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Description
So idk how many of y'all know the deal with Mary or nah
but i figured it's high time y'all found out

SO
Mary was directly involved with Joe's past, she never meets Anna.
She actually lived with Joe's family, the Smythes, for a while. She came around when Joe was 16 on a rainy night soaked in blood and close to death. Mama Smythe and Sara (Joe's mom and sister) took care of her while she was unconscious for a while, fixing her bandages and stuff. Well of course this unconscious girl in his living room was pretty interesting, so Joe took to imagining what she was like when she was conscious. Eventually she woke up and the two teens hit it off as best friends very quickly, becoming inseparable, and eventually budding into a romance. Something seemed off about Mary though, she was able to get hurt very easily and bled a lot, sometimes when nothing even hurt her. She didn't tell Joe, though, until one day (after a spring flower festival, which is why Mary's wearing the flower crown), she collapsed into seizures. It turned out she had a brain hemorrhage, which, unfortunately at the time did not have technology advanced enough to detect. She went in and out of consciousness again for a while until one night everyone knew she wasn't gonna make it much longer; she hadn't eaten or been able to drink much since she was basically unconscious the whole time. As the whole Smythe family gathered around the dying Mary she requested one last thing-- for Joe to sing to her, since she had never heard him. He cupped her hand in his and sang a lullaby that she had taught him around when she first arrived. LISTEN HERE (pretend the old man is joe. lul.)> www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFqir…

Unfortunately I can't write out the juicy details of their whole shabang, but I can tell you Joe was devastated when Mary died. Two years later, when Joe was taken to the Order to fight in the Holy War he brought a picture of Mary with him, that Anna found. Anna found out about Mary and was, well, naturally upset, so Joe resolved to forget all about Mary and tried to throw the picture off a cliff into a river below. Anna caught wind about what he was doing and, right as he was throwing it, jumped right off the cliff to catch the picture--despite her inability to swim and fear of water. After Joe jumped in and fished her out he tried to get onto Anna for being so reckless, but Anna just punched him in the face and told him off, saying "you don't need to let go of your precious memories for someone like me" (or something like that). In all this only brought them closer. Joe realized that although he had feelings for Mary back in the day, those were nothing compared to how head-over-heels he was for Anna.

possible trigger in the next paragraph? not sure how these things work orz

You may ask, "What if Mary survived? What if she was still in Mississippi while Joe was off to war?" well, my good friend, that would mean that is a heavy question. I had thought long and hard and realized: If Joe was going off to war he would definitely propose to Mary before he left, meaning that he and Anna would not get together. HOWEVER that is a very big plot device in their story. Literally they wouldn't have made it out alive had they not had each other. You may ask "Can't they just be bros tho?? wtf paps" I see your point, but no. What Anna and Joe had went BEYOND friendship, it was an intimate (not in the sex way) relationship where they relied on each other, they knew each other so well and had spent so much time bonding that anything less than that would really not have worked. They are, in essence, two halves of one. That leads to another big issue, the fact the bond they would've had wouldn't be nearly as strong. Joe wouldn't LET himself have feelings for Anna, though the attraction is undoubtedly there. That has some unfortunately bad results. Anna would've either 1) committed suicide (which is an untold plot point, but Anna gets really depressed in one part of the story and has to overcome that), or 2) been killed in battle, either protecting Joe or not have been protected by Joe. There is no third option and Joe would've undoubtedly blamed himself. Upon coming back home he would've kept his promise and married Mary, but he wouldn't have been as happy as with Anna. Mary just hadn't been there and hadn't experienced the same things that he had, she wouldn't be able to comfort him and share in his troubles.

SO THERE YA GO. everything i've ever thought about Mary ever.

oh also
-the disease she has was 'hemophilia', which i know is only active on the male chromosome, but i decided mary had some weird genetic mutation and she had it rEALLY BAD.
-her dad had hemophilia as well, he died of a brain hemorrhage in the same way basically. Her mom was a carrier of the gene, meaning it was inactive inside her.
-her parents were first cousins
-once her dad died her mom committed suicide, leaving her alone. who knows what she did in the in-between time span.
-she's one year older than Joe.

SORRY FOR THE LONG TEXT. I've had too many long text posts lately orz
TL;DR> Mary was joe's romance buddy and she died, causing anna and joe to become closer once she finds out. If mary had survived anna would not have.

