#but jesson just said nah and chucked him in the nether

[fortunemars]

Tbh I love when people go crazy with responses, especially if they're taking abt something they like and put a lot of time into sjndsjns

So I don't remember what I said in my tags specifically but yeah I've seen a couple fics where something happens, Zane is now in prison in PD, and the characters just kinda. Get over it. I would expect at least a little screaming and fighting and attempting to stab thru the bars at LEAST lmao

And you're so right, removing a character's bad deeds and generally *any* of their badness can really damage a character and their arcs (and can also destroy entire character themes and stories and motives!!! Esp with someone like Zane because he IS the big bad for most of diaries!!!) So I'm not a fan of fics or rewrites where people fully change or remove things characters did.

Page cut cause this is SO LONG

Lazy writing is removing things that you don't like, clever writing is finding a way to contextualise and reframe why the character would do that. There are a lot of scenarios that could actually be good and could be really important to the characters but there isn't a reason stated for them doing it, like Laurence and the Werewolf Massacre! Saying (as canon does) that he killed all of those werewolves bc he was so jealous and couldn't stand seeing the werewolf prince marry aphmau is SO STUPID!

BUT

If you reframe it you can make it make sense and more importantly you can make it a lesson or an example of change. Instead of jealousy, why don't you reframe it as Laurence being so afraid of being useless-- thinking that his inaction would lead to his lady being trapped in a hellish marriage she doesn't want to be in, all alone without any of her guards or loved ones-- that he fell to the one thing he knew would give him strength. Him letting his shadow knight form come out and letting the anger of said form give him the strength to save aphmau and give them an out would be much better, especially because of how APHMAU treats the situation.

She's afraid because she hasn't seen him act like this before, she barely knows anything about shadow knights but she does know she doesn't like this form that Laurence has taken. She doesn't know what he'll do and she's driven by the constant nagging feeling in her head, those voices that told her over and over that a shadow knight must kill their lord to gain immortality. She's afraid and she doesn't want to die, she wants him back and she wants everything to be okay again. So when she realises yelling and crying won't bring him back, when she's got her back to the wall and can't think of what to do, she remembers that he told her the only thing that kept him sane during the torture was the love he had for her.

So she kisses him, the first kiss she remembers and it's this horrible terrible emotion swirling inside of her. She shuts her eyes and holds the front of his armour as hard as she can and just bears through it because she doesn't want to let go and realise it was all for nothing, she doesn't want to open her eyes and find out she's helpless- that she'll die by the hand of the only person she had left. And Laurence changes back and he's so fucking scared, he's bone tired and his eyes are blurry and all he can see is the tears falling from aphmau's eyes and he has to see for the first real time the effects of his shadow knight form on other people.

And he cradles aphmau's face and feels sick when she winces, asks her to open her eyes and look at him- see that he's back and it's okay- and when she finally does she collapses into his chest and just sobs because nothing about this is okay and she was so scared and she doesn't want to lose him.

This scene could have changed SO MUCH about how Laurence views himself and being a shadow knight, he'd be anxious and hyper aware of every reaction around him, he'd be afraid of showing emotions, he'd probably either pull away for a while or double down on his persona until he realises it's not him anymore (if it ever was) and no one believes it. It would remind him over and over that people are afraid of him and afraid of him turning and killing people because he has before. It would be a really good spot to focus on the backlash in his own mind, how much it distresses him and it would give him a much better reason to run to the nether and answer the calling than *literally just jealousy*, it would be fear too.

Bc yk what? He probably is jealous of Aaron! He would be jealous because he thinks that Aaron stole aphmau away with his dark past and mysterious personality, he wouldn't understand the finer points because neither aphmau or Aaron will tell them anything. He doesn't like secrets (very evident in how he And Garroth interact) and it would feel like they're betraying him by purposely keeping him out of the loop, that's why the pregnancy would have hurt so bad.

And it could have given aphmau personality to!

