Tear Jerker / The Cuckoo Clock of Doom

• A more subtle one. Michael is pretty obviously The Unfavorite to his Annoying Younger Sibling, and nothing he does is ever good enough for his parents, especially his father. Worse, as he goes back in time, the reader can see that it's been like this his whole life. As a twelve-year-old? His little sister torments him and his parents don't do jack shit about it, even calling him a liar when he tries to tell them. As a kindergartner? He ties his shoes for the first time (as he's mentally twelve it's easy, but apparently he'd been having trouble at that age) and all his dad says is, "Took him long enough." Even as a baby, at a stage where you can't really expect much of a kid, his dad complains that he's "slow" because his friend's kid is learning how to talk faster than his. Good thing the Twist Ending is happy for once — his sister is Ret-Gone from existence and he is treated much better by both parents.