#jonna schulte

[galaxywhump]

Some picrews, ft. an Over It Wren, a way too wholesome-looking Daniel, Berkeley, Jonna, and the happy pre-captivity duo: younger Wren and Lys.

(picrew)

[galaxywhump]

The Funeral

[Masterlist]

I’m feeling sad, so I wrote something that made me even sadder. For the anon who asked if I was going to write about Jonna at the funeral.

EDIT because I feel bad already: I'm sorry about this one.

cw: death, grief, past abuse.

taglist: @faewhump @inky-whump @whole-and-apart-and-between @slaintetowhump @whatwasmyprevioususername @lovelydopechild @moose-teeth @insanitywishes @special-spicy-chicken

~~~

Jonna Schulte is looking at the photograph, and a stranger is looking back at her.

They look similar, same jawline, same cheekbones, and even though the photograph is black and white, she knows they have the exact same natural hair color, warm light brown, which she has almost forgotten, having been dyeing her messy bob platinum blonde for years.

Her gaze moves to the engraved name.

Wren Rackham.

She was the one who picked the name for him - she liked the sound of it and the namesake birds which used to chirp in the branches of the willow tree in the front yard.

There’s a strange feeling spreading like nausea in her stomach, unease as if she had passed by someone who looked like her on the street.

Jonna Schulte is looking at the photograph of her dead son, but there is still a stranger looking back at her.

There are people speaking in the background, rangers saying the exact same thing over and over, just in different words, fighting alongside lieutenant Rackham was a real honor, and there’s a knot in her stomach, because she knows nothing about him, what he was like, who he grew up to be over twenty two years, and all she’s hearing is that he was a soldier, that he was fighting, and he died fighting too.

Some people do double takes when they glance at her, the woman standing still with her arms crossed, staring at the gravestone, her face eerily similar to that of the deceased man, but no one comes up to her, no one asks any questions, so she doesn’t move from her spot, trying to find a hint of the emotions she should be feeling as a grieving mother.

But even when she manages to turn her gaze away only to catch the sight of Nathaniel Rackham, she doesn’t feel anything.

He looks at her and his eyes widen, hers remaining half-lidded and dull.

There are so many things she wants to tell him, so many questions, each more bitter and painful than the last.

What was he like?

What did you tell him about me?

Were you hurting him the way you were hurting me?

If you had let me take him with me, he would still be alive.

She closes her eyes for a moment as a sob thuds in her chest, but there are still no emotions.

“He saved my life once,” a young man says, and his voice is shaking, a contrast to the sedate, borderline cold manner of the previous speeches. “I will never forget that.”

Prickling tears finally appear in the corners of her eyes and she blinks them away, turning around to leave, avoiding looking at the stranger that too closely resembles her.

[galaxywhump]

🥂 celebrating

Okay, so this is basically one huge spoiler but I just couldn’t resist, because Wren can have something nice sometimes. As a treat.

cw: PTSD, exposure to trigger, panic attack, but then it turns into tooth-rotting fluff.

~~~

He had forgotten.

He felt something weird in the morning when he checked the time and noticed today’s date, and a thought flashed through his mind that he should know it, that it used to be important. He shrugged it off then and carried on with his day up until Jonna invited him over - and when he entered the house she’s been renting ever since he returned, he suddenly found himself surrounded by her family and his friends.

And then they started singing Happy Birthday.

His mind reacted instantly, flaring up with panic, and he shook his head, uttering a weak word of protest, but they all just laughed.

Laughter. Daniel’s laughter. His wide smile.

The song died down when they realized his protests weren’t of the usual “aw, you’re embarrassing me” kind, and he was staring at them with wide eyes, shaking all over, almost crying.

“I’m sorry”, he choked out and rushed to the hallway.

And now he’s here, leaning against the wall, his trembling hand clasped over his mouth.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday, dear Daniel.

Dear Daniel.

Dear Daniel.

A sob escapes him, and he hears footsteps.

“Wren?” The voice is quiet, concerned, and he fixes his eyes on the ground, unable to look Jonna in the eyes. She comes closer and leans against the wall next to him, and for a few moments there’s silence, save for Wren’s shaky breaths and the murmur of muffled conversations coming from the living room.

“Sorry”, Wren mutters finally, and Jonna turns her head to look at him, her brow furrowed, her lips pressed into a thin line. “It’s just…” He takes a moment to breathe and make sure his voice isn’t going to break on him. “H-he used to make me sing it for him.”

“Oh, honey… I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s okay, I-I didn’t know I’d react like this.” He manages to look at her and forces himself to smile through the tears. “And… and I completely forgot it’s today.”

I completely forgot I even have a birthday.

“It’s so stupid”, he chuckles, lowering his head as new tears well up in his eyes. “The fucking Happy Birthday song.”

“Hey, it’s not stupid”, she says sternly, reaching out to to put her hands on his shoulders only to freeze and look at him with a question in her eyes. He nods, his lip quivering, and he takes a step forward, into her embrace, resting his forehead on her shoulder. “Nothing about what you went through is stupid.” She wraps her arms tightly around him and closes her eyes, fighting tears down herself. “I’ll make sure nobody sings it again, alright?” He sighs and nods into her shirt. “Is there anything else like that?”

He thinks for a moment and snorts with laughter again.

“Pancakes”, he says, sniffling. “I can’t look at that shit.”

“Okay. Okay. No pancakes.” There’s silence again, and Wren manages to calm down enough to gently free himself from Jonna’s embrace and smile at her again, this time without tears. “Do you want to join the party, or do you need some more time?”

