[poormeowmew]

this is for @kazpng , the two other fans, and the tumbleweed! hello we happy few fandom it is i total drama artist enjoy this loser boy

[unremarkablechap]

META : ARTHUR'S TRAUMA . ↳ AND WHAT IT DOES TO HIM .

We all know that Arthur isn't perfect. Though generally very cordial, polite, and considerate, he has a sort of air to him of emotional instability and jealousy. Also, he can be a bit defensive and self-centered from time-to-time, often putting himself first when it comes to situations that may induce any emotional, physical, or psychological damage to him. If things aren't necessarily the way that he finds suitable for him, he tends to flee the scene.

So, that begs the question. Where the heck did all those glaring flaws come from?

( TL;DR -- Loads of emotional abuse by an emotionally absent father, the death of a mother, and a woman who never gave him a secure relationship lead him to have a rather temperamental attitude. Both because he subconsciously doesn't know how else to get his feelings out but by being as emotional as possible as he was never taught to rationalize or emotionally regulate and because he never had the chance to put himself first having been forced to watch someone who had autism as a preteen. )

Let's start with Sally Boyle. The first woman that Arthur ever loved. He knew her since primary school and used to watch her from her window from time-to-time, the pervert! Without knowing how else to approach her as his mom was already sick from an odd disease and couldn't help him talk about women, he waited to spend time with her until she began living with him.

It was a wonderful time at first. As hinted in the game multiple times, Sally encouraged Arthur to trespass in places they weren't supposed to. They blew up a postbox, and they put fish in the fountain at a park. Normally Arthur isn't this type of person -- he's very sheepish and to himself. He'd rather read a book than go off and rob a place. But because Sally had that spunk and he loved her to bits, he did it for her because he wanted to spend time with her.

But then she started spending time with other people:

"The thing is, I don't trust her. She was always so wonderful when she was there, but a girl like Sally always has so many better places to be, and better people to be with, or worse people that she prefers anyway for some reason." -- Arthur's Notebook in game.

Which immediately hints that she never made their relationship secure. Now you may doubt that but here is a note from Sally when she kisses him on impulse.

"why did i do that?

it was nice. why didn't i ever do it before?

because look at what happens. i fuck everything up. think, sally, think!" -- Sally's Notebook in game

At multiple points in Sally's act, you hear reminiscing from her thinking about how much she loved Arthur, but she could never just take that step to make it official. She only knew how to use men because she doesn't trust or necessarily like them. And because she never made a relationship secure with Arthur, he felt like she was never honest. And never wanted to be around. Or always fancied someone else, even if she never really did.

But Arthur can only comprehend what he believes to see. He is so adamant on what he witnesses, as he is an extremely analytical person. Though he gets that from being a stupendous student and excelling at english class, he was also abused from his father. And those abused are often more than not, rather astute at others body language and emotions. Though it doesn't outright say it, you can gather the hints at it in his memories.

At the memory in 7:28, it talks about Arthur's father calling his son down from a tree after realizing he's being sent off to Germany. Instead of trying to rationalize the situation and allow his emotions to be regulated or teaching him to regulate them, he simply manipulates him into coming down.

At 10:55, the memory talks about Percy wondering why the Germans are taking the kids away. Instead of taking a moment to regulate emotions, Arthur lets them out impulsively and regrets it a second later. This hints again, he was never taught to regulate.

At 14:20, there's another memory where the same thing happens again.

At 17:50, Arthur's father tells his son that they're bringing him Sally from her house. Begrudgingly, Arthur disagrees and says that she's an idiot. Instead of trying to explain how that's not generous of him, he says "you two should get along perfectly." Literally him bullying his child.

At 20:21, the memory talks about how Percy doesn't want Arthur to leave for Germany. But it also says that their father never really talks to Percy, opening up a whole new can of worms for his abusive nature. Also, if you look at their birthdays, they are genuinely less than a year apart, meaning that his father wanted to have a kid as soon as they realized that he wasn't "normal."

And at the last memory, his father tells Arthur he doesn't talk bollocks all the time when he realizes that Percy is gone forever. He never wanted that child. And frankly, because he's such a shit man, he never treated Arthur right to begin with.

