History Manga / ACruelGodReigns

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: William does this to Jeremy after Jeremy goes {{Laughing Mad}} when he is [[spoiler: moved to another dorm for kissing William.]]

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Ian worries that if he [[spoiler: acts on his anger at Jeremy in addition to falling in love with him, he will end up like his {{Archnemesis Dad}}]].

** {{Dumb Struck}}: Valentine and [[spoiler: Jeremy]] until [[spoiler: Ian]] snaps him out of it.

* GreyAndGreyMorality

* GreyAndGra Morality

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Ian]] cheats on [[spoiler: Nadia]] with [[spoiler: Jeremy]].

* {{Abusive Parents}}: Greg, and less obviously, [[spoiler: Sandra]].
* {{Adults are Useless}}: All of the adults except for Lindon and Dr. Orson.
* {{Ambiguously Bi}}: Ian, Jeremy, and probably Jeremy's roommate William. Lindon [[LampshadedTrope asks Ian about it and receives a mixed answer.]]
** {{Depraved Bisexual}}: Lorenzo, but he proves himself to [[JerkwithaHeartofGold not always be that bad]].
** {{If Its You Its Okay}}: Jeremy and Ian seem to fall into this.
* {{Annoying Younger Sibling}}: Matt
* {{Anything But That}}: This is Jeremy's response to the laundry rope line that Greg uses to tie him up. In his defense, [[spoiler: that is the rope with which Greg's first wife Lilya used to hang herself]].

* {{Archnemesis Dad}}: Greg.
* {{Ass Shove}}: Greg uses [[spoiler: a wooden Easter egg Valentine gave Jeremy against him]] in the worst possible way.
* {{The Atoner}}: Jeremy and Ian. And '''how'''.
* {{Became Their Own Antithesis}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy, by becoming constantly angry like Greg, and Ian by his enjoying seeing Jeremy in pain, like Greg]]. Both [[HeWhoFightsMonsters try to fight these emotions]].
* {{Belligerent Sexual Tension}} [[spoiler: Jeremy]] and [[spoiler: Ian]]
* {{Berserk Button}}: Don't show Jeremy [[spoiler: those {{Embarrassing Old Photo}}s. Or accuse him of having a lover.]]
* {{Berserker Tears}}
* {{Big Brother Mentor}}: Lindon for Ian.
* {{Blood From the Mouth}}: [[spoiler: Ian]] coughs/throws up quite a bit of blood from stomach ulcers after a long stint of stress over [[spoiler: his relationship with Jeremy and Jeremy's emotional state]].
* {{Bratty Half Pint}}: Matt, Marjorie, and Lulu.
* {{Break the Cutie}}: Most of the main characters, but focused most directly on Jeremy.
* {{Broken Bird}}: All of the girls, and Jeremy. Vivi [[spoiler: gets her heart broken when Jeremy tells her he slept with a man]] Sandra's first husband dies, [[spoiler: her next boyfriend abandons her, Greg cancels their engagement, she has a miscarriage, and she suspects Greg is abusing Jeremy.]] Valentine [[spoiler: smothered her baby during a nervous breakdown]], resulting in her {{Dumbstruck}} status. Nadia's heart is broken when [[spoiler: Ian cheats on her with Jeremy and then breaks up with her]], and of course Jeremy, whose case is the point of the whole series.
* {{Broken Pedestal}}: Greg for Ian. You feel really bad for the poor guy when he finds out what his father was doing to his stepbrother. Especially considering this revelation leads to Ian's massive [[spoiler: {{My God What Have I Done}} moment]].

* {{Broken Tears}}: There's a lot of this, from pretty much everyone.
* {{Bumbling Sidekick}}: Savage to Ian.
* {{Bungled Suicide}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy]] tries to throw himself into a lake after [[spoiler: finding out his mother knew he was being raped by his stepfather.]] [[spoiler: Jeremy]] also has two failed suicide attempts after [[spoiler: returning to Boston while he is living with his aunt.]]

* {{Calling the Old Man Out}}: Ian does this a couple times, although it is long after Greg has died.

* {{Cannot Spit It Out}}: Jeremy encounters this a lot. He can't tell his step-brother Ian about Greg's abuse after [[spoiler: Ian tells him that he vows to make their new family a happy one.]] He can't tell his mother Sandra about it out of fear that she will be {{Driven to Suicide}}. He tries to tell William about it via metaphoric stories, but William doesn't get it. All in all, {{Poor Communication Kills}}. Literally.

* {{The Casanova}}: Ian. He gets around with pretty much all the girls, and eventually Jeremy. He is also a classic example of {{Even the Guys Want Him}}.
* {{Catch Your Death of Cold}}: Jeremy immediately catches a cold after he [[spoiler: [[BungledSuicide attempts to throw himself in the lake during a freezing rain]] but is pulled out by Ian]]. The trope is lampshaded by Lindon, who says he's more worried about Jeremy catching a cold than he is about water in his lungs or the possibility of an irregular heartbeat.
* {{Cats Are Snarkers}}: Nadia's cat, Octavian.
* {{Censor Shadow}}: The manga pans away and when it does show anything, it is blanked out.

