#rant post?

We don’t see him again until the battle of Trost commences; all he did was follow the lead, call Jean’s name and blinded some titans in order for the main cast to kill them. The only big focus he got was during his small talk with his friend Jean again.

He shares some sweet thoughts about how Jean can be seen as a good leader since he understands what it’s like to be weak, but this will only become important for a certain scene later on in the season. For now, it is quickly established before going back to the fighting.

As the battle continues, one brief scene of Marco saving Jean’s life later, we see the protagonist successfully complete the mission. And what do we find out the very next cut which takes place not long after? Marco apparently died off-screen.

Sure it was shocking at first, and how much so it is from Jean’s point of view, but then again, we should’ve saw this coming. Most of the other minor characters suffered the same fate so of COURSE he was gonna be next. Also, aside from Jean, nobody else was affected by his death - except maybe a big reveal but we’ll cross that bridge in a second.

Just like that, Marco is barely mentioned at all throughout the next seasons, only a couple of cameos. That is, until it was confirmed that he died from overhearing the warrior’s conversation. Honestly, that could’ve been anyone, and I bet Yams didn’t even had a plan to show off how he died and only did this because fans were theorising if he’s still alive or were begging to know what happened to him. They got an answer at least.

Even outside of his lack of role in the story, he does seem pretty one-noted with all of his scenes combined. He’s naive and caring… and that’s it. Can’t believe I was crazy enough to try and explore him deeper when there was no need to. His existence was meant to be the first stepping stone of Jean’s development and that’s how it should remain - he’d be better off with another guy/girl anyway.

I’m sorry if this is all out of the blue to you guys, but I think I’ve just exhausted all of my fuel to keep this praise going. Marco Bodt has come clean to me that he’s solely a bystander or a plot device who can easily be forgotten within the wave of more intriguing things.

Consider this a goodbye to the freckled boy forever.

….

BAH!

Just kidding! Gotcha there for a second there, didn’t I?! Hopefully because this was very hard to write.

Basically the one who I confronted and she sent that message to my dad was my niece. She has a lying problem. Still does. She got caught lying multiple times and instead of owning it, she blamed everyone else, including me. She stole from me, used my stuff without asking, pretended to be me to talk to her ex at one point (???) and would blow up on me over nothing. Legitimately nothing. Sometimes I’d have no idea why she was pissy and she would never communicate. I told her it was a bad idea when she openly talked about wanting to get pregnant AT 15, and she flipped on me for that too. She was with two guys at the same time and I remember telling her not to do that. It’s not okay. I also remember telling her how weird it was that her mom was letting her be around / date men older than her. Especially at her age. Then she told another guy he was the dad of the baby and I was like…no….clearly not by the looks of her messages. Then at some point he confessed to me and I got weirded out and dipped. Cause??? Ew?? Multiple red flags and reasons why that’s a major no. 😬

The worst part? When I said her brother made an inappropriate action toward me, she told me “he would never,” even though she had literally said he did inappropriate things to her. (Side eye???) That’s when I realized she’d rather lie than actually deal with hard problems.

She always saw me as competition, even though I couldn’t have cared less about the guys she dated. I was 15–16, obsessed with FNAF, and just happy to have someone to talk to. You could be beside me at Walmart and as long as you’d listen I’d talk. All I’d ever talk about was my fixations to anyone around. But one of those guys had a crush on me (same guy I said confessed), and she took it out on me, not him. Classic projection.

To also clarify she lived with us for a short while because she told me her dad was abusing them. My parents advised her to call CPS (DUH?) when she came over. Later she blamed my dad and I, and said we called. Not her. And that it “never happened.” Which is confusing as hell to me. Because that leaves multiple issues. (1. Either she lied or 2. He is an abuser (allegedly) and she lets her kid around him.) Crazy work.

Years later I had a job where one of her old friends worked, and guess what? Same stories. Same patterns. It’s not just me. Her ex’s family even came after me and my dad, blaming us for him going to jail; when it was her and her mom who called the cops. Crazy work also if you remember in the message she said “I don’t even talk about yall.” Clearly…you do…or I wouldn’t have people coming up to me about things that you lied about and that I could prove you lied about….😬

Also weird thing I noticed after clearing things up with people. If you like something, have an interest, or if you had something happen to you - not long after conveniently it’s something she likes or had happen to her…..strange. It’s like she takes bits and pieces of other people’s identifies and meshes it into her own.

Also…if almost every person you meet is the “problem” I guarantee you they’re not. Notice….as soon as she left I have no drama…no problems….happy healthy life. I guarantee you she still has problems and people she’s arguing with. My sister too, no doubt. It’s fixable though. She could easily fix these issues and just be happy. It won’t happen though.

