Anything and Everything

Love-bombing: A manipulation tactic of increasing affection and grand gestures before or after doing something abusive, specifically to weasel one's way out of consequences.

What it is not: A streak of affection and generosity towards friends/loved ones.

Trauma-bonding: Knowingly traumatizing someone to take advantage of their vulnerable state, to then act like the "hero" or the one who cheers them up.

What it is not: Bonding over similar traumas.

Gaslighting: *Knowingly* convincing someone they cannot trust their own perception of a situation in pursuit of one's own narrative.

What it is not: Misaligned perception of events.

Narcissist: Someone afflicted with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, a traumagenic cluster B disorder, that struggles with self-obsession, paranoia, craving validity from the public, delusions of grandeur, and social disconnection.

It is not: Your rubbish ex that cheated on you.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

like. he was hesitant about falling into things with shannon because she left him and THEIR VERY YOUNG CHILD in the middle of the night and then DIDN'T COME BACK, and because he felt like he completely failed her AND chris by GOING TO WAR (his deepest trauma) to "provide" for them. he lost his mind over ana because he was still grieving shannon and the family he could never have with her and he was trying to pretend like he wasn't, because he thought being with ana was him doing right by chris and by his own expectations of what relationships/families are supposed to be like.

like, yes, it absolutely says something that despite his grief and pain he's been able to build something with buck and be completely vulnerable with him. the way he loves buck is special because of how deeply he loved shannon, how hard he tried to love ana, and also how he's trying (and imo failing, but trying all the same) to grow into something with marisol. it's special because of all the internal turmoil and healing eddie's gone through outside of buck.