An old friend of mine bit her daughter back when she bit her - just a tiny nip - to let her know what she was doing hurt when she bit - and she was startled but never bit anyone again. I do not think Star meant to bite Holly that day, however, so if she nipped her back it was definitely inappropriate. FS saying SB bit her puts all of Star’s bruises and self-harming in a new light. I was recently reading about the professional fighters that bite (ie: Mike Tyson, etc.) and there is more or less a profile for them. I think abusers that bite are on a whole different level. My masseuse told me her estranged mother bit her 7 year old on the shoulder when he stayed the night with her - I was stunned. Another time she said a “babysitter” burned her brother’s feet in scalding water - I’ve drawn my own conclusions about who that babysitter was! Some are sadists that are willing to take things up a notch if they think they can get away with it. Others are people with poor emotional regulation and poor impulse control - and some abusers are a combination of both. This group of abusers are more dangerous, as they fantasize about their deeds, plot them out, and need not be enraged to do these despicable acts. Anger may add fuel to the fire but they are going to abuse without it too. I believe SB is of this group, that she premeditated many of these acts, kept Star for days so could cover them up, did many of them in an isolated area without witnesses, and encouraged FS to go out and party it up. She was likely new to abusing a child (I’m thinking she just graduated from abusing dogs) and realized it made her a horrid, evil person- thus, the shame & guilt. She also began setting FS up by getting her to join in on some of it when buzzed up, and began recording her. She didn’t want to stop & needed to implicate FS. Others were making accusations and she needed to have a scapegoat. She’d do stuff, then google to make sure she hadn’t gone too far - consciousness of guilt. This gave a bigger rush than abusing FS alone - such forbidden acts, how very taboo to hurt a baby - I’m sure her state of arousal was over the top when she had Star alone. Highly addictive, this, the escalation. She desired to inflict pain, she craved that rush. She enjoyed inflicting injuries to that baby and then harboring this horrible secret, gloating that she could control and abuse them both. It was just a matter of time before it got out of hand and serious injuries ensued.