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Bev and Ben both have chronic "You deserve everything, I deserve nothing" disease - a thread
Thread will be discussing the characters' problems respectfully, like eating disorders, abuse, and self respect issues.
Thread will be discussing the characters' problems respectfully, like eating disorders, abuse, and self respect issues.
Bev grows up with a little, but is content with what she does have. She learns that secondhand clothes are not a bad thing and that having some things is better than having nothing at all. When it comes to love, she supplements the love she doesn't get at home from the losers,
but having a father who shows love and affection through slaps, punches and fetishization destroys what she thinks love really is. She can see what platonic love looks like - she's thankful for the loser for showing her that, but familial love is unknown and blurs red flags.
Ben grows up with love that comes to him as a full plate. Having a single mom leaves him with an empty house many days after school but Arlene will never let her son go anywhere with an empty stomach.
When Ben starts to lose weight, he has trouble eating fully sustaining meals. He switches up his salads but if something makes him feel full, he feels nauseous. After a work dinner, he felt obligated to finish his plate and he spent nearly half an hour in the bathroom pacing.
Bev believes that her friends, her partners deserve whatever they wish or ask for. "Daddy wants me to clean the entire house, of course I'll do it". "I saw Kay staring at that bag last time we were here. It's a little expensive but I care about her a lot so it's not a big deal."
"If Tom thinks it's best, that's probably true." This isn't always a bad thing, but it take over her mind - she starts to do things for others whether or not she really wants to.
Ben is a people pleaser. If there is anything he can do to make someone's day, he will. If everyone else is happy, he's happy. He redid an entire project in college because a professor he asked for constructive criticism from didn't like a few things about it.
He's the type to do something even if he thinks that isn't the best idea. He doesn't correct people when he knows they're wrong.
Both have needs but they strive to make sure the needs of the others around them are met first. They're a little suffocating to each other at first early in their relationship but they learn how to give and take.