* {{Cloudcuckoolanders Minder}}: Pascal usually ends up being this for Marjorie, although the job also often falls upon Nadia.
* {{Cold Blooded Torture}}: Most of what Greg does to Jeremy, along with a lot of {{Mind Rape}}.
* {{Coming of Age Story}}
* {{Commonality Connection}}: Jeremy and Cass
* {{Conflict Ball}}: Jeremy tends to do this often to Ian, picking fights with him for seemingly no reason and attempting to seduce him, but considering Jeremy's {{Sanity Slippage}}, it makes sense.
* {{Conflicting Loyalty}}: Ian goes through a period of conflict where he has to decide whose honor he wants to save- the good memory of his father or his step-brother's innocence in his reasoning for [[spoiler:{{Vehicular Sabotage}}]].
* {{CPR Clean Pretty Reliable}}: Ian helps Jeremy breathe and exchanges liquid medicine via mouth-to-mouth after [[spoiler: [[BungledSuicide tries to drown himself]].]]

* {{Cruel to Be Kind}}: Ian keeps the [[spoiler: [[EmbarrassingOldPhoto photos Greg took after physically and sexually abusing]] Jeremy]] in case anyone found out Jeremy [[VehicularSabotage messed with the breaks]] on Greg's car. When Jeremy accidentally finds them he [[FreakOut doesn't react well]], shouting that [[spoiler: [[FateWorseThanDeath he will kill himself if anyone else finds out what was done to him]]]].
* {{Cry Into Chest}}: Jeremy sobs into Ian's chest during many {{Freak Out}} moments.
* {{Dark and Troubled Past}}: Most of the main characters. If they don't have one, they are well on their way to getting one.
* {{Deceased Parents are the Best}}: Jeremy's dead father seemed like a pretty cool, incredibly sweet guy. If he hadn't died Jeremy would have been [[TraumaCongaLine saved a lot of grief.]]
* {{Defiled Forever}}: Jeremy INSISTS that his body is rotting and that he gives off a bad smell as a result of the sexual abuse. In a slight inversion of the trope, it is Ian who tries to convince him otherwise.

* {{Deus Angst Machina}}
* {{The Dog Bites Back}}: Jeremy to Greg.
* {{Dont You Dare Pity Me}}: Jeremy uses this several times against Ian. He also uses the "I don't need love" and "I don't deserve love" versions.
* {{Double Standard Rape Male on Male}}
* {{Driven to Suicide}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy]] throws himself into the lake in Lynn Forest after finding out that [[spoiler: his mother knew that he was being raped by Greg, but did nothing]]. He also attempts to asphyxiate himself with a [[spoiler: gas oven after returning to Boston to live with his Aunt Karen]].

* [[spoiler: {{Drowning My Sorrows}}]]: [[spoiler: Jeremy]] falls into this. He buys [[spoiler: drugs (they appear to be LSD) from his classmate Pansy to help alleviate the pain from being beaten by his stepfather]]. Later on in the series, [[spoiler: Jeremy]] is driven to [[spoiler: heroin use to help him cope with the flashbacks he experiences and with the guilt from accidentally killing Sandra]].
* [[spoiler: {{Drugs Are Bad}}]]: [[spoiler: Ian]] flips out on [[spoiler: Jeremy]] either because he thinks he has been buying/taking drugs or [[spoiler: Jeremy]] actually has been taking drugs, though in both cases [[spoiler: Ian reacts perhaps a little too extremely]].
* {{Dude Shes Like In A Coma}}: Applies when Jeremy accompanies Pansy to a party.
* {{The Dutiful Son}}: Jeremy endures abuse from his step-father so that his mother can be happy in her new marriage. In fact, if he hadn't done that, [[spoiler: Sandra and Greg would not have gotten married in the first place]]. His role of being The Dutiful Son is what causes Jeremy's {{Trauma Conga Line}} and {{Deus Angst Machina}}.
* {{Earn Your Happy Ending}}
* {{Embarrassing Old Photo}}: The photos [[spoiler: Greg took after beating Jeremy.]] These are [[spoiler: Jeremy]]'s {{Berserk Button}}.
* {{Even the Guys Want Him}}: This is often played for laughs with Ian, and is played straight for Jeremy several times.
* {{False Innocence Trick}}: Greg does this ALL THE TIME to poor Jeremy and to a lesser degree Sandra.
* {{Fan Disservice}}: This series is full of it. Almost anything involving sex is either rape, torture, or a result of (usually Jeremy's) {{Freak Out}}s. And then of course every time you see Jeremy's back, it is covered in scars.
* {{Fate Worse Than Death}}: Ian tells Jeremy that in order to be punished for [[VehicularSabotage sabotaging Greg's car]] he must live with his guilt. The night before Jeremy [[spoiler: [[BungledSuicide attempted to drown himself in the lake]] but was pulled out by Ian after confessing that he killed Greg because he was abusing him.]]

