Again, my brain is as tiny as the goldfish Princess Bubblegum is taking care of, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Wall of text.
Lane and his family, what might be going on with them, plus a few Easter eggs in his apartment for anyone interested. Scroll to the last section for those.
1st: Laneโs parents
Iโd say they were very close, considering the photo with the childlike handwriting that says โBest Dad Everโ I think it belongs to little Lane.
I donโt know exactly what their relationship or dynamic was like, but Iโd say they loved each other. Laneโs mom seemed very excited to have him. Two months before his birth, she took a photo with Amy and wrote โTwo months until we meet you.โ His father was probably the one who took the photo.
2nd: Lane and his dad
I talked to one of my friends about it, and she said the photo reminded her a lot of her cousin and uncle. You know how little boys who are close to their fathers tend to stick by them around the ages of 5 to 7? Looking at the photo, I think Lane was around that age. He couldโve been younger though idk.
(he's indeed 5 to 6 here, the photo has 91 at the top corner implies that it was taken in 1991)
My friend also pointed out that most boys she knows who are close to their dads tend to stay attached to them from around 5 until they hit their 11.
So, is it safe to say Lane was closest to his dad around that time?
When did Laneโs dad die?
Laly mentioned that he passed away when Lane and Amy were very young, but different cultures define โyoungโ differently. Where Iโm from, losing a parent between the ages of 7 and 10 would be considered very young.
However, in the 1995 photo of Lane and Amy, Lane was around 9 to 10 (not his birthday yet). Amy still looks very happy. Laneโs eyes seem a little darker than they do in the photo with his dad, but that could be because of many things.
I donโt think his dad passed away around that time or before it, because Amy looked genuinely happy. A child can try to act mature, but their eyes donโt lie. Amyโs eyes still have that spark MC describes, so I think their dad was probably still alive then. If heโd already died, I donโt think Amy wouldโve looked that bright.
Thereโs also a note on the photo. I donโt know whose handwriting it is, but it isnโt Laneโs or his momโs. I assume itโs Amyโs because she has a habit of drawing hearts, stars, smiley faces and things like that in her handwriting.
Why does it look so different from her handwriting now?
It could simply be because she was younger. We donโt know.
She wrote about how good it once felt to be ordinary. Maybe she was referring to a time when their dad was still alive, nothing had changed much, and life wasnโt half miserable. It could be nostalgia. Who knows.
So when exactly did the man die?
I honestly have no clue haha fml. But based on Laneโs 1999 note, he seemed to be doing well in English. He got 88% and he was around 14 because the sheet says Grade 9 and 1999. His teacher wrote that he did good work and should keep it up.
There are 2 possible scenarios here.
Scenario 1
His dad died before Lane turned 14, maybe when he was around 12 or 13. That could be why Lane tried to keep his grades up and make his mom happy while still grieving his dad. Iโll explain why I think that when I talk about his mom.
Then, when he was 15 or 16, his mom remarried. That might be what Laly meant when she said his grief was interrupted.
Around the time he was 16, he had a girlfriend who ended up breaking his heart. Their photo says it was taken in summer 2001, so they probably dated for a while before she ghosted him and they broke up.
Amy then bought Lane a ticket to a Slipknot concert and wrote โSmile Laneโ on the back.
(Laly spoon-feeding y'all, this is indeed ticket bought by Laneโs ex gf, maybe they went together, idk)
โSmile Laneโ is Biancaโs handwriting.
Lane said his ex left him when he thought things had finally gotten better. Maybe he meant that he thought heโd started recovering from his dadโs death. Then his mom announced sheโd remarried, so it became one painful event after another. Amy probably bought the ticket to cheer him up.
Scenario 2
His dad died when Lane was 14, right when he entered high school. That couldโve shocked him badly and explained the blank period in 2000, when he was 15. Maybe he was grieving, so we donโt get much information about that year of his life.
His grades mightโve dropped because he was tired of everything and started becoming more reckless. Then, when he was 16, his mom remarried another man, which added even more to his wounds. After that, he met his ex-girlfriend.
Lane also mentioned a teacher who was always kind to him even when he failed her class. She seemed to teach geography and encouraged him even when he got a terrible score (21%)
Lane and his keepsake
Lane has a necklace in his bathroom with the initials CF on it. I think CF could stand for his dadโs name because Laneโs middle name starts with C. MC says his middle name seems to have been rubbed off on his driverโs license.
Could Lane have rubbed his dadโs name off because it reminded him too much of him? Maybe it made him feel worse, especially if he thought โDamn. Dad must be disappointed in me.โ
Letโs call his dad Connor for now. I know itโs a stereotypical name, but it fits the blank and itโs just a nickname I came up with.
I think the necklace belonged to his dad because Lane wore it on 1st Jan 2004, which was New Yearโs Day. Heโd only gotten his license on 17th Dec 2003. He was speeding, drinking and smoking when he got pulled over.
When the officer offered to call his guardian because he was underage (drinking), Lane got angry and nearly punched him. He ended up getting arrested.
Could that have been around the time his dad died (1st Jan I mean)? Maybe thatโs why he went out smoking and drinking alone while wearing his dadโs necklace. Who knows.
I like imagining Mr. Connor as a typical officer dad. Someone who believes strongly in justice, has a rough side and comes across as intimidatingย (even when he is good-looking) at first because heโs serious. But underneath that, heโs the most caring person ever.
A classic family man. A suburban dad. The dad-next-door type. You know what I mean.
Third: Lane and his mom
Itโs easier for me to imagine Laneโs mom because she reminds me a little of my own mom but not exactly. Iโll explain.
Lane mentioned that she always thinks sheโs the victim. She cries in the kitchen or gets upset when her kids donโt say they love her back or hug her.
