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The Wrap-up :YHS Summary Part 14

Part 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13

@bugged-boy You wanted to see your boy suffer? Well here's an itemised list of his suffering.

Hi, and welcome to the results of me sitting through who knows how many hours of a 2015 Minecraft Roleplay. In this wrap-up, we'll be outlining the main points of Grian Trauma, doing a little character analysis, and coming up with some prompts for how this trainwreck of a series could be interpreted in your fanfic writing.

Let's get into it. It's going to be a looong one, consider this a masterpost of all of the main stuff concerning Grian from across the series.

Some links to additional posts and blogs will also be listed at the end if you're interested in some further research. (If you were tagged, this is where that will be from, sorry for all the tagging, I wanted to direct people to some other blogs that had interesting YHS posts 😅)

(CW: discussions of abuse, graphic violence, murder, suicide, gaslighting, manipulation, verbal sexual harassment, discussions of mental illness, just, all the things this messed up series has to offer.)

Grian's Canonical Trauma:

Deaths witnessed:

Yakuza Man 1 (I can't remember his name): Gunshot to the head causing it to 'explode'. Killed by Taurtis. Additional witnesses; Paul Blart, Seb the Robo Cop, Sookie, the Crab Cashier (I can't remember his name), and Sam. Killed under Police duress.

Seb the Robo Cop: shot, presumed dead. Shot by Yakuza Karu. Additional witnesses; Sam, Taurtis, Paul Blart.

Yakuza Karu (Yakuza Leader): 3 gunshots to the head. Killed by Grian, Sam and Paul Blart. Additional witnesses; Taurtis, possibly Dom. Killed under Police duress.

Paul Blart: Stabbed and decapitated. Killed by Yuki. Additional witnesses; Taurtis, Sam and Sam's Dad. Witnessed through a small window while hiding from Yuki. Emerged to find Paul's decapitated body and severed head in a pool of blood.

Gym Teacher Rowan: Stabbed and/or drowned. Killed by Yuki. Additional witnesses; Sam and Taurtis. Watched him go into the change rooms to subdue Yuki, heard a scuffle. Entered after Yuki left to find Rowan's body floating in the bathtub surrounded by a pool of blood.

Yuki: Suicide, threw herself off the school roof. Additional witnesses; Sam, Taurtis, Okami, Silly and Dom.

Additional deaths: Various Yakuza members in shootouts.

Injuries Sustained: (Or as I like to call them, potential scars.)

Bus crash, unspecified injuries, non life-threatening.

Defensive knife wounds to the forearms. Source: Knife fight with Pie Lord.

Gunshot wounds (at least one, possibly multiple), non life-threatening. Source: First Yakuza shootout. Suggested positions; shoulder, arm, etc. Later worsened through beating (by Rowan) and being left untreated.

Beaten, kicked and dragged (by Rowan). Source: Being Thrown in The Crazy Room. Would leave bruising. Possibly a split lip, blood nose, etc.

Gunshot wound, worrying but not incapacitating. Causes noticeable blood loss and dizziness. Source: Taurtis' gun going off. Suggested position; somewhere non-lethal on the torso. Personally I imagine it having scraped across his hip, leaving a gouge, rather than having been a direct hit, but it's up to you. Prompt; could be used as an opportunity for Grian to learn how to do stitches/self-treat injuries. Could also impact him for some time afterwards, for example when he has to chase after Yuki it could explain why he struggled to catch her.

Regularly dragged and shoved around (by Sam). Would likely leave bruises on arms and wrists.

Poisoned multiple times (by Sam).

Passed out in the middle of the road (cause unspecified). Source: Christmas Special. Claimed it was just because he was cold.

Beaten (by stormtroopers). Source: Star Wars special. Would have left bruises.

