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strawberrystar7 · 3 years

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I think People misunderstood Chloé's arc and the season 3 finale (and especially Chloé's role in it.). And here is why I think that.

This is a really long post and I know it's hard to keep reading something as long as this but please, I ask you, either do not read it at all if you don't want to read something like this or read it completely. If you do decide to read this but stop in the middle because you want to comment on something I ask you to not do that. Please read all of it thoroughly. If you want to comment on something, take notes but don't post it before having read all, because if you do not read all you probably won't understand it correctly. Additionally, some things might have been answered later on in the post.

I think the true lesson the writers wanted to give with Chloé's arc and especially the Season 3 finale is that it's good to be forgiving and give second or maybe even 3rd chances but you shouldn't try and help someone who doesn't want to change. There was a time where she maybe wanted to change... I put the maybe there on purpose. This is because if I look at Chloé's behavior it isn't entirely clear if she ever wanted to change because she wants to help others or if she just wanted to "change" so she can have the Bee Miraculous.

Chloé's arc in actuality was a treason arc. It wasn't a redemption arc. On the surface it may have looked like one but if you look deeper I think you'll see the signs.

I know I am gonna get hate for saying the next bit but if you look closely (and I mean very closely) at Chloé's actions then you'll see what I mean. In season 1 Chloe was a stereotypical bully. In season 2 she actually got a backstory, explaining her actions. It basically made her look more like a real person. But even so her actions didn't really change. She stayed a bully. On surface level her actions did change a little, but on a lower level they didn't.

What do I mean with that? Take Despair Bear as an example she threw a party and invitated all her classmates. In itself that's a nice action but do you remember the reason why she threw the party? Adrien threatened to break up their friendship if she wasn't nicer to people. So her Butler Jean gave her the idea with the party and that she should be nice.

Yeah, I know this happened before the Queen's Battle trilogy (I know it's actually just a 2 part episode (Style Queen and Queen Wasp) but I count Malediktator as a 3rd part because it pretty much is a direct follow up to Queen Wasp.) but this is supposed to serve as an example for Chloé's behavior in season 2.

Now look at Zombizou. Chloé gave Miss Bustier a present the day after her birthday. Do you remember why this happened? Marinette called Chloé out for not having brought one and pretty much embarrassed her infront of the class (I know the way she called her out was mean but that's not the point here). In the end Chloé most likely would never have brought a gift if this didn't happen.

I think this Episode also came before the Queens Battle trilogy but I'm not sure. Anyway even if it was before, it still shows how Chloé behaves most of the time when she does good things.

Now let's look at the Queen's Battle trilogy. In the Style Queen episode we see for the first time how Audrey treats Chloé and while it does explain why Chloé does what she does it doesn't mean her actions are excusable. It makes her actions understandable to the viewers and it makes her, as already mentioned, look more like an actual human being. In that episode we do not really see any more about Chloé and her past or actions besides her finding the Box with the Bee Miraculous.

After that Queen Wasp follows. In this episode the first scene where Chloe plays a rather major role is the scene with Gabriel Agreste, Audrey Bourgeois, André Bourgeois, Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and of course Chloé Bourgeois. In this scene we see Audrey taking Marinette's feather hat after it rolls infront of her. She inspects it and remarks that it isn't Gabriel's. She then asks if Marinette is responsible for the hat, which Marinette replies to with her having created the hat. You know the rest Gabriel admits she won a fashion contest, Audrey remarks the hat is "exceptional", and then she asks Marinette if she wants to go to New York. That is where Chloé comes in, claiming to never having been in New York. She also asked why she was taking Marinette. Audrey replies with Marinette being "exceptional". Chloé then says that she's "exceptional" too. Audrey then says the following "The only exeptionial thing about you, my dear... is your mother.". I think you know the rest André tries to step in but is interrupted by Chloé who transforms into Queen Bee infront of everyone to proof that she is exceptional.

This wasn't simply to prove her mother wrong tho. She did it to prove to everyone that she's exceptional and her behaviors later on that episode prove that exact point. Queen Bee then disappears.

The others go home and Queen Bee looks around the city to see if there's anything she can do but doesn't find anyone who needs saving. She then thinks of that plan with the train and calls Nadja Chamak to gain publicity for her heroic deeds. As already mentioned this pretty much proves my point. If she really jzst wanted to prove Audrey wrong then why call in one of Paris's star reporters?

After the call she heads towards the metro. She runs on the side of the metro and enters the driver's room. She then Calls out her venom and numbs the driver. The metro speeds up and Queen Bee turns on the metro TV saying she'll save them (this pretty much was to gain even more publicity). Queen Bee isn't able to stop the metro and Ladybug and Cat Noir come in to help stop the metro. Ladybug calls Chloé out for numbing the train driver and Nadja Chamak comes with Audrey Bourgeois on a live call. Audrey then says the following "What? Regarding my daughter's ineptitude? I think it speaks for itself, doesn't it?". Ladybug asks Chloé to give the Miraculous back but Chloé keeps it and runs away with it. Queen Bee then gets akumatized before she transforms back causing her to turn in Queen Wasp. I don't think it's important to mention what happened while she was Queen Wasp because in this case she wasn't willingly akumatized just like Antibug which also means she wasn't herself unlike Chameleon and Miracle Queen who both were willingly akumatized and both kinda knew what happened while they were akumatized.).

When she gets deakumatized Marinette later comes in and tries to help fix Chloé's and Audrey's relationship (atleast as much as it can be fixed) by pretty much insulting both of them and saying "You're also wrong about your daughter not being exceptional. In fact, Chloé is exceptionally mean. She's the worst person I've ever met. She may be more heinous, pompous and selfish than you. Compared to both of you, even a rock seems more capable of love.". Chloé and Audrey then pretty much shout at the same time "How dare you⁈". They then see they do have a lot in common. The episode then pretty much ends after 2 more short scenes (both scenes do not have anything to do with Chloé so I don't think they are important.).

Now let's look at Malediktator. The episode starts with Chloé's documentary about Queen Bee where Chloé-Bee and Chloé-Bug (I'm gonna call her that because that's Chloé with a Queen Bee costume and Chloé with a Ladybug costume) talk about how great of a superhero Queen Bee is. Then it zooms out to reveal that the documentary is watched by Chloé's classmates.

Ivan then points out that isn't Ladybug. Chloé says it is Ladybug and Miss Bustier asks why Chloé did the assignment about herself.

Chloé then says they were supposed to choose an important person in French history. Chloé-Bug talks more about Queen Bee. Alya then points out that's Chloé with a Ladybug costume. This discussion goes on for a bit until Chloé leaves.

Chloé and Audrey then storm in to André's office while a pair is getting married. They force them out and Audrey tells André to close the school while Chloé tells him to ban Marinette and her family.

Audrey then says the following "That monster hurt your little girl’s feelings.". Chloé adds "She got the whole class to gang up on me. They all have to pay.". You probably know the rest. André says he can't do that and Chloé and Audrey leave him alone in his office and say they'll leave for New York. Chloé is then in the Bourgeois suite packing (or more like telling her Butler to pack for her.) André comes in to argue with Chloé and Audrey to stay in Versailles or near Paris.

Hawk Moth akumatizes André after Audrey and Chloé leave with the helicopter.

Chloé flies over the school with her helicopter, throwing flyers showing Chloé in front of the statue of liberty and saying she'll leave for New York. The students celebrate after Chloé leaves.

Malediktator stops the helicopter and says he has the power to close the school and banish the students who were mean to her. He then commands Audrey to be devoted to him and stay in Paris. Chloé runs away/hides. Some time passes and Ladybug goes to Chloé asking her why Malediktator is mad.

Chloé doesn't want to say at first and blames Marinette, then saying André got mad all by himself but then she admits to being the cause of her fathers akumatization.

Then this happens:

Ladybug: Because of what happened in school? I'm sure Marinette probably didn't exactly mean what she said.

Chloé: Oh, it's not just her— actually, I don't even care about her— it's because I have no reason to be here: nobody likes me; I have no friends. I'm… useless.

Ladybug: (remembering what Adrien told Marinette earlier at school about Chloé) A friend once told me: nobody is useless, Chloé.

Chloé: It's easy for you to say that. You're Ladybug, a superhero. You serve a purpose.

Ladybug: Yes, I can fix up all the messes. You said it yourself in your documentary.

Chloé: (gasps) You saw it?!

Ladybug: (nods) Mm-hmm.

Chloé: Oh! I'm so embarrassed. That film's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. I realize that now.

Ladybug: Don't worry Chloé. You can fix your own messes, if that's what you want. You, too, can serve a purpose, but you have to want to.

Chloé: (sniffles) I do want to.

Ladybug: Chloé Bourgeois, (holds out the Miraculous box) here is the Bee Miraculous, which grants you the power to immobilize your opponent. You will use it for the greater good.

(Chloé hesitates; Ladybug nods approvingly; Chloé takes the box and opens it; a yellow ball of light flies around her and Pollen appears.)

Pollen: At your service, my Queen.

Ladybug: Once the job is complete, you will return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you, Chloé?

Chloé: (puts the haircomb in her hair) I won't disappoint you this time, Ladybug.

Then Chloé transforms into Queen Bee.

Queen Bee and Ladybug (with the help of Cat!Cat Noir) defeat Malediktator.

Then this happens:

Ladybug: Yep, you missed Queen Bee and Ladybug saving Paris, for real this time.

Queen Bee: I understand, Ladybug. Buzz off. (transforms back into Chloé)

Chloé: (gives back her Miraculous) Being a superhero isn't only about fixing messes. (Ladybug holds up her hand in a fist; Chloé gasps and smiles)

Chloé and Ladybug: (fist-bump) Pound it!

After that Chloé and her family leave.

Then this happens:

Chloé: It's okay, Jean-Yves; I'll take care of it.

Butler Jean: Mademoiselle, are you sure?

Chloé: Yes, I need to do it myself.

Marinette: Chloé?

Chloé: (gasps) Dupain-Cheng?

After that Marinette brings Chloé to the school showing her they threw a party for her. That's pretty much how the episode ends.

I guess this is the episode (Malediktator) that convinced everyone Chloé was changing (and maybe at this point in time she truly did want to change. But I'll explain later on in the text why it did not work out.). After all it literally showed scenes where Chloé was nice without her benefitting from it. And honestly the earlier episodes did not show that Chloé was going to change. The earlier episodes gave depth to her character and kinda explained her actions but they didn't really make her look like she wanted to change. The end of the Malediktator episode tho? It did look like she wanted to change or atleast it made it seem like that. But as I implied Chloé's arc is way more complicated than you think. It can't be just written of as bad or inconsistent writing. Read more and you'll see exactly why this isn't just inconsistent/bad writing.

I don't think we saw much of Chloé in the season 2 finale besides her appearance as Queen Bee again. But honestly I do not remember much about the season 2 finale anyway.

Now let's look at season 3. (I just remembered I forgot about Animaestro. I forgot where in the season that happened but I just put it in the beginning because I feel like it would ruin the flow of the text.) In Animaestro Chloé literally teams up with Marinette to ruin Kagami's day (This was just to show that Chloé still did stuff like in season 1). Anyway, not only is it pretty clear that Chloé would love to be Queen Bee again but she also probably would do anything to be Queen Bee again. So she constantly asks for her Miraculous (seen in Startrain and other episodes) or she pretty much shows everyone how proud she is of being Queen Bee, seeking attention for that (Maledikator). In Miraculer Chloé waits to get her Miraculous but doesn't get it. Then Lila tells Chloé about a fake dance which summons Ladybug. Chloé gets really angry when the dance failed and then lashes out at Sabrina telling her she doesn't want to play with her. Chloé then breaks down after not getting the Miraculous for some time, resulting into the scene where Chloé resists getting akumatized. Instead, Sabrina is the one getting akumatized. Some time later a cataclysmed Cat Noir tries to give Chloé the Miraculous but because of his cataclysmed rips he ends up loosing the Miraculous to Mayura.

You probably know the rest. Rena Rouge makes a Chloé illusion in Ladybug's place, Ladybug gets her powers back, Chloé makes Miraculer even angrier, Ladybug (with the help of Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace) gets the Bee Miraculous back and gives it to Chloé. Chloé follows Mayura but looses her. After the fight Ladybug talks to Chloé.

This happens:

Queen Bee: Ladybug. Mayura got away from me. I'm sorry, utterly sorry.

Ladybug: That's okay, Queen Bee. We'll get her next time. (reaches hand out for the Bee Miraculous)

Queen Bee: If you'd given it to me earlier, we'd probably would've defeated Hawk Moth.

Ladybug: I'm sorry, Chloé. I should've told you this a long time ago. I might never be able to let you be Queen Bee again.

Queen Bee: What? But I did everything you asked me to.

Ladybug: I know. But this is for your own safety. It's too dangerous for you and your loved ones because Hawk Moth knows that you're Queen Bee.

Queen Bee: Buzz off. (turns back into Chloé and gives Miraculous to Ladybug)

Chloé: I understand. But I'm sure that you'll need me again, Ladybug. I know that I'll be Queen Bee again someday. I will always be Queen Bee.

Ladybug: (notices her Miraculous beeping) Thank you, Chloé. Let's go. (takes off with Rena Rouge and Carapace)

Despite saying that Chloé said she understood she can't have the Miraculous anymore she did not understand.

I know one of the arguments people have was that if Ladybug stayed longer to explain more thoroughly Chloé would have understood. But what do you want Ladybug to do? Risk her identity? She was on her last 5 minutes. Probably less considering how a couple minutes probably flew by from the moment she called out her lucky charm to the moment she called out Miraculous Ladybug. So probably 2 or 3 minutes were already gone from her timer. Additionally, she still needs atleast a minute to not risk her identity getting revealed while she takes Rena Rouge's and Carapace's Miraculous. There was no more time to spare. Despite that I don't really think Chloé would have understood even if Ladybug had more than 2 minutes to spare. Not with how self-centered she is.

Well there had been some smaller incidents with Chloé treating people badly (Animaestro fo example) but that aside those were small moments. I think the next big Chloé moment would pretty much be Heart Hunter and Miracle Queen. Heart Hunter proved that Chloé did not learn from what Ladybug said. She still waited on her rooftop with her Bee signal for Ladybug to come and give her the Miraculous. In the end of the episode we see her so angry at Ladybug for not giving her the Miraculous that she willingly worked with Hawk Moth and actively forcing her will onto Pollen.

This is what happens:

Hawk Moth: (puts up his hand and interrupts) You're right, but I did it for one reason only. So that you would finally realize that Ladybug will never give you the Bee Miraculous again. I, however, always keep my promises. (shows her the Bee Miraculous in his hand)

Chloé: This isn't real! How do you have it?

Hawk Moth: Try it and see for yourself. You're Ladybug's greatest fan. You've helped her, you've trusted her, and what has she done for you in return?

Chloé: (gets angry) Nothing! She couldn't care less about me! I'm done with her. She's irrelevant, utterly irrelevant! (reaches out to grap the Miraculous, stops) I want you to deakumatize has my parents first!

Hawk Moth: Whatever you say, my queen. (Chloé takes the comb and puts it in her hair, releasing Pollen)

Pollen: (urgently) Your majesty, wait!-

Chloé: Silence! You will speak only when spoken to. Your loss, Ladybug. Pollen, buzz on! (transforms into Queen Bee)

She then gets willingly akumatized.

In Miracle Queen we then see her actively work for Hawk Moth, even revealing all the Miraculous Holders. After she gets deakumatized she seems to still have her memory, considering how she wasn't disoriented like every other Akuma Victim. She even jumps after another Akuma.

Chloé also does and says the following "I'm not on your side anymore! How many times have I asked to fight alongside you? And how many times have you refused to give me back my Miraculous? How many, huh? Hawk Moth isn't my enemy, he's yours! And the Miracle Box is mine! (Queen Bee slams down the Miracle Box, and opening it, starts putting on all of the Miraculouses)".

This pretty much proves my point further. Chloé never let go of the Bee Miraculous, thinking it was her own and she had every right to obtain it whenever she wants. The fact that she's only concerned about getting the Miraculous even proves further that she doesn't really care about helping others. All she cares about is her self and as established before this had always been the case. Even in the Queen's Battle trilogy.

Think about it. Chloé is so deadset on keeping the Bee Miraculous that she would do anything. And if I say anything I mean anything. She literally worked with Hawk Moth to get the Miraculous. So if getting the Miraculous and all the attention that comes with it means that she has to help others she'd gladly do it. If helping others means she gets attention she'd gladly do it. We've seen it in Despair Bear and other episodes. Ladybug used to be Chloé's idol so to get her attention she pushed the mind controlled Cat Noir away. To get Adrien's attention she threw the party and was nice to the others. But the moment people didn't look she acted mean. This isn't even the only season 2 or 3 episode this happened. It is totally in character for Chloé to have reacted the way she did in the season 3 finale. Just because she turned bad again doesn't mean she's a 2 dimensional character. She still has the same backstory and all as she had before. The only difference here is that she openly worked with Hawk Moth. So why is she suddenly a horribly written character? Just because she worked with Hawk Moth?

Well let me tell you something: Just look at her relationship with her father. He never denied her anything. He always did everything she wanted. She would throw a tantrum if she doesn't get what she wants. So don't you think it's totally in character for Chloé to react the way she did when Ladybug refused to give her the Miraculous? It's the equivalent to the tantrum of a spoiled rich girl (or boy) would throw if they don't get what they want. The only difference here being that a magical terrorist pretty much took advantage of that tantrum.

As you can see the way she acted was not out of character. It was completely in character for Chloé. In fact, it was so in character that if we've taken the time to truly look at her then we all would have seen it. I gotta admit, I myself got completely deceived the first time I watched Malediktator and Miraculer. I myself thought, maybe she could change (and I still think so). The first time I watched Heart Hunter and Miracle Queen I also thought it was bad writing and I also hated that finale. I thought they did her dirty. I literally blamed the writers like all the others and stated on YouTube how bad of a Episode that was. But now? Now that I actually took the time to rewatch the Episodes (not just the finale but generally any episode) over and over again just to see all the small details people talked about that I never noticed, I noticed those details about Chloé that I didn't before.

People always claim the finale is horrible because they made Chloé out of character... but... In fact, the Season 3 finale is actually good. It may have some plot holes because the writing of the show honestly sometimes isn't the best. There's some episodes that are badly written and have loads of plot holes. But the season 3 finale? It might just be one of the better written episodes. And that only because of the fact that they sticked to how a girl like Chloé would actually react to getting told off like that. And I know for a fact that girls as spoiled as Chloé would react like that because I met a fair share of people like that. They all threw a huge tantrum when they got told off.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Chloé doesn't have the potential to change. Infact, she definitely has the potential to change. But not like this. Chloé needs to hit rock bottom before she can actually change. And no, getting told you can't have the Bee Miraculous anymore is not rock bottom. The first thing that needs to happen is for her father to stand up to her. And as seen in (⚠️Season 4 Spoiler warning⚠️) Queen Banana André finally did stand up to Chloé. If he keeps that up that might be good start (⚠️End of Spoiler⚠️). After Chloé doesn't get everything she wants from her father anymore there's two things that can happen: Either she becomes a complete lost cause and doesn't learn anything from it or rather she doesn't want to learn or she learns that not everything will always go her way and that she can't have everything (specifically the Bee Miraculous, as you can't buy it.). This also might cause her to become less selfish and start thinking more about the others. Even if that doesn't happen maybe Zoé (because she's Chloé's half sister) or Adrien (because he is/was Chloé's childhood best friend and would love to help her) could come in to help Chloé become less selfish. But again for that to happen Chloé first needs to learn that not everything goes how she wants it and she can't have everything. And again this won't happen if everything is handed to her like it has been all these years.

Please understand that I am not hating on Chloé. Chloé may even be one of my favorite characters for the exact reasons I mentioned here. Because even tho she's a stereotypical bully she has depth to her character. And if she'll ever truly change she'd might just become one of the more relatable characters in the show.

