#Ace Traapola

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

My friend (who I'll call Kay) who plays TWST actually told me something very interesting but also pretty messed up. I might get some stuff wrong but hear me out.

You know how Trey pretty much never called out Riddle whenever he did something wrong because he believed that Riddle's the way he is because of his parents? Which is true but most (if not all) of Riddle's controlling behavior is Riddle's own choice.

Well, Kay said that had MC and ADeuce not stepped in, not only would this had continued (and most likely gotten worse) and Riddle got a job, married and became a father, he would be a carbon copy of his mother: mistreating his spouse and child, all the while being hailed as a respected mage in his homeland. And Trey would still not step in because he still believes that Riddle's the way he is because he's too busy feeling bad for Riddle and himself for not helping Riddle.

Of course, this is just my friend's theory and I highly doubt Trey would let something like that slide.

***CONTENT WARNING: this post discusses themes of generational trauma and familial abuse!!***

I mean, that’s assuming Riddle doesn’t Overblot from rage and die from it before graduation, right 🥲 He was already in that downwards spiral before Yuu, Ace, Deuce, and Grim called him out for his tyranny…

The “what if” scenario being proposed here reminds me of this theory that someone else posed; basically, it suggests that maybe Mama Rosehearts also had a similar childhood as Riddle, so her treatment of him is her perpetuating what was imposed onto her in her girlhood and feeding into generational trauma and a cycle of abuse. Of course, this theory is mainly speculation rather than based on concrete evidence (since we don’t actually know a ton about Mama Rosehearts), but it’s still an interesting concept to consider 🤔

One point I’d like to clarify is that it isn’t outright stated that Mama Rosehearts mistreats her spouse (although it could definitely be inferred) or in what she ways she mistreats him. Riddle says in one of his Groom-for-a-day voice lines that he wishes the Queen of Hearts would impart the secret to a happy marriage with his own parents, implying that his mother and father have a rocky relationship. Many popular fan interpretations for Papa Rosehearts is that he is meek and cannot stand up for himself (similar to the King of Hearts), but to be honest, Papa Rosehearts could be just as toxic as his wife is; we don’t know for certain.

In any case, that would have been a sad and dark path for Riddle to go down 😔 Having the public image of a respectable and talented mage with a perfect family while that same family is falling apart at the seams behind the scenes… yikes. The more optimistic part of me’s like, “No way would Trey stand for that!! He’d hit a breaking point eventually and do/say something to Riddle!!” … But the less optimistic part of me’s going, “That’s a tough situation to be in. I don’t know what I’d do if I were Trey.”

When I really think about it 😔 I think Trey would not find the courage to intervene (at least not on his own). This isn’t to say that he’s a bad person, but I’m just thinking realistically. It’s difficult for someone—anyone—to stick their nose into another family’s “business”, especially while dealing with the intense remorse that Trey probably is. And the more Trey puts off telling Riddle (which, let’s be fair here, he already has been doing), the easier it will become for him to keep perpetuating those excuses, the more guilt will rack up from him not acting or saying anything before. It’ll get worse and worse, probably to the point where it starts to wear at Trey’s own mental health and wellbeing 🥲 He needs a hard push from an outside force maybe Chenya to really spring into action, because Trey is also in need of a good telling-off 💦