Traumatic Events:

The Halloween Arc, also known as The Big One: Chased by ghosts, witnessed Taurtis' stabbing (by Sam), was involved in a bus crash (driven by the injured Taurtis), had to drag Taurtis to the hospital, was accused of his stabbing, was threatened with a knife (by Sam and Yuki), was forced to dress as Taurtis, continuously threatened with a knife (by Sam), had his sense of identity eroded, was forced to eat plastic (while being threatened with a knife), witnessed Rowan be stabbed (by Sam and Yuki) while trying to save him, had a mental breakdown and tried to escape, had plastic shoved down his throat (again), got caught trying to leave the apartment (by Sam) and was forced to continue being Taurtis, found Taurtis but without his memories, and thus had to try and jog his memories all while being belittled and gaslit (by Sam).

(Also, the bus crash destroyed the 'Magic Bus', which could be interpreted as one of his only ways out of this cursed town, thus making it harder to leave his abusive situation.)

The Shootout: Chased through houses and across rooftops by angry Yakuza, got separated from the group and was presumed dead (unknown what happened during this period), had to dodge bullets in a full-scale street-wide shootout between the SWAT and the Yakuza, ended up holed-up in the convenience store with the SWAT team, was handed a gun and told to shoot, ended up with the worst cover position by a broken window but managed to hold his own, possibly shot and/or killed several Yakuza (unconfirmed), fled with the group to the train station, shot at least once in the escape.

The Crazy Room: Betrayed by the 'responsible' adults he trusted, arrested and accused of inflated false charges, dragged away crying and pleading (by Rowan) for trying to refute those charges, locked in a padded cell called 'The Crazy Room', can be heard pleading to be let out through the walls, gets beaten and kicked by an adult he formally trusted to help him (Rowan), is left with untreated bullet wounds. Sam also attempts to convince the Police Chief (Pufferfish Pete) to leave Grian in there for longer because he thinks it's funny.

Forced Police Recruits: Coerced and threatened by authority figures (the police), given a uniform and a gun but no training, told to follow orders or he and his friends would die, given what amounts to a hit list and was sent out on what was intended to essentially be a suicide mission to capture or kill armed Yakuza. Witnessed 2 deaths before being ordered to kill the Yakuza leader in a dumpster, volunteered to be the one to pull the trigger so that Paul wouldn't shoot Taurtis who refused, shot the Yakuza leader simultaneously with Sam and Paul, killing him.

Hide the Body: Told that he was now in trouble for following the orders he was given (on threat of death if he didn't comply), forced to help hide the body and any evidence of Paul's involvement, had to try and convince his panicking friend (Taurtis) not to 'rat them out' to the police chief, repeatedly told by both Sam and Paul that if he didn't help he would be responsible for getting them all sent to prison.

Yuki's Rampage: Forced to dress up as the Yakuza leader and pretend to be Yuki's father to keep her from panicking, became her prime target once the ruse was revealed, witnessed Yuki murder Paul Blart and found his decapitated body, found Rowan's body in a bathtub, Yuki left a note demanding Sam hand over Grian so that she could kill him, was involved in another shootout on the school roof, kept trying to escape into the stairwell but Sam kept dragging him out into the line of fire to draw Yuki's attention. Witnessed Yuki (the last Yakuza standing after the shootout) commit suicide by throwing herself off the building.

The Eldritch Snowman: Got sacrificed (by Sam) to and eaten by an eldritch abomination in the shape of a snowman. It was a weird day.

Basement Imprisonment: Woke in the middle of the night to Sam forcing him into a Princess Leia cosplay, was dragged out of bed and locked in the basement, imprisoned for 3 days straight. Sam showed no intention of letting him out any time soon, was only released once Taurtis heard him screaming. Implied that he was also sexually harassed (verbally) at school by both students and staff while dressed in feminine cosplay.

Overall: Physically and emotionally abused, betrayed by authority figures he placed his trust in, manipulated, gaslit, belittled, falsely imprisoned, coerced, threatened. An overall bad time.

Character Analysis:

So, this analysis is just based on my interpretation of events. You're welcome to interpret things any way you wish, but for now, let's get into it. Also, I try my best to be respectful when discussing topics such as mental illness and psychosis, however I am not an expert on these topics, so by all means, feel free to let me know if there's something I need to fix and I will do my best to correct any mistakes.