And I know I am none of the writers so I do not know what they thought while writing the finale and the rest of Chloé's arc but to me this seems like the most logical explanation. I do not think the writers hate Chloé. That just makes no sense. They have developed her past and backstory and stuff like that way too much for them to hate her. If they truly hated her I don't even think they would have developed her character like that. If they truly hated her they would have left her like Lila with little to no information about her past or basically anything that explains her actions.

So please, I ask you please do not harass the writers for their decisions. Just please for once try to understand their thought process. Maybe you just didn't truly understand what they meant because as I explained Chloé's arc was deceiving. On the surface it looked like a redemption arc but truly it wasn't.

I am not claiming to have fully understood what the writers where trying to say but I do think I got close to what they were trying to say. I am also very sorry if I might have not been able to explain some of the points well. While I did rewatch every episode while writing this I did not want to put in every single episode (which might have gotten my points across even better) as the post has already gotten way too long. Not many people like to read much so probably only a few will even have read this completely. But to those who did take the time to read it all, thank you for having taken the time. I'd really like to hear your opinion on my take on this topic. Because while I do think this might be somewhat close to what the writers where trying to do it most likely isn't exactly what they wanted. I'd really like to hear your opinion on my take on this topic. Because as I said while I do think this might be somewhat close to what the writers where trying to do it most likely isn't exactly what they wanted. Maybe some of you have something to debunk or maybe even strengthen my points. Both is fine as long as everyone's nice towards each other. I do not want to see some kind of war. So please be kind towards each other.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #chloé bourgeois #heart hunter #miracle queen #mlb fandom #miraculous analysis #mlb #mlb analysis #chloe salt #mlb season 3 #miraculous season 3 #miraculous season 2 #malediktator #queen wasp #style queen

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alj4890 · 3 years

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I have an ask? What if Liam got Riley pregnant when they first met in New York? Would he still have to go through the social season? Would she have to raise a baby on her own would Liam find a way to help?

Ooooohhhh. Interesting. That would be quite the conundrum for them, wouldn't it? Especially since the social season starts the very next day after he visited her bar. Hmmm. Let's see what I can do with that time frame. I'm going on the assumption that the social season lasts at least three months with all the parties and traveling they do. Which will help out with the pregnancy part 😉 I think she would still go and take part in the social season since she wouldn’t know she was pregnant yet, but it would definitely alter how things end in book 1.

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Aftereffects

Three months earlier...

"Well?" Riley tilted her head to study Liam's profile. "What do you think?"

He cleared his throat. Lips parted, yet no words were formed. Liam had so many emotions hitting him all at once that a mere stranger had made his one wish come true.

His eyes went from the Statue of Liberty to the woman responsible for him being able to see it.

"I'm speechless." He lowered his head, lips curving in a shy smile. "I've never been so moved in my life than I am in this moment with you."

She smiled and turned her attention toward the iconic monument. "She's really something, isn't she?"

He turned toward Riley. His eyes traveled down her beautiful face softly lit by the dull light coming from the ferry they were on and the sliver of moonlight from above.

"Yes," he moved closer to her. "She really is."

Riley looked up at him. Her heart raced at the tender longing she saw in his eyes. He seemed so lonely. So in need of encouragement. So in need of affection.

Before he could step away, she snagged his lips in a tender kiss.

He froze for two seconds before crushing her to him. He allowed all the feelings he kept to himself pour out as a fuel to draw moans from her. The desperation he had been feeling since his brother abdicated didn't seem to exist around this woman.

His kisses traveled down her neck.

"Liam." She sighed when he returned to her mouth.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as he pressed her back against the railing.

"I don't want this night to end." He murmured.

It took a physical effort to stop.

"Neither do I." She cupped his cheek. "I know you leave tomorrow."

He nodded, already feeling the heavy yoke that was about to be thrust upon his shoulders.

"It's not quite tomorrow though." She kissed along his jaw as she whispered. "We can still enjoy the rest of tonight."

"Riley, I--you know I must choose--I couldn't do that and simply leave you to search for a bride." He felt guilty just thinking about it.

He would be the worst sort of cad possible if he were to spend the night in her arms.

He shouldn't have pursued her. The moment she had turned around and greeted him in the bar, he had thought of nothing else except getting to know more about her.

"I want you." She whispered. "If tonight is all we have, then let's make the most of it."

"You have no idea how much I want you." He kissed her once more, completely unable to resist her.

******************

Two and a half months later...

Maxwell winced when he heard the noises coming from Riley's bathroom. Bracing himself, he timidly knocked upon the door.

"You okay in there, blossom?"

"What--" she heaved into the toilet, "do you think?"

"Maxwell!" Bertrand snapped. "What is the hold up. She should have been downstairs fifteen minutes ago."

His eyes widened at the sounds of vomiting.

"Is she ill?" He whispered.

Maxwell shrugged.

"She seemed fine last night." Bertrand thought over the past few days.

"She has been more tired than usual." Maxwell narrowed his eyes in concern. "And this isn't the first time I've heard her throwing up."

Bertrand's stern demeanor turned to worry. "You don't think she's..."

"Think she's what?" Maxwell asked.

"We have been pressuring her to wear the right clothes. I hope we haven't caused her to think she needs to lose weight." Bertrand explained.

Maxwell's eyes widened. He would never be able to forgive himself if he had made Riley think less of her natural beauty.

"Riley!" He anxiously knocked again when they heard nothing but silence. "Can we come in?"

"Sure." Her weak response was followed by her unlocking the door.

The brothers walked inside and saw her sitting in the floor.

Maxwell wet a rag and crouched beside her. He gently cleaned the sweat off her brow, his worry was now off the charts at the half hearted smile she gave him.

"Thanks." She lifted her eyes to Bertrand. "I'm sorry. I know I'm supposed to be outside for the--"

"Don't concern yourself with that." He tempered his usual gruff tone. "We must take care of you first."

Tears filled her eyes at how kind he was being. He wasn't berating her or telling her that House Beaumont needed her to win Liam. She wondered where this Bertrand had been hiding. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as the brothers discussed ways to help her feel better.

He ordered Maxwell to pick her up and carry her to her bed.

As she settled back against her pillows, he called down to the kitchen and ordered a tray of soup, crackers, and tea to be brought up.

By the time he was finished, she was crying in full force.

"Riley!" Maxwell sat down on her bed and tried to hug her. "Please tell us what's wrong."

Bertrand reached for her hand. "You do know how lovely you are, right?"

Her eyes widened at that odd question.

"We think you shouldn't change at all." Maxwell added.

"Indeed. Many of the dresses in the boutique are," Bertrand's frown firmed as he tried to think of a way to keep her from thinking her body was at fault, "they aren't properly made. One can never go by sizes there."

"And you're size is perfect. Liam can't keep his eyes off you." Maxwell added. "In fact, you could probably add on some weight and be even more beautiful."

"Indeed." Bertrand latched on to that. "Size does not matter. It is what is on the inside that counts."

Riley lifted her head. "What are you talking about?"

"You're," Maxwell mimed vomiting.

"You must stop." Bertrand added. "You do not need to lose weight."

"I'm not doing it on purpose." She shook her head.

It touched her heart though that they wouldn't want her developing an eating disorder.

"I don't know what's caused this." She explained. "The weirdest smells and motions seem to set it off. Like yesterday, the smell of tomatoes had me running for a bathroom and I've always loved tomatoes."

"Could it possibly be your nerves?" Bertrand sat down at the foot of the bed. "The social season can take a toll on even the most seasoned noble."

"I don't think so." Riley mumbled. "It's like my energy has suddenly been depleted. Of course that could be because of the vomiting."

"So what caused it to start?" Maxwell asked.

"How long has it been going on?" Bertrand added.

"I don't know what set it off. It's been going on for a couple of weeks, but it is getting worse."

"Hmm." Bertrand and Maxwell shared a glance.

"Riley, I hope you don't think badly of me for asking," Bertrand struggled to inquire into something so personal. "But, have you, er...did you..."

She lifted her eyebrows in silent question.

"Before you joined us, were you involved with anyone?" He closed his eyes in embarrassment.

"Involved?"

"Any previous boyfriends or hookups before Liam?" Maxwell clarified.

"Oh!" Her cheeks heated with color. "No. I actually haven't been in a relationship for almost a year now." She lowered her eyes. "I had a bad relationship with a guy and decided to focus on myself once I got out of it."

Bertrand relaxed some. "A wise decision."

"So no one night stands?" Maxwell prodded.

"I've never been that type of..." Her eyes widened. She had been that type for one incredible night.

It was the driving force in making her decision to come to Cordonia in the first place.

"Oh no." She breathed. "The night I met you," her eyes held Maxwell's shocked gaze, "Liam and I sneaked away and..."

Bertrand shot up off the bed. "Wait here."

*****************

"We must be certain." Bertrand stressed. "The bloodwork must confirm what the test showed." His frown was fierce as he stood before the physician. "Discretion is a must in this situation."

"I'll have the results by this evening." The doctor replied. "And only I will run the lab work for Ms. Brooks."

"Here's my number." Riley scribbled it out quickly. "If I don't answer, please send a text and voicemail."

Once he was gone, she sagged back on the bed.

"What do we do now?" Maxwell asked.

"We have a ball to prepare for." Bertrand held up a silk dress. "We missed today's events, but we must make an appearance tonight. Everyone will begin to talk if we don't."

Riley nodded. Her mind though was whirling with the knowledge that she was pregnant.

How will Liam react? Will he be upset? Will he hate me for allowing it to happen? Will he think I'm trying to trap him?

How do I tell him?

Taking the dress, she forced herself to get ready.

***************

"Have you seen Riley any today?"

Drake shook his head. "No. Why?"

"That's strange." Liam folded his arms.

He wondered if something was wrong. He hated that he couldn't spend every single moment with her. What if she had reached the end of her patience with this suitor situation?

He shook his head when Drake offered him a drink.

"You've got it bad." Drake teased.

"Got what?"

"Love."

"I do?"

"Are you saying you aren't in love with Brooks?" Drake smirked. "I've seen you with her. Ever since she showed up at the masquerade ball, you haven't looked at any of the other ladies trying to win you."

Liam couldn't help but smile over that. It was true. His night with Riley in New York had been the most magical of his life. Each moment he had spent with her since then all but reaffirmed that she was the only one for him.

He was thrilled at how the people of Cordonia had fallen for her. The press had only positive things to say about The American that had come to win his hand.

He could picture her smile when she approached him at the masquerade ball.

"I think we both know we have something special. One night together will never be enough for me." Riley whispered as he kissed her hand.

"I agree." He held her hand a moment longer than was deemed appropriate. "It isn't enough." His bright blue eyes shined against the silver demi mask. "Are you certain I'm worth going through these next few months? What if--"

"We end up with our happily ever after?" She finished for him.

He knew he had completely lost his heart in that moment. Our happily ever after. Her optimism that they could have that helped him through every step of this social season. She was the prize he knew he could claim once he passed the final hurdle to be king.

He spent his time in dull conversations daydreaming about their future. How beautiful she would be as a bride. How comforting she would be as they dealt with his father's illness and troubles of their small nation.

Then he dreamed of the family they would have. He hoped they had many children, each with her infectious smile and kindness.

He hoped she would say yes when he asked her to marry him. Even if they never had all these other dreams of the future, he would at least have her and her love.

Then all of this would be well worth it.

He did worry about his father's reaction to the time he spent in her company. Whenever Liam attempted to discuss his feelings about Riley, Constantine would point out another lady of the court. He wouldn't allow his son to go ahead and make a decision.

"You better head downstairs." Drake finished off his drink. "Can't have a ball around here without the prince."

****************

"Any word yet?" Bertrand whispered.

Riley shook her head.

He softly cursed, causing her to burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry." She giggled when he shushed her. "But I would have bet a lot of money that you would never say that word."

He rolled his eyes. "Be that as it may, you should go mingle."

****************

"Lady Riley?" Liam gently tapped her shoulder. "May I have this dance?"

She turned around with a start. "I'd love to."

He took her hand and placed it within the bend of his arm. "You look beautiful tonight."

She gently squeezed his arm. "Thank you." Her eyes lifted to his. "And you're as handsome as always."

"I don't know about that." He winked at her. "But as long as you think so, then I'm content."

He took her in his arms as a waltz began.

"Let's not spin as much as we normally do." She pleaded when he twirled her.

His brow furrowed. "Is something wrong?"

"No!" She said quickly. "Just, um, a little motion sickness from time to time."

"I see." He kept his gaze upon her face. "I missed you today."

"You did?"

"I always do whenever you're not around." He admitted with a sheepish grin.

"That's so--" she felt the vibration of her phone.

She stopped dancing, causing Liam to nearly trip

"Riley, is something--"

"Excuse me, I have to--that is--this is from--" she ducked out a nearby door before all her revelations came tumbling out.

***************

She plopped down on the edge of a small couch and read the message from the doctor.

Hitting the link, she read the results of her bloodwork.

Her breaths came in and out in short gasps.

I'm really pregnant.

"Riley?"

All the color drained from her face as she looked up at Liam.

He shut the door to the ballroom and knelt before her.

"What is it?" He took her icy hand in his. "Is something wrong?"

She licked her dry lips and tried to tell him.

"Yes. No. I'm not sure."

He pressed a kiss to her hand. "Whatever it is, I will do all that I can to help you."

She blinked back tears. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything." He laced his fingers with hers.

"Do you," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "do you love me?"

"I do." He admitted. "I had planned on telling you during the Coronation Ball."

"Really?" Her eyes narrowed. "I need you to be completely honest with me right now."

"I am." He lowered his gaze to their clasped hands. His thumb brushed against her skin. "I know I'm not supposed to say anything until then, but you are the one I will pick to marry," he looked up at her, "if you want to."

She bit down on her bottom lip. "Do you want children?"

"Yes, and not just for the continuation of the Rhys holding the crown." His smile gentled. "I want a family with you, selfishly for myself. I want all the holiday memories spent with them, watching them see the world with wonder, and seeing our traits passed on, especially yours." He chuckled. "Heaven help me if we have a daughter like you. I will be completely wrapped around her little finger."

Riley couldn't believe she was hearing all she needed to from him.

He really is Prince Charming. My Prince Charming.

"Do you remember the night we met?" She asked.

"How could I forget?"

She grimaced at the worry that still gnawed at her mind.

"My love," Liam sat down beside her. "Please tell me what troubles you."

"I had not been with anyone in a long time." She began. "I mean, no one for months when we spent the night together."

Liam merely listened, wondering where she was going with this.

"I didn't think in the heat of the moment. I should have. It was irresponsible, but I was so swept off my feet..." She took a deep breath. "And I found out today that I'm pregnant."

His fingers tightened around hers.

"I'm sorry. I know with the--"

"Pregnant?" Liam interrupted her. "You're certain?"

"The doctor just sent me the results of my blood work. That with the test I took and the physical exam confirms it." Her eyes widened when he suddenly stood up and took her into his arms.

The kiss he gave her weakened her knees. His arms held her as if she was the most delicate piece of porcelain.

"Marry me." He said between kisses.

"That kinda was the whole point of me coming here." She teased, once she saw how happy he was.

He smiled against her lips. "Is that a yes?"

"It is."

He stepped back and took hold of her hand. With quick strides he had them back in the ballroom.

Waving the conductor to stop the music, he held his hand up. "May I have your attention please!"

The court stilled as all eyes turned toward him.

Ignoring the hushed questions coming from his father, he settled his arm around Riley's waist.

"Lady Riley has made me the happiest man this evening. She has accepted my proposal of marriage and has told me that within a few months or so," he turned his adoring gaze upon her, "we will have an heir to the throne."

Constantine staggered back at this announcement. He had no idea the couple had become that close.

Regina called for champagne to be brought to all the guests as she embraced the young couple.

Liam held his glass up. He decided to force his parent to officially accept Riley in front of the entire court. He suspected that if he had not announced the fact they were expecting, that Constantine would find a way to break their engagement. He didn't know why he felt such unease with his father when it concerned Riley, but he wasn't going to leave anything to chance when it concerned her.

"Father? Would you like to give the toast?"

Constantine cleared his throat. Seeing no way around it, he stepped forward and lifted his glass. He hoped for Liam's sake that this woman would not be detrimental to his rule.

"To my son and the lady he has chosen. May they have all the happiness that I have found with my own queen and may their new family continue to serve Cordonia with grace and honor." He turned toward them. "To Liam and Riley!"

#choices the royal romance #liam x riley #choices the stories you play #choices fan fiction #trr liam

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slipping-through-my-fingertips · 3 years

Text

If Glee did a Taylor Swift Tribute Episode...

Just my opinions, feel free to add on to them. I know I have some fellow gleek swifties following me. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Obviously they have to do some of the hits but I think some people would have some out of the box picks.

*This post assumes all Taylor songs are available to choose from as of May 14th 2021 but focuses on Taylor’s first 6 albums (if you want more glee and Taylor I have fics with that; LOVER and FOLKLORE) and takes liberties with where this episode’s placement is in terms of canon. But since it’s all made up anyway who cares (but Blaine’s involved so I guess season 3 idk).*

Okay, trying to do a full plot here (completely inspired by @kurtdeservesbetter head canon posts. I hope this lives up to her fabulous posts). This will be my version of glee so everyone gets solos and Rachel can’t hog the spotlight. Also, this is about to be super long (both post wise and episode wise).

Let’s open the first episode with

...Ready For It because the New Directions are in their reputation era. Santana does the opening cough centerstage. Everyone in black and/or camo green outfits (can you just see Kurt in a dark green bedazzled snake jacket, Santana in a black leather dress, and Tina digging out some goth clothes for people to borrow?), snakes everywhere, but probably no Karyn (she just wouldn’t fit on the auditorium stage). Santana takes the first verse but we have Blaine step up for verse 2. (I just love their friendship in the Michael tribute, cute little badasses are BACK. Also him singing “Burton to this Taylor” is such a Klaine thing to do).

Everyone is still dressed in their rep outfits but we’re in the choir room now. Mr. Schue is talking about why Taylor had to disappear and clap back with rep, how rough the industry is for women and tries to uplift the ladies in the room and encourage them to not silence their voices (cue snarky comment from Santana about Rachel needing to be silent).

Then, Mr. Schue goes on about how you can only understand how Taylor got to her rep era by studying her earlier music. So we have a performance of Tim McGraw. Simple, front of the choir room performance, maybe Puck does guitar, and sitting on stools.

Everyone is surprised to find out how pumped Sam is for this assignment but he is all over it. “It's about time we did some country in this room.” Cue Sam and Quinn at her locker talking about their ‘date’ last night, Sam’s all cute and teasing and Quinn is not into it. She tells him it was fun but she was wrong, they shouldn’t do this again. In turn, he does a wonderful performance of Bye Bye Baby. He thought it was more but clearly he’s “a part of her past.”

Then, we’re in the empty choir room. Tina and Mike are there. (I love their cutesy duets) They sing Everything Has Changed and it’s utterly adorable. Can’t you hear Mike asking Tina if she’s “good to go” like Ed does? And while we’re on the subject of cute duets and RED, we flash to the courtyard to see Santana and Brittany. They turn Stay Stay Stay into a duet. “I’ve been loving you for quite some time,” “before you I only dated self-indulgent takers who took all their problems out on me,” “no one else is gonna love me when I’m mad, mad, mad,” and “it’s occurring to me that I’d like to hang out with you for my whole life” it’s perfect for them. Adorable ladies kisses are had.

Let’s toss in some boy drama for fun. Idk shit about football but somehow Puck is praised by their coach over Finn, which gets him all pissy, and Puck’s upset and jealous because Finn is back with Quinn now (this is why Quinn shut Sam now earlier, she changed her mind). Can we say duet of Bad Blood? “So if you’re coming my way...just don’t.”

