#2 spoiler-ful thread

[Legerd]

Well, first I'm going to give the writing team the benefit of the doubt and assume that the editorial decree went deeper than "You can't have someone in a habit and wimple tied up in this scene" and excise religion from the equation completely. Hence, no mention of nuns or God or faith or sin, no "sister" anything. We do know that they can mention there was abuse going on at the orphanage itself, due to the first page of the scene. So:

- Old lady tied to chair. "Look, it's Anne [Insert Very French Last Name Here], head of the orphanage. She beat you until you stopped trying to be good for its own sake, until you stopped being good to avoid fresh pain, until you just accepted that you were worth nothing and asked for beatings to prove you were good. Would you like to show her how that feels?" Any casual reader bypasses the religious connections completely, but the long-time readers know the full origin story.

Maybe, but comes off pretty weak if you cut out the religious aspect of it. Much of her suffering was due to her believing that she was sinning, which was enforced by the nuns who are "god's representatives" on Earth. In a child's mind their authority is above question. "Using a sister without using a sister" might be passable for new readers, but for older fans it comes across as pretty lame, and messing with continuity.

- Old man tied to chair. "Look, it's your social worker. You told him about the orphanage -- the beatings/the dark/the hungry nights crying alone, etc. You begged and pleaded to be taken somewhere else, anywhere else, but he never believed you/did nothing. You have the power now. Would you like to hear him beg, Jeanne-Marie?" Nuns? What nuns? There were nuns?

Comes off pretty weak again as he wasn't the one who directly inflicted the pain. I can't see Aurora turning to the dark side to get even with someone not directly involved with the abuse.

- Walter tied to a chair. "Look, Jeanne-Marie, it's the man who took advantage of you again and again with the help of that trollop..." Because if you feel that exploring sexual trauma is just the way to go wrt Jeanne-Marie, that she felt violated by what Walter and Aurora did to her -- even once Walter knew about her DID -- isn't even subtext, it's explicit on the page and the implications of its effect on Jeanne-Marie's psyche have never been touched on.

They can't use Walter as he'd be getting the brainwashing treatment too. Plus, Aurora was the personality that wanted, and pursued the relationship with him, while the Jeanne-Marie personality, though disliking Walter, didn't hate him, and would be too moral to seek revenge, especially on someone who is helpless.

Sorry, I just don't see the sexual abuse version to be so awful that it can't be used. Besides, it would be far more likely to explain why her mind split along sexual lines; her Aurora personality being promiscuous while the Jeanne-Marie personality is prudish.