(Also known as 'oh gosh, I'm psychoanalysing characters from a 2015 Minecraft roleplay, send help.)

Grian:

The 'sane one', the main target. Grian spends most of the show acting as the voice of reason, questioning the stranger aspects of the town and voicing his concern over the various morally dubious actions that go on. He quickly becomes the main target for Sam's torment, however, with his status as the 'new' kid being used to shut down his concerns as ignorance to 'how things work around here'. While Grian does his best throughout the show to speak up and try and convince those around him not to go through with questionable plans, he still goes along with the plans when his attempts to dissuade fail, seemingly out of fear, as he is often being either directly threatened, or fearing the consequences of previous threats. Dude's pretty much constantly fearing for his life, poor lad. When he's not in immediate danger of being stabbed or shot, he seems to be trying desperately to restore the relationship dynamics that went on before Sam crossed into violence, going along with plans easily and cracking jokes as if to appease Sam and keep him from becoming aggressive again. Ultimately, he just ends up exhausted from trying to keep track of his mood swings, and can often be seen staring into space and questioning his life choices. Although he regularly expresses a desire to leave, he never actually does. Personally, I would attribute this to two reasons; 1 - Grian's ride out of town, the Magic Bus, was destroyed, leaving him stranded and with 'nowhere else to stay' but with Sam and Taurtis, and 2 - a desire to protect Taurtis, as suggested by him pausing his attempts to escape Sam while dressed as Taurtis to stay and try and trigger 'Jerry's' (the real Taurtis) memories. Overall, Grian seems to have taken the role of 'the responsible one', doing what he can to keep himself and his companions alive and out of trouble (an arduous task indeed).

Possible links to future characterisations:

A lack of respect for authority? (say, like, the Watchers?) - betrayed by the adults he trusted, coerced by the police.

Defiant, wild, chaotic? - could be a refusal to be controlled or manipulated, to let anyone stand over and bully him once again.

Sam:

Manipulative, controlling, sadistic, possessive. Sam has no regard for boundaries and completely fails to see how many of his actions cross them. He is the main character, the world revolves around him, and anyone who doesn't conform to his story has to be forced back into their role. He regularly fluctuates in mood, sometimes joking and jovial, other times outright violent and aggressive. Even when he is not acting violent, he still regularly plays 'jokes' at others' expense, verbally belittling his 'friends' and dismissing the harm he causes. He displays many manipulation tactics related to gaslighting in an attempt to convince his 'friends' to question their interpretation of events, take the blame for his actions and overall view him as an innocent party, to varying success. He is also extremely possessive, especially of Taurtis, whom he appears to imagine an idealised version of who doesn't talk back and goes along with his 'Goofin and Gaffin' without question. The real Taurtis, of course, begins to stray from this characterisation as Sam's behaviour escalates, resulting in Sam lashing out at him more frequently. Sam also experiences delusions, often struggling to tell the difference between the excuses and lies he makes up, and reality. This is particularly prominent in storylines where he dresses Grian up, and is soon no longer able to recognise Grian as anyone other than role he is playing. Additionally, Sam never receives appropriate consequences for his actions, nor help for his psychosis. He is failed by the adults around him, who ignore, fail to properly follow up on and at times even enable his behaviour, causing harm to both Sam and everyone around him. I can count exactly 1 occasion where an adult made proper attempt to intervene in this show, and when that failed, nothing else was done, it was like they gave up. Most of the time they're just making stuff worse.

Taurtis:

Naïve, clueless, easily fooled and manipulated. Taurtis is the loyal best friend, the ride or die companion, who has been with Sam for years and has been involved in his shenanigans from the beginning. Which is perhaps why he was so slow to recognise his friend's actions escalating. It takes a long time for Taurtis to begin to voice concerns, and when he does they are easily shut down by Sam. He is quick to fall for excuses and lies, and even quicker to believe them from Sam. However, as Sam's behaviour continues to escalate towards violence, Taurtis' complaints also become more vocal, until Sam eventually lashes out against him. From then on, Taurtis fluctuates between supporting and condemning Sam, depending on what lies he is currently believing and from whom. Throughout the series, however, Taurtis is very dismissive of Grian's struggles, often siding with Sam and playing his complaints off as overreactions. He strikes me as the type to have one single braincell bouncing between his empty eyes like a DVD screensaver, and that braincell is just constantly thinking about Doritos.