After their dramatics, we have a Brittany solo in the choir room. It’s after school at this point (or whenever glee club is). Brittany does You’ll Always Find You Way Back Home.

When she finishes Mr. Schue tries to explain that it’s a Hannah Montana song. Britt injects that it’s confusing how she’s really Miley Cryus “like how can you be two people at once?”. Before Mr. Schue can continue, Kurt pipes up “you never specified that the songs had to be sung by Taylor Swift, just that they were her songs.” Mercedes adds, “yeah, Mr. Schue, Taylor wrote that song.” Mr. Schue concedes that he has once again been outwitted by Kurtcedes. The friends do their little hand shake thing.

With a sigh, Mr. Schue asks Mike if he’s ready to go and Mike asks to take things to the auditorium for some dancing room. Everyone’s on stage with him and it’s kind of a group number but Mike is the focus. It’s Shake It Off. All inspired by the music video. He’s tried to fit in elsewhere (i.e. football, with the smart kids, etc..) but he’s really himself in glee when he’s dancing.

Part 2 of Taylor Tribute Episodes

We begin with an ALL GIRL NUMBER of A Place In This World. Just because.

Glee is dismissed and we zoom in on Artie. He’s watching Tina with Mike and Brittany with Santana. Both Tina and Britt have broken his heart by this point. So, he’s rolling down the halls singing A Perfectly Good Heart. While Artie’s soloing, we cut to Rachel watching Finn and Quinn chatting. Artie’s song playing over this scene. Rachel is feeling similar to him at the moment.

She’s pretty sure Finn dumped her to be with Quinn again even though Kurt and Blaine told her they saw Quinn and Sam at the movies last night together making out in the back row. Fine, if that’s how he’s going to be, she doesn’t need him anyway. Cue Mr. Perfectly Fine. Uber dramatic solo performance walking around McKinley’s halls watching Finn and Quinn together ending in the auditorium alone. (see what I did there, both broken hearted peeps singing a song with Perfectly in it (this was not at all planned, actually, happy accident))

After some good old heartbreak, we have Kurt and Blaine on screen. Blaine walks into the auditorium to see Kurt sitting on the edge of the stage. “What’s all the fuss?” he asks from the door. Kurt had texted him “EMERGENCY.” The band starts to play and Kurt just starts singing, Enchanted. It’s time to profess their love for each other, just like they sing Perfect together in the car, this duet needs no audience. Blaine catches up and sings while walking towards his boyfriend. It’s very reminiscent of past New Directions competitions where they come in from the back and make their way to the stage. “Wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you?” Kurt and Blaine both know the answer to that question now but just a few months ago they were both wondering that exact thing.

They kiss before we cut to Kurt and Blaine walking hand in hand into the choir room where everyone else is already. Mr. Schue is praising the performances thus far and of course asks Rachel if she’s ready to solo (some practice for her completion solo). This causes an uproar from Mercedes and Santana. Another classic argument of how she gets too many solos. Mr. Schue tries to shut them both down but Santana tells Rachel to watch her back, and we get three very different reactions to this.

All three girls storm out.

First, we visit Mercedes alone in the courtyard. This solo is all about being hurt over this great thing in her life (glee) and her being denied happiness within that club. Thus, Cold As You. (mostly to indulge myself because she’d blow us away with this song).

Next, Rachel in the auditorium. A huge bridge on stage (very Speak Now Tour of her), belting out Better Than Revenge. Santana’s dropped the last straw (the humiliation, name calling, Finn at one point and now solos,) it’s too much this time.

And finally, Santana walking around McKinley, showing us flashes of Rachel ‘outshining’ her and the rest of glee and Mr. Schue being unfair, while singing Look What You Made Me Do.

Tina walks out at the same time as Rachel, Mercedes, and Santana but no one seems to put two and two together. She feels just as underutilized as the latter two do. She ends up in an empty classroom and sings The Outside. “Nobody ever lets me in” and “on the outside looking in.”

Once the 3, err 4, divas have left the room, Finn sticks up for Rachel. Quinn, of course, has something to say about this along the lines of “you always defend her.” Finn, intimated by her ‘scary Quinn’ fumbles and blurts “because she’s my girlfriend” WHICH IS NOT TRUE AT THIS POINT. Quinn dumps him on the spot, cuts quickly to Blaine and Kurt sharing some ‘oh my god, can you believe this’ expressions, and vanishes from the room.

By this point, Rachel is long gone from the auditorium but the bridge is still there.

Here’s where we go way off script but imagine, Quinn has decided to just quit boys. They’ve all failed her anyway, she’s better off being alone. She walks up the bridge and thinks to herself “god Rachel’s so dramatic, where did this thing even come from” before it hits her “fuck, I’m as bad as Finn. I want her.” Then, she starts singing Clean to herself in the auditorium, likely tearing up throughout and ending with a good cry. (Because Dianna would DELIVER with Clean.)

While Quinn is having a sexuality crisis, the rest of glee is still happening. They’re discussing upcoming competition and debating solos and songs.

Kurt’s all: “Mr. Schue, if I may” and performs a lovely rendition of Call It What You Want. Those opening lines are too good. “My castle (ie McKinley) crumbled overnight, brought a knife to a gun fight (ie couldn’t fight off Dave Karofsky), “I’m doing better than I ever was ‘cause my baby’s fit like a daydream,” and “at least I did one thing right.” When he’s done, Blaine’s a mess in the back of the choir room, and Mr. Schue says: “not really what we’re looking for but very nice, Kurt” however, Kurt’s too busy sitting beside Blaine teasing him about blushing.

Then, the missing girls return to the room having sung out their emotions. Quinn, having realized her feelings for Rachel, ends up soloing You Belong With Me to the New Directions in the choir room. Odd looks all around, no one knows what’s up with her and why does she keep glancing at Rachel? (Faberry just fit so well I had to add it, don’t know if I’m a shipper or not but it’s here now) (also thanks to @spicygemini for pointing out the obvious “Quinn would have ate YBWY”).

Mr. Schue wants to move the group to the audition to perform their final number of the Taylor Swift tribute well but Tina asks to sing first. He’s surprised but allows it, taking a seat with the rest of the New Directions.

Tina sings Beautiful Ghosts. “Watch from the dark, wait for my life to start” because New Directions is refusing to use her talents AGAIN. She’s singing this to Rachel and the girls who were in the Treble Tones. Because she absolutely SMASHES this number, the glee kids agree she gets solo for their next competition (and they deliver on that promise).

To conclude Part 2 of the Taylor tribute episode, we have a group performance of Long Live. “One day we will be remembered”, “all the years we stood there on the sidelines wishing for right now”, “for a moment a band of thrives in ripped up jeans got to rule the world” ie wining completions, “when they look at the pictures please tell them my name...”

#this took so long please enjoy it #Taylor tribute glee episode #glee head canon #gleek swifie #glee #taylor swift

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otp-armada · 4 years

Text

If Jason wanted to convince me that Lxa was the love of Clarke's life, he wouldn't have killed her off, effectively cutting their love story permanently, with 4.5 seasons left of the show. Their arc, starting with their introduction in 2x07 and concluding with L's death in 3x07, is 17 episodes long, accounting for 17% of the entire narrative. If I generously add 3x16 to the count, an episode in which L is already dead in the corporeal world Clarke is trying to return to, it's a whopping, grand total of 18%. An 18% congruous with Clarke's intense connection to Bellamy and vice versa, which even A.lycia confirmed as romantic. Feelings romantic enough to spur the formation of a love triangle. An 18% ignoring Clarke's ultimate choice to go back to her people when L wanted her to stay.

CL is a chapter in the story begun and wrapped up in the first half of the narrative. And that's omitting further illumination on the finer details making CL so problematic for Clarke. Do you expect me to believe it was coincidental for CL to occur at a time when Clarke was spiraling down a dark path, commencing with Finn's death? Who played a hand in forcing Clarke's own hand, with Finn, and TonDC, and Mount Weather? Whose example inspired her to ensnare herself in armor and warpaint to be strong enough to save her people? Whose behavior did she emulate in the pushing away of support from her people? Who gave her a place to continue hiding from Bellamy, her mom, and her friends? A place to be someone other than Clarke Griffin? In lieu of facing her fears like the heroine she is? The purpose of CL wasn't to provide Clarke with a magnificent, fairy tale romance gone tragically wrong. I believe Jason's intent with the relationship aimed to further damage Clarke's psyche after L's death, to solidify the belief that her love is not only deadly to its recipients but renders her too weak to do what must be done for survival.

After 3x16, CL is an often superfluous namedrop or two per season for Clarke to briefly react to before carrying on with the plot. Season 5 aside, most of these references are needless enough to be able to interpret them as attempts at reparations for the L/CL fandom's benefit -and their views- without altering the course of the story. Crazy me for thinking it's not enough to constitute an ongoing love story. Crazy me for not thinking this was on par with interactions between living characters. Crazy me for thinking it doesn't befit a love story for the protagonist.

This sliver of the story is what Jason and the CLs would have us unquestionably believe is the pervasive love story of The 100's seven seasons?

Despite his lie and the constant gaslighting from the pineapple CLs, some of us know how to decipher what a temporary love interest is. Lxa? I think you know where I'm heading with this.

I'll acknowledge my admittedly negative appraisal of CL as someone who recognizes its value to the LGBT+ community and treats it as valid while not caring for L/CL on a narrative level. I felt, when swayed by L's influence, Clarke became the antithesis of what I found admirable about her. I resented Clarke's acquiescence of her power to the commander. I wanted nothing more than to remove the wedge L had driven between Clarke and Bellamy.

Let me try to give L/CL the benefit of the doubt for a minute. I don't hold L as responsible for Clarke's choices, but I recognize the prominent role she played in their upbringing. The push and pull was an intriguing aspect of their dynamic, as was the chance to meet a manifestation of who Clarke might have been if she was all head, no heart. Her fall from grace was arguably necessary for her to be a fully-rounded character, not a Mary Sue. It wouldn't be realistic for the protagonist of a tragic story about a brutal world to be a pure cinnamon roll. When forgiveness is an innate theme with Clarke, it would be my bias at work if I was content with her applying it to everyone but Lxa. Clarke saw enough commonalities between her and L to identify with the latter. When she extended forgiveness to L, I believe it was her way of taking the first step on the path to making peace with herself by proxy. None of this means I wanted them paired up. At best, I made my peace with seeing the relationship through to its eventual end. In time for L's death, ironically. My passivity about them notwithstanding, my conclusions are, however, supported by canon.

If I may submit a Doylist reason for romantic CL? Jason knew he had a massive subfandom itching to see them coupled, thereby boosting ratings and generating media buzz. A Watsonian reason? Without relevance, I think L would have been another Anya to Clarke. Grapple shortly with the unfair taking of a life right as they choose to steer towards unity, melancholy giving way to the inconvenience of the loss of a potential, powerful political ally. Romance ensured her arc with L would have the designated impact on Clarke's character moving forward in the next act.

For a show not about relationships, Jason has routinely used romantic love as a shorthand for character and dynamic development. It's happened with so many hastily strung together pairings. And when it does, everyone and their mother bends over backward to defend the relationship. It's romantic because it just is. Didn't you see the kissing? Romantic.

No, The 100 at its core is not about relationships, romantic and otherwise. But stack the number of fans invested exclusively by the action against those of us appreciating a strong plot but are emotionally attached to the characters and dynamics. Who do we think wins? Jason can cry all he wants over an audience refusing to be dazzled solely by his flashy sci-fi.

Funnily enough, "not about relationships'' is only ever applied to Bellarke. Bellarke, a relationship so consistently significant, it's the central dynamic of the show. The backbone on which the story is predicated. Only with Bellarke does it become super imperative to represent male-female platonic relationships. As if Bellarke is the end all, be all of platonic friendship representation on this show. In every single television show in the history of television shows.

Where was this advocacy when B/echo was foisted upon on us after one scene between them where he didn't outright hate Echo? When one interaction before that, he nearly choked the life out of her. If male-female friendship on TV is so sparse, why didn't B/ravens celebrate the familial relationship between Bellamy and Raven? Isn't the fact that they interpret Clarke as abusive to Bellamy all the more reason to praise his oh-so-healthy friendship with Raven as friendship? They might be the one group of shippers at the least liberty to use this argument against Bellarke, lest they want to hear the cacophony of our fandom's laughter at the sheer hypocrisy of the joke. Instead, they've held on with an iron grip to the one sex scene from practically three lifetimes ago when the characters were distracting themselves from their feelings on OTHER people? They've recalled this as "proof" of romance while silent on (or misconstruing) the 99% of narrative wherein they were platonic and the 100% of the time they were canonically non-romantic.

Bellarke is only non-romantic if you believe love stories are told in the space of time it takes for Characters A & B to make out and screw each other onscreen, a timespan amounting to less than the intermission of a quick bathroom break. If it sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. And yet, some can't wrap their heads around the idea that maybe, just maybe, a well-written love story in its entirety is denoted by more than two insubstantial markers and unreliable qualifiers. B/raven had sex, and the deed didn't fashion them into a romance. Jasper and Maya kissed but didn't have sex. Were they half a romantic relationship? Bellarke is paralleled to romantic couples all the time, but it counts for nothing in the eyes of their rival-ship fandom adversaries. Take ship wars out of it by considering Mackson. Like B/echo, the show informed us that Mackson became a couple post-Praimfaya, offscreen, via a kiss. Does anyone fancy them an epic love story with their whisper of a buildup? Since a kiss is all it takes, as dictated by fandom parameters, we should.

If Characters A & B are ensconced in a romantic storyline, then by definition, their relationship is neither non-romantic nor fanon. "Platonic" rings hollow as a descriptor for feelings canonically not so.

If the rest of the fandom doesn't want to take our word for granted, Bob confirmed Bellarke as romantic. Is he as delusional as we are? Bob is not a shipper, but he knows what he was told to perform and how. Why do the pineapples twist themselves in knots to discredit his word? If they are so assured by Jason's word-of-god affirmation, then what credibility does it bear to have Bellarke validated by someone other than the one in charge? They're so quick to aggressively repudiate any statement less than "CL is everything. Nothing else exists. CL is the only fictional love story in The 100, nay, the WORLD. CL is the single greatest man-made invention since the advent of the wheel."

We've all seen a show with a romantic relationship between the leads at the core of the story. We all know the definition of slowburn. We can pinpoint the tropes used to convey romantic feelings. We know conflict is how stories are told. We know when interferences are meant to separate them. We know when obstacles are overcome, they're stronger for it. We know that's why the hurdles exist. We know those impediments often take the shape of interim, third-party love interests. We know what love triangles are. We know pining and longing.

Jason wasn't revolutionary in his structure of Bellarke. He wasn't sly. Jason modeled them no differently than most other shows do with their main romances. Subtler and slower, sure. Sometimes not subtle at all. There's no subtlety in having Clarke viscerally react to multiple shots of Bellamy with his girlfriend. No subtlety in him prioritizing her life over the others in Sanctum's clutches. In her prioritizing his life above all the other lives she was sure would perish if he opened the bunker door. There is no subtlety in Bellamy poisoning his sister to stave off Clarke's impending execution. In her relinquishing 50 Arkadian lives for him after it killed her to choose only 100 to preserve. In her sending the daughter Clarke was hellbent to protect, into the trenches to save him. In him marching across enemy lines to rescue her. In her surrender to her kidnapper to march to potential death, to prevent Bellamy's immediate one. No subtlety in Josie's callouts. No subtlety in Lxa's successful use of his name to convince Clarke to let a bomb drop on an unsuspecting village. Bet every dollar you have that the list goes on and on.

There are a lot of layers to what this show was. It was a tragedy, with hope for light at the end of the tunnel. It was, first and foremost, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi survival drama. Within this overarch is the story of how the union of Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake saves humanity, ushering in an age of peace. In this regard, their relationship transcended romance. But with the two of them growing exponentially more intimate each season, pulled apart by obstacles only to draw closer once again, theirs was a love story. A romantic opus, the crescendo timed in such a way that the resolution of this storyline -the moment they get together- would align with the resolution of the main plot. Tying Bellarke to the completion of this tale made them more meaningful than any other relationship on this show, not less.

Whereas the trend with every other pair was to chronicle whether they survived this hostile world intact or succumbed to it, Bellarke was a slowburn. A unique appellation for the couples on this show, but not disqualifying them from romantic acknowledgment.

Framing Bellarke in this manner was 100% Jason's choice. If he wanted the audience to treat them as platonic, he should have made it clear within the narrative itself, not through vague, word-of-god dispatches. A mishandled 180-degree swerve at the clutch as a consequence of extra-textual factors doesn't negate the 84% of the story prior. It's just bad writing to not follow through. And Jason's poor, nearsighted decisions ruined a hell of a lot more than a Bellarke endgame.

The problem is, when Bellarke is legitimized, the pineapples are yanked out of their fantasies where they get to pretend the quoted exaggerations above are real. Here I'm embellishing, but some of them have deeply ingrained their identities in CL to the degree where hyperbole is rechristened to incontestable facts. An endorsement for Bellarke is an obtrusive reminder of the not all-encompassing reception of their ship. A lack of positive sentiment is an attack on their OTP, elevated to an attack on their identity. Before long, it ascends to an alleged offense to their right to exist. The perpetrators of this evil against humanity are the enemy, and they must attack in kind, in defense of themselves.

Truthfully, I think it's sad, the connotation of human happiness wholly dependent on the outcome of a fictional liaison already terminated years ago. I'm not unaware of the marginalization of minorities, of the LGBT+ community, in media. I haven't buried my head in the sand to pretend there aren't horrible crimes committed against them. I don't pretend prejudice isn't rampant. When defense and education devolve into hatred and libel for asinine reasons, though, the line has been crossed. You don't get a free pass to hurt someone with your words over a damn ship war. No matter how hard you try to dress it up as righteous social justice, I assure you, you're woefully transparent.

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inkandpen22 · 3 years

Text

Young Hearts Divided (4/?)

Pairing: Sirius Black x Female!Reader / James Potter x Female!Reader

Warning: angst, fluff, arguing

Word Count: 2.2k

Part Summary: Y/N receives some troubling news from Dumbledore and she’s left having to make a difficult decision

Masterlist

McGonagall crosses the room to me urgently. “Oh Miss Y/L/N, good you’re awake! You’ll have to come with me,” she instructs, holding her arm out toward the door. “You can leave your things here.”

My mind immediately thinks about my family. My parents and older siblings have renounced the Dark Lord. My mom, dad, and brother work at the Ministry, making them prime targets. My sister is at the Daily Prophet, she write articles against Voldemort frequently. I praise my family for their bravery and plan to follow in their footsteps when I finish Hogwarts. Yet, I can’t lose them, I couldn’t cope.

“What’s this about Minnie?” James questions. I feel his chest against my back as his hand finds my waist, giving it a comfortingly squeeze.

“Is everything alright?” Sirius adds.

McGongall rubs her hands together nervously, her eyes flickering between all three of us. “I think it’s best that Miss Y/L/N hears everything from Professor Dumbledore. It’s none of my business to relay the information,” she urgently waves me along.

I feel like I’m going to sick. McGongall’s purposeful vagueness only makes me worry more. My sight falls to the carpet beneath my feet as I struggle to cope with this overwhelming dread.

“Well I’m coming with her,” James insists, moving to escort me out the Common Room. He takes my hand, but I remain frozen in place.

“Mr. Potter, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’ll make sure she gets there and is okay,” McGongall assures him.

“With all due respect Professor, I think it’s up to Y/N to decide what’s best for her.” James steps over to stand in front of me. His fingers brush under my chin, raising my head to meet his gaze. “Do you want me to come with you?” He asks gently. His eyes filled with worry.

His words sound like a foreign language in my head. Is this what being in a state of shock feels like? My body feels numb while the mind is working overtime. Everything appears strange to me like I’m in a dream or something.

