More About Bantam...

~by Broken Window~

Bantam's first two years of life are spent being coddled by his mother and manhandled by his father. Due to both of these extremes in childcare, Bantam had - and still has - stunted development in all aspects. At around two years of age, his brother Nicholas is born. The day of Nicholas's birth is the first time that his father lost total control and becomes physically abusive towards Bantam. This shift to physical abuse is quite confusing for young Bantam, especially since he is going through several changes at the same time. The only thing gained from that day is that there is a new baby in the house who is more beautiful and special than he is.

At the age of five, Bantam has his first encounter with his father's beating device. At this stage, Bantam is very open with his emotions and takes what his father delivers to him, because it's his father. However, he is still confused as to why his father behaves in that manner. He also discovers that his brother Nicholas is more special than he originally thought. It seems that Nicholas has some sort of marking on his neck. Much to his dismay, Nicholas informs Bantam that he has no such marking on his neck.

Many months later, Bantam's attitude has changed. He no longer just goes with the flow where his father is concerned. He doesn't care about disobeying - until he meets up with his father, anyway. And he's become quite the tough guy - at least in his own mind. However, Bantam no longer wears his emotions on his sleeve...the crying ceases. He has learned that he's a bad boy, and so he deserves what his father does to him. He's also learned that more tears leads to more abuse. This is the age at which his mother leaves, taking Nicholas with her. Bantam is heartbroken that his mother would leave him and take Nicholas away from him. Unable to stand the pain, he cries, and pays the price.

Four years later, Bantam has become an even more bitter child. Not knowing that his mother had intended to return for him, he has now banished his mother from his heart. Though he doesn't feel well-treated by his father, he feels that he's the better parent since at least he stuck around. Bantam has become very weak, undernourished. His father is nowhere near the caretaker his mother was, and Bantam's health has suffered. At this point, he is caught between feelings. On one side, he believes that his father is a jerk who tries to build himself up as a compassionate man when he's really just a horrible man who just enjoys knocking Bantam down. On the other hand, he has been brainwashed into thinking that he is a horrible excuse for a person and will never amount to anything. It is at the tender age of nine that Bantam is first sexually abused by his father. However, Bantam doesn't realize it's him at first, but he finds out later when his father decides to no longer be secretive about it.

Fifteen years old and utterly rejected, Bantam is finally released into the world. He is sent off with the message that he is absolutely hopeless despite the years that his father spent raising him properly and trying to make him a man. His mission is to get a job so that he can support the "family." Despite the fact that Bantam thought - and still thinks - he deserves the abuse given to him, he doesn't believe that it is for his own good. At being released, Bantam is feeling excited and scared. His father wants him to experience life to become a man and to get a job. Bantam, unbeknownst to his father, isn't planning on returning. However, he doesn't know what's he's going to do.

Because of his past, Bantam has not been properly shown how to interact with people. His instinct is to avoid any interaction, because he's been living in a one-sided relationship for basically his whole life. It's how he's been taught to behave; to just keep his mouth shut. If he is forced into interaction, he tends to be rude and blunt, with no regard for others. Whether conscious of it or not, he does this so people will back off, because he isn't comfortable interacting with them. The other reason for this behavior is that he is modeling his father's words and behavior. He's in training to be a real man like his father, so he's got to play the part. He's not trying to win any friends; he's just trying to become a man. However, he's forced back into the submissive role when he meets up with someone who places him there (the dungeon). It's those who treat him the worse that he reacts to the most.

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