* {{Fille Fatale}}: Jeremy is one of the rare "real life" examples in fiction. As a psychological reaction to the abuse, Jeremy begins to develop a fetish for drinking Ian's blood and [[spoiler: [[SexForSolace forces himself on William]] while [[CannotSpitItOut trying to tell him what is going on]]]]. In the present day half of the story, Jeremy constantly makes advances toward Ian to punish him for [[spoiler:not believing or helping him when he first confessed that he was being raped by their father]]. He [[spoiler: trades sex]] for things like [[spoiler: drugs from his older classmate Pansy]] or [[SexForSolace comfort]] when he is [[BerserkerTears extremely upset]]. Although he is on the older side at 16, Jeremy's flirtations are [[FanDisservice uncomfortable to read]] and are far more adult than they should be.
* {{Flower Motifs}}: Flowers and other foliage are used for a variety of purposes; When Jeremy dreams of his mother Sandra, she is usually in a field of flowers [[spoiler: until Jeremy finds out she knew he was being abused by her new husband]]. When Jeremy is being sexually abused, the scenes in which it happens often switch to Jeremy being ensnared in vines and trees, as well as the thorns and flowers growing out of him (usually his head). Later on in the series, Ian compares Jeremy's mental state to being trapped and lost in a forest, unable to reach wide fields and flower gardens.
* {{Forbidden Fruit}}: Ian falls for Jeremy, and seems to love him in a deeper way than anyone else he's been with over the course of the series, but not only is he his stepbrother, but he also killed his father and albeit accidentally, his stepmother.
* {{Freak Out}}: Jeremy has almost too many of these to keep track of.
* {{A Friend in Need}}: William is this for Jeremy. He continues to be Jeremy's friend even when Jeremy [[spoiler: [[CannotSpitItOut tells him strange stories about why his back is bleeding]], [[SanitySlippage acts bizarrely]], and [[SexForSolace makes moves on him]]]]. He is the first one to notice Jeremy's strange behavior, have suspicions about what is [[RapeAsBackStory really going on with Jeremy]] without blaming him, and actively try to help him. William is also the one who convinces Jeremy to come back to school.
* {{Functional Addict}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy]] and Cass.

* {{Generation Xerox}}: Jeremy looks EXACTLY like his [[DeceasedParentsAretheBest dead father]]. And they share the same name. And it is creepily hinted at in just a couple of panels that [[spoiler: Jeremy's mother Sandra asked him to call her by her first name when he was a child to replace her husband.]] It doesn't help that she then [[spoiler: appears to kiss him on the lips.]]
* {{Get Ahold of Yourself Man}}: William does this to Jeremy after Jeremy goes {{Laughing Mad}} when he is [[spoiler: moved to another dorm for kissing William.]]
* {{Go Mad From The Revelation}}: Happens to Jeremy after he finds [[spoiler: Sandra's diary and reads that she knew he was being abused.]]
* {{Grey and Gray Morality}}
* {{Hair Contrast Duo}}: Jeremy and Ian, and the two fall under the symbolic line. Jeremy has very curly, shorter, black hair while Ian has blonde, stick-straight, long hair. Jeremy, who suffers from [[spoiler: post traumatic stress disorder]], [[spoiler: prostitution]] and [[spoiler: drug addiction]] is the darker of the two. Ian, who is free spirited and has trouble accepting the fact that his father abused his stepbrother, is the lighter of the pair. The two also fall under the {{One Head Taller}} rule.
* {{Hates Being Touched}}: Jeremy
* {{He Who Fights Monsters}}: Ian worries that if he [[spoiler: acts on his anger at Jeremy in addition to falling in love with him, he will end up like his {{Archnemesis Dad}}]].
* {{The Hedonist}}: Greg. He is convinced that what he is doing to Jeremy is fine, because "love is about taking what you want." Yeah...
* {{Heroic BSOD}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy]] has a few different episodes of this. First is [[spoiler: after Greg beats him for the first time]] and then later he borders on it in and out after [[spoiler: he recounts to Ian all the times he was abused.]]

* {{Heroic Self Deprecation}}: Jeremy and Ian do this to themselves a LOT.
* [[spoiler: {{Hooker With A Heart of Gold}}]]: Cass, the Clara sisters, Daisy, and later on [[spoiler: Jeremy]].
* {{Hope is Scary}}: Jeremy fears recovering and feels that he should live out his life in punishment. Lindon is the one to point this out to Ian, using this to explain why Jeremy [[spoiler: [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold became a prostitute]]]].
* {{I Wished You Were Dead}}: Jeremy often thinks, and straight up tells, this to Greg.
* [[spoiler: {{Imaginary Enemy}} / {{Your Mind Makes It Real}}]]: [[spoiler: Jeremy and Ian both see Greg, long after his death]]. For Jeremy, this is [[YourMindMakesItReal especially true]], and he is often physically affected by [[spoiler: Greg's "prescence."]]
* {{Im Not Hungry}}: As result of Greg's abuse, Jeremy hardly eats anything, even when he is at boarding school during the week. Every time the family is eating a meal or he is seen eating with his roommates at school they comment that he needs to eat more, or asks if he's sick because he's picking at what little food he has on his plate. When not brought up directly, the reader is reminded by how sickly skinny Jeremy appears as the story goes on.

* {{In Love With the Gangsters Girl}}: [[spoiler: Ian]] recounts to Jeremy when he ran off with [[spoiler: a mob boss' wife.]]
* {{Innocently Insensitive}}: Ian does this to Jeremy when he actively tries to make their new step-family a happy one. What he doesn't know is that his father is abusing Jeremy.