“I… I….” my brows scrunch together with distress as I stutter. Turning over my shoulder, I glance at Sirius. His ink black eyes meet mine and his face softens for the first time since this afternoon. A piece of the weight on my chest subsides as the sight. “I want both of you to come,” I decide.

Sirius’s lips part as surprise etches across his features. He looks behind me to James and his face goes blank. I turn toward James and he continues to glare passed me at Sirius.

“Very well,” McGongall rushes, waving us toward the door. “Come! Come!”

I press a hand to James’s chest, “James…” He snaps out of it, peering down at me with a glimmer in his eyes. “Please…” I quietly plead with him to forget the dramatics for the time being.

He blinks, nodding his head repeatedly as he brushes his head down the back of my head before turning toward Minnie. He gives my hand a squeeze as we head toward the Fat Lady, following McGongall’s hurried pace. James leads ahead by a few steps and Sirius walks by my side. Our eyes meet and I swallow hard, doing everything in my power not to start crying. Sirius, I suspect picking up on this, places his hand on my shoulder sympathetically and offers me a nod of reassurance. I give him a weak smile so he doesn’t worry too much about me. I don’t why I feel the urge to make sure he doesn’t. I suppose it’s because he’s one of my best friends, if not my closest friend.

_____________________________________

I see Dumbledore sat behind his desk looking over papers as I turn the corner. When he hears us enter his office the Headmaster stands. “Miss Y/L/N,” he greets. His brows scrunch together when he notices James and Sirius here too. “Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asks eerily calmly, moving around his desk.

“Miss Y/L/N requested they be here with her,” McGonagall explains as she crosses the room to stand beside Dumbledore.

“Ah yes, of course,” the Headmaster nods. “Would you three like to have a seat?” He offers, gesturing to the seats and couch behind us.

James and Sirius both look at me to decide. “I think I prefer to stand Sir,” I mumble, afraid my voice may crack if I speak louder.

Dumbledore and McGonagall exchange glances. The Headmaster appears calm and expression, as per usual. McGonagall, however, doesn’t hide her distress well. I can hear my heart rapidly pounding in my chest. James hasn’t let go of my hand once since the Common Room. I stand between him and Sirius feeling two things. One, rather short and two, protected despite the tension ridden situation.

Dumbledore looks at me in the eye, pulling me from my train of thought. “I assume you can guess as to why you have been called here.”

I nod, so I was right to be worried. My family has been gone missing or worse have been killed. James gives my hand a comforting squeeze.

“It’s your brother, Danny,” Dumbledore finally says what I’ve predicted. “He’s missing. He was sent to perform a task on behalf of the Ministry. He never returned. It’s been two days.”

I swallow hard, doing my best to stay composed. "And my parents?”

“They’re both fine, I can assure you," Dumbledore steadily replies. "They’ve written to me and have offered you a choice. You may return home until your brother is located or you may stay here.”

“What about my sister?” Eliza, I hope to high Heaven she's alright.

“She’s alright as well," he guarantees. "She has decided to take time off at the Daily Prophet to be with your parents.”

My brows scrunch together, "she’s left London?”

“Yes, she’s staying at your family’s home."

Dumbledore would never lie, of course, but that doesn't exactly sound like my sister. Eliza is strong-willed and was eager to leave our home as soon as she graduated from Hogwarts. She was overjoyed to get a job at the Daily Prophet and find her own place. I suppose the circumstance has made her reevaluate her priorities.

“I’m sorry to do this Miss Y/L/N, but I must pressure you to make a timely decision," Dumbledore urges, visibly troubled by the responsibility. "You see, your parents and sister will be going into hiding shortly. They'll be relocated to an undisclosed location. Your parents and sister are waiting to hear your decision before they do so. I assured them the safest place for you is here where we can protect you. However, if you choose to return home to your family I completely understand. You will be excused for as long as necessary. I have already taken the liberty of speaking with your professors. Your parents also wrote a letter to you as well to help you with your decision.”

My heart sinks. “You mean if I stay… I won’t be able to communicate with my family or know where they are?! Whether they’re safe for who knows how long?!” I My voice rises accidentally at the Headmaster as I step forward, yanking my hand free from James.

Dumbledore nods, a solemn expression appears on his features. “I’m afraid so.”

I step away, pacing in front of the pensieve case. Nervously, I fiddle with the ring my parents gave me on my sixteen birthday. It's a habit I've picked up when I'm nervous.

"How long does she have to decide?" James questions as I pace away, deep in my own thoughts.

"Are you mad?" Sirius jumps in. "How can Y/N possibly make a decision like this?! Family or protection is really what you're asking here!" He accuses in my defense.

"Now gentlemen-" McGongall says sharply, "we are not enjoying either! I'm sorry, I truly am, but Miss Y/L/N must make haste with her decision!"

James and Sirius continue bickering at the professors, completely ignoring their superiority.

I should go home! There's no other option, it's not yes or not, it's simply yes! My parents must be worried sick! I’m worried sick! The Death Eaters are going to pick us off like flies! I can't abandon my family and stay here like it isn't happening!

“May I see the letter?” I interrupt their deafening chatter.

Dumbledore reaches for an envelope on his desk and holds it out to me. "They informed me that they will write to you as soon as they have the chance."

Dear Y/N,

Your mom and I are so sorry to do this to you. You must know that we have done everything in our power to avoid this conclusion. Your mom would have written this letter herself, but since we heard about Danny she's been tucked away in our room. Eliza is here taking care of her. You would be so proud of your sister, she's been great through all of this.

Whatever you choose my sweet girl, we will understand. Dumbledore is right when he tells you that you're safest at school. Hogwarts is home to so many of us and nowhere is safer than home.

Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.

All my love, Dad

I read over the lines repeatedly, seeking an answer to this impossible decision. Then, as I read it again, I comprehend that my dad gave me my answer in his usual philosophical way.

“I’m going to stay,” I declare, folding up the letter.

James steps forward, visibly surprised. "Are you sure, Y/N?"

“It’s be worried here or be worried there," I determine with a nonchalant shrug. "I’m just thankfully that Eliza went back."

"I'll write to them urgently," Dumbledore announces, already moving to sit behind his desk.

"I'll walk you three back to your dormitory," McGongall begins to usher us out. She sends me a sympathetic look which I reciprocate with a weak smile.

James takes my hand as we walk back to the tower. He whispers to me frequently, asking whether I'm certain and to remind me it's not too late to change my mind. His words just fall to silence in my ears. If I didn't know any better, I would think he wants me to go. However, based on how he insists on touching me in some way if I'm in reach, he likes having me around.

McGongall departs from us once the Fat Lady lets us in. "Good night," she bids farewell. "Try to get some sleep."

I'm first to enter the Common Room. I shuffle my feet, feeling like a zombie. Nothing around me feels real anymore. There's a dreadful emptiness. I sit down on the couch at the edge of the cushion as I stare absentmindedly at the distance dwindling fire. I grip my dad's letter tightly in my free hand, the sense of it there brings me ease for some reason. Weeks, maybe even months, will go by before I hear from them again. From now on, this letter will be my most important possession.

Out of my peripheral vision, Sirius sits in the arm chair while James eases down beside me. He places a hand on my back gently. "Y/N? Do you want to talk about it?"

Tears well up in my eyes and threaten to fall as I sit emotionless like a statue. James continues to rub his hand up and down my back comfortingly.

Memories of my family, the five of us always together, flash across my mind. Family vacations, holidays, birthdays, random Saturday mornings, when we were our happiest. Danny, Danny my protective and determined older brother who's always known he was destined for great things. He's out there somewhere in pain and suffering because he believes in a world of acceptance and because he voiced this ideal. He challenged evil and as a result he got burned. I feel so powerless. There's nothing I can do and no fact is more frustrating! Given the chance, I would face Voldemort directly for what he's done! For Danny, my family, all of the other lives he's destroyed due to his greed and malice.

I can feel my blood boiling as I can't get the imagine of my brother in the presence of such an evil being. I can't save him! I can't protect him! I can't do anything! I'm useless! Abruptly, I hear the shattering glass.

"Y/N!" James yells, sounding panicked as he grabs my hand in my lap.

All I can focus on is the pain and frustration. There are no words that can describe the torment that consumes my mind and soul. It goes on and on relentlessly. All it does is continue growing.

Faintly, I see Sirius leaps over the coffee table and appear at my side. He places his hand on my knee. "Y/N..." he whispers.

I flicker my eyes in his direction. His jet black eyes that adore so much glisten with emotion as tears fill his eyes too. Seeing him in dismay makes something in me snap. Tears begin to fall from my eyes freely as I break down crying. I gasp for air, but breathing become impossible. Finally, I express real emotion since receiving the news. Needfully, I grip the fabric of his shirt and weep into his chest. His arms wrap around me like a security blanket. Softly, his hand brushes down my hair as he holds me. He mutters gentle words of assurance as he kisses the top of my head. It takes an ounce of the pain away, yet I still feel as though I'm going to die the grief is too much.

________________________________

Masterlist

Tags: @hannah220506 @agirlwholovescoffee @a-classic-eye @devilstradegy @blackbirddaredevil23 @blackpinkdolan @tay-mariee

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hargrove-mayfields · 3 years

Text

Lover, Lover, Number 9

Second day of HWOL!! Today’s prompt was Love Potion!! Read here or on my ao3 @ej_writer

Word Count: 4,593

Rating: T

Warnings: Non-Consensual Touching (Pretty much blink and you miss it and very non-explicit. It happens while a person(s) is under the influence of a love potion.)

It’s all Max’s fault, honest.

For the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, Billy’s been trying to pick the best person to be his date. Not that Valentine’s was really that important to him, per se, but he’d made a bet.

His step sister, the little brat, had made a wager that if he didn’t have himself a date by the fourteenth of February, he’d be forced to drive her everywhere she wanted to go for a whole year.

There was no way he was about to fork over that much of his time to some snotty middle schoolers, but finding someone he’s willing to go out with, a condition of Max’s bet was that it couldn’t just be a hookup, ended up being a lot harder than he anticipated.

Before he knew it, there were only two days left before he either got a date, or subjected himself to the dweeb-orama gang.

He tried to ask Carol, since Tommy dumped her right before the big day and she seemed to be into him, or at least how his ass looked in his jeans, but she tells him she doesn’t want to deal with the drama. So he tries Tommy, but he wants commitment and feels like Billy’s just in it to best Max, which, yeah, he sort of is. Everyone else follows the same pattern, can’t keep up with his reputation, can’t trust him in a relationship, on and on and on.

It’s over breakfast one morning, as he groggily makes him and his sister both a bowl of cereal, that Max asks him, “Why don’t you just ask Steve?”

Billy acts unphased, doesn’t even bother to look at her. “Steve who?”

“C’mon stupid.” His sister rolls her eyes and drags a bowl over towards herself. “Everyone knows you like Steve Harrington.”

“Do not.” He shovels a mouthful of cereal in his mouth.

“Right. Lemme guess, you don’t eat like a pig either?”

“Very funny.” He fixes her with a glare. “I’m serious shitbird, just because I like him doesn’t mean I like him.”

She nods and agrees. “Sure.”

“And just because he's nice to me doesn’t mean I have to have the hots for him.”

“If you insist.” Her bottom lip juts out as she agrees with overemphasis.

“What is your problem?” He snaps.

“I’m just agreeing with you. You don’t like Steve Harrington.” There’s a mischievous smile darkening her sweet face as she tells him matter-of-factly, “But, if you’re really desperate, I know a way to get him to like you.”

And Billy already knows what she means, of course the little shit would suggest something like that. “Nuh-uh. No way, I am not using magic.”

“Why not? Clearly you need it.”

“Because I can do it on my own, brat. Just don’t want to.” He's too defensive for it to not be true and they both know it, so before he lets a thirteen year old do anymore damage to his ego, he adds, “Can't deal with your bull this early.”

Max looks at him all smug like, her eyebrows raised as she hides a knowing smile behind her cereal bowl, but she does let it go, if not just to watch her step brother stew in silent annoyance. She’d gotten under his skin so easy, and she thought it was funny.

Her step brother, on the other hand, does not, and narrows his eyes at her, practically snarling at the look on her face. “Shut up.”

“I wasn’t even saying anything!” She bites back.

Billy grumbles and dumps his bowl in the sink, and leaves to his room to avoid babysitting his sister.

He’s starting to realize that Max had set him up. The real reason she made the stupid bet wasn’t to torture him with driving her and her nerds around, but because she thought she could hook him up with Steve.

But that doesn’t matter, because he's not pining after Steve Harrington, no matter what his little sister says.

Sure, Steve had invited him over to his place a few times, but that was just a courtesy since they were friends from basketball. And it didn’t matter that he happened to be the prettiest boy Billy ever laid eyes on, with his soft hair the color of chestnut and his doe eyes just as dark, and his long nose and his pretty red lips and-

Okay, maybe he was a little into Harrington, but again, he wasn’t going out with his best friend just because his step sister dared him to.

He can’t just call the bet off, but he’s not willing to lose either. The clock was ticking, Valentine’s Day getting closer and closer, so he’d just have to settle on somebody soon.

Admittedly, it would make things a lot easier just to cheap out and use magic, after all, he’d been trying and failing to get a date for weeks, but that could be dangerous, and Billy’s been barred from using his powers for a few years now anyways.

His father was ashamed to have a freak for a son, so ever since Max and her mother came around, he wasn’t actually supposed to use any magic at all anymore, not even for the most insignificant of things. Hell, with how tight of a leash Neil kept on him, his step sister wasn’t even technically supposed to know he’d inherited the knack from his mother.

He doesn’t really listen to that rule, but there’s no way for Neil to keep tabs on that kind of thing, so he still puts a charm on his and his sisters bedroom doors every night to keep unwanted guests out, and he still uses spells for his convenience whenever he can get away with it.

In all honesty, he could do without that stuff. Incantations were boring, spells were too basic. His favorite, the one thing he misses having the liberty to do, that’s got to be potions.

Before his mother’d left him behind, ran off to live the uninhibited life of a free spirit every witch dreamed of having, she had been very proud that Billy had taken after her in his powers, and in his skill for potion making especially.

They would make them together a lot of the time, huddled up down in the basement when his dad wasn’t home so she could show him the ropes and teach him all the recipes she knew.

He’d caught on real quick, well enough that she didn’t need to hover after the first few attempts at one type. Sometimes he wishes he’d been less proficient for just a little longer, so she’d have had a reason to stay and keep helping him.

Among their most common to make though were potions of luck and protection, elixirs, anything positive really. His mother may have also, on occasion, made a more powerful potion, one to keep under the pillows, in a flask on her hip, to spike her husband's coffee with every morning, just so Neil couldn’t hurt her or her son, but Billy was sworn to secrecy on that one.

Under his bed he still had a trunk full to bursting with everything of his mothers’ he had been able to keep, including their already prepared potions. Rows and rows of intricate crystal bottles, some still full to the top while others had only a few drops left, depending on how useful they were, all neatly displayed along with the rest of the memories of his mother.

She absolutely never allowed him to make anything dangerous, the first thing she ever taught him was to always keep hate out of his magic, so she’d let him practice more complicated and powerful potions with something a little less destructive.

Something like love potions.

It becomes his sort of trademark, the earthy smell of rose hips and cinnamon clinging to his skin from hours bent over their big cauldron they kept stored away. Even now, without having brewed anything for almost a year since they’d moved houses, it still lingered, like an aura.

They made up for some of his best work, the hardest of the love potions coming easier to him than the easiest of the medicinal ones. The best he’d ever made was a platonic love potion that his mom let him use the teensiest drop of to stop a fight between his friends at school, and to this day he was still proud of that one.

His mom had always said it made sense that that would be where he excelled, loving with his whole heart was just in his nature, and his craft was the reflection of that. In the same sense, it comes as no surprise when he’d stopped being able to brew anything stronger than potpourri after she’d walked out on him and broke that big heart right in two.

He didn’t know if keeping every of the potions that he made was genuinely because of their potential usefulness, like he tried to convince himself, or if it was a way to hold onto a time when he was still good at what he did. A time when he was happy.

Were he going to use one of those potions he kept stashed away, as Max had not so subtly suggested, he knows exactly which one he would choose. Not number six, not number twenty-seven, he would need number nine.

Not that he would, because he refuses to use his magic for petty relationships. Yet another thing his mom had drilled into him from the start was to never use his gift to take advantage of other people.

But then another day passes, and Billy's got to at least consider it, if not only for the sake of him not having to provide chauffeuring services to his least favorite bratpack.

In all reality, it wouldn’t be so bad to date Steve, he was nice enough and cute enough, but he feels they were sort of of the same polarity. They could get along just fine now, but there was some force, some energy between the two that kept them apart.

For every step they take forward, say, Steve agreeing to keep his magical secret from the moment they met, they have to take one back.

That fact had been well established in his mind since the moment he noticed himself making heart eyes; he and Steve just weren’t going to work out. Not after months of oblivious pigtail pulling, not after pushing Steve out of his own social circle, and definitely not after their fist fight in November.

Billy thinks he takes rejection from Tommy and Carol and everyone else in stride, but Steve wasn’t like them. The relationship they already had teetered on the line between rivals and friends, always one argument away from going back to that place, and Billy’s unwilling to lose that constant.

Of course, he wouldn’t have to worry about rejection and ruining friendships if he used magic.

But that was wrong. Number 9 was the strongest of the strong. It was said that it was powerful enough to make oil and water mix, but even then its effects only lasted for exactly twenty minutes. The jig’d be up quick, and his pretty boy would be right back to hating him.

There was always the slightest chance too that it were brewed just right, and Steve would love him forever, the bond that would form between them the moment he drank from Billy’s magic maybe enough to last, despite their differences. It wasn’t guaranteed to turn out bad, so maybe, just maybe, he’d give it a shot.

