Meeting the Farringtons

'Hello! I hope it wasn't too difficult to find?'


'A little, but we got here in the end.'

'But it was nice to look around...'


'Oh good. It's not a bad little town really.'


'Yes, it's very pretty. Hello...'


'Hi, I'm Edward. It's nice to meet you.'


'I'm Wednesday. Every day of the week.'


'Very good. And you...?'


'Indigo Gore. Her older sister.'


'Can I get either of you anything?'


'Nah. I'm good thanks.'

'Me too...'


'Please, sit down.'


'So, what do you want to talk about?'


'Our dad...'

'Yeah, but if we tell you every cunty thing Abraxas has done, it'd take up the best part of a fucking year.'


'I'm afraid we don't have that long. But I think the worst things will suffice.'


'Killed my mum in front of me when I was a toddler. Married my grandmother and had more kids with her. Gran named her twin boys Failed Abortion and Parasite because she wanted a girl. When Abraxas was tired of her, he called us all into the same room and killed her in front of an audience. Tells us we're worthless, stupid, ugly. Slapped me a few times. Likes to throw things, works as a pornstar, knocked up one of his coworkers, fucks hookers, runs a brothel with Tate, probably some more. Any questions?'


'He made me watch a horror movie with him. Drove me into the worst part of Devil's Port and kicked me out. Left me there for an hour before he brought me back. It was scary.'

'Yeah, I smashed him in the balls for that.'


'I'm sorry you had to go through that. Are you both safely away from him?'


'Yeah, thank fuck.'

'My big brother ran away too.'


'Good. Being out of that is much better for you, although it can take some time to get over it. Are you getting any other support?'


'My friends help keep me happy.'

'...He meant professionally. No, neither of us have professional help.'


'It's worth looking into. I know it can sound drastic - I understand that feeling - but it's often effective in helping you move on.'


'I'll leave you to it. Just shout if you need me.'


'My main focus has been fucking with Abraxas' plans. Though Wednesday should see someone properly.'

'Do you feel that she needs it more than you?'

'Yeah. We've had a lot of...discussions about mental health related stuff.'


'You mean arguments.'


'What kind of arguments?'


'To put it bluntly, Wednesday lives in a fantasy world and won't come out of it. She lives in her head, with imaginary friends. Those friends she mentioned earlier? They're not real.'


'And how long has this been going on?'


'Since I was a baby? I got one of those imaginary friend dolls when I was really little. I don't know who from. But they're real!'

'I've heard of those. Tell me about the doll. What's its name?'

'Faira. She doesn't look like the doll, though. It's more of a kind of avatar since she's my oldest tulpa from it.'


'Could you explain tulpas to me?'


'It's kind of hard to explain... They're people that you make with your mind, and have their own thoughts and feelings on things, just like "real" people do. The only difference is, they live in their creator's mind.'

'Oh, that clears it up a little. Who are yours, then?'

'Faira, Baldot and Zaotha. Baldot and Zaotha have been with me for years as well. Since I was a kid.'


'Are any of them here with you now?'


'Yeah, Baldot. He's sat next to me.'

'Really? What's he doing?'


'Sitting and listening to our conversation.'




'He says hi.'

'Oh. Hello to him too.'

'Mainly when they're with me, we just chat about stuff.'


'Everyday things, home life..?'

'...Sometimes...'


'They know what Dad's like. Or we talk about games, books, etc. Sometimes if I'm doing school work, they do things without me and tell me about it afterwards. We're all really good friends. They hate Dad for the things he's done. They didn't like Mum either. But she's not a problem any more...'


'No, that's true... Is there anything else..?'

'I don't think so...'


'There are the issues you have when you're not in fantasy land.'

'Oh. Yeah. I get sad a lot.'


'How often? Does it interfere with sleeping, other things...?'

'Sometimes I struggle to find the motivation to do my work.'


'That...wasn't what I meant.'

'What were you talking about then?'

'When you look in the mirror.'

'Oh...Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I don't recognise the person looking back.'


'Like looking at someone else...?'

'I can see it's me. But it doesn't feel like me. I suppose it's like...I'm looking at someone who's wearing my skin. It's my face, but it's not me. I wonder who I am. Am I real?'

'I understand what you mean. You're not alone. A lot of people feel that way.'


'All that messing with "tulpas" and fake worlds can't help. Living so hard in fantasy it makes reality harder? Hence her weird ideas with the mirror?'

'It's a way of not having to deal with the difficulties of the real world. But she doesn't view it as fake. It's become real for her. But it's such a large part of her identity, no wonder she's struggling with it.'

'So...is it better to let Wed continue?'

'For now. It's not something she can just stop instantly. As I suggested earlier, she should see a professional.'


'I won't get rid of them no matter who tells me to. They're my friends, they have feelings. They have a right to survive just as much as the rest of us.'

'Of course not, that's your choice. But it's worth discussing the other things, right? Then you can start to feel better. That can be treated.'

'As long as it doesn't end with someone telling me to get rid of my tulpas, I don't mind talking about things.'


'I guess I should go back home. Get a doctor.'


'I didn't get us a house here so we can go back to that fucking shithole. We're staying.'


'I don't know where you're currently living, but Sunset Valley is a nice enough town.'


'We were sleeping with bums.'


'Oh Jesus Christ, thanks for making it sound like we went into homeless prostitution.'


'Been there, done that... Well, not the prostitution part! Anyway... It's far from ideal, but I can't blame you for preferring that to living with your father. Do you have any future plans?'


'Destroy Abraxas' life. Does that count?'

'It does, yes. But it probably shouldn't be your only focus.'

'It'll do until he's destroyed. Then I can focus on art. Or boxing. I'm going to mess with his business contacts for a start. That's why we're here, to gain info about this Tate prick.'


'Well, I could tell you more than anyone about him...'