* {{Interplay of Sex and Violence}}: Greg seems to really get off on the fact that before he rapes him, he usually beats Jeremy bloody. When Jeremy tries to not come home from boarding school over the weekends, [[spoiler: Greg lashes out and says that since he hasn't come home to be his {{Sex Slave}}, he's had to physically restrain himself from hitting Sandra- significant in that this is the first time Greg beats Jeremy]]. Jeremy also fantasizes about seducing and drinking Ian's blood while watching his boxing match. Later on, Jeremy tells Ian during a moment of [[spoiler: {{Intimate Psychotherapy}} that he wants Ian to hurt him while he is doing it]].

* {{Its All About Me}}: Greg.
* {{Jerk With a Heart of Gold}}: Lorenzo.
* {{Just In Time}}: [[spoiler: Ian]] finds [[spoiler: Jeremy]] not a minute too late when he tries to drown himself in the lake.
* {{Karmic Death}}: Greg is killed from a car accident in the car that he [[spoiler: once assaulted Jeremy in while taking him to school]].
* {{Kick Them While They Are Down}}
* {{Kindhearted Cat Lover}}: Lindon has seven cats, and there is always one stretched out on him.
* {{Lady Killer in Love}}: Ian when he falls for Nadia, and then later on Jeremy.
* {{Laughing Mad}}: Jeremy after he is [[spoiler: moved dorms because he kissed his roommate Willaim]]. Also happens when [[spoiler: the police come to say that Greg's car caught fire.]]
* {{Love Hungry}}: Greg tells Jeremy that he needs to admiration of everyone he meets.
* {{Love Hurts}}
* {{Love Martyr}}: Although not in a romantic way, Jeremy qualifies as this almost perfectly. He allows himself to be assaulted by his stepfather for months on end, even '''before''' Greg and his mother, Sandra, got married. He did all of this because he wants his mother to be happy and fears that [[spoiler: if she finds out her lover and dream marriage are ruined by his confession of the the abuse, that she will either hate him, commit suicide, or both]].

* {{Love Redeems}}
* {{Loves the Sound of Screaming}}: Somehow, Greg thinks that Jeremy screaming is a pleasant sound.
* {{Madness Mantra}}: Jeremy repeats "hallelujah" while Greg beats him around Christmas time.
* {{Make It Look Like An Accident}}
** {{Vehicular Sabotage}}
* {{Mama Didnt Raise No Criminal}}: Jeremy fears that Sandra will hate him if she finds out about what Greg is doing to him.
* {{Mistaken for Cheating}}: [[spoiler: Vivi]] thinks that Jeremy willing cheated on her.

* {{Moto Hagio}}
* {{My God What Have I Done}}: Applies to Jeremy after he [[spoiler: accidentally kills his mother along with Greg by {{Vehicular Sabotage}} in a {{Make It Look Like An Accident}}]] .

* {{Not if They Enjoyed it Rationalization}}: Greg uses this a LOT to justify his actions, and Ian tries to rationalize what happened to Jeremy with this at first. Heck, even Jeremy almost falls into this thinking because he becomes aroused when Greg assaults him, until Dr. Orson sets him straight. The trope is PAINFULLY deconstructed, however, as we see the psychological (and sometimes physical) consequences that the abuse has on Jeremy.

* {{One Gender School}}: Modeen, Jeremy and Ian's boarding school.
* {{One Head Taller}} :Ian is over 6 ft while Jeremy is somewhere around 5'5"-5'7". Also Ian, while thin, is muscular as he is a boxer. Jeremy is stick thin from [[ImNotHungry not eating much]].

* {{Parental Obliviousness}}: Sandra, [[spoiler: but this is later subverted when Jeremy finds out she knew the whole time.]]
* {{Please Dont Leave Me}}: Ian [[spoiler: repeatedly begs Jeremy not to leave England]]