Godammit, had Max gotten in his head.

~~~~~

Billy knows he’s an idiot, a complete and total dumbass for showing up to the party with a crystal vial in his pocket, but he can’t help it.

There’s no guarantee he’s even going to use it, it’s just in his pocket as a sort of security blanket. He doesn’t even catch a glimpse of Steve anywhere among the crowd, so he sees no harm in it.

Well, at least not until someone, he’d have to guess it was Tommy, slips a hand into the pocket of Billy’s jacket, apparently able to sense a bottle from a mile away, and steals it. Like it’s just his own secret stash of alcohol instead of the most powerful piece of magic he’d sure as hell ever owned, let alone to have ever been used in Hawkins, a traditionalist town known for its distinct lack of witchcraft.

Only he doesn’t notice that it’s been swiped, not until he catches a glimpse of the gentle pink glow that only he could see in someone else’s hand from across the room, hovering just inches above the punch bowl.

He’d like to think he’s pretty powerful in his craft, he'd been raised by a witch who’d in her time been strong enough to get kicked out of her coven for threatening the High Priest, but in that moment he just sort of freezes.

There’s an infinite number of spells he could’ve used; he knows how to stop time, how to recall objects, and about a thousand and one other handy little ways to stop the vial from being overturned into that bowl.

And yet, his brain freezes up, and before he can do anything about it, there’s a thick fog rolling off of the bowl, and the air smells sweet and sticky like ladies perfume, and the liquid is shining all bright pink.

Billy is officially screwed.

It’s one thing for a single person to drink a love potion, but mixing it with any other liquid? That shit turned into a weapon.

He knows he’s not gonna make it in time, but he’s at least gotta try to stop it, get people as far away from it as possible. He muscles his way across the room, pushing past the crowd of teenagers to try to get to it first. “Nobody fucking touch the punch.”

But his voice calling over the crowd draws their attention to him, and there’s at least fifty hollow gazes fixed right on him. Judging by the looks on their faces, the pinpoint pupils and the awe stricken smiles, he’s too late.

There’s one breathless moment where Billy realizes what's about to happen and tries to back away before all hell breaks loose, but all at once they all surge forward trying to get their hands on him.

Momma didn’t stick around long enough to teach him how to discharge a potion, and he wasn’t going to make it the whole twenty minutes in this herd. The front door is his only escape.

It’s so dark in the room, other than the light from the potion’s ambience, that he can’t make out who’s who, whose lips those are on his neck, whose hands are on his hips and tangled up in his hair, so he just trudges forward as best he can, trying to shake each person off, only to get another wrapped around him.

But, in the magic induced state, they’re strong, and they don’t want to let him go. Fingernails dig into his skin, arms wrap tight around his waist, any way they can hold onto him to try keep him from moving any closer to that door, they do.

It’s like walking in gelatin, so many people trying to stop him, and it takes him way longer than it should, but he makes it to the door.

Before he can open it, someone’s pushing his back up against it and reaching a hand up under his shirt. Another someone presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

He feels blindly for the door knob and gets it in his hand after a few attempts, the ordeal being all the harder when there were so many people who wanted those hands on them, and twists it.

The rush of cold air from outside and the lights from the streetlight on the sidewalk helps a little to dilute the strength of the potion, weakening just enough the grip of those under his influence that he can wriggle out and slam the door shut behind him.

He keeps his back pressed against it, his arms holding on to either side of the door frame as tight as he could so nobody else can get out. Checking his watch, there were still about seven more minutes until the potion would wear off.

He could see the faintest glow of pink light shining from under the door and behind the curtains on the front window, and he thought about what they were doing without him. Probably talking about how he was the coolest, the ones who’d gotten their hands on him bragging.

No one but him would remember what happened anyways.

To make his escape, wait out the rest of the potion's effects, and hightail it before anybody remembered he was even here, well, that would have just been too easy. Because this is Billy Hargrove, so of course, at that very moment, who would approach the house but Steve fucking Harrington.

“Hargrove?” He looks confusedly up at Billy, and climbs a few of the porch steps to ask him, “What’re you doin’ out here man?”

“Party’s a bummer. Thinking ‘bout ditching.” The nonchalance he’s able to portray in his voice is in direct contrast with the way his hair is frizzed out and his clothes are all messy from what happened inside.

Steve doesn’t seem to pay it any mind though, because he offers him a smile, and responds to Billy like this situation didn’t look weird at all, with him sprawled out over the door and in such bad shape. “Mind if I join you? Wasn’t really looking forward to all the people tonight anyways.”

“Uh, if you give me,” Billy turns his wrist, still not letting go of the door, and reads the time on his watch again, “three and a half minutes, then we can blow.”

Steve leans a little to try to see in the window. “Is somethin’ going on?”

“Nothin’, nothin’ just uh, told Tom I’d stay ‘til quarter after.” It’s a bullshit excuse, Steve already knows he and Tommy aren’t even that close, but Billy just focuses on counting down the seconds and doesn’t think too much about it. “And…. we’re good.”

“You are so weird, dude.” Steve remarks while he waits for Billy on the steps. He looks back over his shoulder when they’re walking away but visibly shrugs it off. “Did you drive?”

“You know I don’t park my baby on the street.” His prized Camaro had yet to make an appearance at one of these parties, for a platitude of reasons, but the main one being that he might have to break his mother’s golden rule and put a curse on someone if his beauty got so much as a scratch.

“Figures.” Steve remarked. He didn’t think the Camaro was all that, thought it was too loud and too fast.

His BMW isn’t too far off, showing up late meant he had to take a street spot instead of cramming into the driveway, but that only made it easier to get out.

While he starts it up, he asks Billy, “Where are we going? I picked last time.”

“Far away from here as possible.” He mutters in response.

Before he pulls away from the curb, Steve asks, “Did something happen, Bills? You’re acting all, weird.” There was genuine concern laced into his voice, none of that playfulness that they usually had.

But for Billy, anything would be better than having to own up to what had happened. He’d have to admit to the whole, desperate for love, he used a potion he made when he was seven to try to make Steve Harrington fall for him, and that was not ideal, to put it simply.

Only, he felt obligated to explain, because he knew what Steve was thinking had happened. He knew too much about the sorts of things Billy told not a single other soul.

His magic was one thing. Where nobody was really supposed to know Hawkins got a new spell caster for the first time in ages, Steve had some grandma or someone who was a witch and had recognized that shit in a heartbeat.

Observational skills like that, it was no surprise he’d figured out the truth about his father too. About where the bruises and the scars came from.

So he knows that’s what Steve’s thinking right now, that Billy’s acting off because of something his dad did, and it would feel wrong not to tell him the truth, to be pitied when nothing even happened this time. Still, he’s not exactly thrilled about having to confess about the potion.

“Someone brought a fucking Number 9 to the party.” Billy flips the sun visor down to see himself in the little mirror there. There’s kiss marks all over him that he tries to rub off with his sleeve, but the leather doesn’t do much but make the skin flush.

“Shit, not a number nine.” Steve says it like he’s confident in it, but his gaze keeps flickering over to Billy to gauge his reaction. It’s clear that he has no idea what he’s talking about. “What's- what’s number nine?”

Billy snorts and explains, “Only the strongest love potion out there. Went straight into the punch.”

He doesn’t have much of a grip on the magical world, but he knew enough to guess that was a problem. “What kind of a dipstick would bring that?”

Billy stopped wiping at his face and looked over at Steve with that ‘come on, stupid’ look on his face. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the only dipstick who walked away from the place covered in fucking lipstick.”

“Really?” There’s a teasing tone in his voice, like a parent who found out there kid had a crush, and it makes Billy want to sock him. “And who does Billy Hargrove need a love potion for?”

“For you.” It takes all the courage he has, but he admits it. His eyes flicker nervously between Steve and everywhere else, waiting for his response.

And what he gets is, “Pfft. You know I don’t need magic to get the ladies.” Let it be known that no one ever accused Steve of being the brightest.

As if he hadn’t noticed that Steve was a skeezer. As if his heart hadn’t already been broken a thousand times over because of it. “Yeah, no shit.”

He furrows his eyebrows in confusion, but maybe a little bit in denial too. “Then why’d you bring me a love potion?”

“Steve.” It sounds like a plea, an exhausted attempt to get him to understand, but Steve isn’t in on it.

“What?” Billy just sort of raises his eyebrows in response, and something about it makes it click in Steve’s head.

His mouth forms an ‘o’ shape, and when he speaks again, his voice is all breathless, “You were going to use it on me?”

“Doesn’t take a genius.” And that’s the end of it.

They don’t talk about it. Steve drives them out to the quarry in silence, occasionally looking over at Billy like he wants to say something, but doesn’t.

As soon as they get there, before Steve’s even got the chance to put the bimmer in park, Billy’s out of the car and sitting on the edge of the rocky lookout.

He needs a smoke, needs the burning in his lungs to distract him from the weight of what he had just admitted to Steve. His hands are shaking as he fumbles with a match, trying and failing to light the cigarette on three different matches before he decides to give up.

Steve taps his shoulder and hands Billy his zippo before sitting down next to him. “You didn’t have to.”

Billy lights it up and takes a long drag, giving Steve back his light with a cigarette as thanks, filling his lungs with as much smoke as he can before he can respond. “Have to what?”

“Try to use magic on me.” Steve’s staring down at his hands, calculating every last word he says. “You could’ve just asked.”

“Yeah, I know Harrington. It was creepy. Just drop it.” There’s a sharpness in that tone that hasn’t been there for months, and it makes the both of them wince.

Steve explains himself, hurt by the coldness, “No, I think it’s sweet! I mean, that you would do that for me.”

“Get over yourself. Was just messin’ around, wanted to see if I could do it.” That’s what gives him away. Billy was too sure of his own prowess for that to be all of it, and so Steve decides to press him for the truth.

“Don’t you want to know what I would’ve said though, if you asked me?”

“Honestly? No.” He really, really does.

Steve pretends like he doesn’t hear that and tells him anyways. “I like you Billy.”

It hitches his breath to hear that, but Billy’s got to be rational. “Yeah? You like me or the cinnamon?”

Steve’s face scrunches up in confusion. “What?”

“It’s an ingredient in the potion, Steve. Do you mean it or did you get a whiff of that shit somehow?” He still doesn’t look at him, just stares down at the churning water, and it registers with Steve that he doesn’t want to see absent admiration, pinpoint pupils, any sign that this isn’t real.

So he assures him, his voice as soft as it can be, “I mean it. I really really like you, and if you’re not gonna believe me, then- then I guess I’ll just have to prove it.“

Who would’ve expected Steve to make the first move? Stumbling, bumbling Steve Harrington, the one to lean in first. But he is, it’s him who uses those long fingers to turn Billy’s face towards his and presses their lips together.

If, you know, there wasn’t a more pressing matter at hand, like the fact that the boy he’d just tried to use love magic on was kissing him without the assistance of said magic, Billy might’ve been a little disappointed in himself to not be the one to initiate it.

But they’d have time for that argument later, about who did what when, right now his mind was more focused on not just sitting there, on moving his lips against the other boys and

It feels like forever before Steve pulls away to put a hand on the back of Billy’s head so he can bring their foreheads together.

Steve’s breathless as he says, “Wanted to do that since the first time I saw you in the parking lot.”

“Good. Didn’t want to have to brew any more.” Billy says without a hint of seriousness.

Steve nudges him with his elbow. “I’m trying to be romantic, you ass.”

“No seriously, hibiscus is super hard to come by around here, couldn’t afford to waste any on you.”

Crossing his arms, Steve fixes Billy with a stern look that makes him laugh.

“M’only teasin’ ya pretty boy.” He crumples his cigarette into the asphalt and puts his hand on Steve’s knee. “Kiss me like that again, would ya?”

And he does. Every time Billy asks, Steve’ll kiss him just like that first time, soft and gentle and sweet in a way he’s never had, no magic required.

Needless to say, Billy definitely won that bet.

#harringrove week of love #harringrove #billy x steve #billy hargrove #steve harrington #ej writer #story by ej!#this is based on a fraggles episode! I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity!#I thought I wasn’t going to like this but it turned out to be one of my favorites #even though it took way longer than it was supposed to lol #super proud of how it turned out though

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fenheart87 · 3 years

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Home Is where You Are

Sprint Challenge, Secret Santa style! This is for @nottesilhouette, this is cross posted on AO3 as most my stories are for viewing ease!

Three 15-minute sprints and 24 hours to polish it off. Prompt was “Domestic Fluff ("You gave me the world in my palms and none of it was as beautiful as coming home to you.")”

The success of the Kitty Section tour was well above anything any of its members predicted and honestly, they were tired and ready to go home, wherever that was for them these days. Luka knew Rose and Juleka were going to touch base with the sibling's mother, she had taken to being free and sailed around quite frequently. It was a normal occurrence if they saw the Liberty in all her glory when they had a show close to any water that was deep enough for the houseboat.

The newly engaged couple would then touch base with everyone from their lycée class via skype and some fantastic planning by one Marinette Dupain-Cheng who had found a timeslot in everyone's schedule to have a joint call. Speaking of the brilliant designer, Luka was having a hard time keeping his home sickness at bay. The ravenette was certainly making a name for herself and with his father touring at the same time or joint shows having on occasion, made Luka always hear about her accomplishments. It really sucked having to live through pictures of precious moments frozen in time and the rare call where he could actually hear that angelic giggle.

“Luka, it’s about time to depart. We are completing one last check through the bus and hotel room before we load up and head out.”

“Cool, I think I have everything but I’ll check again.” He waved off Ivan’s questioning look and turned to do just that. With the laminated checklist in hand, even the familiar curl of her handwriting was enough to make him anxious to be home, he checked off all items and then turned to the handwritten one Rose had made to cover all the extra stuff he had bought. Quickly scanning the list, a second time, Luka knew he couldn’t stall anymore and grabbed his luggage to bring it out to the van.

“Luka, I need you to grab something for me. I forgot it.” Juleka murmured with an awkward ‘you know you love me’ smile.

“Yeah sure, anyone else need me to grab anything or are we good?” Luka accepted her key card for her room and turned around to grab whatever it was that was left. The elevator was empty which was a relief, he took the opportunity to lean against the wall and breathe deeply for a few moments of peace. Blue eyes and raven hair swarmed behind his closed eyelids and a painful tug on his heart strings followed. He really missed his girlfriend. The ding brought him out of his light reminiscing and trudged on to the room where his sister and her fiancé had stayed. Opening the door, Luka certainly did not expect to find his girlfriend standing in the empty room with a big smile.

“Hey! I had a layover option here and thought I would add an extra day so we could fly home together an- Oh!” Marinette giggled as the guitarist nearly bowled her over and pulled her into a long hug. “I missed you too Star.”

“I have missed you so much, like you smell like home and just everything good in life. I didn’t think I would ever get rid of the stress and tension from this… This was way too long to be away from you my melody.”

“Star, I’m glad you went and you had fun playing your music. You were born for it after all but I am so glad that Penny put a ban for at least a month before any local shows and a few months before anymore traveling, even just a city away.” Her slender fingers slid through his black and blue locks, a feeling of peace starting to settle from the gentle touch into his very soul. The fact that his girlfriend was here when the homesickness was at its worst was amazing.

“Everyone is waiting for us, ugh I’m terrible.”

“Nope, they took off already and we have my rental car to take, I have to return it anyway. Gives you some time to relax and we can spend a moment together. I’m thinking when we get home, you can come over and I finally figured out knitting without making a huge mess so there are these super fuzzy socks and my hardwood floors are perfect for sliding. Just carefully, I don't need a Luka sized dent to match the Adrien sized dent in my wall.” She ignored the snort and in retaliation moved her hand from Luka’s hair and laced their fingers together instead.

“As long as there’s some tea or hot chocolate, Maman Cheng style, cookies from Papa Dupain and that big wonderful plush blanket complete with cuddles from the most amazing woman in the world for when I lose our marshmallow snowman war, I'm sold.”

“Okay you’re too sappy, definitely need some TLC… Thankfully I did restock the supplies for the fluffy armies so we can do that after you've rested.” Marinette was blushing bright red and choosing to ignore it by avoiding his playful gaze. Luka let himself be led from the hotel room to the rental car and from the airport to home. He really needed to get the guts to propose but he supposed a ring needed to be purchased first and the nice bonus from this first tour would take care of everything else to make it perfect for them. The guitarist was sure she would say yes after a very quirky Marinette freak-out of course but wasn’t that why he loved her?

#Fen's Plunny Corner #lukanette endgame #lukanette #lbsc sprint fic challenge #lovebugs and snake charmers #nottesilhouette #fluff #warm

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horrordirtbag · 3 years

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my theories on why Jason didn’t go home after drowning & peeking into his brain

Ok so people always act like the Friday the 13th continuity is an incomprehensible mess which always annoys me because it really isn’t, but there are a few things that aren’t ever really explained. Most of it’s pretty small shit only super fans argue over, like how Jason got home from Manhattan or if he can teleport or not

But there is one thing that is never explained or even addressed in any of the 12 movies: why Jason never went home, and admittedly it remains the series’ only big plothole

Part 2 puts clear emphasis on the fact that Jason’s body was never found in the lake (which was mentioned in p1), and that he spent the rest of his life living alone in the woods. But, why wouldn’t Jason just go home if he didn’t die?

Well, after pondering this in the shower, I’ve come up with a few theories that I think are pretty satisfactory. In short, I find that there are only 3 general explanations as to why he didn’t:

1. voodoo supernatural shit

2. He didn’t want to; the woods offered him a newfound freedom that his past life couldn’t.

3. He couldn’t

and now I’ll break them down more (there is some light sexual abuse stuff mentioned below so be warned)

This will also double as a deep dive into Jason’s brain lol

Ok, so first of all the voodoo shit. This is my least favorite and I only put it in there for necessity. Basically, this is shit like the deadite theory or other weird JGTH nonsense. Y’all probably already know I hate that theory, but there are other ways involving the supernatural that might work, mostly revolving around Crystal Lake’s vague death curse. But this generally goes against the notion that part 2 sets up so I’m not going to dwell on it.

Second of all, maybe he didn’t want to. This could be for a number of reasons, but the way I see it, while yes Jason loves his mother, returning home to her would mean returning to being the outcast again, to being bullied and neglected. Here, in the woods, he’s not an outcast anymore. He’s free. The woods are his world now, where he can do whatever he want and forget the world that betrayed him.

Then there’s also the possibility that may be kind of taboo for this franchise, but maybe Jason was actually mad at his mother. Or maybe not mad, but he felt betrayed by her, too. When we see Jason drown in part 1, he’s crying for his mother, and of course she never came. She was the only one that loved him, the only one that protected him, and she wasn’t there when he needed her the most. Now, obviously this is because Pamela was working in the cafeteria and couldn’t hear him, but little Jason wouldn’t know this. All he would know is that the one person who loved him never came.

Now, fast forward to 1979, and Jason watches his mother kill to avenge him. It’s the first time in 20 years that he sees that his mother did care, that she was doing all of this for him. He might even begin to feel guilty for causing her all that pain. And then, of course, seeing her die shortly after would send him over the edge. When he realizes someone out there did love him, they’re taken away. The world has been nothing but cruel to him just for being different, and all that sadness turns into anger.

Sure, there were a few times before then that Pamela tried to avenge Jason, those first 2 murders in 58, poisoning the water and setting a few fires, but it’s possible Jason didn’t witness those since they were much smaller occurrences, and also his mom didn’t give a hefty monologue at the end lol

Now... third of all.... maybe Jason physically could not. And this could also go in a number of ways. But, let’s take this from the beginning. Crystal Lake, from what we know, is a very rural place. The main part of town seems to be pretty damn far from the actual lake. So, little 11 year old Jason probably would’ve gotten lost, and would’ve had to learn how to survive in the woods, and if he came across anyone he probably would’ve been too afraid to approach them because yknow... no one ever loved him.

Granted, though... this would only account for the first few years of Jason’s woodland life. In a few years tops, Jason probably would’ve figured out a way home, unless Pamela moved out of town. Which is why I think it’s most likely a combination of this and what I talked about above. After learning how to live in the woods for a few years, he might’ve grown to like it compared to his old life, so by the time he learns how to get out, he might choose not to.