Description
So idk how many of y'all know the deal with Mary or nah
but i figured it's high time y'all found out

SO
Mary was directly involved with Joe's past, she never meets Anna.
She actually lived with Joe's family, the Smythes, for a while. She came around when Joe was 16 on a rainy night soaked in blood and close to death. Mama Smythe and Sara (Joe's mom and sister) took care of her while she was unconscious for a while, fixing her bandages and stuff. Well of course this unconscious girl in his living room was pretty interesting, so Joe took to imagining what she was like when she was conscious. Eventually she woke up and the two teens hit it off as best friends very quickly, becoming inseparable, and eventually budding into a romance. Something seemed off about Mary though, she was able to get hurt very easily and bled a lot, sometimes when nothing even hurt her. She didn't tell Joe, though, until one day (after a spring flower festival, which is why Mary's wearing the flower crown), she collapsed into seizures. It turned out she had a brain hemorrhage, which, unfortunately at the time did not have technology advanced enough to detect. She went in and out of consciousness again for a while until one night everyone knew she wasn't gonna make it much longer; she hadn't eaten or been able to drink much since she was basically unconscious the whole time. As the whole Smythe family gathered around the dying Mary she requested one last thing-- for Joe to sing to her, since she had never heard him. He cupped her hand in his and sang a lullaby that she had taught him around when she first arrived. LISTEN HERE (pretend the old man is joe. lul.)> www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFqir…

Unfortunately I can't write out the juicy details of their whole shabang, but I can tell you Joe was devastated when Mary died. Two years later, when Joe was taken to the Order to fight in the Holy War he brought a picture of Mary with him, that Anna found. Anna found out about Mary and was, well, naturally upset, so Joe resolved to forget all about Mary and tried to throw the picture off a cliff into a river below. Anna caught wind about what he was doing and, right as he was throwing it, jumped right off the cliff to catch the picture--despite her inability to swim and fear of water. After Joe jumped in and fished her out he tried to get onto Anna for being so reckless, but Anna just punched him in the face and told him off, saying "you don't need to let go of your precious memories for someone like me" (or something like that). In all this only brought them closer. Joe realized that although he had feelings for Mary back in the day, those were nothing compared to how head-over-heels he was for Anna.

possible trigger in the next paragraph? not sure how these things work orz

You may ask, "What if Mary survived? What if she was still in Mississippi while Joe was off to war?" well, my good friend, that would mean that is a heavy question. I had thought long and hard and realized: If Joe was going off to war he would definitely propose to Mary before he left, meaning that he and Anna would not get together. HOWEVER that is a very big plot device in their story. Literally they wouldn't have made it out alive had they not had each other. You may ask "Can't they just be bros tho?? wtf paps" I see your point, but no. What Anna and Joe had went BEYOND friendship, it was an intimate (not in the sex way) relationship where they relied on each other, they knew each other so well and had spent so much time bonding that anything less than that would really not have worked. They are, in essence, two halves of one. That leads to another big issue, the fact the bond they would've had wouldn't be nearly as strong. Joe wouldn't LET himself have feelings for Anna, though the attraction is undoubtedly there. That has some unfortunately bad results. Anna would've either 1) committed suicide (which is an untold plot point, but Anna gets really depressed in one part of the story and has to overcome that), or 2) been killed in battle, either protecting Joe or not have been protected by Joe. There is no third option and Joe would've undoubtedly blamed himself. Upon coming back home he would've kept his promise and married Mary, but he wouldn't have been as happy as with Anna. Mary just hadn't been there and hadn't experienced the same things that he had, she wouldn't be able to comfort him and share in his troubles.

SO THERE YA GO. everything i've ever thought about Mary ever.

oh also
-the disease she has was 'hemophilia', which i know is only active on the male chromosome, but i decided mary had some weird genetic mutation and she had it rEALLY BAD.
-her dad had hemophilia as well, he died of a brain hemorrhage in the same way basically. Her mom was a carrier of the gene, meaning it was inactive inside her.
-her parents were first cousins
-once her dad died her mom committed suicide, leaving her alone. who knows what she did in the in-between time span.
-she's one year older than Joe.

SORRY FOR THE LONG TEXT. I've had too many long text posts lately orz
TL;DR> Mary was joe's romance buddy and she died, causing anna and joe to become closer once she finds out. If mary had survived anna would not have.