Her first kiss (actually now I'm thinking about it and is it the first? Even so, her first kiss with Laurence) and how much she hates it and how damaged she feels after, especially when Laurence later talks to her in the forest abt him and Garroth loving her. In this case she'd have a reason to hesitate, hell a reason to turn to Aaron. Why? Because she doesn't think she deserves a true and honest love like the two would give, she doesn't think she could be good enough for them because she barely knows anything about love and she's so new to everything and now her heart can't stop hurting every time she thinks about kissing or intimacy because she doesn't understand that it doesn't have to be bad, it doesn't have to hurt. She'd be too afraid that they'd realise she's not what they wanted and that would be a much better reason to turn to Aaron than whatever canon was.

He's someone she barely knows, he's dark and looks dangerous and has a fucked up past, she knows that he's not good for her but she thinks that that's all she deserves. She turns to Aaron because even if she fucks up and can't be good enough, he's still so new and the rest of the group is iffy on him, she knows she could cut him off if she had to. It brings her comfort to experience her firsts with someone random who she never thought would be a big part of her life, she just wanted to learn everything to do and not to do so that she'd have the experience to fall on.

And if she falls for Aaron? That's fine, because then she'd learn that people aren't defined by their pasts, they aren't controlled by the things that have happened to them, with Aaron she could learn that love doesn't have to be quiet and pure. It has bumps and problems and it can come with crying and waiting and that's okay. She'd actually be able to learn a lot about people and how relationships work especially with traumatised people like Garroth or Laurence. And if Aaron dies or stops loving her then at least she'd know that she was loved and is capable of being loved. So even if she doesn't get with Garroth or Laurence afterwards, she still knows that she can do it and she's not alone. She's not broken, she's not damaged, she's a woman who's lived and loved and will do it all again. It will give her strength.

That being said some jesson writing can suck ass so it's also completely fine to just. Decide to not write some of the things they do if you're not comfortable with it (or if it is so insanely out of character it's painful)

All writing is is putting your thoughts into a story, do whatever you want and have fun with it! Go fuckin HAM

@panicataphmausinsanity okay so Zane HC's LETS GOOOOOOOO

Before we start trigger warning for like, child abuse and torture and shit. Seriously this gets dark. Zane redemption must come at a price >:D

So. Something interesting to me in regards to Zane is how in MCD, He's like, this evil, terrible human being, but in Mystreet, he's like, a semi functional human being who can be a NOT bad person and NOT do bad things. And so I got to thinking.

I don't think Zane was born a bad person.

Personally, I kind of hate the way Jess wrote Zane. Like, yes, evil for the sake of evil is great and all, but like. In season one and two, Zane was this overarching antagonist who was always one step ahead of the cast and plotting and having a good time being a paice of shit.

And then season 3 comes around and now he's a shadow knight, on the run, has PTSD...

Look, I'm not knocking the guy for having PTSD. I'm just saying that the way it's portrayed kind of makes him seem like a whimpery coward. AGAIN, NOT KNOCKING PTSD!!

I think the position that Zane found himself in season 3 was a PERFECT set up for a redemption arc and it makes me SO MAD that it didn't happen.

So I guess I have to do it myself apparently -_-

I've been thinking a lot about Zane. I don't want him to stop being evil. Not right away. So we keep what happened in the first two seasons the same. He's a cackling maniac that has killed a shit ton of people and is on his father's payroll.

And then he dies.

(skill issue lol)

Anyway, Zane is dead. But he's also Zane, so of course he weasels his way out of being dead. And then he gets tortured and is subjected to the same suffering he condemned so many others to yada yada yada PTSD bleh.

Everything seems to be the same so far.

But then he breaks out if the nether. Still, we're on track, right?

He gets captured, he gets expedited to Phoenix Drop, he gets interrogated, it's all the same.

But here we find a canon divergence. Instead of being absolute dumbasses, they don't bring him into the nether. Let's scrap that plot point entirely.

Instead, we're going to let Zane bake in prison for a while!

Here are the main issues that make Zane irredeemable.

1. He's killed like, a shit ton of people, for funsies ig

2. He killed Vylad.

3. He destroyed Aaron's village.

Let's keep those things in mind.

So he's in prison. While in prison, Garroth starts to visit him (along with Travis but shhhh we'll get to him another day) and just. You know. Be angry.

