LogFAQs > #972631893

#98 - Bunny
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The former assistant to the third-most important Zatara clan member, Bunny's story is one of tragedy, of recovery. For me, Bunny represents that soldier returning home from war, trying to make sense of the trauma inflicted by the roadside bomb, the prisoner camp, the child left dying in her her arms. But that paints perhaps a more pleasant picture in regards to Bunny's form of PTSD. Our dear, young magician's assistant wasn't prepared to do battle. She never willingly signed up to be party to the viciousness of Lush's older form. No. Instead, she was victimized, an innocent caught in the crosshairs of someone with an axe to grind and no compunctions about killing. And so, Bunny was brutalized for the sake of sending a message, and her life was turned topsy-turvy as a result.

Having spent some time reading reports about how PTSD often manifests itself, one thing that really struck me was the idea of how many veterans returning home or victims of assault turn to self-harm to cope. The mind simply short-circuits in trying to understand that particular avenue of relief. Pain in order to blunt pain; but it's become a rather important aspect of the character for Bunny as I try to wrap my head around the very notion. As Bunny twists and cracks her own index finger, it's a reminder that the world Bunny lives in and the world the rest of the party lives in are two different places. Imagine fearing every corner as a potential avenue for assault. Lurking in every shadow is the possibility of pain, of reliving the same agony, over and over again. And all she has to protect herself is that twisted, misshapen finger, her security blanket of a sort.

There are so many little tragedies at play as a result of Zatanna's actions. Perhaps none is quite as heartbreaking as the story of Bunny, the story of a girl who might never receive her due justice for the actions of the woman that beat and maimed her and left her in a coma, broken mentally and physically. There is not an iota of revenge Bunny can manage, and as a result, her timidity might never truly be overcome. It's a bleak, stark reminder that so many of those left in the wake of the mindwiping affair who can't be healed with the wave of a hand. Still, maybe there's the tiniest glimmer of optimism to be had. Despite Bunny's PTSD, despite her self-harm, despite her recently-revealed hair-triggered rage, it seems as though Saoirse as taken a liking for the floppy bow-wearing young lass. And by championing Bunny's cause, Saoirse has begun to see that the magic which has gone away from Bunny may return.

Still, the mountain Bunny must climb is impossibly tall, its face unyieldingly treacherous. Hope is just that; the work that must be done to reach the summit may break Bunny just as easily as Lush did. But for the sake of magic, Bunny might have already been overwhelmed to the point of lifelong defeat. But with magic... maybe there IS hope.

#97 is UNRANKED.