* {{Poor Communication Kills}}: One of the reasons Jeremy ends up committing the murder is because he can't tell anyone to get any help.
* {{Powered by a Forsaken Child}}: When Greg discovers that [[spoiler: Natasha]] has witnessed him beating and raping Jeremy, he threatens to destroy the family and begin beating his youngest son instead if [[spoiler: Natasha]] doesn't keep his secret. The threat works and Jeremy is abandoned to his fate.
* {{Promotion to Parent}}: Ian gets this after Greg and Sandra die.
* {{Proper Lady}}: All of the girls except for Marjorie.
* {{Raised by Grandparents}}: [[spoiler: Sandra]] was raised by her maternal grandmother after her mother ran off with her boyfriend.
* {{Rape and Switch}}: This seems to be the case with Jeremy. At the beginning of the series, he has a girlfriend and has no interest in other men that he shows, but the longer Greg abuses him, the more interested in men (or more specifically, Ian), he becomes, although he does have feelings for Nadia for a short period.
* {{Rape As Back Story}}
* {{Rape Is A Special Kind of Evil}}
* {{Rape Leads to Insanity}}
* {{Rape and Revenge}}: Jeremy eventually gets revenge on Greg by [[spoiler: [[VehicularSabotage wrecking the breaks on his car.]]]] Unfortunately, it also [[spoiler: kills his mother]] and turns his life into a living hell.
* {{Raven Hair Ivory Skin}}: Jeremy. And Ian and Greg comment on it. A lot.
* {{Real Men Cook}}: Ian is shown cooking a variety of things when he and Jeremy are living in London, and they all look pretty well made. Jeremy, on the other hand, is a terrible cook, and burns/over-seasons everything.
* {{The Reason You Suck Speech}}: Jeremy gives these to Ian constantly.
* {{Renowned Selective Mentor}}: Dr. Orson for Jeremy. He is retired and has cancer, but he counsels Jeremy for free anyway.
* {{The Resenter}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy toward Sandra]].
* {{Sanity Slippage}}: Jeremy.
* {{Scars are Forever}}: Jeremy has scars covering his back from being whipped by Greg. As the series progresses, the scars do not fade and Jeremy refuses to remove his shirt when he is [[spoiler: working as a prostitute]], changing clothes in front of others, and swimming. He even refuses to let Ian see his back despite the fact that Ian knows that the scars are there.
* {{Selective Obliviousness}}: Ian refuses to believe Jeremy when he confesses to the murder, but also the abuse.

* {{Self Harm}}: Around a year after Sandra and Greg's deaths, Jeremy begins slamming his head and body into walls and door frames when he [[FreakOut becomes too distressed]] or during [[HeroicBSOD moments of confusion]].
* {{Self Made Orphan}}: Jeremy intends to kill Greg, but not Sandra.
* {{Sensitive Guy and Manly Man}}: Jeremy and Ian respectively.
* {{Sex for Solace}}: Ian occasionally seeks this out, from [[spoiler: Nadia and then Jeremy down the road]]. [[spoiler: Jeremy in particular uses this, especially with Ian]].
* {{Slap Slap Kiss}}: Happens quite a bit with in the latter half of the story.
* {{Shrinking Violet}}: Valentine

* {{Sympathetic Murder Backstory}}: Jeremy may have killed Greg and accidentally Sandra, but you feel really, really bad for him.
* {{That Old Time Prescription}}: Whenever Jeremy [[FreakOut gets upset]], usually to the point that he [[BerserkerTears sobs hysterically]] or [[VomitIndiscretionShot throws up]], Ian makes him ginger tea with honey to calm him down and ease his nausea.
* {{These Hands Have Killed}}: Jeremy, after he kills Greg via {{Vehicular Sabotage}}. He doesn't care so much about that as he does about the fact that Sandra was also in the car. Oops. He spends the second half of the series trying to recover from a massive guilt complex.
* {{Thou Shalt Not Kill}}: [[spoiler: Dr. Orson]] stresses this to Jeremy.
* {{Thousand Yard Stare}}: Jeremy displays this very often, every morning after Greg abuses him. As the series progresses, his gaze becomes like this most of the time, especially when he is close to one of his several instances of {{Heroic BSOD}}.
* {{Tin Man}}: Jeremy is this with an element of the {{Stoic Woobie}}. Jeremy actively denies feeling any towards sex, pain, love, or really any emotional attachment. Luckily though he seems to be on the [[BecomeARealBoy path to recovery]].
* {{Trauma Conga Line}}
* {{Traumatic Haircut}}: Jeremy's hair is partially cut off by some of the other students at an alternative school he attempts to attend while he is [[spoiler: working as a prostitute with Cass after returning to Boston]]. This is particularly traumatizing because the other students cut it off while attempting to [[spoiler: sexually assault him]], which Jeremy does NOT handle well, considering [[RapeAsBackStory what caused him to fear being man-handled]] and its understandable [[HatesBeingTouched consequences]].
* {{Troubled Backstory Flashback}}: The first six volumes of the manga are actually a flashback to before the accident.
* {{Twincest}} :Eric and Valentine. Eric became dangerously dependent on his twin sister after [[spoiler: being molested by their piano teacher as a child]]. Unable to separate comfort from romance, the two [[spoiler: had sex and Valentine had a baby at 13 years old]].
* {{Used to be a Sweet Kid}}: Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy... At the very beginning of the series, he is sweet to the point of being ridiculous, but he finally snaps and kills Greg via [[spoiler: {{Vehicular Sabotage}}]]. Actually, it is Jeremy's sweetness that causes his {{Trauma Conga Line}} in the first place; He refuses to seek help because [[spoiler: it would mean ruining his mother's happy marriage]]. Although he [[ConflictBall tends to lash out]] and [[FilleFatale attempts to seduce people left and right]], he isn't evil- but he never really snapped back. Arguably, Jeremy still is sweet kid- he just has some issues he needs to work through.
* {{UsefulNotes/Victim Blaming}}
* {{Vomit Discretion Shot}}/{{Vomit Indiscretion Shot}}: The series has several of these, but they all seem to come from Jeremy. The [[VomitDiscretionShot times off screen]] usually occur after Greg has abused Jeremy and the [[VomitIndiscretionShot times shown in the panels]] are usually when Jeremy gets [[FreakOut really upset]] when Ian tries to talk to him about his [[RapeAsBackStory issues]]. When it's shown, it usually ends up on Ian.
* {{You Are Better Than You Think You Are}}: At the conclusion of the climactic {{Deprogramming}} scene, Ian reaffirms this to Jeremy.