Garroth has seen Zane as a spoiled brat his entire life. He's always been their father's favorite. He's always had everything handed to him on a silver platter. He's always been willing to do whatever it takes for power. He's greedy. He's psychotic. Garroth hates him.

But Zane is Garroth's brother. And Garroth is the type of golden retriever, gold hearted, kind type of character to still love his brother even if he hates him.

That doesn't mean he goes in and is like, nice to him though. Nope. Garroth goes to visit him and nine times out of ten it devolves into a screaming match where Zane antagonizes him the entire time and Garroth yells at him for being a shitty human being.

And then one day Phoenix Drop is attacked and Zane escapes.

They track him down eventually. When they find him, they strike a deal with him. Due to Irene related shenanigans they need his expertise as a scholar of Irene to figure out some more stuff for Aphmau. In exchange, they'll protect him from the Shadow Lord (who he pissed off by stealing one of his soul fragments lol Zane behavior).

Eventually they're able to establish a rapore with Zane. Garroth still gets a migraine whenever they have a conversation. Vylad still refuses to speak to him (oh btw he's visiting from his nether revolution vacation just so u know) and Aphmau still wants to tear out his guts for killing the love of her life or whatever, but he becomes manageable. They can like, stand him. A little bit. Slightly.

And then Zianna gets kidnapped or whatever. So they go rescue her. But when they get back to Phoenix Drop they forget to mention the fact that Zane is like. There and in the wild and not currently killing entire villages worth of people.

So Zianna rolls up to Phoenix Drop and gets jumpscared by her youngest son and also, notably, Zane is NOT happy to see her. He shuts the front door in her face. It's hilarious even though Garroth doesn't think of it that way.

So, now we have our key players all in one place. Garroth, Vylad, Zane, and Zianna.

Let's say they have to all go find an artifact toghether or something and they need Zianna there because it's related to something she knows and they need Zane there because of Irene lore reasons. they go on this mission. One day, they sit and set up for the night, set up bedrolls, whatever. They're lounging around the fire and talking when Vylad eventually mentions his time as a shadow knight in the nether and something about torture.

Zane blinks, and, having not been included in the conversation initially, buts it to say,

"Oh, please. Don't tell me getting tortured by those amatures was DISTRESSING for you. I would have thought father's methods would have given you thicker skin."

The others bristle and start scolding him, of course, because Zane is like, the reason Vylad became a shadow knight in the first place. But Vylad himself, who is very observant and hard to antagonize, latches into something Zane said.

"Methods? What methods?" He says. He says it sharply, too.

Of course, Zane doesn't pick up on this. He just rolls his eyes.

"Don't tell me you forgot. Father had a whole floor dedicated to torture and loved collecting new methods from around the region. I think he even had a historian employed who would research for him..."

"What?" Garroth says, stunned out of his anger.

Zianna has gone silent. So has everyone else, and now they're watching with baited breaths.

"So what? What would that have to do with me?"

And for the first time that they've ever seen, Zane looks... Puzzled.

"What, did he go easy on you? Didn't you talk back to him all the time? Once, after just asking him a question, he had two of my nails pulled. Shadow Knight torture was child's play in comparison," he shrugs, then takes a bite out of his stale price of bread.

There's silence.

Zane looks back at all of them, confused and now kind of pissed off. He looks like he usually does when he feels like he's about to be scolded for saying something crass. Except, that's not what happens. Instead, Vylad looks him in the eye for the first time since Zane killed him, and with the most emotion they've ever heard from him, says,

"What?"

Zane hums.

"Come on. Don't play dumb. He hated you. Im sure he must have sent you to the "torture basement" at least once. You got on his nerves constantly,"

Garroth makes an aborted movement, like he's going to stand up and rush him, but Vylad stops him with a flick of his hand. And then Vylad starts doing what he does best. Interrogating him.

So remember that list, right? Let's reframe a few things.

Zane was not the favorite child. Garroth was.

Garte was a paice of shit. Garte hated Vylad. But he also hates Zane. Why wouldn't he? Vylad was his wife's affair child, sure, but Zane, Zane was Zianna's spitting image.

When Zane was little, he used to take snails and out them in the grass after it rained. He uses to clamor for his mother's pastries just like his brothers. He was a normal child, and he was NOT born a psychopath.

