Donny Lore (TW: abusive relationship)

[“Cherry Wine” song by Hozier]

The drawings in blue were made months and months ago. I was never sure how to share this part of his story but here are some pieces of it for y’all to see.

Donny repressed everything his mother did so far down that it resurfaced through Olivia. Unknowingly choosing to be with someone so similar. His eating disorder worsened as they were together, and slowly his friends and family were cut from his life.

I really wanted to give light to men struggling with eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and abuse as I feel it’s often undervalued in media. Donny also being known for his large size and stature is meant to dismantle the idea that physically strong individuals can’t be hurt the same way anybody else can. Inside he’s a very gentle, fragile person- trying to make the best of what he deems the worst.

On the surface, Olivia isn’t meant to be a black-and-white villain. Through the 80’s/90’s awful body standards and the lack of resources to help her almost bipolar nature, she was a failed by her upbringing to cope with her inner insecurities and anger management. However, that context is only meant to flesh her out, and not excuse the emotional and physical abuse. She projected and shifted the blame to donny to make herself feel better, which never truly worked.

In the end she was caught cheating. Through Jesse’s (Donny’s longtime best friend) support, he finally left her. (Jesse also threatened her with the blackmail, so the breakup was inevitable). It took him a very, very long time to recover from the damages. He had buzzed all his hair for her, and lost of a lot of weight (they shared the same strict diet routines).

Before Harvey came into his life, Donny had spent that breakup period binge eating and hooking up with strangers (once again experimenting with his bisexuality). Olivia had used his love language, physical touch, as a means of punishment and reward through the relationship. Often kicking him out of his room or making him sleep in his car if he ticked her off. Sex and any intimacy were also pulled and used only by her means. In consequence, donny was extremely touch-starved and craved for any form of affection- even if its in ways that aren’t like him. He desires an emotional connection, so hooking up with strangers was his deepest period of desperation.

After this short period of freedom and chaos, donny began to relax again and began to rebuild his inner self with the support of his friends and family. It was at this point that he needed a roommate (moved apartments after Olivia left, and he could only pay rent by himself for so long) and thus, enter Harvey.

Lots of lore today!! I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell this story organized and in detail for so long, but splattering everything in this bio section will have to do for now lol.

Thanks for reading (sorry for typos or errors)