#rip-

For example, in Pico Vs. Uber Kids, their teach Mr. Flacit says the trio was chosen because after the shooting, the school’s best was dead, so they had to settle for those three. That is despite all three of them being above average intelligence. [This was measure by the outdated IQ method, but follow me on this.]

Now, while Pico is above average intelligence, Pico’s father is implied to be neglectful, and the lack of support from your parents can make your grades suffer.

Nene has “superior” intelligence, but she’s also go ADHD, and let’s be real, schools, especially back when the games were first made, aren’t exactly very... accommodating to neurodivergent children. Especially those with attention span issues. Plus. Anxiety and Depression. They are also bitches.

But Darnell... He has “gifted” intelligence. He’s smarter than both Pico and Nene. And I doubt this school was exactly for the best of the best, because. *wildly gestures at it* look at how badly it’s failed to even protect their students. Hell, some of the policies actively endangered the student body. Remember how the only school exit Pico could get to was chained and padlocked? To keep kids from leaving before school was over???

And as far as we can tell, from what little we know of his family, Darnell had a caring mother, and he’s not confirmed with any learning disabilities, or similar disorders that could make school difficult.

Except. For chronic migraines.

If the migraines were bad enough, it could have made focusing on school damn right impossible. If he could go at all.

[The trio did also experience some major trauma with the events of Pico’s School and Pico 2 at least at that point, and trauma can affect your grades, but I don’t think they took recent grades into account.]

And let’s be honest. Grades are a shitty way to determine a child’s intelligence.

And as for the poster that’s kind of a running joke-

While he still could be full of shit characterwise, If his migraines are bad enough to have him missing school, then it could either be a school rumor he took advantage of for his campaign, or he’s just fucking around based off of his condition.

Could the migraines themselves really be that bad, though? How bad are chronic migraines?

Chronic migraines are defined as at least fifteen head ache days a month, with full migraines at least eight of those days. And the pattern persists for at least three months. At least from I’m reading on ClevelandClinic.org.

According to Mayo Clinic there’s actually a lot of shit that can happen even before a migraine happens.

One or two days before, you can get symptoms like a stiff neck, food cravings, mood changes, constant yawning, aaaand bodily excrement issues I am not saying, thank you.

And then sometime before the migraine happens, or even during, some people get this thing called an aura which can last of to an hour. They’re usually visual disturbances, but can be other disturbances. They can be seeing spots of colors or shapes, outright vision loss, pins and needles feelings in the limbs, weakness or numbness in the face or a side of the body, or difficulty speaking.

The migraines themselves? They can last between four hours and three fucking days. And aside from terrible fucking headaches and nausea, they can make you more sensitive to light, sound, and even smells and fucking touch. Holy fuck.

And even after the migraines past, they can leave you drained. Like genuinely exhausted and even confused for a day.

Yeah. Basically they fucking suck.

What can cause them?

Well, general migraines, either stress, sensory stimuli, sleep changes, physical exertion, medication, food [salty processed food, aged cheese, and food additives, as well as skipping meals] and drinks [alcohol and caffeine], and even fucking weather changes. [For women, hormonal changes are also a factor.]

Chronic migraines though?

Again, medication, mood disorders [IE depression, anxiety, etc.], on going disrupted sleeping patterns, excessive caffeine intake, and physical and/or emotional trauma. I believe family history of the affliction is also a factor.

Now possible triggers for general migraines for Darnell?

Stress is a good one. Especially now a days.

Sensory stimuli? Considering he enjoys fucking with fire, light for sure. But I’d argue smell has to do with it too, considering fire accelerants? Probably smell. Not to mention what he makes his bombs out of. And spraypaint. Can’t forget spray paint. Sound probably works too, seeing as his FNF sprite has headphones. He could very well put those on to block out noise when the time calls.

Physical exertion? Especially now a days, yes.

We don’t know shit about his medicine intake or his eating or sleeping habits, so I can’t make comments on that.

As for what may have caused it to be chronic?

We don’t know much about his family, so we can’t say too much on that. Again, same with medication and sleeping habits.

I doubt his mom would have just given him coffee, maybe soda? Who knows.

There’s no confirmation or even indications in canon there’s anything up with him other than his pyromania. And that’s not a mood disorder. As far as I know.

Trauma, though?

Wellll... divorce is pretty traumatizing for a child. And it’s confirmed that his parents are divorced.

Probably not helped by the shit he has to deal with in like. Middle school.

Man. Research is fucking great. It gives you more ways to make your muses s u f f e r .))