* {{You Should Have Died Instead}}: This is a literal line from Jeremy when he is standing at Sandra's grave.
* {{Your Cheating Heart}}: [[spoiler: Ian]] cheats on [[spoiler: Nadia]] with [[spoiler: Jeremy]].

* {{Adults are Useless}}: All of the adults except for [[spoiler:Lindon]] and [[spoiler: Dr. Orson, who dies of cancer.]]

** {{Depraved Bisexual}}: Jeremy, although considering his background, it's reasonable. Lorenzo also qualifies, but also proves himself to be a {{Jerk with a Heart of Gold}}.

* {{Anything But That}}: This is Jeremy's response to the laundry rope line that Greg uses to tie him up while he whips/rapes him, and not to the necessarily to the abuse itself (although he doesn't want that either.) In his defense, [[spoiler: that is the rope with which Greg's first wife Lilya used to hang herself]].

* {{Ass Shove}}: Greg uses [[spoiler: the wooden Easter egg Valentine gave Jeremy against him]] in the worst possible way.
* {{The Atoner}}: Jeremy. And in a lot of ways Ian.

* {{Berserk Button}}: Don't show Jeremy those {{Embarrassing Old Photo}}s. Or accuse him of having a lover.
* {{Berserker Tears}}: Usually from Jeremy.
* {{Big Brother Mentor}}: Lindon is this for Ian.

* {{Bratty Half Pint}}: Matt, although he has his reasons.

* {{Broken Pedestal}}: Greg for Ian. Ian near idol worshiped his father, and you feel really bad for the poor guy when he finds out that [[spoiler: his father was beating and raping his step-brother.]] Especially considering this revelation leads to Ian's massive [[spoiler: {{My God What Have I Done}} moment]].
** [[spoiler: Sandra]] for Jeremy when he finds out [[spoiler: that she knew the whole time.]]

** [[spoiler: Sandra]] has two of these, one pre-series and then another after [[spoiler: Greg cancels their marriage.]]
** [[spoiler: Marjorie]] has quite a few failed suicide attempts. The most notable of these is when [[spoiler: Pascal locks her in the bathroom while he beats Jeremy in a drug induced rage.]] She tries to drown herself in the bathtub.
* {{Calling the Old Man Out}}: Ian does this a couple times, although it is long after Greg has died and after Jeremy finally confesses what Greg did to him.

* {{Cannot Spit It Out}}: Jeremy encounters this a lot. He can't tell his step-brother Ian about Greg's abuse after [[spoiler: Ian tells him that he vows to make their new family a happy one.]] He can't tell his mother Sandra about it out of fear that she will be {{Driven to Suicide}}. He tries to tell his boarding school roommate William about it by [[spoiler:saying that he got the whip marks on his back from an evil spirit (Greg) that beat him in his house's torture room (his bedroom)]], but William doesn't get it. All in all, {{Poor Communication Kills}}. Literally.
** Subverted slightly after Ian breaks Jeremy out of his {{Dumbstruck}} state. He screams "no," which you find out later on is what Jeremy was trying to say when Greg [[spoiler: tied him to the bed and beat him.]]

* {{Conflict Ball}}: Jeremy tends to do this often to Ian, picking fights with him for seemingly no reason and attempting to seduce him, although considering his {{Dark and Troubled Past}}, this could be passable.

* {{Cry Into Chest}}: Jeremy sobs into Ian's chest after [[spoiler: hallucinating Greg talking to him following he and Ian recount all the times Greg abused Jeremy]]. Mixed with {{Freak Out}}.

* {{Deprogramming}}: The main plot of the second half of the series. Ian tries (often in vain) to help Jeremy to recover from the trauma of sexual abuse received from their father/step-father. Using group counseling, several vacations, housing and schooling changes, [[LoveRedeems trying to convince him he cares about him]], [[spoiler: {{Intimate Psychotherapy}}]], and showing Jeremy those {{Embarrassing Old Photo}}s, Ian attempts to guide Jeremy out of the metaphorical "forest" that separates him from "gardens" life has to offer and to help him feel emotions as he did before the abuse.

* {{Dude Shes Like In A Coma}}: Applies when Jeremy accompanies Pansy to a party where he is [[spoiler: heavily drugged, carried into a room, and gang raped]]. Although not completely unconscious, he cannot stand and Ian and Savage had to physically carry him to Savage's car.

* {{False Innocence Trick}}: Greg does this ALL THE TIME to poor Jeremy and to a lesser degree Sandra. He promises Jeremy that he only coerced him into having sex because he was confused, that he actually really loves him, and that he only wants to keep it from Sandra because he doesn't want to hurt her. Except that he's actually just {{Evil All Along}}.

* {{Heroic Self Deprecation}}: Jeremy and Ian do this to themselves a LOT. Jeremy often asserts that he "smells rotten" and that he makes those around him (particularly Ian) "dirty." Ian, likewise, regrets and agonizes over the fact that he did not notice that Jeremy was being abused, and that when he confessed, he did not at first believe him.

