My character Jacob is in a tricky spot where he's been living with his abusive father for 7 years, and the only way he gets to return with his mother and sister, is if he kidnaps his brother and bring him to his dad kitsune problems , Jacob is not only caught between having to betray his brother or staying with his toxic father, but also Jacob happens to hope that his father still has some goodness in him and their family will reunite as happy family Even he considers that kind of dumb How to show his attachtment toward his crummy father while not making him look dumb and patheiti or look victim-blamey I know abuse victims can't "JuSt LeAvE" and have many reasons to stay with their abusers
I think I can answer this, but it's just going to be from my experience with things.
So first off, fear plays a huge part in all of this. For me, it was the fear that I wouldn't be able to do anything without my mother that I stayed with her until this point because that's what she always made it seem like and I eventually believed her lies. Even though you want to get away because it's too much, there's this thing that you want really bad and it's genuine love from your parents. It hurts been rejected by them and even though you know they do all these terrible things to you, you still go after them because you desperately want to be accepted by them. I guess it's sort of this blind thing, where you don't care what they've done, they're your only family figure in your life and you're willing to accept anything from them. And even though you never get the 'true love' you still want to stay with them because it's all you know.