So that brings me to my final explanation, and this is really just a completely out of left field fan theory. Everything else I’ve tried to keep as close to canon as possible without taking too many liberties, but for this final theory, maybe Jason was kidnapped. Held hostage in some perverts basement for years after he drowned. Maybe that was his first kill when he escapes, maybe that’s why he hates sex (an idea I’m usually against cuz I don’t see any reason for Jason to hate sex, but in this scenario it would make sense). He could’ve been held captive up until the 70s.

But that’s a very extreme fan theory. Personally, I think it’s that Jason didn’t want to. He embraced his new found freedom... and then felt nothing but guilt for it when he watched his mother die.

So, the overall point of this post besides an obsessed fan thinking way too deeply into a slasher franchise? I guess to explain that, while yes it is a plothole, it is one that can be reasonably explained. It seems unlikely at first, but the more you think about it the more sense it makes, at least to me it does.

I also want to add, I think this element of mystery is pretty fun. Sure it’s a result of script writers not caring too much, but it adds to that urban legend feeling. The mystery is endearing and I find trying to explain them is very fun for fans

So if anyone actually read all of this, let me know what you think, or if you have your own ideas

#Friday the 13th #Jason Voorhees #Pamela Voorhees #slashers #horror movies

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busterkeatonfanfic · 3 years

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Chapter 10

The last two-and-a-half weeks of August went by in a pleasant blur. Buster almost forgot about Harry Brand’s gripes and grudges as he indulged his inner boy with the cyclone sequence. He spent the days slipping through mud, battling wind, clinging to an uprooted tree swung by the enormous crane, and clambering all over the Colusa. The production team landed a building on top of him and splintered it to pieces just after he walked out. They tore another building away from him, leaving him looking bewildered in a hospital bed. They slid buildings and piers into the river and rammed the steamboat into a building floating in the river. The more the sets collapsed around him, the more buildings were destroyed, the better he felt about Steamboat. He felt sure that next to The General, it would have the best finish of any of his pictures.

Louise, Jingles, and Myra took a train up one day so that Louise could double for Peanuts, who couldn’t swim, in the rescue scene. He put them up in the Senator where they played cards in the evenings and reminisced about Muskegon and life on the road. When his family wasn’t there, he spent the nights dining in good restaurants and playing bridge. If he tired of these activities, there was always a pretty girl nearby for added recreation.

Every week, a postcard from her mother arrived. I never hear from you. Are you sure everything is okay? Please write or telephone me as soon as possible, Nelly dear.

A spare moment came on Sunday the 28th, the day after filming wrapped and also the day before she was to begin arranging the shipment of the entire contents of the prop house back to Hollywood. Joe and Maggie were at church and had given her permission to use their phone. She called her mother at ten o’clock, knowing that it would be noon back in Evanston and both church and lunch would be finished.

“Hi, Mother,” she said, when Lena picked up.

“Is that really Nelly? Well I’ve been wondering where you’ve been,” said her mother. “Your father and I have been worrying our heads off about you.”

Nelly suspected they really hadn’t, but didn’t say so. “I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy here. I’ve hardly had a minute to myself. I work practically from sun-up to sundown.”

“Are you famous yet? Is that Keaton going to put you in his next picture?”

“No. And not as far as I know,” Nelly said. Her mother knew that she was acquainted with Buster and that he was a big name in pictures, but was too out-of-touch with the film world to be as impressed by it as she might have been.

“Well I wanted to tell you that Ruthie’s going to have a baby again,” said her mother. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

Nelly’s stomach sank. “Oh my, that’s marvelous!” she said, forcing a smile into her voice.

She and Ruthie had been close as children, but drifted apart as they matured. Nelly liked books and the theater, Ruthie liked boys and homemaking. The younger by two years, Ruthie had always been her mother’s pet. That relationship had only strengthened when Ruthie married auspiciously at nineteen and had her first baby by twenty. This would be baby number three. Nelly loved her niece and nephew, but there was a stiffness to them that she didn’t like to see—as though they were an extension of Ruthie’s big, clean house with all mechanicals and servants running in regimented order.

“She thinks she’ll have it in February,” her mother said. “A St. Valentine’s Day baby. Wouldn’t that be something?”

Nelly agreed that it would.

“You know, Harold Jenkins still asks after you every Sunday at church.”

“Does he?” she said. She had not been to church since leaving Evanston, something she’d never tell her mother, and was very grateful to not have seen the loathsome Harold Jenkins for as long.

“Are you seeing anybody out there in Sacramento?” said her mother.

“Of course not. When would I have the time?” she said.

“Oh, I don’t know. I suppose there are dances on the weekend, aren’t there?”

“I’ve gone to see the pictures a few times, but mostly I’m too tired to do anything on weekends. I work Saturdays, you know.”

The conversation was headed where it invariably did, the lines so predictable Nelly could recite them in her head.

Mother: When are you going to get married?

Nelly: When I find the right man.

M: Are you looking?

N: No, I am not.

M. Time is running out on you having children.

N: I know it is, Mother.

M: I just want to see you happy and settled down.

N: I know, Mother.

Marriage had never factored into Nelly’s plans as it had Ruthie’s. She assumed she’d get there eventually, but her real dreams had been built around the theater since she’d been ten years old and seen her first play. The possibility of having children seemed even hazier than marriage. She knew she was getting older and wouldn’t have forever to decide, but she also knew that marriage and children would put an end to her theater career. She wasn’t eager to declare the dream deceased before it ever lived.

“When are you going to settle down?” her mother asked.

Nelly did not attempt to conceal her sigh. “Just as soon as I find the right fellow.” She was half-tempted to add how bad she’d been at choosing men of late, what with the near brush she’d had with Tommy and the other workmen.

“I just want to see you happy. You’re already twenty-six. I had you and Ruthie by then,” she said.

“I am happy, Mother,” she said, frowning. “I’m working for a big star and I’m going to try out for a role in some of the other pictures just as soon as this one’s wrapped up. I don’t mind being an old maid. I’m happy. Who says happiness is marrying and having babies. What if I married the wrong fellow? I’d be a lot worse off than I am now.”

“I know you have more sense than to do that, dear,” said her mother, brushing aside her argument. “And you will be happy! I was when I met your father, and Ruthie and Gerald couldn’t be happier. It only gets better when the babies come along.”

Nelly rolled her eyes and withheld multiple sarcastic replies. “I’d better be going now. I’ve got a lot of cleaning to do. I promised Maggie and Joe I’d help.” She felt bad lying to her mother, but there was a danger of her losing her temper and that undoubtedly was a worse sin.

“Okay. I do hope you can make it back to Evanston in time for the baby to be born. Your father sends his love.”

Nelly sent her love in kind and said her goodbyes. She went upstairs and sat in her open window after she’d hung up the phone.

“She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house, my household stuff, my field, my barn, my horse, my ox, my ass, my anything,” she muttered. Spoken previously by John Barrymore in one of her fantasies, the words had seemed romantic, but they didn’t seem that way anymore. She never wanted to become a man’s chattel or ass, his anything rather than everything.

The breeze was warm and the lemon tree outside the window was plump with still green fruit. No matter what her mother said, this was happiness. She was earning her own wage and working in pictures, and she didn’t have to go to church every week and endure Halitosis Harold’s clumsy attempts at courting. There was also Buster. Just being near his genius made her feel like a piece of dry tinder next to a spark. If they were acquainted long enough, she felt certain that she would ignite with the same ingenious fire that burned in him.

#Buster Keaton #Fan fiction #Fan fic #RPF #Actor RPF #Golden Age Hollywood #silent film

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hyliangrace-a · 4 years

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oh, i ended up spending so much time on this, but - it’s done ! it’s far from perfect but i’m pretty satisfied that there’s a visual guide to my idea of hyrule, post-seven years war. & now, god help you all, i’m gonna talk about it lmao. click here if you want to see a full-sized version of the map, but i’m also gonna put it under the cut in this post with the original map for comparison, & go on for a bit about how hyrule has, in my interpretation, changed under zelda’s rule.

( this gets long. like, really long. like, over 4,500 words long. read at your own risk. i’d say i’m sorry, but i’m really not. & fuck drawing water features forever. )

first thing’s first - the map !

( apologies for the giant watermark underneath it all but i’ve had my shit stolen before & i’m not enthused at the idea of having it happen again. clicking it open in a new tab should make it bigger if the link above doesn’t work. )

so, it’s slightly bigger than the original map which is featured in the game, haha. here’s a comparison of the two, actually, with my map over the top of the original so you can see what’s been changed or added & where. i’ll talk about what got added & why in a bit, i want to speak just about the actual map, first.

i did my best to keep the main locations of hyrule as specified in the game in the same place, & i think did an okay job, tbh ! my biggest nitpick was just how many dang cliffs & rockfaces there are on the original map. i know they serve a purpose in-game, which is completely fair, but they limited worldbuilding a little by making the map so small, so i took some liberties. not with every cliff, of course - i kept some in the southwest to keep the border between gerudo valley & hyrule field intact, & kept the ridge the river runs through - partly for the sake of continuity, & partly because i’ve always loved the fact that falling into the river in the valley washes you down to the lake. expanding them into a new area was fun, too, because at least then they go somewhere, rather than just locking you in to a certain place.

my main point of contention, to be honest, was the giant rockface in south hyrule field. again, i understand why it was there, but, come on ! so i ended up just doing away with it all, letting it lead a path to two new areas i’d like to work into zelda’s canon. the map just fades out in certain places, too, particularly the gerudo desert, so i ended up expanding that a little more & having it lead into the cliffs above lake hylia - the river already runs from the valley to the lake, so why not have more of the desert lead into the mainland ? the mountains, too, got their range expanded, because they just seem so ... small, in canon, when they aren’t being used specifically as dungeon locations. i’d say the only place on the map i didn’t expand in some way is that little gap between zora’s domain & the kokiri forest - the forest is so hemmed in & the domain is literally inside a mountain, hidden behind a waterfall, so i was happy to just let that be empty space. if you manage to climb over the cliffs surrounding the domain, or break through the treetops in the forest, you get a view of the ocean, & that’s that !

it was fun to look at the maps of the games that came chronologically before this one & see how the position of things in hyrule change, but i’m kind of glad that there was only the three before ocarina of time, because the mountains alone move across the map at their leisure, good god. there was a bit of freedom in it, too, because in zelda’s canon timeline, the gods are going to flood hyrule anyway, so i could make whatever changes i wanted because it’s all gonna end up underwater & unseen in the end - plus, it meant i could add in more mountains to take up empty space on the map, because the hylians have to flee somewhere to escape the flood, & i don’t think the peak of death mountain could hold them all. most of the new locations were inspired by the minish cap, more than any other, so i’m going to start at the top of the map & move down to talk about them.

i always loved royal valley & the royal crypt in the minish cap, to be honest. it was spooky & cute, & i’m surprised it, or a concept like it, hasn’t made much of a comeback in later zelda games. the royal family’s tomb being in kakariko village never bothered me much as a kid ( other than the fact their headstone gets utterly destroyed & you get assaulted by what we can only assume are the zombies of previous hylian rulers ??? & then it’s just left open for anyone to stumble in & possibly loot slash get murdered by said zombies ??? actually, y’know what, this bothers me a lot more as an adult, what the fuck - ) but kakariko was a village founded by the sheikah, originally for the sheikah, so i did always find it a little strange that at some point, a ruler of hyrule went ❛ that’s cool, you do you, but make space for us in your graveyard. ❜ i know the history between the hylian royal family & the sheikah is implied to be murky ( thank you, shadow temple ) but that’s a meta for another day, so i’m not gonna go into too much detail, but it’s still something that sticks out as strange to me. call it the sheikah continuing to guard the royal family in death or whatever, but, hm. weird. anyway !

the point is, after the seven years war ends, zelda decides that what originally belonged to the sheikah should be given back to the sheikah. kakariko village was opened up to non-sheikah by impa prior to the rise of ganondorf, & that’s her perogative & not something zelda would ever dream of interfering with, but that applies to the living, & those who die within the village deserve to be buried in the same place. it takes time to get around to the rebuilding of hyrule castle & its’ town, but when it’s time to plan for it, zelda chooses to utilize the abandoned valley which lies behind the castle as the new home for the royal crypt, but not solely for that ! she establishes & sponsors a university on behalf of the royal family, with special consideration going to the preservation of hylian history ( a lot was lost in the hyrulean civil war prior to her birth, nevermind the seven year war following that so quickly, & we can see in other zelda games, such as twilight princess & breath of the wild, historical preservation within hyrule is ... terrible, to say the least. of course, it will all be washed away when the goddesses flood hyrule, but fuck, at least she tries. ) the university also covers a range of other subjects, but history is the one zelda takes an active interest in, & she spends a lot of time with scholars who specialize in it. the royal crypt lies at the very back of the valley, the university being closer to the castle, & then ... watch this space ! i’m likely to add more things to areas around the map in the future.

hyrule castle & hyrule castle town i’ve left in the same spots, pretty much - i imagine the castle is rebuilt to be something like the one we see at the bottom of the ocean in wind waker, but i intend to put my own spin on that, too. zelda wouldn’t be focused too much on getting a castle up agaiin ( i’ve mentioned in a thread before that two years post-ganondorf, she is still sheltering at impa’s house in kakariko village, as rebuilding for the civilians is her main priority, & whilst i haven’t figured out exactly how long that lasts for, it’s a safe bet to say a good few years ) & she definitely wouldn’t want to be living anywhere especially y’know, grandiose & opulent, if her people were still struggling day to day. the castle town bounces back better than ever, expanding a little more to the left over time, but that’s a gradual thing. no real change except a distinct lack of redeads, which is always a bonus !

death mountain & its immediate surroundings, i was happy to leave as they are - it’s marginally wonky in place compared to the original map but it’s not a severe drift from canon, so lets just pretend it sits a little more to the left, shhh. it’s a volcano built into a mountain with a network of caves both inside & adjacent to it, plus a place of worship built into the heart of it, & you can’t really go wrong with that, so i focused on all that empty space beyond them left on the map. minish cap came in clutch again, because by fuck, did they have a mountain range, so i ended up dipping in to it for the names of this one. the gorons are clustered at the forefront of the mountain because everything beyond their city has been mined to the absolute death by those who came before for its resources, & abandoned by the same in turn, but they still send patrols to make sure it’s fine.

there’s a story of how, before the gorons settled into the mountain, a man of great strength climbed the mountain alone to make his home within it - he faced eruptions from a then-hostile death mountain, fought off the creatures who called the range home & weren’t fond of sharing, & forged on to what was said to be the edge of hyrule itself. it wasn’t, not quite, but it was far enough away from the central provinces of the kingdom that the mountains became capped with snow, contrasting the temperate mountains to the west. the story goes that the adventurer decided to call the furthest reaches of the mountain home, & singlehandedly carved out what would become the beginning of the mines, in order to gather materials for his forge. it’s been disputed whether said man was hylian or goron, as the biggoron family claim lineage from him, but the mountains he once inhabited are named for him now, & are one of the places zelda hid whilst on the run & masquerading as sheik - despite the extreme temperatures playing havoc with her & nearly killing her, it’s one of the harder to reach spots in hyrule, so it provided a measure of safety that other places could not. melari’s hold lies in the northeast, but the cold spot on the mountain travels further south than would be expected, resulting in a cold spot - the ice cavern - to the north of zora’s domain.

real quick, fuck zora’s domain. there was no way to make the water feature coming from here look decent, or properly portray the types of cliffs it’s surrounded by, so please don’t judge it too harshly. at the end of ocarina of time, zora’s domain is still said to be frozen, but recovering from the curse ganondorf placed on it, which, great ! i’m gonna say, i could be completely off here in how it works, but i wanted to change things up a little, so if i am, i don’t mind that much. i like a bit of artistic license. also, if we can have literal fish people, a genderless species made of rock, children who don’t grow up in a magical forest which horrifically warps those who don’t belong, & a giant fucking overworld field where the skeletons of what look like fucking children come out to fight you at night ? i’m okay with this reckoning being off a little.

so, eventually, zora’s domain unfreezes. i personally imagine, as ganondorf’s power ebbed from hyrule, that the process started slow, until one day, it wasn’t. it’s said that zora’s fountain is the source of all water in hyrule, with the domain lying under the mountain it rests on top of, & a few secret passageways here & there, which is fine, usually - the fountain never froze, just the domain beneath it. that becomes a problem, though, when the magical freeze put in place by ganondorf wears off, & the excess water from the melt ends up flooding the domain. not a problem from those who live within it, with the zora being essentially amphibian in nature, but when that excess water begins seeping out into the fountain, through cracks in the mountain, through the entrance granted to those affiliated with the royal family ? that all goes over the fountain, down the sleepless waterfall, through the river, & that river completely bursts its banks. the water level of the river rises significantly, washing away much of the path previously taken by those who wished to go to the domain on foot, causing minor flooding in hyrule field as it travels downstream, & resulting in the waters of lake hylia rising when the overflow reaches it, hence the lake being larger in my version of the map. the rebuilding of a path to zora’s domain ends up becoming one of the earliest projects zelda undertakes as queen but it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare for a while, considering that, with princess ruto ascended as a sage, zora’s domain is now in a succession crisis. does it have much bearing on zelda’s life ? not especially, but i thought it was a nice bit of worldbuilding, so here it is.

kokiri forest, the lost woods, & everything within doesn’t change much. with the dark magic vanquished from the forest, & the great deku sprout able to thrive, the forest continues to grow, & overgrow. it’s still dangerous to outsiders to go within, still dangerous for anyone to enter the lost woods without a fairy companion to guide them & save them from a grim fate, but the children of the forest do grow somewhat braver about stepping out from their home to see the rest of hyrule. it never lasts long - not all of the kokiri are as brave as link was, after all, & hyrule is so vast compared to what they’re used to - but it sparks their curiosity & their desire to explore hyrule which eventually trickles down to the wandering koroks.

the area to the south / southwest of the kokiri forest is entirely my invention. as i said, in-game, it’s just cliffs to hem you in & prevent you from breaking the boundaries of the world, but there’s none of that in roleplaying, so i just … did away with them entirely. part of this is lake hylia not being as hemmed in by these walls as it is in-game, opening up into a new river & streams which travel through the south & southeast. crossing this river leads to three paths - take middle path, & you may find yourself in what’s known as the rito village. now, i’ll say here, i know that the rito don’t technically appear in hyrule until after the great flood, when the zoras somehow sprout wings, but nintendo’s strange decisions don’t change the fact that there are many wonderful people in the zelda rpc who play rito characters with crossover verses that let them interact with those who play characters in other parts of the timeline. in order to better facilitate interactions with these roleplayers, i decided fuck it, rito village in ocarina of time. canon can be easily bent. if, however, i’m writing with someone who wants to adhere to strict canon, then it’s just other hylians who live within the village, & rito is just the name chosen for the village, with no connection to the as-of-yet-unevolved race, just a nice little coincidence. regardless of who lives in it, though, the village & its name are fixed here in a southern woodland, with the village nestled amongst the hills within.

cross the bridge to the south & take the third branch in the path, you’ll find yourself inside the bremen woods. i honestly haven’t got much to say about the bremen woods here, but it’s not because i don’t have ideas for it - i have another headcanon brewing concerning myths, fables & fairy tales within hyrule, because … i am just that type of nerd. about eighty percent of my blogs before this one involved fairy tale characters in some way. it is, as the kids say, extremely my shit, & i’d like to tie the bremen woods into that, so i’m going to save what i have to say for that headcanon, but don’t worry. it’ll probably be a lot smaller than this one. ( thank god, i hear you say. i know, i know. i’m still not sorry. )

