Line #11 Fanfic/HowToBreakAFamily


1	''How to Break a Family'' is an ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' DarkFic that can be read [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3508375/1/How-To-Break-A-Family here]].
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3	The story starts when D.W. is kidnapped. This sends the once happy Read family into chaos, and Mr. and Mrs. Read end up divorcing soon afterwards, with Arthur in his mother's custody and Kate in her father's. Years later, a now-adult Arthur works with his mother at her store. When a familiar-looking young woman enters the store one night, things take a sudden turn. With his mother missing and D.W. confirmed alive, Arthur is on a mission to avenge his family and save his sister.
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6	!!''How to Break a Family'' provides examples of:
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8	* AdaptationalJerkass: Both Jane and David are more quick-tempered here than they are in canon, and it takes one of their children being kidnapped to drive them to divorce.
9	* AdaptationalNiceGuy: D.W. shows none of her usual brattiness and selfishness as an adult in this fic; it might be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by her outgrowing that phase since she is older now.
10	* AssholeVictim: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with D.W.. Although in canon she was a SpoiledBrat who tormented her brother on a regular basis and was rude to many other people as well[[note]]Although she is no longer bratty as an adult there is no indication that her having been a BrattyHalfPint as a child isn't canon[[/note]], Arthur and her parents are still worried when she gets kidnapped, with the former even swearing vengeance on the kidnapper when she comes back fourteen years later, and as mentioned on the show's Characters page, she did have several PetTheDog moments in canon.
11	* CreepyStalkerVan: 4-year old D.W. was lured into an unmarked van by a strangers using sweets. She was kidnapped and remained missing for over a decade.
12	* DarkFic: The story revolves around D.W. being kidnapped and tortured, with the news leading to a rift between Arthur's parents and his grandmother dying of a sudden heart attack. Once D.W.'s reunited with Arthur years later, he's out for revenge.
13	* DeadFic: The story hasn't been updated since 2012.
14	* DeathByAdaptation:
15	** Thora can't handle the news of D.W.'s kidnapping. Her heart gives out.
16	** Jane is murdered early on trying to save D.W. after they're reunited.
17	* FurryReminder:
18	** Used in an exchange in chapter 2:
19	--->''As soon as Mr. Read, Mrs. Read, Arthur and Kate left the room, Mrs. Read furiously turned towards her ex-husband.\
20	"Are you happy now?" she yelled, tears filling her eyes, "It was your irresponsibility that got DW kidnapped, and now you are taking Kate away from me! What type of a husband are you, you… you selfish, horrible pig?!"\
21	"As far as I know," Mr. Read replied dryly, "I am an aardvark."''
22	** In the final chapter posted before this became a DeadFic, Mr. Ratburn explicitly referred to Buster as a rabbit. Although it was more so said in the context of [[spoiler:him being a metamorphical "sneaky rabbit" because he'd broken out of prison seven times]], he follows it up with "no pun intended", which makes it into this trope.'
23	* GriefInducedSplit: Mr. and Mrs. Read divorce soon after D.W. is kidnapped. It being a SolomonDivorce, Kate is raised by their father and Arthur by their mother.
24	* KarmaHoudini: Tommy and Timmy Tibble caused D.W. to be kidnapped by daring her to go buy candy for them, but when asked by the adults if they'd seen her beforehand, they manage to avoid getting in trouble by lying and saying they hadn't.
25	* MatureAnimalStory: The fic is set in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals but starts with a four year old getting kidnapped.
26	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: D.W., even more-so than in canon. She's never once called her full name.
27	* SolomonDivorce: Upon their parents' divorce, Arthur is raised by their mother while Kate is raised by their father.
28	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Kate begins hanging out amongst older kids at ten. By age fourteen she's already drinking and smoking. One of her friends also encourages her to prostitute herself, but one day she meets a guy who is turned off by how young she is. [[spoiler:It turns out the guy was her brother Arthur]].

Context Fanfic / HowToBreakAFamily