“I think I can do it. But… crap, I made it so damn awkward.”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t”, she assures him with a sympathetic smile that so closely resembles his own. “We’re all here to support you, okay? It will be fine.” She nods in the direction of the living room and gently nudges him with her elbow. “Let’s go, hun. Myrna baked you a cake this morning and it looks absolutely delicious.”

It’s as if nothing had happened.

Wren finds himself overwhelmed by wishes, smiling, thanking everyone, stuffing himself full of Myrna’s cake and complimenting her baking skills; and when a couple hours later he’s sitting on the floor, surrounded by people who aren’t going to hurt him in any way, chatting and laughing and listening to their crazy stories, the memories burned into his mind fade enough for him to pretend they’re not even there.

He smiles as a thought crosses his mind that maybe one day it won’t be pretending anymore.

[galaxywhump]

@garbagewhump here, regretting his name and here with an uncomfy question. Does Jonna feel like she's failed to protect Wren?

@garbagewhump

She does. Right after she was forced to abandon him her guilt and worry would keep her awake at night. Well, then twenty two years passed so it was eased, especially when she started her own family, even though the guilt was always somewhere at the back of her mind.

His ‘death’ made her numb more than anything, but the guilt came back. She thought she was too weak, too cowardly to defy Nathaniel, to fight for parental rights.

When Wren comes back, when she learns what he has gone through and she meets him in person after all those years, the guilt hits again. If she hadn’t failed he would’ve never joined the League, would've never caught the attention of the slavers and Daniel. But at least she can help him recover, give him the love and support he needs more than anything - and she hopes it makes up for at least a fraction of her failure.

[galaxywhump]

@garbagewhump again. Are there any emotions (Wren, Berkeley, Daniel and Jonna) doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

@garbagewhump

Wren: loneliness and the feeling that his life is lacking something. He’d immediately go drown those feelings in booze, or go for a jog or to the gym to focus on physicality instead.

Berkeley: guilt - basically whenever whatever’s left of his conscience tries to speak.

Daniel: fear, helpessness, anything suggesting he’s losing control.

Jonna: all the emotions she feels when she thinks of Wren - even more so after the funeral.

[galaxywhump]

🌊 - Wren, pre everything.🌸 - Wren again.💗 - Nathaniel and Wren and Jonna (sorry if I slaughtered her name!) @garbagewhump

@garbagewhump​ thanks bud!  ❤︎

🌊 What does your OC do on their days off from working, school or whatever else it is they may do? Do they enjoy relaxing, shopping, hanging out with friends? What is a normal day like for them?

He’d go for a long jog or an even longer walk, listening to some upbeat music; if the weather was bad, he’d go to the gym instead. He’d spend most of his day off outside, keeping active, then just relaxing at home, maybe going out with some people from his squad later.

🌸 What’s a sentence that would make your OC’s day better? One that would make them laugh? One that would make their day worse? Why? What words would you have to say to them to completely ruin their day?

Let’s stay in pre-everything times.

better: “Great job out there.”

laugh: see above - he’d get super flustered and awkward when complimented. Other than that, anything mildly humorous, he was easy to amuse.

worse: “You’re the boss’s kid, right?”

ruin: not sure here.

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

Nathaniel: Ehh, not much to talk about here :v

Wren: He’s a weird case, cause I was so used to fanfiction I didn’t think I could ever become attached to an original character again - and yet here I am, very much attached. I love writing him, trying to find the balance between defiant and hopeless, and I love finding opportunities for him to crack a joke or insult Daniel (or Berkeley). There are times when I wish I had a better grasp of him, and I feel like because of the weird timeline forced by the challenge his characterization is inconsistent, but I still like how he’s turning out, and it always makes me happy to see that people like him ^^

Jonna (you didn’t slaughter her name, dw!): When I came up with her story, at the very beginning I didn’t mean for her to come back, but I soon realized she just had to. She’s a survivor of Nathaniel’s abuse, she suffered a lot in life, but she’s working through it, she’s healing, she has a wonderful family (that she’s more than happy to expand once Wren comes back), and she’s a comfort character for me tbh. I can’t wait to write more of her.

[galaxywhump]

Garbage here! You invited the flood again! How did Jonna and Scarlett meet? @garbagewhump

@garbagewhump I love your floods! c:

Jonna moved back to the US a few years after getting away from Nathaniel - it hurt, at first, but she had fallen in love with the country and was determined to make it her home, to write her own story there. She was far away from Nathaniel enough to avoid meeting him or hearing about him (or Wren), she became a freelance translator and interpreter (English-German) and committed herself entirely to her job to stop herself from thinking about the past.

She first met Scarlett at an art exhibition, when she was interpreting for a German artist. It started with a couple of smiles, some accidental eye contact during the artist’s guest lecture and Q&A session.

Scarlett, a cheesy hopeless romantic, caught Jonna later, when she was having a short break, and brought her coffee - Translating must be exhausting. Yep, there was her phone number written on the lid.

Jonna was cautious and uncertain at first, and it took her a whole day before she gathered the courage to text Scarlett - and she never regretted it one bit.

[galaxywhump]

@Garnagewhump here. I feel the need to remind you that you gave me permission to spam you. Jonna - 6, 7, 26, 38.

@garbagewhump I did, and I regret nothing! I have three hours left until midnight and I have wine, let’s do this.

6. Headcanon VA

No idea, sorry! 

7. Occupation

So this is not self-indulgent at all, but she’s a translator and interpreter!

26. Guilty Pleasure

ABBA. may I remind you it’s an unspecified future and it’s Such Old Music? Yeah.

38. Did/do they go anywhere special for vacations?

Every summer she and her family go camping for a week, each year somewhere else, and they just relax, enjoy the nature, play board games together and are just unnervingly perfect :v