She’s still mad I told people what happened. I’m not gonna lie, I could’ve been nicer about it. I was absolutely dogging on her but at the time I was a hurt kid that got lied on, used, stolen from, and constantly belittled by her. The good news is, even though I was absolutely dogging on her everything I said was true. What she forgets is, I kept the screenshots. She still lies about it to this day. I’m the type of person that if you do something wrong I’m going to point it out and not let you get a free pass. I gave her plenty of opportunities to correct it.

Then as you saw she for some reason thinks that’s illegal that I have those screenshots. My parents obtained it legally and gave it to me. Obviously because my dad doesn’t know a lot about technology. It’s not illegal. She shouldn’t have admitted to multiple crimes. And the cherry on top? My parents were her legal guardians at the time. My sister brought contraband (the phone) into their house, and we had to send the contents of her phone to CPS. It’s on her record that she does and will lie now. We mainly sent it off to CPS so she couldn’t turn around and say it was my dad and I (like she was planning.) Lying about that is a crime. I’m just surprised my dad never pressed charges. It’s serious. So I’m glad that was found.

Triple cherry on top? My sister was logged into that phone, so we saw everything. Of course it got turned over to CPS for records like everything else. Basically her mom, the one she defends no matter what, was literally her biggest hater.

The messages were all there:

-> Her mom talking shit about her to friends.

-> Her mom did admit to her friends that it was my niece that called CPS and forensic proved it. She called her an attention seeker. Then would turn around to other people and say it was all my dad’s fault. Then when talking to my nieces ex she would blame me and say it’s all my doing (I was 15-16 bro wtf did I do.)

-> Videos of my niece crying while her mom laughed about the videos and scrolling through it. Calling her fake.

-> Texts where her and her mom were plotting for her to get pregnant. BOMBASTIC side eye.

I warned her. I literally warned her about her mom. She didn’t listen. I tried to tell her that the guys she was dating were red flags, I told her about her self sabotaging, I told her she should just be independent and work on herself. The thing is she thinks uncomfortable feelings and hard truths are a slight against her.

If you try to guide her in the right direction and tell her what she’s doing is wrong she will act like you’ve insulted her. Like nobody is competing with her. Nobody is beefing with her. Nobody is even mad at her. She just does inexcusable things to good people and self sabotages cause the truth seems to hurt. I kinda just pity her. Like?? Is it not…tiring…?

But at some point, the truth smacks you in the face. The truth is I doubt she will ever change, apologize, or realize her self sabotaging behavior.

Hopefully she’ll learn. Maybe she’ll realize it’s her side of the family and their environment that makes her so miserable. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But one day she’ll realize the person she defended the most is the one who never gave a single shit about her.

But here’s the truth: When you lie that much, hurt people that badly, and burn every bridge you cross, eventually the only one you’re fooling is yourself.

The reason I got away from that side of the family is - I know it’s a pattern. If one parent does it, unless the child breaks the cycle, it’ll simply continue. As soon as I realized how my sister was talking about her kids (which I am sure you’ve seen from what I put in the GC) then I saw the way my niece wasn’t changing the cycle I was out. I don’t want to continue the cycle they have going on.

My dad is the only parent I ever had. I won’t say he’s perfect at parenting. He can be demeaning and rude. There were times he was downright awful. He knows this now. We went to therapy together. I realized my dad never stopped his cycles because his parents didn’t either. My dad has a lot of trauma. He’s told me things he went through as a kid he’s never told anyone else before. I’ll take it to my grave. Not even my siblings know. I realized too late in life that my dad is hurt because of things that happened in his youth. It’s understandable after I heard it. It’s hard for him to open up or express affection. Over time he’s softened up. He’s not as harsh or as critical. He thinks twice before saying something. He compliments me instead of being demeaning.

He’s hard on me because he doesn’t want me to get hurt. He’s hard on me because he doesn’t want me to fail the way he feels like he failed. I genuinely think if my bio mom was mature, a lot of family issues would’ve never happened. I get that she didn’t want to stay with him. I’m not saying she shouldn’t have left. It’s just the way she went about it (cheating, running over her children, participating in illegal activities in front of her children, abandonment, starvation of her children, etc) that definitely created a rift. I think it’s really weird also for anyone to take my bio mom’s side.

Nobody should take a child abusers side in any capacity. Especially when you RAN YOUR KID OVER ALL FOR A MAN. A MAN YOURE CHEATING ON YOUR COMMON LAW HUSBAND WITH. I can understand that it was a tough time for all my siblings. I just think it’s where resentment started. I’m especially going to blame my bio mom for this one. Not once growing up did my dad pin me against my bio mom. He let me make my own decisions. Yet every-time I heard from my bio mom’s side of the family they’d instantly talk about how terrible my dad was. I figured out where the dysfunction came from pretty quick.

