Laszlo (human Scratch in the St. Lanier’s Hospital au) headcanons cuz I’m upset about little things I can’t control and that I’ll get over in like 3 days and his skrunkly bunkily horrible self cheers me up. I have some doodles showing these but I’m not gonna be able to finish them for a while. None of this is like seriously trying to make a societal point or anything, these are just things I think about a character who might as well be an oc.
1. Laszlo had extremely rich but extremely neglectful parents, one being the chief of medicine at a hospital and the other being a surgeon, both also with crazy inherited money. They delegated their alll their parental responsibilities to daycares, schools, nannies, babysitters, afterschool and summer programs, and plopping him in front of the TV or just leaving him alone, and he didn’t really even see them much. There was never even really a particular teacher or adult of any kind that he really formed a connection with, as he was kind of a “problem child” and his parents weren’t exactly the greatest bosses, and didn’t exactly pay for the best programs, so a lot of the adults who had the potential to really be there for him ended up having to quit and get new jobs or were fired.
2. After Laszlo turned like 10 or so his parents stopped paying for all the afterschool programs and nannies/babysitters, and started letting him just kind of go off on his own. Luckily their city was somewhat walkable and he found places to hang out that weren’t too dangerous. He specifically really liked going to the arcade and trying to dismantle the game cabinets to see how they worked, but would also hang out in the comic book store and the library when the arcade employees chased him out.
3. Color coded EVERYTHING. Not in a neat way, more in a “Jackson Pollock” way. Like you open his notebook and it’s not even text, it’s just colored pencil lines which SUPPOSEDLY mean something.
4. He once got seriously bitten by his family’s (very poorly treated) guard dog and became DEATHLY afraid of dogs because of it, until he was like 18 and Mary & Grant slowly encouraged him to start tolerating them again.
5. Was the school mascot at his and Mary & Grant’s college. It was the first school he ever really went to for more than a month (he got expelled and sent away to different schools quite a few times) and he got really really excited about being a part of school life. He was also a part of a frat for a couple of weeks until he realized he absolutely was not welcome there and the frat guys were kind of (super) homophobic, and instead he convinced Grant to start their own 2-person nerdy loser frat.
6. Speaking of which, Laszlo probably would’ve called himself “Queer” (or the f-slur, in a reclaiming way, bc 80’s-90’s) but if he had access to modern labels (and actually wanted to use them, which tbh he might not) he’d probably describe himself as aromantic/homosexual, but somewhere on the asexual spectrum as well. He’d probably love the idea of being queer platonic. In his real life he kind of just did whatever the hell he wanted, though. He didn’t really have much internalized homophobia due to growing up seeing so many different ppl and different opinions, and the adults who usually actually tried to make a difference with him or help him happened to be lgbtq+. Mary & Grant were actually both bi, and both had SIGNIFICANTLY higher levels of internalized homophobia, which he kind of helped them get over, through being unabashedly himself.
7. He once got sent to military school and after deciding it was “boring”, somehow managed to get himself expelled after like, three days.
8. He really was a genius (I mean, my man came up with working VR in the 90’s), partially due to his general predisposition, but, also due to being sent to so many educational afterschool and summer programs and so many unique and rigorous schools in an attempt to fix his “problems”. (AKA what was obviously just unmedicated adhd and really uninvolved parents.)
9. Because of the way his brain worked though, he would constantly make connections that other people wouldn’t/couldn’t see, and wouldn’t be understood by other people, and often ended up getting INSANELY frustrated, upset, and lonely because of it. It occasionally kind of gave him a sense that he was better than every one else, bc he really was at least smarter, but deep down he was significantly more upset about the loneliness of it and actually had pretty low self esteem, perpetually feeling abandoned. Part of the reason he liked Grant & Mary so much was because THEY were also extremely smart, and would understand a lot of the points he tried to make, (although not all) and, they were incredibly consistent and never really made him feel like they were going to leave him, which was rare in his friendships. All three of them were probably some kind of autistic tbh, and Grant & Mary were the kind of autistic where if they said they would all study together at 3pm every Sunday or whatever, they were GOING TO STUDY TOGETHER AT 3PM EVERY SUNDAY. Laszlo pretended he thought they were squares for this, but in reality he really needed consistency like that to be reassured that he was loved.
10. Mary & Grant’s parents all inexplicably LOVED Laszlo. They showered him with gifts and got really excited every time they saw him. Mary & Grant had no idea why this was, because they also knew that if they ever acted or spoke like Laszlo as kids they would get themselves. In so much fucking trouble. (They both had very loving but VERY strict parents.)
