Hi again! Today we're gonna talk about a topic we previously mentioned before: gaslighting. Gaslighting is a form of manipulation that occurs in abusive relationships. It is an insidious and sometimes covert type of emotional abuse where the bully or abuser makes the target question their judgments and reality. Ultimately, the victim of gaslighting starts to wonder if they are losing their sanity. I (Terryn) took a way too deep dive into the topic so I'm going to link the article here.
https://www.verywellmind.com/is-someone-gaslighting-you-4147470
When writing this story, we decided on doing a lot of analyzing and Elliot shows the signs of being a gaslighter in canon so we researched a little more. Even more, Olivia shows the signs of being a victim of gaslighting from Elliot. Viewers often criticize Olivia's behavior but it's just a result of Gaslighting. None of her actions are her fault and happen because she has been blinded. She believes the person who has gaslit her instead of her loved ones who are telling her the truth. Elliot has manipulated Olivia to be on his side until it may very well destroy her. Remaining true to canon as our research has become important to our storytelling. It's not only just a fanfic for us, it's educating our audience as well as ourselves on hard and uncomfortable topics.
Kalli here. Writing a story like this, where we can show our readers some very important topics, some of which people have never noticed before, reminds me what SVU is all about. SVU says that it prides itself on telling the stories that need to be told and that is exactly what we're doing.
Now onto the story. There are two more songs in this chapter
Noah's song (with a small Olivia part and slightly changed lyrics) is "Not While I'm Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ci98bIAwI
Olivia's song is "You'll Be in My Heart": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E67pKeBMAT8
Noah has his hearing to determine if he can testify as the final preparations are being made by the prosecution and the defense.
The next morning, trial preparations were beginning to wrap up for there wasn't much time before the trial. Olivia Benson was getting ready for the day and for her son's Molineaux hearing. She prayed her son was going to be okay as this was the only the first hurdle before the actual trial. She looked at the bruises on her arms and the cast on her wrist before buttoning her blouse. Today was the starting steps to make sure Elliot Stabler never hurt anyone else again.
After finishing getting dressed, Olivia walks into her son's room.
"Are you ready sweet boy?"
Noah turns to his mother in a nice button down shirt and pants.
"Mom, can I wear these?"
Olivia sees her son is holding a pair of suspenders.
"Like Uncle Rafa and Uncle Sonny would." Noah says with a small smile.
Olivia gets down on her son's level and gives him a sincere smile.
"Of course you can. They are both really proud of you and you are incredibly brave."
"Thank you mom. Can you help me put them on?"
Olivia nods before helping her son putting on the suspenders. Noah turns to look in the mirror
"I feel brave like Uncle Rafa and Uncle Sonny. Maybe suspenders give you superhero courage."
"You three are my superheroes and I think we'll save the day together. There are a lot of other really brave people who are also helping in this case and it means alot to me that you want to help too."
