Let's do Fred's family trauma!
Heck yeah, let's go run with it!
I'd like to preface this with a blanket trigger warning for emotional child abuse. I will be talking a lot about that and parental issues. There will also be discussion of alcoholism, cheating, and neglect.
This is also mainly based on my own headcanon, and therefore, feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
The Bonaparte Family is a bit of a mess, but let's go through the explanation of what I see the family being like
There are 5 members: The father, the mother, an older sister, Fred, and a younger sister. I'm not 100% sure on what their names are yet, since I'm still working on that part a lot. However, I'll pull a few names from the family tree for this, so just know that they're all up for editing if something else fits better.
Father - Lucien Charles Bonaparte
To say that Lucien is strict is an understatement. He carries himself with the same pride as anyone would expect of a father from the Noble House of Bonaparte.
He's shorter than Fred, but doesn't see that as a problem. He's still the clear patriarch of the household. He reminds me of what little I know of Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), or Gabriel Agreste (Miraculous Ladybug). He's the type to care far too much about "heirs" and bloodlines, and he isn't someone who cares for those he views as below their status. Lucien is the sort of fellow who would be great in management-- Not for the employees below him, but for those above him. He's willing to do anything for status, which is why he pushes his family so hard, trying to get the family to be perfect to the outside.
At the time of most of the story, he works as a rather high-up person in an office, probably vice president or the like. He's rarely around his kids, but when he is, he demands perfection from them-- Especially his only son.
Mother - Charlotte Marie Bonaparte
Charlotte is rarely actually present in her kids' lives, preferring to deal with her issues through mixing in with other elites. She's frequently at parties to network, dress up, and catch up on rumors. She's the first to hear if there's something going amiss with their family, and though she does want to make sure the others are living up to her husband's standards, she's more of the Mother Gothel (Tangled) type, where she slips in biting comments that her children don't recognize as backhanded until much later. Another character I could reference for her is Daisy (the Great Gatsby) as she's always ignoring the rumors about her husband and never really cared to tend to her children.
There's been a rumor that she cheated on her husband, but she never actually shows any reaction to such a suggestion. She's uptight, very calculated, but very good at acting.
Older Sister - Josephine Louise Bonaparte
Jo, as she's commonly called, is the closest thing to a mother in the house, since she tends to actually care for her little sister and brother. She still attends the parties her mother used to drag her to, now carrying herself the very same way her mother did, but when she was young, she was a piano player and an artist in her free time. She loved to paint the gardens outside of their house, and would frequently be up early to catch the sunrise.
Jo was a nice person, though she took after her father in appearance. She shares Fred's red eyes, but has cool-toned skin, and shares the dark blue hair that her father has. As such, she does appear rather severe at first glance, and she has a very stern look.
Her reaction to the trauma they faced is commonly referred to as the "Fawn" response. At any sign of conflict, she will immediately attempt to please those in charge, avoiding getting in trouble at all costs. As a person, she could be compared to characters such as Mikan (Danganronpa 2) as someone who will accept any treatment, no matter how horrible, just because she is unable to stand up for herself.
Middle Child - Frederick Bonaparte
Fred's the one I can go on for hours about, heh. I'll keep this part mostly short for that reason alone.
Fred, when he was young, tried to be a good little sister. Eventually, as he grew up, he realized that didn't fit him, and he kept trying to find out who he was until he figured out he was trans. Throughout his life, he kept trying to just figure it all out. Nothing really fit. He tried to be the sporting type his dad wanted, but discovered he wasn't really good at much of it (Though he did like fencing.) He tried board games instead, though it wasn't what was wanted of him, and found he had a talent for them. As well, he enjoyed playing trumpet in the school band, though he quit before graduation due to other priorities.
Fred bounced from interest to interest, trying to figure out how to live up to the expectations placed on him, but from the moment he came out as trans, he could tell that the pressure just got worse. He made sure to go to college (For calligraphy with a psych minor) at a place far from home to avoid his family, trying to run away. That's when he got a job at Thorney Towers, and we know the rest.
Fred has a severe case of middle child syndrome. In other words, he feels overshadowed by both of his siblings, and he's a people-pleaser in the hopes that maybe he'll get noticed.
Younger Daughter - Elisa Julie Bonaparte
Elisa is the youngest of the family, and it shows. She acted out much more, and got away with more because people were busy handling Fred and Jo. She can be very opinionated, but she tries to listen to people.
Elisa is the type you'd expect to be a journalist. Curious, always getting into places she shouldn't be, always borrowing things to investigate them closer. Though she's not what their parents wanted, she's happy to take the gifts they gave her and sell them to get what she wants instead.
Elisa has mostly pushed down her trauma and the memory of Fred with alcohol, trying to act like there's nothing amiss in the Bonaparte family, though she refuses to talk much about Shaky Claim or anything about her family. If she had a choice, she'd change her last name, but she hasn't yet found one that she wants to use. She's a little bit jealous of her siblings, but she does love them, and she's most likely to be able to get back in contact with Fred, though she would panic and likely drink too much beforehand.
~
Anyways. That's just my idea of what the family was like. They're all pretty messed up overall-- They didn't communicate, Fred's parents only really accepted that he was trans because his father wanted an "heir", and there was a whole bunch of neglect and emotional trauma thrown into the mix. The best way to describe them is a masquerade.
Thanks for the question-- I really did want to talk about this a lot! ^_^ Sorry it took me a while to get it all down.
