#hornet lost her mum as a kid! tiso had just basically lost both his dads around that time too!

[thehappiestgolucky]

Allow me for a moment, to ramble to myself about Hornet and Tiso in the Vigilante Tiso au. It’s been on brain and I wanna ramble it out.

It’s not a secret that at the start Tiso became a guardian figure to baby Hornet - initially from the request Herrah had - and later from his own free will. They bonded. They did become close.

But it’s also no secret that a divide happened. At some point Hornet even forgets she ever considered Tiso a guardian nor that they were close. She viewed his efforts as futile and draining - in spite of the hypocrisy it was. Her duty was to protect the kingdom - imposed to her upon birth afterall. His was self-inflicted.

Something caused the divide. Something started making Hornet distance herself and force her to forget it. That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. What caused the distance?

The biggest incident I feel - is when Hornet loses Herrah. The infection is reaching such a horrific peak - that Tiso is more and more occupied. He barely has time for anyone else. The Dreamers finally take their place and Hollow is locked in the Black Egg. Hornet loses her mother at such a young age and is in desperate need of comfort, of safety, of a supportive figure. Tiso was not there. The one this child had called a guardian angel was not there during her most vulnerable hour.

The other instances - I feel are PK and WL induced. No one was privy to who Herrah had entrusted as a second guardian to Hornet. At some point through baby Hornets own mannerisms - they deduce that the Vigilante has some sort of influence on her. A bad incfluence on royalty, that needed to grow up to protect their kingdom. It’s not big what they did, with the limited time they had, but it was seeds of doubt that were left for an emotionally hurt Hornet to dwell and fester on when the time came. They weren’t planning on it to emotionally devastate her - let’s not get it wrong. They simply wanted Horent to not be badly influenced - feeling like since the Vigilante was known for also messing with the Pale Rulers, they’d be trying to sabotage other kingdoms too. They wanted Hornet to understand that as a royal she had certain duties that a Vigilante would never understand. They didn’t know the attatchment. They didn’t even know fully if it was the Vigilante. Personally, this is one of the least bad things they’ve done, if anything it’s actually understandable why they’d want to try and distance a baby Hornet from influences that might cause disorder for both their kingdom - and Deepnest. Of course they were wrong as Herrah delibrately chose Tiso.

But oh did it end up causing a tear. A still growing and hurt Hornet was left to fester on it, that when Tiso eventually tried to get back into looking after her - especially now Herrah was gone - she snapped.

Hornet as she is now doesn’t remember the incident - choosing to bury those memories along with others in a very unhealthy manner to forget this traitor that abandoned her. Not fully anyway. She remembers, when she thinks about it, there was shouting from her, but the details are blurred. It’s ingrained more in Tiso’s mind than hers. 

But she did snap. She was a small bundle of emotions and pain. She had just lost her mother. She had been allowed to think and think and think to the point of running in circles and convincing herself of the worst possibilities. She was still young. It hurt Tiso. It did. Even after as he tried to mend things she avoided him, until eventually he stopped trying, needing to once again focus on other things. But he always kept an eye on her. Simply at a distance. He never blamed Hornet.

Now I’ve rambled about how much they got divided and how ouchy it is yes - but remember this is still me and they are still absolutely found fam. They do mend their relationship. One of the biggest factors I feel - is the sign of hope that Ghost brings. You’ve got two bugs going through it - both going through the futile effort of trying to protect what’s left as the Infection begins to slowly creep back up again. Hornet didn’t bond with the vessels that Tiso had rescued thus far. She was trying to spare them their fate - whilst he was trying to allow them a chance at a normal life they were denied. Ghost became the only other sibling besides Hollow that Hornet had bonded with. Ghost also bonded and got very attatched to Tiso. Ghost brought a hope with them that the two probably never thought could exist anymore. Hope allows for change.

So you’ve got these two that have a strained relationship now close to the same person. You’ve got Hornet being slapped in the face with the fact all her siblings consider Tiso a father - Ghost doubly is not subtle about this fact. You’ve got Hornet now recalling the things Tiso did for her all the way back when she was a tiny feral baby.

But she’s still hurt. He still wasn’t there when she lost her mother. She still had those festering thoughts about a Vigilante that she has trouble distancing Tiso from.

What I’m saying is this time she deserves to vent. Vent without pushing him away but instead letting him stay and listen. And this time her staying when she’s done and hearing his side. She’s only a teen, but she’s learned to listen. Trauma does things to your growth.

Both their hurts are valid. Which is why they both deserve to talk it out healthily to one another. Post game naturally - as they’re occupied beforehand. It doesn’t fix things immediatly, naturally it doesn’t. That’s not how it works. But it’s a big step in the right direction. There’s no more buried hurt they’re festering over - they both know how they’ve hurt the other. They’ve both apologised. Which means they both can start moving in the better direction of mending and improving their relationship. Hornet takes ages before she considers Tiso a sort of guardian again - and being forced to be her own guardian also made it take a while. But she can’t deny it - it is nice when she does think it a couple of times. It’s like remembering the nicer times in a dark place. It’s just nice for her to slowly have a family again, to be allowed to be a child, a sister, in a family.

Their relationship was rocky, and its one of the reasons why I think about it sometimes. It’s had many ups and downs thanks to circumstances and emotionally charged decisions but at the end of the day they still are family. They still end up getting better and choosing to be a father and daughter after everything they’ve been through.

*holds gently, sobbing* You don’t understand I just fucking love the found family trope and it gives me emotions-