Could she be narcissistic? Maybe.
Lane also said heโd gotten worse beatings from women when he told MC about a customer punching him at his old job. I donโt know if he was joking, but if he wasnโt, maybe his mom hit him too. (Lowk if I were a boy, my mama mightโve beaten me too)
I can imagine Laneโs mom being like some women Iโve met in real life. During the 1990s and early 2000s, she mightโve been under a lot of pressure after losing the man in the house and having to raise 2 children alone while they were still young.
Maybe she developed a toxic love-hate relationship with them. Emotional abuse, manipulation, guilt-tripping, all of that.
She could say the most hurtful things to her kids one moment, then cry and apologise the next. If that happened constantly, every day, it would affect Lane badly.
That could also explain why his grades dropped. He mightโve just gotten fed up with everything happening at home.
Laly also said that Lane looking like his dad is important. I can imagine Laneโs mom expecting him to โman upโ and become the man of the house, even though he was still a child. That kind of expectation comes from toxic masculinity and the stereotypes people mightโve had about Mr. Connorโs job.
Maybe she compared Lane to his dad too. Like A LOT.ย
That would make things even worse because every time she looked at Lane, she mightโve seen an uncanny version of her dead husband. That couldโve hurt her even more.
His mom mightโve remarried quickly because she needed financial support, not necessarily because she was in love. Lane might not have been able to handle how fast she seemed to move on.
Thereโs also the disciplinary action form dated 18 March 2002. Two guardians signed it, and one signature has โfatherโ written beside it. Lane wouldโve been 17 (16 on paper bc not his birthday yet) then and probably completely done with everything.
That means his mom had to remarry before he turned 17 (base on year not his birthday). So her remarrying when he was 15 or 16 would make sense if his dad died when Lane was around 12 to 14
Lane said that after the suspension, his mom kicked him out for a week and he stayed at Ludwigโs house. He also said he never graduated.
So yeah, you can finish the puzzle from there.
Lane also said something about Amy leaving him behind in some way. I assume she graduated and moved away from town, while Lane stayed behind to deal with whatever was happening with their mom.
4th: Lane and his stepdad
I donโt know much about the guy, but Iโd say he probably wasnโt very active as a father figure.
There could be many reasons for that. Maybe he saw that Lane still hadnโt moved on from his dad and didnโt want to seem like he was trying to replace him. Or maybe he didnโt marry Laneโs mom for love.
Maybe his mindset was โThey arenโt my kids. Iโll provide financial support but Iโm not raising them.โ
That could be why Lane and his stepdad didnโt have the best relationship.
Lane did say the guy did what a typical dad would do, but maybe it was very subtle. Maybe he didnโt want to deal with drama or emotional messiness, so he stayed distant even when he knew Lane wasnโt okay.
That could be why Lane kept the same cold dull relationship with him.
5th: Easter eggs in Laneโs apartment
First Easter egg: Amyโs eyeshadow palette
Amyโs eyeshadow palette has these words written on it:
โMy Heart Is In Pain But Iโm Smiling For You.โ
If you click on the โPainโ palette, the shadow gets scraped away and reveals red underneath.
Those are lyrics from Stereo Love by Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina, released in 2009.
It could represent both Lane and Amy. Lane said he still hadnโt moved on, while everyone around him acted like everything was fine. Maybe for a long time, he had to pretend he was fine too, until he couldnโt anymore.
Laly also mentioned that he hates family gatherings. Based on his momโs Christmas card from last year, he didnโt go home then either.
Second Easter egg: The COD receipt
Iโm not kidding when I say I woke my cousin up in the middle of the fucking night for this. The only thing I know about COD is Ghost smut on Tumblr, probably written by some underage girls with wildly unrealistic fantasies about emotionally unavailable military men.
Anyway, if you click on the barcode, MC keeps saying it looks weird.
My stoopid ass has experience working in a convenience store, so I kept staring at the barcode trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I noticed the dividers indeed werenโt in the normal order (like MC said) but I still had no idea what it meant.
So I woke up my cousin because heโs been obsessed with COD for years. He used to play it while babysitting me in 2009.
He was confused and annoyed, but he still answered my call to look at the barcode because I was scared it was something related to COD that I couldnโt figure out myself.
Unfortunately, he was useless!!!!!!!!! He passed out while we were still on the call!!!!
So I had to take matters into my own hands.
And AHAHAHAHAHA, I finally figured it out. This is unreal.
Itโs an alternate reality game puzzle created by Activision to hype up the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009. I did hear my cousin mumble something about a campaign launch before he passed out, but I still had no idea what he was talking about.
The TC# works based on the dividers in the barcode.
Original:
TC# 23 5 18 14 5 18 9 19 19 1 4
After the dividers:
23 5 18 14 5 18 | 9 19 | 19 1 4
ITโS AN A1Z26 CIPHER.
You just organise the numbers based on the alphabet, where 1 = A, 2 = B, and so on.
So we get:
23 = W 5 = E 18 = R 14 = N 5 = E 18 = R / 9 = I 19 = S / 19 = S 1 = A 4 = D
-> WERNER IS SAD (because you hangout with Laney?)
no dude it's so cool how attached you are to that character who is singled out and ostracized due to the external monstrousness that clashes with their internal spark of humanity. and i love how drawn you are to themes of horror and love, nature versus nurture, otherness, isolation, and the abject. i bet you have normal feelings about your own personhood
lotta people been using a lot of fancy, flowery words to say "I preferred the transfem character more before I knew she was transfem" about quite a few different characters lately and I'll tell you, I'm not looking forward to something as enormous as deltarune spawning so many more!
theartofmadeline
pixelskylines
turnnoffyourmind
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