* {{Parental Obliviousness}}: Sandra, but this is later subverted when [[spoiler: Jeremy finds out she knew the whole time.]]
* {{Please Dont Leave Me}}: Ian [[spoiler repeatedly begs Jeremy not to leave England]], comes up with a lot of conditions to prevent Jeremy from leaving.
** Sandra pleading with Jeremy to stay with her also qualifies as this.

* {{Being Tortured Makes You Evil}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy]]

* {{Ambiguously Bi}}: Ian, Jeremy, and probably Jeremy's roommate William.

** {{If Its You Its Okay}}: Jeremy and Ian seem to fall into this. At least in Ian's case.

* {{Censor Shadow}}: The manga plays it nicely by panning away and when it does show anything, it is blanked out.

* {{Kick Them While They Are Down}}: Everyone gets a lot of this, for the whole series.

* {{Self Harm}}: Around a year after Sandra and Greg's deaths, Jeremy begins slamming his head and body into walls and door frames when he [[FreakOut becomes distressed]] and during [[HeroicBSOD moments of confusion]]. He [[SanitySlippage doesn't handle the anniversary well.]]

Jeremy is a sensitive teenager who is happy for his mother when she remarries. However, the sweet-talking man who is his new stepfather turns out to be a serpent in disguise — he’s a sadist and a pedophile, and it isn’t long before he makes Jeremy his target. After months of horrific, systematic abuse, Jeremy’s mind becomes unstable and his thoughts turn vicious. He decides to murder his stepfather in order to get rid of him — but the plan goes awry, and when he sabotages his stepfather’s car, his mother also dies in the crash.

* {{Evil All Along}}: Greg.

* {{A Friend in Need}}: William is this for Jeremy. He continues to be Jeremy's friend even when Jeremy [[spoiler: [[CannotSpitItOut tells him strange stories about how he got his wounds]], [[SanitySlippage acts bizarrely]], and [[SexForSolace makes moves on him]]]]. He is the first one to notice Jeremy's strange behavior, have suspicions about what is [[RapeAsBackStory really going on with Jeremy]] without blaming him, and actively try to help him.

* {{A Friend in Need}}: William is this for Jeremy. He continues to be Jeremy's friend even when Jeremy [[spoiler: [[CannotSpitItOut tells him strange stories about his wounds]], [[SanitySlippage acts bizarrely]], and [[SexForSolace makes moves on him]]]]. He is the only one who questions Jeremy's strange behavior, has suspicions about what is [[RapeAsBackStory really going on with Jeremy]] without blaming him, and actively tries to help him.

* {{A Friend in Need}}: William is this for Jeremy. He continues to be Jeremy's friend even when Jeremy [[spoiler: [[CannotSpitItOut tells him strange stories about his wounds]], [[FreakOut acts bizarrely]], and [[SexForSolace makes moves on him]]]]. He is the only one who questions Jeremy's strange behavior, has suspicions about what is [[RapeAsBackStory really going on with Jeremy]] without blaming him, and actively tries to help him.

* {{Abusive Parents}}: Only Greg, really though.

* {{Became Their Own Antithesis}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy and Ian]].

* {{The Resentor}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy toward Sandra]].

* {{Fille Fatale}}: Jeremy is one of the rare "real life" examples in fiction. As a psychological reaction to the abuse, Jeremy begins to develop a fetish for drinking Ian's blood and [[spoiler: [[SexForSolace forces himself on William]] while trying to tell him what is going on]]. In the present day half of the story, Jeremy constantly makes advances toward Ian to punish him for [[spoiler:not believing or helping him when he first confessed that he was being raped by their father]]. He [[spoiler: trades sex]] for things like [[spoiler: drugs from his older classmate Pansy]] or [[SexForSolace comfort]] when he is [[BerserkerTears extremely upset]]. Although he is on the older side at 16, Jeremy's flirtations are [[FanDisservice uncomfortable to read]] and are far more adult than they should be.

--> '''Ian''': If you have these photos, with a good lawyer you can be declared innocent under reasons of legitimate self defense. It's in the American trial records.

* {{Fille Fatale}}: Jeremy is one of the rare real life examples in fiction. The first six volumes are a flashback to the sexual and physical abuse that he received at the hands of his stepfather. While this is going on, Jeremy begins to develop a fetish for drinking Ian's blood, and repeatedly forcibly kisses his roommate William when he [[SexForSolace tries to tell him what is going on]]. In the latter, present day half of the story, Jeremy constantly makes advances toward or tries to seduce Ian to punish him for [[spoiler:not believing or helping him when he first confessed that he was being raped by their father]]. He trades sex for things like [[spoiler: drugs from his older classmate Pansy]] or [[SexForSolace comfort]] when he is [[BerserkerTears extremely upset]]. Although he is on the older side at 16, Jeremy's flirtations are [[FanDisservice uncomfortable to read]] and are far more adult than they should be.
* {{Flower Motifs}}: Flowers and other foliage are used for a variety of purposes; When Jeremy dreams of his mother Sandra, she is usually in a field of flowers [[spoiler: until Jeremy finds out she knew he was being beaten and raped by his stepfather]]. When Jeremy is being sexually abused, the scenes in which it happens often switch to Jeremy being ensnared in vines and trees, as well as the thorns and flowers growing out of him (usually his head). Later on in the series, Ian compares Jeremy's mental state to being trapped and lost in a forest, unable to reach wide fields and flower gardens.