It’s just. Idk. Sometimes I feel like if anyone. Just anyone in my family were to sit down and talk like an adult and everyone truly listened to each other a lot of issues and resentment would be resolved. That’s kind of impossible with them though. Healing doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t hurt. Healing means realizing that you don’t have to carry their pain for them anymore. You know, as bad as it sounds I pity a lot of my family members. A lot of them are miserable. I mean…..one look at em’ is all it takes…

I had to realize that, yeah I feel bad for them. It doesn’t mean I should give them space to hurt me. I couldn’t care less what they say. Though, I find it laughable. I confronted my bio mom about things she was saying. I can pity people and have empathy and still not let that get in the way of standing up for myself. I can realize I don’t “need” to be the bigger person. If telling them they’re being a POS (when they are being a POS) brings me peace then I do it. If they say I’m not being the bigger person, who cares? Dysfunctional people don’t know what being the bigger person means anyways.

A way to survive a dysfunctional family is realizing no matter what you do you cannot change them. Just do what you need to do. As they say “you can lead a horse to the trough but you can’t make it drink.” That’s pretty much them. You can tell them time and time again but they don’t want help. They’re too comfortable living life with problems that being free of issues is frightening to them.

It’s also okay to grieve the family you wish you had. For me, when I was younger I always wondered what I did to not have a mom. I was hard on myself. I pushed myself to be the best. The best in class, the most behaved, the best dressed, the well spoken one. To this day, I believe it is incredibly selfish for parents to leave their children but it’s also selfish for parents to ban their children from seeing another parent (unless it’s a safety concern.) My dad never once banned me from seeing her (though it would have to be supervised), never once didn’t answer my questions, and never once made me feel guilty for her leaving. That was all her own doing.

Though, if I had seen her and seen how she would’ve let me down I would’ve gotten over it way sooner. I wouldn’t have internalized it for so long. I would’ve realized sooner it was never me. Never got a happy birthday, never got a congratulations, never heard a “I’m proud of you” from her. I confronted her not too long ago. She pulled the cancer card and refuses to talk to me. Mind you, her excuse when I was a kid was that it was all my dad’s fault. I am a grown adult, what’s stopping her now? Absolutely nothing. She’s just a terrible parent who blames everyone else. I see where my family members got it from.

Speaking of grieving family. Sometimes I wished I could go back in time. I feel incredibly guilty that my brother took care of me when our bio mom left us alone in those apartments. I wish I could give him that time back. If I’m being honest, I’m crying when I think about it. I miss him a lot. He’s older now and he lives life without me but I worry about him a lot. I don’t think there’s a reason for me to worry, but I always will. It took me a long time to realize it was never my fault. It was hers. She barred my dad from seeing us. Left us alone. With no food. While she went off with a man. No good parent would do what she did. The guilt doesn’t go away, but it took me far too long to realize it wasn’t my fault. I think I’d give up anything to give him that time back. He’s never said it or acted like it, but I hope he doesn’t resent me for it. Even if he did I still love my brother.

One thing about dysfunctional families, and why I mentioned my brother, is that situations will happen and you can’t blame yourself. Especially if you were a child. Dysfunctional families also attract more dysfunction. Sometimes my oldest brother (not the same brother mentioned before) would date a woman and for no reason at all they’d hate me. One of them locked me in a closet when I was around 9. Sometimes I see them and I can see the resentment and anger in them. I’ll be honest, I know nothing about them. I just conclude they’re unhappy. I have to remember that’s not my fault. I was a kid. Nothing could’ve warranted an adult acting that way.

I can’t blame myself for what my bio mom did.

I can’t blame myself for not understanding my dad sooner.

I can’t blame myself for my sisters problems.

I can’t blame myself for how adults act.

I can’t blame myself because someone (my niece) misunderstands me and misunderstands herself.

When it comes to dysfunctional families just remember everything I mentioned. Don’t blame yourself, you can’t fix them, you can try to understand but don’t do it at your expense. And another tip is, don’t continue the cycle. If you notice they do things and they’re miserable, don’t do what they’re doing. And for the love of God and all things holy I REPEAT do not blame yourself. Especially with dysfunctional people. I’ve got family members I’ve never met and for some reason they dislike me just because I’m from my dad. That’s literally it. It’s never your fault. Adults should know better.

This post was planned so long ago but better late than never! My hyperfixation has died down but that doesn't stop him from being the reason I made this account, so I think it's fitting the first post is dedicated to him!

Artist: Solis Animation

Nicky from the Song Trilogy "Brittle Bones Nicky", uploaded by Rare Americans on Sept. 3rd 2019 follows a troubled kid throughout his life, along with his afterlife deal that brings him back from the dead.

All of this art is from the (linked) first instalment in the trilogy of songs but I enjoy all three!! I'm just too lazy to get more screen caps (which is why the quality is kinda ass)