But Garte had a thought, one day.

Wouldn't it be funny... If he made his wife think he WAS one?

Wouldn't it be funny to punish her that way? Wouldn't it be funny to turn Zane into a terrible person, and have her think it was for no reason? Make her think that she birthed a psychopath? How much would it hurt her? How much would she weep?

Garte used to punish Zane for Vylad's joy. One of Vylad's laughs would equal one slap to the face. One side remark in defence of their mother would equal one hour locked in his father's study closet in his office.

Garte turns Zane against himself brothers. And the best part in his mind?

He makes Zane believe that they know about all of it.

He tells Zane that his mother knows about it. That his brothers don't care that he's beaten. That Vylad does things so he gets punished on purpose.

Zane grows up thinking that his brothers probably go through this too. He grows up thinking that his mother just doesn't love him. And so he doesn't say a thing.

Garte starts having him tortured instead of superficially physically abused? He says nothing.

Garte makes him become a priest of Okasis even though the consequence of failing the academy is death? He says nothing.

Garte would encourage Zane to blugeon animals to death and bring them to Zianna and laugh at her horrified face from afar. Garte encourages Zane to say psychotic things while they're eating dinner, and watches as his family becomes more and more convinced Zane is a monster.

Until Zane is one.

But this reframes a few things.

The people Zane killed? It was under orders. He eventually became his father's right hand man. Most of his overarching goals have been in service of his father.

For Aaron's village, we'll stick a pin in that one, but long story short, Aaron's village had been planning a coup that night under his wife's orders. Zane had them killed under his father's orders so they could eliminate them as political neighbors. He let Aaron live out of pity.

And Vylad.

Basically, remember when I said that Garte used to punish Zane according to Vylad's actions?

One day, Vylad gets into an explosive argument with Garte defending Zianna. And Garte, again, without the other's knowing, has Zane tortured. Except this time it's for a WEEK STRAIGHT.

So when Zane gets out. He's. Very unstable.

And then he comes across Vylad in a semi secluded area.

And Vylad is acting like he did nothing, and all he's ever done is make Zane suffer, and Zane hates him hates him HATES HIM--

And so he snaps. And he kills him.

Keep in mind, though, Zane thinks this is all normal. He doesn't realize that killing his own brother has traumatized him. He doesn't realize that he's a victim of abuse. He doesn't realize that what his dad did is not okay because he THINKS HIS FAMILY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED, and if they didn't contradict his abuse, then this must be normal. He thinks that Vylad has probably been tortured too. He thinks Garroth is their father's favorite because in his mind he's determined that Garroth not receiving any attention from their father is a GOOD thing because ATTENTION EQUALS TORTURE to him.

And this reframes a few things. His constant bid for power? It's not greed, it's DESPERATION. Power makes him feel safe. Hurting others makes him feel powerful because that's how his father had power over him.

His highly volatile and violent personality? It's l he's ever known. Do you have ANY idea what torture could do to a child? He has severe PTSD. Like, severe and repressed and his outburst are more common when he's uncomfortable or anxious or experiencing any negative emotion, which is often.

Garte took Zane's empathy from him. Turned him against his family. Made him into a monster. With these types of characters, I imagine it would probably be very difficult for them to redevelop their emotions and empathy because if they do that, they would have to face their whole mountain of trauma and the guilt of all the lives they've ruined.

I think eventually, after a lot of work, Zane does eventually regain his empathy. It probably finally sinks in during a small gathering. His mother makes her famous cake. Zane has long gotten used to being excluded during these sorts of things, but then...

His mother slides a plate of cake right in front of him.

Strawberry.

His favorite.

And she smiles at him.

This is probably after they found out about Garte being a peice of shit. Maybe a few months.

All Zane has ever wanted is to be loved. Maybe he didn't know it, but when he takes a bite of his mother's strawberry cake for the first time in decades and the nostalgic taste registers in his brain, something snaps.

And he becomes human again.

And he realizes:

Oh.

I'm a person.

I'm a murderer.

I'm a monster.

LMAO WAS THIS COHERENT SORRY PANIC I TRIED MY BEST I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS ONE OSIBWIBDIBSIBU