* {{Gayngst}}: Jeremy and Ian both go through a bit of this, although a lot of their cases could be chalked up to other reasons. To start off with, Jeremy and Ian are both {{Ambiguously Bi}}, or [[IfItsYouItsOkay have each fallen for each other]]. Jeremy, who seems to be going through {{Rape and Switch}} anyway often refers to himself as the "male prostitute of Lynn Forest" and later agonizes over developing a fascination with Ian. Ian, on the other hand, is trying to figure out whether he is in love with Jeremy or if he is like his [[ArchnemesisDad father]] and only lusts after his stepbrother, coupled with the fact that Jeremy is the first boy he's ever been seriously interested in having a long term relationship with.

* {{Hair Contrast Duo}}: Jeremy and Ian. Jeremy has very curly, shorter, black hair while Ian has blonde, stick-straight, Long Hair. Jeremy, who falls into a pit of post traumatic stress disorder, [[spoiler: prostitution]] and [[spoiler: drug addiction]] is the darker of the two. Ian, who is free spirited and has trouble accepting the fact that his father abused his stepbrother, is the lighter of the pair. The two also fall under the {{One Head Taller}} rule: Ian is over 6 ft while Jeremy appears to be around 5'5"-5'7".

* {{He Who Fights Monsters}}: Ian is afraid that if he acts on his anger at Jeremy for being a [[spoiler: [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold prostitute]] and [[FunctionalAddict doing drugs]]]] and falls in love with him, he will end up like his {{Archnemesis Dad}}.

* {{Im Not Hungry}}: As result of Greg's physical and sexual abuse, Jeremy hardly eats anything, even when he is at boarding school during the week. Every time the family is eating a meal or he is seen eating with his roommates at school they comment that he needs to eat more, or asks if he's sick because he's picking at what little food he has on his plate. When not brought up directly, the reader is reminded by how sickly skinny Jeremy appears as the story goes on.

* {{Innocently Insensitive}}: Ian does this to Jeremy when he actively tries to make their new step-family a happy one. What he doesn't know is that his father is sexually abusing Jeremy.

* {{Interplay of Sex and Violence}}: Greg seems to really get off on the fact that before he rapes him, he usually beats Jeremy bloody. When Jeremy tries to not come home from boarding school over the weekends, [[spoiler: Greg lashes out and says that since he hasn't come home to be his {{Sex Slave}}, he's had to physically restrain himself from hitting Sandra- significant in that this is the first time Greg beats Jeremy]]. Jeremy also fantasizes about seducing and drinking Ian's blood while watching his boxing match. Later on, Jeremy tells Ian during a moment of {{Intimate Psychotherapy}} that he wants Ian to hurt him while he is doing it.

* {{Intimate Psychotherapy}}: [[spoiler: Jeremy]] and [[spoiler: Ian]] end up having sex after [[spoiler: Jeremy]] has a {{Freak Out}} during which he [[spoiler: hallucinates that Greg is following him.]]

* {{Karmic Death}}: Greg is killed from a car accident in the car that he [[spoiler: raped Jeremy in, and that is the reason Jeremy picked that car to tamper with]].

* {{Love Martyr}}: Although not in a romantic way, Jeremy qualifies as this almost perfectly. He allows himself to be beaten and raped by his stepfather for months on end, even '''before''' Greg and his mother, Sandra, got married. He did all of this because he wants his mother to be happy and fears that if she finds out her lover and dream marriage are ruined by his confession of the the abuse, that she will either hate him, commit suicide, or both.

** [[spoiler: Sandra]] thinks that [[spoiler: Greg]] is cheating on her with his secretary and [[spoiler: Jeremy]]. Subverted in that [[spoiler: Greg really was sleeping with Jeremy, although against Jeremy's will.]]

* {{One Head Taller}} :Ian is over 6 ft while Jeremy is somewhere around 5'5"-5'7". Also Ian, while thin, is muscular as he is a boxer. Jeremy is stick thin from always claiming {{Im Not Hungry}}.

* {{Please Dont Leave Me}}: Ian repeatedly begs Jeremy not to leave England, comes up with a lot of conditions to prevent Jeremy from leaving.

* {{Poor Communication Kills}}: One of the reasons Jeremy ends up committing the murder is because he can't tell anyone to get any

* {{Raised by Grandparents}}: Sandra was raised by her maternal grandmother after her mother ran off with her boyfriend.
* {{Rape and Switch}}: This seems to be the case with Jeremy. A the beginning of the series, he has a girlfriend and has no interest in other men that he shows, but the longer Greg abuses him, the more interested in men (or more specifically, Ian), he becomes, although he does have feelings for Nadia for a short period.

* {{Sex for Solace}}: Ian occasionally seeks this out, from Nadia and then Jeremy down the road. Ian and Jeremy may fall under this, but their instances tend to fall more along the lines of [[spoiler: {{Intimate Psychotherapy}}]].