Rowan:

The 'trusted' adult, the strong one. Rowan's character goes through several stages. At first, he seems like a muscle-head drill sergeant who doesn't care about his students and just wants to see them fight each other in a pit. Then, it appears as though he actually does care, beneath all of the bravado, talking in caps lock and calling everyone 'Maggots'. He removes them from the classroom where Gareth committed suicide, prevents them from actually hurting each other in the fighting pit, keeps injured students out of activities to rest, hides them from the Yakuza and steps in to separate Grian from Sam that one time. The students go to him for support throughout the murder-mystery elements of the plot, and rely on him to keep them safe when they're under threat. And then he betrays them. After his attempt to subdue Sam during his breakdown, he makes no further attempts to address his behaviour. He arrests the boys, hands them over to the corrupt police chief and allows the false charges to go through, and essential deems Grian a lost cause and 'too much trouble'. From this point, Rowan essentially becomes one of his abusers. The once trusted adult, the one who was supposed to protect him, is now one of the people hurting him. He fluctuates between helping and dismissing, seeming in most cases too tired of dealing with these boys' antics to step in any more and becoming almost as unpredictable as Sam as to whether he is going to help or harm. And yet the boys still retain their faith in him, going to him as their last hope, the strongest man they know at the very end during Yuki's rampage. Which, well... he wasn't quite strong enough. (Is that possible unreasonable guilt I sense, Grian? That you went to someone for help and it got them killed? More trauma? More trauma.)

Fic Prompts:

Some ideas and suggestions for how you could use some of this in your fics. I have fics planned for some of these prompts already >:) Feel free to use these in any way you like, take them apart and turn them inside out if you like, or ignore them completely and come up with your own, I don't mind. :)

I'm probably going to reshuffle the timeline a bit, spread things out, fit the specials in somewhere and overall just give a bit more time between major events so they're not all crammed into idk, a week or 2 or something. Gives a bit more time to fit in any missing scenes or extra events you want to add as well.

Does your Grian have wings? Did he always have them? Were they possibly yet another target for Sam's torment? Or did he fledge at some point? How might that go down in High School with these 'oh so lovely' friends for 'support'?

How might Grian have escaped this situation? Personally, I reckon the basement incident seemed a sort of turning point, where he's beginning to get very, very done with this situation, so some time after then might make a good time for an escape? Idk, it's up to you.

My personal timeline is YHS, (a few years break), Evo, (A few years with the Watchers), Hermitcraft - but you may like to shuffle that any way you want. I know @/buggedboy has a different timeline in mind.

How might his experiences in YHS shape his experiences in Evo?

High School as Grian's limbo, like Wilbur has his train station? >:)

Do the Hermits know? Does he want them to know?

There's something very weird about the YHS town. Was it even a normal town? Or was there something... more... going on there.

Running into someone from his past?

Write some missing scenes or extra events?

etc. Have fun!

Additional Resources:

Want some more posts or blogs to visit for info or analysis on YHS rather than watching the actual thing yourself? Here! Go give these people some love! :D

This interesting character analysis of Grian from a legal culpability perspective, and This discussion of Grian Trauma by @grain-my-beloved

Some Really Cool fanart by @f4rlands

This really quick plot rundown that is much more succinct than mine, gosh I really do ramble, by @give-grian-rights

This cool little animation by @ratdivination

A list of episodes and timestamps for Grian Trauma by @its-cocaine

But for now, this is it! This is the summary, done! It's finished, woohooooo oh this took way too long. Again, if anyone is interested in picking it up for Tokyo Soul, please tag me, I would love to see it, but for now, this is goodbyyyyyyyyyyye :D

#im very appreciative of this #ive wanted to know what happened in that series for a while #but also i think i just dealt myself like 60 psychic damage by reading that-

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