If it's okay with you, could you write a drabble about the hypothetical aftermath of Amane getting attacked by Kotoko?
Welp thank you pal for making me absolutely insane with this request 👍 I ran through a few hypotheticals and realized I had to shift some things around since there were so many absolutely tragic outcomes. I worked something out but damn if it didn’t make me emotional to think about how uniquely rough Amane has it. Even making sure she's in a good place at the end, this got pretty serious, so warnings for child abuse and cult references.
(So in canon, Kotoko goes in order and attacks Fuuta, but Kazui steps in. Then she attacks Mahiru while he’s distracted with his injuries. She’s about to attack Amane, but Mikoto gets in the way (my hc that he did it on purpose survives!). By the time they reach a draw, Kazui is back, and the two of them can prevent Kotoko from any further action against Amane. Sticking to this apparent system of three attacks and one rescue, I’m just shuffling around the injuries for this story. Fuuta’s attack went unnoticed, and he’s in the same state as canon Mahiru. Mikoto steps in before Kotoko can fight Mahiru, so Mappi’s the one who get out physically unscathed. While Mikoto checks on Mahiru, recovers himself, or discovers Fuuta, Kotoko is able to attack Amane next. Kazui comes to help, but not before she leaves Amane looking like canon Fuuta.)
Mahiru could practically feel her heart shatter into a million pieces when Amane finally cried in front of her. She hadn’t shed a single tear yesterday – it was the shock, Shidou said. Mahiru was skeptical. After all, she had been shocked, too, and cried plenty.
Amane woke as she came in with breakfast. She took a moment to survey herself, bandages peeking out from beneath her pajamas and an eyepatch securely over her right eye. As calmly as one might say “good morning,” she started to cry. Mahiru might have missed it, if Amane hadn’t wiped at her good eye with her sleeve.
“Oh, sweetheart…!” Mahiru rushed over to her. “It’s okay, I’m here.” She wanted nothing more than to wrap the girl in a secure embrace, but she remembered the mass of bandages that were around her chest. Shidou had mentioned broken ribs and bruises. It took everything in her not to cry along with Amane, at the thought.
“I can get you another ice pack, if you need. Or more medicine.” Her mind spun with ways to help with pain. Many of the first aid supplies had been used to keep Fuuta from the brink of death, but surely there were extras to spare for Amane.
The girl just shook her head.
She muttered, “I can’t… I…I’m going to be punished, I’m going to be punished…”
“No! You’re safe now.” Mahiru placed her hands gently on Amane’s arms. “Kotoko’s not coming back. We’re all watching over you. You’re safe. She’s not going to hurt you anymore.”
“That’s not…” Amane pulled away. Her voice stayed level, despite hiccups interrupting her. A hand reached up to her eyepatch. “It’s this. It’s all of this. It’s sinful. I took it off last night, but he must have…” She started unwrapping it. “They’re going to punish me...”
With a careful motion, Mahiru held it in place and took Amane’s hands into her own. She’d been picking up on the signs ever since they arrived here together, and a final wave of understanding washed over her.
“I can’t let you do that.”
Amane’s expression twisted, though words came out far more frantic than fiery. “Let me go.”
Mahiru didn’t. “I’m sorry. Amane, you need this treatment.”
“That is not your decision to make. That is not any human’s decision to make.”
Mahiru pressed her lips together. “I know. But I can’t watch as you… I can’t sit by again while someone…” She was careful not to apply any pressure, but she could no longer fight the urge to gather Amane up in her arms. “You don’t need to be afraid of those people, anymore.”
“I’m not afraid.” Amane hiccuped. “They love me, and I love them. I need to be good for them.”
“I love you, and I don’t want to see you in pain.”
“You just pity me because I’m young.”
“Why does your age matter? You are a lovely young woman – you are my friend – and I can’t bear to see you in pain.”
The two sat in silence for a moment. Mahiru doubted she would take that as an answer; Amane had refused to call any of the others her friend. At least she didn’t argue. In fact, it seemed she was leaning into the embrace a bit more. She sighed a shaky breath into Mahiru’s uniform.
