''How a Hero Bleeds''
is a Static Shock fic by Aintzane411 on FanFiction.Net. It centers on Richie and his shaky mental health, as well as Virgil's attempts to help him.
The fic features the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Richie's dad, Sean (who is referred to as "Shawn" in this fic). He's apparently been physically and mentally abusing his wife and son for years.
- All There in the Manual: The story is accompanied by an extensive set of author's notes at the end, which explain their writing process, characters, and some easter eggs.
- Babies Ever After: By the epilogue, Sharon and Adam have a daughter, Jena.
- The Cameo: While it's never explained in-story, the fun facts at the end reveal that Abigail the counselor is Gail/Nightingale from the series, having been cured of her mutation.
- Also Shenice, who appears in a brief segment of one chapter to discuss the fact that she's been covering for Static and Gear for a while.
- Dark Fic: Very. The fic deals with fun topics as self-harm, suicidal thoughts, abusive parents, homophobia, and so on.
- Dead Guy Junior: A variant.
Word of God states that Jena is named for her grandmother, Jean Hawkins. - Earn Your Happy Ending: Richie and Virgil both go through a lot. The former has a lot of abuse and mental health issues to get over, while the latter is stuck feeling stuck and powerless through a lot of the story. By the end, they're both much better and get together in the last paragraph.
- Epiphany Therapy: Averted. While going to therapy seems to help a little, Richie also resents it and struggles with it.
- Hurt/Comfort Fic
- Papa Wolf: Robert Hawkins is this, both towards his own children and towards Richie. It's stated that he yells at Shawn while Maggie's getting her things and preparing to leave him about how he's treated his child.
- This Is Reality: This fic takes a fairly realistic approach to mental health and self-harm. For example:
- Robert calls Child Protective Services on Shawn immediately when he finds out what's going on with Richie. This starts the process of getting Richie away from his father, but he's not arrested until after the story ends (though before the epilogue). The actual process of CPS' intervention is also handled relatively realistically.
- After Richie nearly bleeds out when he cuts himself deeper than he'd expected, he's placed under an involuntary psychiatric hold and needs to go to a facility for 72 hours.
- Richie relapses several times, including after beginning treatment. It takes a very long time for him to get over his self-harming tendencies, though he hasn't self-harmed in a year by the time of the epilogue.
- Slash Fic: Mostly in the background, but some Virgil/Richie is present. Especially at the end.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted. There are full-time therapists and temporary counselors at Redwood Springs.