cross the bridge, then, & take the first branch in the path, & you better have a sword with you. the castor wilds are a lawless place, which is fitting for the corner of the world where the last remnants of ganondorf’s forces lie. any that weren’t killed during the restoration of the kingdom were beaten back to the edge of the world, & it’s not a friendly place. the last of the monsters shelter in a run-down settlement known as dragmire’s hold, the last place where those who sympathize with the king of evil can speak freely, & it’s murder to get to. the entrance to the wilds is a marshy swamp, thanks to the run-off of lake hylia, but if you manage to get through the mire, the land begins to dry out until you reach the hold, where the earth struggles to bear fruit & it seems the grass refuses to grow. it is, in a few words, fucking grim, & as a result, the go-to place for banishments within the kingdom. zelda isn’t a fan of harsh punishments, but she’s no fool, not anymore, & she won’t abide those who plot to throw the kingdom back into chaos, be it in service of ganondorf, or their own selfish natures. it’s rare that anyone actually finds themselves wandering the castor wilds, unless they actively choose to adventure there, but it is a very good threat, considering its reputation as the land where the devils live.

jumping across the map entirely, we come to the cliffs of coroa to the left of lake hylia. another spot on the map which is notorious for being hard to reach, the cliffs are an inviting challenge to those who want to boast of their climbing skills & durability. if getting up the cliffs doesn’t kill you ( & there is a very real possibility that it will, especially if you fall, ‘cause this water ain’t soft ) the journey down might do it instead, & that’s if you survive your trip at the top. there has been rumours of a great treasure hidden away in the cliffs for years, though the debate on what it might be was pretty intense, if you got into it. for a time, some thought the legendary blade rested within the cliffs, & only those who could brave the rockface would be able to lay a hand on it; others argued that it contained more mundane, but still desirable, treasures, such as a great haul from a band of thieves, left behind when they were hunted down by the crown, growing only more valuable by the minute. some, with sense, said that the only thing atop the cliffs was certain doom for the morons who tried to make their way up them. the truth ? there’s nothing up there. sometimes, cliffs are just cliffs, & those who try to scale the ones facing lake hylia truly are fools. the gerudo people, however, had the right idea of how to get to them.

again, another aspect of canon i was happy to leave as it was. the gerudo desert is a vast, harsh swathe of land, continuously assailed by sandstorms, bordered to the north by what is called ❛ the great sand sea ❜ & to the south by the haunted wasteland, & it’s not hyperbole. spirit guides appear to those who seek the temple of the goddess of the sand, but very few have ever made it through the wasteland if they enter in pursuit of something else. one of the few who did was the gerudo heroine, ashai. a well respected warrior amongst them, ashai was the younger sister to the exalted rishika, the chief of the gerudo at the time, & one of the first to vow to conquer the wasteland & see what lay beyond the storm. though her sister cautioned against it, as tales of people becoming lost in the wasteland were not uncommon, ashai was a headstrong young woman, & she could not be swayed. she took with her a party of twelve, & in time, three returned to tell their story. ashai had forged a path through the ever-shifting sands & left it well enough marked that her companions were able to find their way back. it’s said that some succumbed to madness during the journey, tormented by the ghosts of the wasteland, whilst others fell ill whilst they traveled, choking on the sand which gathered in their lungs. seven of them made it through the wasteland to the valley which lay beyond, but ashai had grown sick during the crossing, & knew she would not make it back. instead, she spent the time she had left exploring the valley, & found a way through it to the peak of the cliffs of coroa. the legend says that is there she died, watching the sun rise atop the cliffs, speaking only of her sister, & her companions laid her to rest within the valley, which her sister then named in honour of her. whilst the gerudo are happy to let those who have proven themselves attempt the journey to the desert colossus, no outsiders are permitted to walk the valley of ashai, where a shrine was built for its namesake - it is considered sacred to them, & the journey to pay respects to ashai is now part of the trial given to those who wish to become chief of the gerudo, should the bloodline of the previous chief die.

that covers just about all the main areas & landmarks of hyrule, i think, so to move on to the last thing, the various settlements, villages, hamlets you see across the map. hyrule is a big place. yes, quite a few of the races are localized to certain areas, & yes, it’s entirely plausible the hyrulean civil war could have decimated the population, with the seven years war exacerbating that problem, but hyrule field just looked so … empty, once everything else was finished. so, rather than stick to a number of locales i can count on one hand, i threw a few more settlements across the map to try & make hyrule feel more like a real kingdom. not to breath of the wild’s extent, of course, but just something a little more than what was given. all those who survived the fall of hyrule castle town apparently fled to become refugees in kakariko village, which was opened to all by impa, which is fair, but i imagine as the world returned to something close to normality, & families started growing again, the village would quickly find itself overwhelmed. as queen, zelda would make it a priority to make sure none of her subjects go homeless - she knows all too well that struggle - & so she would begin a program to make sure there was enough villages or townships for every one of her subjects. those who volunteered would be given a set amount of money & plots of land across hyrule to build a home, which zelda would then personally visit to inspect, to make sure her people were thriving.

there’s little to say in detail about them all as of right now, as i’m still fleshing them out, but i have a few basic ideas. most of the settlements were named after the first to attach themselves to the project, but the names have the potential to evolve over time. they certainly won’t retain the hamlet / settlement status, that’s for sure. the offer wasn’t restricted to hylians, either - any other race in the land was free to join, though only a small number of gerudo accepted it, the others preferring to stay in their homes & travel as they need. ciela’s settlement was the one spearheaded by the gerudo who accepted zelda’s offer, hence its proximity to the valley. a lot of young men volunteered to go to this settlement, but zelda was happy to let ciela make her own call, & many were knocked back - only those with what ciela deemed viable skills were allowed in, & still, it’s very much a female dominated settlement, but it is thriving under her leadership, & blossoms into a successful village as time goes on. lon lon ranch is, well, lon lon ranch. with funding from the crown, talon was able to take on more staff & expand it at his leisure, but it is one of the very few places in hyrule which has stayed constant over time, & he was quite content to keep it that way, & zelda content with his decision.

to the south of lon lon ranch lies damia village, the largest of all the settlements from its inception. led by a fearless young man who gave his name to the village, it is a hub of activity which could rival hyrule castle town. with damia came many like-minded people, all eager to forge their own path in the world & prove themselves as he had, as he had been part of the group which volunteered to help beat back the remnants of ganondorf’s forces. many of the families within damia village are the families of soldiers who work at the castle & it has gained a reputation for being a village full of strong, capable, trustworthy people. arborwood, which lies further to the south in a more rural location, is an outlier in that the one who volunteered to lead in this settlement didn’t wish to put their name to it - they didn’t want glory, just a place to call home where they could finally live in peace. arborwood is an agriculturally focused village, filled with farmers & those who possess green thumbs. a lot of trade is done between arborwood & all the other villages - everyone in hyrule became proficient at growing & hunting their own food in the past thirty years, as was necessary to survive, but it’s nice to have a place to get food from which specializes in high quality meat & crops. why hunt rabbits, when arborwood can provide venison ?

last but not least, lynna’s hamlet, which settled at lake hylia at the request of the owner of the lakeside laboratory. as he was getting on in years, he wished to find someone to continue his work, & so specifically requested that any like-minded hylians settle close to the lake so that he could impart his wisdom & let them take over. he got quite a few more people volunteering than he bargained for, be they scientifically inclined, interested in cataloguing the history of lake hylia, or just desirous of a change in scenery. the smallest of the new settlements, lynna’s hamlet never truly flourished the way others did, but the buildings were never empty - as time went on & people began to move elsewhere, it became a popular spot for those who traveled the land to rest at when they came to the lake, with a very successful inn eventually being run by the lakeside, its doors open to any who wished to visit.

it’s not a lot of worldbuilding when it all comes down to it, compared to other things, but this is something that i’ve wanted to do for a long time. as i’ve mentioned in the section regarding the bremen woods, more headcanons are likely to follow regarding places on the map & how they change & evolve as time passes during zelda’s rule, but for now, there’s this ! something which makes hyrule feel less empty than what it was before, whilst still respecting canon, somewhat which was the goal all along. if you’ve made it this far, holy shit, go outside & feel the sun on your face. it’s been eighty-four years - but i can’t thank you enough for reading ! at least next time, the headcanon won’t be so long. i hope.

#⌜ ❛ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜɪsᴛᴏʀʏ & ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪᴛ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ᴛᴇʀᴍs. ❜ ⌟ ✦ ( headcanon. )#( eight. eight pages & 4700-odd words of rambling in google docs #i can't believe i spent so much time on this oh my GOD #but it's done !! it's one am & i'm going to bed but i have to get this out into the world before i go #tomorrow i swear i'll get more actual roleplaying done but for now have ... eight fucking pages of THIS i guess #if this is incoherent please let me know good god )

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chocoluckchipz · 4 years

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A Bride for the Prince - 2

A03 ~ < Previous ~ Next >

“And that’s everything I have for today, Your Highness,” Nino said, finishing his daily report.

“Thank you, Nino.” Adrien nodded. “By the way, you may remove your mask if we are in my private quarters. No one’s going to see us here.”

Groaning with relief, Nino removed the mask and massaged the skin under it. "Thank goodness. This thing is an atrocity, so uncomfortable to wear for long periods.”

“Sorry.” Adrien half-smiled apologetically. “After this whole mess is over, I’ll make sure you all are rewarded for your troubles.”

“You’d better,” Nino puffed. “Because I don’t remember ‘wearing an extremely uncomfortable mask all day long just so my prince can spy on his brides’ in the description of my job.”

“Well, how else am I supposed to trick my ‘brides’ into behaving as themselves around me if they know who I am?” Adrien retorted. “Some of them have seen my face, Nino. I had to cover it. And since I’m wearing a mask, it only made sense to have all of you wear one so I won't stand out.”

“You could’ve, you know, spied on them from a window instead of pretending to be a guard,” Nino offered. “‘Cause let me tell you, you are making it super easy to spread those stupid rumours about you. Some people are actually starting to believe them.”

“Is that so?” Adrien chuckled and leaned back on a window wall, looking outside where his potential brides were taking their evening walks. "I don't really care about that now. I have only a month to choose, so I need to be down there, hidden in plain sight as a guard observing them up close. There is only so much I can see from a window, but none of them would care to look their best in front of a mere guard, won’t you agree?”

“While I do understand that,” Nino added, walking closer and taking a look outside himself. “I still think that rumours are a bit extra.”

“Oh. You think so?”

“You know, letting them think that after a freak accident that had never happened you suddenly had become a weirdo with crazy ideas and an ugly face—”

“And unpredictable behaviour,” Adrien pointed out.

“Of course,” Nino lamented. “How could I forget the unpredictable behaviour, Your Highness? I beg for your forgiveness. This will never happen again.”

Adrien laughed, looking at his loyal guard and best friend. “That was your girlfriend’s idea. How could you forget? Or better yet, what will she say when she finds out?”

“So not the point,” Nino grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell her,” Adrien chuckled, returning his eyes to the garden. “I need you alive.”

“I’m forever indebted to you, Your Highness,” Nino mockingly bowed. “But seriously,” he added, placing his hand on the prince’s shoulder. “Are you sure this is going to work, Adrien? Do you think it’s worth all the trouble? You might be doing more damage than good.”

“What else could I do?” Adrien responded quietly, his jaw tightening as he gritted out through his teeth after a momentary pause. “I hate that stupid tradition. Absolutely abhor it. But, since I wasn’t able to get out of it, is it so bad that I’m trying to at least find a bride whom I might actually like?”

“That’s not bad at all,” Nino replied with a sigh. “But don’t you think that not all of the ladies will drop their ‘nice’ acts once they hear that the prince has become eccentric with crazy ideas, ugly face and unpredictable behaviour? Have you’ve forgotten that some of them care for nothing but your money and a title?”

“Okay, true. But most of them are bound to lose interest,” Adrien argued back. “And I’ll have a better chance to see who they truly are if they aren’t super invested in wooing me.”

“Have you forgot to consider that the nice ones might also lose interest in you with such a reputation? Suppose you will like someone. How can they like you back if all they know about you are the rumours the servants spreading? I know you are playing the whole oddity role, but at least reconsider staying away completely and go out there as yourself once in a while.”

They remained silent for a few moments, the prince looking out of the window, his guard standing by.

“I’ll think about that,” Adrien said quietly. “There will be a few balls I’m required to attend as a Prince. I convinced Father to make those masquerades, so I can still wear a mask. I guess I can talk to the ones I like there, and then we’ll see what happens.”

Nino shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't envy you, Adrien. I hope you know that.”

“Then tell me, Nino," Adrien asked after a while. "Tell me honestly: knowing my situation, do you think there was something better I could've done?"

Nino didn’t answer. He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall.

“Not everyone’s lucky enough to marry the person they love,” Adrien added. “Not everyone’s lucky enough to even meet someone they can fall in love with. I’m trying to do my best here, and I know it’s not a foolproof plan and has a ton of holes, but for now, catching the general gist undercover as Chat Noir is the best option I could think of."

“Speaking of Chat Noir," Nino stirred. “I noticed him being rather flirty with a certainty lady that splattered all over the floor yesterday. Even giving her a private tour of the castle. So attentive. Don’t you want to tell me anything?”

Adrien’s face brightened. “You mean Marinette?”

“Marinette?” Nino wiggled his eyebrows. “I see we’re on a first-name basis already? Rather fast, don’t you think? Should we tell the other ladies to go home already?”

Adrien laughed. “If you couldn’t tell it for yourself, Marinette isn’t a lady, Nino.”

Nino frowned. “I thought your father sent out invitations only to the noble families?”

“Yeah, he did,” Adrien mocked. “Just as the tradition commands. But I know for certain that Marinette doesn’t come from a noble family.”

“I don’t understand. Then why is she here? And as a lady?”

“I have no idea either.” An amused smile claimed Adrien’s lips as he glanced out of the window, “But since I’m rather intrigued, I’ll make sure to find out.”

“I suppose you know her then? To know she isn’t nobility?”

“Even if I didn’t know her, her behaviour would’ve given her away instantly. Not only did she talk on equal terms with a humble servant such as myself, but she allowed me to argue and flirt with her and accompany her on a tour of the castle—on my arm, no less. Rather scandalous for a true lady, wouldn’t you say so?” Pausing for a moment, Adrien frowned. “Though, I suppose we should probably warn her to work on her etiquette; wouldn’t want an old friend to get in trouble. But, Nino, this stays between us until further notice.”

“Of course.” Nino nodded and settled on an opposite corner of the window Adrien was sitting on before shooting him a smirk, “But, now this is interesting. I know all of your commoner friends and non-lady Marinette isn’t on my list. Do tell.”

Adrien shrugged. “There isn’t much to tell. You know how Mother and I would always spend our summers in DuPont before she passed away?"

“Your summer castle?”

“Yes. Well, since Father wasn't around, Mother allowed me to socialize with all the children at the castle despite their social status as long as they weren’t aware of who I was.”

“She did hold more liberal values than your father,” Nino sighed. “Her passing was a great loss not only for your family but to the country in general.”

“She was amazing.” Adrien half-smiled. “It was thanks to her and the liberties she that allowed me in DuPont that I first started to realize that maybe the way of life as I knew it wasn't exactly how everyone else did. Marinette was actually a huge part in that. Her father was our baker, and out of all the kids there, she was the most fun to play with. So, we kind of ditched everyone else and just ran wild by ourselves. She taught me a lot of things I'd never known before.”

“A childhood friend,” Nino smiled. “I see. But you haven’t been to that castle since you were... what? Fourteen? How did you recognize her?” Nino scratched his forehead. “I mean it’s been ages; she probably looks nothing like she did before.”

"Sky-blue eyes," Adrien said quietly, looking into the garden. "That's a rare shade in our country, but if you pair those with freckles and slightly bluish-black hair, it’s even harder to find. Cute smile and adorable button for a nose. Clumsy but charming. How could I forget? She hasn’t changed that much. She just matured and blossomed.”

“That’s a lot of details to remember.” Nino raised an eyebrow. “Do I smell first love kind of deal?”

“Noooo,” Adrien nervously chuckled. “She was just a friend. The first real friend I’ve had.”

“If you say so,” Nino chuckled. “But it sounds to me—”

“Sounds like you need to check your hearing,” Adrien interceded, standing up. “Also, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get started on my beauty sleep; I have a busy day tomorrow, and it's supposed to do wonders for my facial ugliness.”

Nino chuckled, following the prince’s example and standing up from the window sill. “No escapades into the city today?”

“I think we should hold off on that,” Adrien said with a frown. “With all of those ‘brides’ in the castle, security is upped, and I don’t want to risk Father finding out I regularly sneak out into the city."

“Don’t you think his cold heart won’t melt once you explain that you do it to get to know your subjects and their issues better? You know, something any good ruler would approve of?”

Adrien scoffed. “I doubt my father would listen past ‘sneak out’ part. Add in ‘speaking with the commoners’ part, and I’ll be stripped of whatever privileges I still have. You know for yourself how hard it was to convince him to let me do the whole ‘masked guards and Chat Noir’ thing. I don’t want to risk it.”

“Convince?” Nino scoffed. “If you mean threatening to never marry or not to consummate any marriage he would force on you and therefore leave the country without an heir to his precious Agreste line is convincing, then yeah, you’ve convinced him alright.”

Adrien didn’t answer, his eyes locked on the ground, fists clenched by his sides.

“Sorry,” Nino apologized. bowing his head down. “I’ve crossed the line. It just... the way he treats you as an asset rather than a human being just makes me so mad—”

“Nino—”

“It isn’t fair, Adrien? Alright? Nothing about your life is fair, and how in the world you are still trying to see the good in him and be the best you can, I cannot comprehend. Now, I must apologize again and leave you to rest. Have a good night, Your Highness.”

Bowing down, Nino turned around and marched out of the room.

“Good night, Nino,” Adrien whispered after him. “Thank you."

Chat Noir rounded the corner, trying to get as far away from the sparring court as he could. Damned be his curiosity! He should’ve listened to Nino and stayed as far away from the area as he could.

“I’ve been told that Lady Riposte has been awaiting you at the sparring court since the sunrise," Nino added after his morning report. "The guards said she was rather… intense."

The corner of Adrien’s lips curled in a little smile. “That’s a rather strange meeting place for a Lady who is looking to interest me in herself romantically. But then, she is from a famous fencer line, isn’t she? Maybe that’s her idea of courting.”

“The guards said she has beat each of them easily and is eager to spare with the Prince to prove her superiority,” Nino said monotonously. “If you are interested in a wife to kick your ass literally, be my guest.”

Adrien wasn’t interested in that precisely, but he was curious to see the famous Lady Riposte. At first glance, he wasn’t disappointed; the girl was pretty. Slim figure, dark hair, rosy lips, golden eyes, and a blush on her cheeks.

Then she looked at him.

The intensity in her eyes, the slightest raise of her eyebrow, the tension in her lips, and Adrien felt like he was not nor would he ever be worthy of Lady Riposte. Not because she was great, though. More because she seemed to consider a mere guard Chat Noir unworthy of even speaking to her, making sure he understood that from her glance alone. Not even under his Father’s glare had Adrien ever felt so small and uncomfortable.

Quickly, he crossed a centre courtyard and stood on guard at the corner; it was the perfect spot to observe a few of the other ladies roaming around. Lady Volpina sat nearby surrounded by a few others, their mouths agape as she was weaving them a tale. He had to admit she was pretty and her voice sounded honey-sweet, but Nino had warned him about her in particular.

“Lady Volpina seems to be quite famous,” his friend had said. “But may I request permission to check her out? Her story seems to be unusually—hm, how do I say it?—incredible? I’ve heard her claim to be skilled in all possible arts there are, speak six languages, travel around the world trice, have more gold than you, and to be a personal friend of all four of the neighbouring princesses. We all know that two of those haven’t been on the best terms in ages. ‘Would murder at first sight’ bad terms, to be precise. It would be highly unlikely for them to share a close friend."

Adrien had nodded. “Check her story, but discreetly.”

“Of course. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.”

Seeing Lady Volpina revelling in the awe she held the other ladies in, he wondered if Nino should even bother with that now.

His sight shifted to where Lady Bourgeois was strolling along the path, loudly complaining about the sun, her poor maid barely able to keep up with an umbrella. Chat made a face and turned to look another way. He didn’t need Nino to tell him about her since Lady Bourgeois was the only one of the young ladies repeatedly visiting his castle with her father. Over the years, he had gotten to know her character very well. The thought of marrying her made his stomach twist.