“Listen, Amane. Can you do me a favor? I’m trying to be a good girl, too. To make up for something awful, I need to make sure you’re alright. Can you help me? Can we be good together?”
A long pause followed. Amane’s voice spoke up, ever so gently.
“I suppose I can consider it.” She added quickly, “for the sake of your redemption. Of course.”
“Of course.”
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What's Tashi's relationship with Webby and Taka like? Cause while I can imagine him being just as protective and smothering, as he's with Stick (maybe a bit less) I can't imagine Webby just letting him do it without having a thousand and one complaints, like I feel like she'll be much more assertive and confrontential than Stick is
thats a great question!!
first of all i think tashis relationship with stick specifically is a bit diffrent - idrk how to phrase it but basically tashi was his role model for a while and he had a lot of respect for him growing up. so theres this weird air of... expectation, almost? the two of them were really close when stick was younger and that coupled with how tashi still percieves him as a helpless confused kid makes their relationship a lot weirder...
with ryou (taka) hes obviously very protective and smothering, bc thats A BABY!!!!! ryou takes it well for the most part i think, at least before becoming a teen - hes the youngest, he likes attention and being papmered (most of the time)<3 also, by the time ryou is around 13-14 tashi is already starting to get a bit better after the whole stick fiasco, so its also that his older siblings sorta made his life easier? bc now tashi knows what he did wrong and is trying to not make the same mistakes again(not to say he doesnt fuck up at all tho!! he does! a lot!!! but at least its not nearly as catastrophic as w stick lol, and hes just one of MANY adults in ryous life, so it evens out more).
also, bc of how young ryou was, he didn't really fully comprehend just how bad tashi was getting at the time, and that helped him a bit? when we're young we dont really see our caretakers as people who are flawed and make mistakes. that comes w age. and i think it was very confusing for ryou to realise that the man who raised him since he was five is NOT some sort of a wise higher being but instead just. a messy guy. who is a bit cringe. so i think ryou lets him pamper him a bit (it helps that he is not that good w people and would rather stick to ppl he already knows), bc he knows neither webby or stickbug will let tashi do that. its annoying sometimes, but ryou is way better at establishing boundaries than stick was, so they get through it somehow.
webby has always been pretty independent (or at least tried very hard to appear as such) and she does NOT handle tashi being overbearing well AT ALL. out of the kids she has always had the least respect for tashi and the other adults in her life, so her relationship w tashi was a bit more levelled? equal? ever since the beginning she was pretty good at being assertive (and was a huge help to stick when he was figuring out the whole 'setting boundaries' thing), and that helped her wriggle out of tashis hold, at least partially. she was also whole-heatedly on sticks side when he was getting sick of tashis shit and she WILL yell at him whenever does or says anything stupid.
she still loves him tho. they all do, in diffrent ways, and they want him to be happy, despite his parenting being less than stellar a lot of the time. i think the thing that allows their relationships w him (and bud and soup too) to heal and strenghten in the end was them just simply GROWING UP. when the power dynamic of tashi as a caretaker was gone, they could finally start seeing each other as people! yay!!
sorry if this answer is more messy than usual lol!!
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"I can wait! Lord knows I've had the practice." - Thomas in 1x02
The way Mat delivers this line is so heartbreaking. At first glance, it's all about Thomas falling hopelessly in love with someone yet again. We barely know anything about him at this point but it tells us this isn't the first time it has happened. It establishes a pattern.
But I think there's more to it. In a way, all the ghosts' afterlives are defined by waiting - waiting for their family's next visit, waiting to be forgotten by them, waiting to forget them, waiting for someone to die and perhaps become a ghost themselves, waiting to move on ... Their whole existence revolves around waiting for something to happen to them because that's the only change they can experience now they no longer have any control over their lives. They can't leave, can't move on, can't even interact with anyone or anything that's part of the living world (with a few exceptions). They are stuck, and I think the helplessness and resignation they all must feel every single day is perfectly, painfully shown in this one line.
It's not just about Thomas's broken heart. It's about all of them getting their hearts broken again and again with no end in sight.
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