History Fanfic / HowToBreakAFamily

* DeadFic: The story hadn't been updated since 2012.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Averted. Despite D.W. being a selfish BrattyHalfPint who was rude to many people including her friends at times, nobody in the story is happy that she was kidnapped, not even Arthur, the person whom she bothered the most as his AnnoyingYoungerSibling.

* AdaptationalJerkass: It's true that your child's disappearance can stress you to the point of anger, but both Jane and David are more quick-tempered here than in canon, and it takes very little for them to divorce.

* DarkFic: It's definitely not canon compliant levels of darkness. The story revolves around D.W. being kidnapped and tortured. The news leads 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.

* AccidentalDownerEnding: The story ends with Arthur being sent to prison for murder in Chapter 18. The author stopped updating after this point, leaving it unfinished.

* AdaptationalJerkass: It's true that your child's disappearance can stress you to the point of anger, but both Jane and David are out-of-character. They're more quick-tempered than in canon and it takes very little for them to divorce.

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.

-->''As soon as Mr. Read, Mrs. Read, Arthur and Kate left the room, Mrs. Read furiously turned towards her ex-husband.\\

* AdultFear: The Tibbles dare D.W. to buy candy for them. D.W. tries to go to the store alone but, being only four, has a hard time finding it. A guy in a van tells her he has candy and D.W. believes him. This leads to her being kidnapped. No one can find D.W. and she is considered likely dead. Fourteen years later she's finally discovered, but she's been beaten and abused that entire time.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: D.W. shows none of her usual brattyness and selfishness as an adult in this fic; it might be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by her outgrowing that phase since she is older now.

''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]].

!!''How To Break A Family'' provides examples of:

* 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]].

* AssholeVictim: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] 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.

* FurryReminder: Used in an exchange in chapter 2:

* AssholeVictim: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with D.W.. Although in canon she was a SpoiledBrat who tormented her brother on a regular basis and did some other bad things as well, 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.

''How To Break A Family'' is a ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' DarkFic that can be read [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3508375/1/How-To-Break-A-Family here]].

The story starts when DW is kidnapped. This sends the once happy Read family into chaos. and end up divorcing soon afterwards, with Arthur in his mother's custody and Kate in her father's. Years later, a now-adult Arthur work 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 DW confirmed alive, Arthur is on a mission to avenge his family and save his sister.

* AdultFear: The Tibbles dare DW to buy candy for them. DW tries to go to the store alone but, being only four, has a hard time finding it. A guy in a van tells her he has candy and DW believes him. This leads to her being kidnapped. No one can find DW and she is considered likely dead. Fourteen years she's finally discovered, but she's been beaten and abused that entire time.
* DarkFic: It's definitely not canon compliant levels of darkness. The story revolves around DW being kidnapped and tortured. The news leads to a rift between Arthur's parents and his grandmother dying of a sudden heart attack. Once DW's reunited with Arthur years later, he's out for revenge.
* DeadFic: The story hadn't been updated since 2012

** Thora can't handle the news of DW's kidnapping. Her heart gives out.
** Jane is murdered early on trying to save DW after they're reunited.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: DW, even more-so than in canon. She's never once called her full name.

* 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 dat she meets a guy who is turned off by how young she is. [[spoiler:It turns out the guy was her brother Arthur]].

The story starts when DW is kidnapped. This sends the once happy Read family into chaos. and end up divorcing soon afterwards, with Arthur in his mother's custody and Kate in her father's. Years later, a now-adult Arthur finds DW after she escapes.

* AdaptationalJerkass: It's true your child's disappearance can stress you to the point of anger, but both and are out-of-character.
* AdultFear: The Tibbles dare DW to buy candy for them. DW tries to go to the store alone but, being only four, has a hard time finding it. A guy in a van tells her he has candy and DW believes him. This leads to her being kidnapped. No one can find DW and she is considered likely dead.

* DeathByAdaptation: Thora can't handle the news of DW's kidnapping. Her heart gives out.

"As far as I know," Mr. Read replied dryly, "I am an aardvark."''