He just wanted to have a kid to seem "proper" to everyone. He never knew how to raise something and didn't want to after his wife died.

Throughout the game, there are various voicelines articulated by Arthur that describe a hatred toward his father. He never missed him, he never treated Percy right, and he was generally a pisspoor person. Though he did teach Arthur how to be a handyman and punished him whenever he fucked up at school or trespassed with Sally, it doesn't add up to horrible mistreatment, manipulation, and general lack of decent parenting over the years.

After all, he was left to raise Percy on his own as a child. He wasn't equipped to raise Percy! He didn't know how to handle someone with autism! In fact, there's a voiceline Arthur says that hints that he didn't even know what Percy had!

"I remember when they came back from London, Mum wouldn't stop crying for a week, but all Percy could talk about was the train." -- Arthur Voiceline whilst Idle.

"They never told me what that specialist said, the one in London, when they took him to see him." -- Arthur Voiceline whilst Idle.

Arthur never felt like he could do anything by himself. He never had a childhood, and as such, he grasps what control he can have now since his father never cared for his brother and his mom died when they were growing up. If he can try and manipulate a situation or perhaps a person ( which his dad did too, btw, like father like son ) , maybe he can get off scot-free? Though that usually only happens, as I said before, in situations he doesn't seem that would be pleasant to him.

Percy wasn't a pleasantry. He loved his brother and cared for his brother, but he was just so tired. He wanted to be by himself. He wanted to have a childhood that Percy was having. So, because he neglected the emotional regulation thanks to a neglectful father, his impulsive behaviors lead to the departure of his brother.

Arthur has grown so much. But because of his father, because of Sally, and because of the death of his mother, there are just some pieces of himself that he can never change. Emotional regulation is extremely tough, and his expressive nature, exploding rage, and immense jealousy is a prime example of that.

[sea-side-scribbles]

What if Norbert was like a brother to Arthur?

[foppishaplomb]

arthur didn’t get tied up enough

[toooldforgermany]

                     I HEARD ONE OF MISS BYNG’S ARCHIVISTS RAN OFF INTO                      THE GARDEN DISTRICT .                       ARTHUR HASTINGS .                      COMPLETELY UNREMARKABLE CHAP ;     TOTAL DOWNER .

* contains triggering topics listed in my rules. please proceed with respect and caution. ** canon compliant arthur hastings from we happy few.

[devoutbrother]

“ You’re planning to lobotomize the people of Wellington Wells, aren’t you?!  If you force people to have the emotions   Y O U   want, then you’ve turned them into -- robots made out of meat! You can’t do that... YOU CAN’T DO THAT ! ! ! “

                                 “ Oh my Lord! You’re that downer they’ve been warning us about... “

WARNING :  extremely triggering topics ahead. proceed with caution.

[markratmanov-blog]

Look I do the thing!! Yep, it's still pain(t) Honestly it's should be depressive art but smth goes wrong and we have this En_joy :)

[imaginesforthosewhoseekthem]

Arthur and s/o preparing for the holiday season together, with festive sweater matching, tree decorating etc?

(Let it be known that since these are Christmas asks and in the spirit of the season, some of these may be forgetting that there is barely any food in the town, but I’m willing to sacrifice accuracy for providing you all with romantic scenarios. If you want them to be more realistic, message me I guess. But for this one, he IS out of the town.))

His first proper Christmas not being on Joy and you want it to be special.

You convince him to wear one of those ugly Christmas jumpers. He’s embarrassed at first, but it’s you, so he makes an exception

He tries his BEST to make dinner with you, but you can handle it on your own in the end. For goodness sake, he almost got his arm stuck in the turkey.

He gets SO flustered at the mistletoe. But when you DO kiss him under it, then he tries to get you under it as much as possible. Sometimes he can’t even wait to do get you under it. ;)

He tries not to think about Percy too much, but being with you is making him genuinely happy.

Since Arthur is pretty tall, he helps you reach some of the tree branches when you two decorate. you either let him put the star on or he lifts you up so you can put the star on.

He tries to get you the most romantic gifts, usually he writes you a poem to go with them. He’s such an adorable dork.