11. Had a pretty big appetite pre-cancer diagnosis and would eat a decent amount, (my man would inhale so damn many soft shell tacos from Taco Bell and not even feel it) but it went SIGNIFICANTLY down after chemo, and he would kind of just graze. He liked stealing Mary & Grant’s fries and he would always eat the parts of their meals that they didn’t like. He was a lot more sensory seeking than sensory avoidant and liked super sour, spicy, and weird foods.
12. Was SEVERELY bullied at every single school he attended. Like, actual physical violence, shoved in a locker, coming home with a black eye (that his parents ofc wouldn’t notice) bullying. This had no negative effects on him whatsoever:)/sar
13. He actually dated a bit in college! Mostly cuz he felt he had to, but also because he was sort of desperate for any attention and validation, and Mary & Grant couldn’t be around all the time. He actually had really bad taste and although he was only with everyone he dated for a couple of weeks, he ended up dating some seriously abusive and toxic guys who Grant & Mary absolutely LOATHEEDDD. Laszlo wouldn’t listen to their warnings about the guy until it inevitably all blew up in his face… 😞
(Intermission: Idk why I’m abusing him sm. I guess that’s just what I do when a character is one of my favorites, lol.)
14. Was scared of certain bugs.
16. When they found out he had about 6 months to live, Grant & Mary offered to take Laszlo somewhere special every weekend when they were both off work. Laszlo observed that this made him feel a bit like a make-a-wish kid, but he accepted it anyway, cuz hey, free adventures. He really liked the aquarium and every museum they went to, specifically the STEM sections in them. (Honestly, all 3 of them would get carried away at stem exhibits meant for children.) When he asked for something a little more “thrilling” Mary jokingly brought them to a butterfly garden. (Yes, butterflies were one of the bugs he was afraid of.) He really liked the idea of going on a road trip and they went on a short one once! He eventually started getting too tired to do the “adventures”, though, and would spend a lot more of his time working on the sim instead of going out.
17. Had the WORSSST possible reaction to being told Mary had a miscarriage. And I quote: “Why don’t you just start trying again, then?” He was really fucking stupid with emotions, especially ones he hadn’t experienced himself. Luckily Grant pulled him aside and basically explained to him that you CANNOT JUST FUCKING SAY THAT 💔
18. There was a period where he was living on his own in an apartment and Grant & Mary had bought their own house (90’s) and were living there. That apartment was such a biohazard, Grant & Mary were secretly kind of relieved when he moved in with them. (He was never expected to do chores as a kid as his parents hired maids, and he’d just find ways to live around messes. The ADHD didn’t help much either.)
19. Whenever Mary read a book he had to read the same book just to say he had the opposite opinion about it than her. Just to annoy her.
20. He actually was a REALLYYY bad driver! His parents ofc didn’t really practice with him and he just barely learnt because his school happened to have driver’s ed. He was. So so so so bad at it. It regularly gave Mary & Grant heart attacks. He did get a car as a graduation gift tho. He also once stole a car when he was 16 just for the heck of it. He wanted to see if he could figure out how to hot-wire it. (He did in fact figure out how to hot-wire it.)
21. Main reason he never went to juvie was cuz his parents always paid his way out of it.
22. He eventually became extremely estranged with his parents after he graduated college, to the point they completely pulled out of supporting him financially and didn’t keep in contact with him at ALL. (He may have suggested his problems were their fault. Which, I mean…can you blame him?) Luckily since he had been so neglected and spent so much time just kinda walking around, and in a lot of programs staffed with poor teenage minimum wage workers, he had grown up around a lot of poorer people, and Grant & Mary actually grew up pretty poor themselves, so he kind of knew how to adapt from watching them. He missed just randomly having a pool available, tho.
23. Was extremely sociable (or well, trying to be) and outgoing, and wanted attention, which made him think he kind of HAD to be a part of college party life. He dragged Grant & Mary with him a lot (who bonded by sitting in the corner with headphones on being the designated drivers and drink protectors; both of them thought their parents would KILL them if a drop of alcohol ever touched their lips), but eventually they kinda made him realized that despite being really loud himself, he actually got along a lot better and felt a lot less lonely with the quiet nerds than the popular jocks. He also eventually realized that he hated the feeling of being hungover more than he liked the feeling of being drunk at a party.
24. LOOOOOOVED HUGS. Oh so so so many hugs for him. Tbh he would’ve really benefited from some sort of weighted blanket or vest but he didn’t have one.
25. Daydreamed SO damn hard, especially whenever he was stuck alone. He had lots of imaginary friends and family members that he never really let go of, even into adulthood.
26. Liked singing “this is the song that never ends” from Lamb Chop specifically to annoy Grant & Mary.
And yeahhhh that’s it for now!!! I’ll prob have more later but I’m up so so long after my bed time and I should really go the hell to sleep 💔💔💔