His sight fell on the corner of the garden, particularly on a couple of ladies standing there. They were partly hidden behind a group of trees, and since there was no one else at the court Chat Noir deemed worthy of observing, he slowly headed their way.

He was only a few meters away when a little servant girl jumped from around a corner and ran towards the ladies with tears in her eyes. Chat stilled and hid behind a tree, close enough to see what was going on but far enough to remain undetected by the group.

“Ella, I’m sorry, but I cannot do this right now,” one of the ladies said.

The voice belonged to Alya: one of the maids at the castle, Nino’s girlfriend of the past six months, and someone who Adrien considered to be his friend as well, someone with whom he could talk without titles and similar nonsense.

“But Alya,” the little girl, Alya’s sister, cried. “Nora will murder me if she sees I ripped her favourite shirt.”

“She won’t, Ella. She is your sister.”

“She’s big and scary, and a royal knight!” Ella cried out. “She will slay me with her huge sword because she’ll still have Etta and you for sisters. She doesn't need me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Alya scoffed. “First of all, you should’ve never taken her shirt to play with in the first place, and second, you can’t bother me right now. Can’t you see I'm working?”

“Excuse me, but can I look at it?”

Chat’s breath hitched as he watched Marinette squat down to Ella’s height, asking to see the ruined garment. A moment later, Marinette produced a needle and thread from who knows where and started to stitch.

“You carry around a needle and thread?” Alya deadpanned.

Marinette nervously chuckled. “This kind of dress isn’t exactly what I’m used to wearing on a daily basis. I might have ripped it a few times already, and I’d like to be prepared for when it happens again because, let’s be honest, I’m not exactly the most graceful of the ladies.”

Chat Noir chuckled under his breath and left his hiding spot, hoping to interfere in the situation before anyone would notice.

“Good morning, my Lady,” Chat Noir greeted with a grin. Alya’s eyes snapped to him before darting back to Marinette, who instantly straightened up, hiding the shirt behind her back. A light blush covered her cheeks just as Ella yelped and dashed away. “You look lovely and well-rested this morning. I hope you’re enjoying your stay so far.”

“I... yes, thank you, Chat Noir,” Marinette replied with a smile that was a little too wide, her blush spreading to her ears. “I did rest well, and I am enjoying everything. Immensely. Thank you for asking. I hope you also slept well?”

“I certainly did,” he purred before taking Marinette’s hand and pressing a kiss on her knuckles. Marinette blushed but didn’t pull her hand away.

Adrien inwardly groaned. Clearly, whoever sent Marinette here failed to teach her proper etiquette between servants and nobility; otherwise, she most certainly would not have allowed him to kiss her hand. She was lucky they were hidden away behind the trees with Alya as their only witness.

“I couldn’t help but notice,” he reached around her waist to grab the shirt Marinette still held in her hand. Pulling it to the front, Chat held it between them so he could look at the stitches. “Were you patching this up? Because I thought ladies aren’t supposed to hold a needle in their hands unless it’s one of those intricate embroidery pieces. Or was I misinformed?”

Closing her eyes, Alya hid her face behind her hand. Marinette bit into her lip and blushed crimson.

“Er... I… uh...” she stuttered, snatching her hand away and hiding both of them behind her back. “I do... that... embroider. I... I was- I was just... showing off my stitches? Since… there are many- many different stitches. In embroidery."

While he successfully suppressed his laughter, Adrien failed to contain a chuckle. This right here was why he loved to play with Marinette as a kid: amongst many other excellent qualities, she was always adorably awkward, something Adrien found extremely amusing.

“May I suggest,” he said, handling the shirt over Alya, “that you abstain from showing any more of your stitches for now, because while your maid and I fully understand your passion for this art form, I’m afraid most of the other people in the castle won't."

“Alright.” Marinette nodded, her smile overly bright, cheeks ladybug red with embarrassment. "I'll remember that. Thank you for the warning, I'll keep my passion under wraps, but now I, uh... I have to go," she nervously chuckled. "I have stuff to do... in my room... so I must depart. Excuse me.”

Not waiting for his reply, Marinette dashed away, Chat’s chuckle following her steps.

“Excuse me, but what the hell was that?” Alya immediately stepped up and glared at the masked prince.

“Nothing.” He grinned like a cat.

Alya raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really? I’m not blind, you know.”

Adrien’s grin faded as he turned to Alya. “Well then, tell me what you think of your lady?”

“What about her?” Alya frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I don’t know?” Adrien wondered with a teasing smile. “Does she seem a bit strange to you, maybe? Or perhaps behaves a little unladylike sometimes?”

Alya looked questioningly at Chat.

His grin widened.

“Okay.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s going on? Who is she?”

“Lady Bug? I thought you were informed—”

“Don’t even try that with me, Your Highness.” Alya shook her finger at him. “I’m not going away until you tell me who’s this ‘lady’ of yours.”

“Alya...” Adrien started to regret he’d ever said anything to her in the first place. Alya was great, but when she wanted something, one had no choice but to give it to her. Or suffer the consequences and then still give it to her after.

“Well, if you aren't going to tell me, I can always ask around,” she threatened, putting her hands on her hips and shooting him a challenging smile.

Adrien pouted, refusing to speak.

“You started it, Noir,” Alya shrugged. “Now I’m curious and you know when I’m curious, I have ways—”

“Okay, fine,” Adrien relented. “But this stays between us… and Nino.”

“So Nino knows and he didn't tell me?” Alya quirked an eyebrow.

“Geez, Alya. He just found out. Let the man live.”

A few moments and an intense staring match later, Alya gave in. “Fine. I will. I do love him after all. But only if you tell me who this ‘Lady Bug’ is and what’s your deal with her?”

"She’s an old friend from way back at DuPont,” Adrien gave in. “A commoner old friend, and before you ask, no, I don’t know how or why she’s here.”

“A commoner pretending to be a lady?” Alya raised an eyebrow. “She’s bold.”

“More like reckless since she’s failing at it miserably.”

“Oh, that is painfully evident,” Alya scoffed. “You aren't much better, though, Chat Noir. Keep your paws off; you aren't helping.”

“Hey, don’t act so innocent. You allowed me to do that. As her maid, you should’ve been watching out for her better.”

“Exactly.” Alya pointed out. “I’m a maid, not an etiquette protocol watchdog. My job is to help her, not educate, but if you insist, Your Highness, I can always slap your paws off next time.”

“Then why don’t we agree on that?” Adrien proposed. “Do me a favour: help her to blend in and behave like a lady. For now, at least, until I’ll figure out what’s going on here.”

Alya remained silent for a few moments, then crossed her arms over her chest. “Why should I?”

“Because she is an old friend of mine and I’m begging you on my knees… Metaphorically,” he added when Alya glared his way. “Please? For our friendship’s sake? Or do I need to get on my knees literally?”

Alya quirked an eyebrow. “You’ll go that far?”

“I might since I’m just as curious as you are,” Adrien admitted. “I want to know what’s going on, and I can't do that if someone will discover our ‘lady’ isn't a lady at all. You like a good story, don't you? And I bet there is an amazing story behind this whole thing, so, please, Alya, help us both?”

“You’re insufferable, Adrien,” Alya sighed eventually. “You going to owe me for this. Got it?”

“I figured. From experience.” Chat nodded.

“All right.” She pursed her lips. “I’ll see what I can do. Does she know who Chat Noir is and that you know who she really is?”

He half-cringed. “No to both, and I’d like for that to stay that way.”

Alya raised an eyebrow. “All right, but I want to be kept in the loop. All the details, as soon as you know. Deal?”

“It almost sounds like you are giving me a choice,” Adrien deadpanned.

“In your dreams, Noir,” Alya snickered. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ll be off to supervise our lady so she doesn’t land herself in a dungeon while I’m away. See you around, Chat Noir.”

Alya dashed away, and Adrien heaved a sigh. He swore dealing with Alya was a task and a half and could take years off one’s life. However, there was no one else whom he trusted more to watch over Marinette to ensure she wouldn't be discovered. For now, that was all he could do, apart from hoping that Marinette’s tale would be worth all the risk she was putting herself under.

His father wasn’t the most merciful of men around.

#miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #A Bride for the Prince #Collab with TheNovelArtist #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #poor Marinette got herself in more troubles than she bargained for #Adrien isnt helping #multi

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cordonia-continued · 4 years

Text

In The Shadows

Book: The Royal Romance 1 & 2. Bastien’s story.

Pairings: Bastien. Liam x MC (Riley Taylor)

Warnings: slight swearing, slight angst

A/N: I thought it would be nice to see things from Bastien’s POV. Any similarities to anything else out there is unintentional and is purely coincidental. I fell in love with the TRR series late and have only just got into it. I felt that some of the chapters just needed a bit more - it goes along with my previous fanfic where Riley went back to New York briefly after the coronation ball.

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Apologies in advance for any typos, grammar or spelling errors.

Chapter 1

‘You did what?’ Bastien’s eyebrows knit together and he shakes his head slightly, he stares down at the young noble, disbelieving.

‘I...um...I asked the waitress from last night to come back to Cordonia with us. To...um be House Beaumont’s sponsor for the suitor.’

Maxwell, Drake and the girl have arrived in the palace lobby, upon seeing the waitress Bastien immediately grabbed Maxwells elbow and led him away from the others.

Bastien stands slack jawed in front of Maxwell. Maxwell was so confident in his earlier decision but is now unsure that it was a good idea at all, what with Drakes blatant disapproval and now Bastien getting on his case. Hiding his nerves he smiles a big wide toothed grin at Bastien, his eyes are however peering sheepishly at the large imposing figure in front of him. Bastien crosses his arms in front of his chest.

‘Seriously Lord Maxwell?’ Silently he adds what the hell is wrong with you?

‘Um...should I not have?’ Maxwell looks crestfallen, his voice less confident. Bastien shakes his head again.

‘It’s just...I saw how well they got on and how Liam looked at her...’ a soppy smile plays at Maxwells lips and Bastien lets out a sigh. ‘And I just thought it would make him happy.’

‘Lord Maxwell I shouldn’t have to tell you about security, you can’t just go around inviting random strangers back to the palace. What about her security clearance? What about the background checks? There’s a process for choosing suitors for a reason.’

‘Pleeease Bastien? Please let her stay, surely you can get all those things done?’ Maxwell’s whiney tone irritates Bastien. What the hell is wrong with these entitled kids? He thinks. Do they not realise my job is hard enough as it is. He takes a deep breath and tries not to show how irritated he is. He can’t believe Drake had a part in this, he had thought better of him, his dad was a kings guard, he’s seen first hand how tough their job was, he didn’t think Drake would have gone along with this stupid scheme.

‘Look, I can try and fast track her security clearance but the background checks might take a while. You should have at least run this by me first.’ The scowl on Bastien’s face gives away his irritation, but there is little he can do now she’s here, he’s not heartless enough to put her straight back on a plane home.

‘Is that a yes to her staying then?’ Maxwell asks his voice full of hope. ‘Please? Please?’ Maxwell hops from foot to foot.

‘For now it is, but listen to me carefully, this is only temporary. If the checks come back less than satisfactory I will get rid her faster than you can say Jack Robinson.’

‘Who?’

Bastien sighs, exasperated ‘It’s an idiom Lord Maxwell... anyway that’s not important. Lady Riley will be kept a close eye on until she’s cleared, you understand? And if anything happens to the Crown Prince I’m holding you personally responsible, get it?’ For his own amusement Bastien runs a finger across his throat, keeping the tone of his voice hard, his cold eyes staring at Maxwell in what he hoped was an intimidating way. Maxwell nods his head very slowly, eyes wide.

Why did none of them take his role seriously? Bastien thinks, he thought his job would be a lot easier now with Prince Liam to look after. After looking after the rebel that was Prince Leo he assumed this would be a walk in the park. He’s still not forgiven himself for allowing the former crown prince to escape his security detail time and time again.

‘Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!’ Maxwell sings. ‘I could hug you!’

‘Please don’t’ Bastien growls holding a hand up in front of Maxwells face. ‘I’ve got work to do’. He strides out of the lobby back to the security offices in the basement of the palace.

Bastien unlocks the door to his windowless office, despite the heat of the Cordonian summer outside the air inside is cool. The quiet tranquillity of his clutter free desk, pristine stark white walls and marble floor are a comfort to him. He sinks gratefully into his black leather office chair. Why did I ever agree to that ridiculous bachelor party? He thinks back to the nightmare he had arranging the security so that of the Crown Prince of Cordonia and his friends could galavant freely around New York. He had factored in the girls that would no doubt throw themselves at Liam, that was par for the course with the young handsome prince, what he hadn’t factored in however, was a waitress taking the Prince on a god damn boat to the Statue of Liberty. What a curve ball that had turned out to be, he very nearly called the coast guard for an escort, but for some unknown reason his gut told him to trust her, and he had thankfully trusted his gut. He shook his head at the memory of the feisty American girl that seemed to hold some kind of power over the Prince that night. In all honesty he didn’t think he’d see her again, he should have known better. He too had noticed how Liam was around her, he hadn’t seen the Prince act that way before, as far as he’s aware Liam has never been in love, never had a serious girlfriend even, not like Leo who fell dramatically in love with every girl he met, often regaling Bastien with tales of the wild nights he had spent with them when Bastien had finally tracked him down and dragged him back the palace. No Liam wasn’t like his brother in that respect. This isn’t going to end well Bastien thought I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.

Powering up his laptop he got to work on the background checks for the pretty American waitress, hoping it wouldn’t be too difficult. Maxwell had emailed him back the questionnaire all candidates had to fill in so at least he had a starting point.

Several hours later an alarm sounded on his phone, the masquerade ball was starting, he needed to get up to the ballroom and check in with the security team up there. He stretched his arms above his head intertwining his fingers and cracking his knuckles, he rolled his head from side to side straightening out the kinks in his neck from being hunched over his laptop for so long. Normally these kids were easy to trace, their social media often gave away a lot of information, but not this one. So far all he’s traced her back to is one bank account with a pittance in it; an address for a studio apartment in a not so nice area of Queens; and a history of jobs like the one at the bar that they already knew about from when the guys met her. She’s proving to be an enigma and Bastien doesn’t like mysteries.

He moves through the passageways of the palace quickly and silently, finally emerging in the ballroom. He scans the room for the prince and spots him deep in conversation through the balcony doors with the waitress. Shit he thinks to himself making his way quickly and discreetly to the open doors of the balcony. He’s being doing this job for so long he knows how to blend seamlessly into the background, lurking in the shadows. He casts an ear over the Prince’s conversation telling himself it’s to make sure nothing confidential is being discussed, in reality he wants to suss out the situation, check if his initial instincts about Liam’s feeling were right. He’s not sure he trusts this girl yet, not until he’s had more time to look into where she’s come from, this is real life not a fucking fairytale he thinks to himself bitterly.

Later that night he watches from an upstairs window as the Prince and the mystery suitor enter the hedge maze. To give him his due Liam hasn’t done a bad job of trying to evade Bastien, however Bastien has had plenty of practice and Liam definitely isn’t as good at sneaking around as Leo was. This Riley girl is going to be the Prince’s Achilles heel he can tell already. He watches silently from afar, letting the Prince have his fun, letting him think he’s outrun Bastien. He smiles to himself remembering his youth, whilst he never had girls throwing themselves at him in quite the same way, he remembers what it was like to be carefree. He waits until he’s sure the Prince has returned to his room alone before making his way to his own room, vowing to make a renewed effort to trace the enigmatic Riley Taylor.

#choices trr #choices #trr liam #trr mc x liam #trr fanfic #the royal romance #pixleberry #trr bastien #liam x riley #king liam

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dianadragonfly · 4 years

Text

Okay, hang on bitches, cause Imma bout ta rewatch “The Final Problem.” I’ve seen it once since 2017. And because there is no commentary on the disc I have, I will be providing the commentary.

[[MORE]] Since I started my “rewatch and comment” spree, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Things that had previously stood out in my mind as being particularly not-good are really not that bad. Most were actually really short moments that stood out in retrospect because they seemed incongruous with how well-written and acted everything else was.

Up till season 2, the writers could do no wrong whatsoever. The exact moment I experienced a “well that was overdone” moment of questioning the writers was when Sherlock broadcast a picture of Mary on the outside of the facade in “His Last Vow.” From there, I had moments of doubt and questioning plot and directing choices that took away from the narrative. But, except for the moment John sees Mary die, I never ever questioned the acting choices. The actors are so amazing. And I’m not just saying that because Ben and Martin are hot.

As I prepare to watch the episode, there are several scenes that I dread. Opening with the girl on the airplane reminds me of how much I hated this trick. If the girl is Eurus messing with them, then why do we see it acted out? If we cannot trust that what we see is a reality, then all of the “Mind Palace” theories of TFP (i.e. that it actually took place in a dream or in the head of a character) have some authenticity to them. Ugh.

Damn. I’d forgotten the “Hello. My name is Jim Moriarty” part of the intro. No need for that if the girl is just something in Eurus’s imagination.

Oh shit. I hate hate hate hate everything about this scene of Mycroft.

First of all, there is security in Mycroft’s house.

Second of all, he would have skewered any of those actors with the umbrella sword or shot one of them with the gun.

Why are the paintings crying blood? John and Sherlock couldn’t accomplish that... once we add scary clown it’s just too much. Even for Sherlock.

Oh stop with the heavy-handed East Wind references. Dammit, I loved this show for its subtly. Killer clowns are not subtle, even in pranks.

Now with Mycroft here, in the client position, refusing to sit, with the Baker Street Boys in their chairs - this is what I came for. The light, the look on their faces, the composition of the shot.

Oohh Hudson throwing some shade. John’s half smile...

Is the skull portrait glowing? I can’t tell.

“That’s why he stays!” Fuck yeah. John’s half smile again...

“Middle child. Explains a lot.” As a middle child, I resent that remark. And sort of get it.

So the flashing back and forth in time, with the ashes of Musgrave Hall in the apartment, 5 year old Eurus answering grown-up Mycroft’s questions, the pebble: all of that would be okay, if not a tiny bit less than subtle, had we not just fought a goddamn clown in the scene before.

Oh goddamn. The stupid fucking patience gernade and that song.

Of course Mrs. Hudson vacuums to Iron Maiden.

It’s Sherlock’s turn to half-smile. Cute.

Beautifully shot here with the above view and all three of them at different points on a circle around it.

Ugh. I have to turn away at the “action shot” of them jumping out the window. This is not “Die Hard.” It’s not a cop buddy movie. We just got a really well played, fun little scene where they talked a about Oscar Wilde to avoid talking about the fact that they might die. That’s what I watch Sherlock for.

There was a fan fic written around 2012 that mentions “The Importance of Being Ernest.” Coincidence? Creators reading fanfic? I know Wilde and ACD were contemporaries, but it’s interesting. I can’t think of any other literary works that are alluded to in canon. It’s funny it should be this one.

And now we’ve commandeered a boat. Seriously.

All of the other episodes, I had more patience with on this go-around where I get a chance to type out reactions and reflect on how they are put together. But I’m finding that isn’t the case with this one. I’m just pissed. Give me one or two unbelievable moments or plot twists in an episode and I can sustain it. But between the airplane, killer clowns at Mycroft’s, the patience gernade, and this, I’m already done and we’re 20 minutes in. Sherlock looks like a goddamn vampire bat. And seriously, why does Mycroft need to steal a boat? And write a message in the sand? What the hell? Why dress up?

Sherlock’s security guard act cracks me up.

Oh his face when he sees Eurus. His. Face. Curiosity. Heartbreak. Empathy. Pain. Doubt. Fear. THIS is my show. Not patience gernades, killer clowns, dressing up like a sea captain etc in one damn episode.

She “enslaves” people... magical Eurus who makes people kill their family. Really?!

Oh no. He ignores “Vatican cameos.” I forgot that. He chooses to ignore John’s warning.

His face.... Jesus Benedict can act.

Big bouncy red alert! Okay, what was with the spinning John face when he gets knocked out?

This constant shift between wondering what the hell is happening, wondering if the show has become a parody of itself, and then bouncing back to this heart wrenching narrative — is that the point of this episode? Like “The Empty Hearse” or “The Abominable Bride”? But those episodes explained themselves after they pulled the rug out. As soon as something got to the point of absurdity, it was explained. Sherlock didn’t swing in a window at Bart’s and kiss Molly but we briefly were led to believe he did. Moriarty and Sherlock aren’t really kissing on the roof. (By then we knew what was up though). Sherlock didn’t really attempt to dig up a dead Amelia Rocoletti. We understand it’s a drug-induced dream.

This rapid jumping back and forth with half-assed explainations — I’m coming to believe this off-balance feeling is the point of the episode but I don’t like it. I like it even less than I did before.

Oh Andrew Scott. I love you.

The bastards wait till 5 minutes into the Moriarty scene to tell us it’s 5 years ago. That constant pulling out the rug — I will at least excuse that because there is a plausible explaination given. But it’s a cheap trick. This episode is one cheap trick after another, with only a few moments, here and there, of characters actually interacting.

So it’s late and I don’t know if I have the heart to make it through this whole episode tonight. To be continued....

Edited:

Starting at scene 5 on the DVD because that's when Sherlock sees Eurus for the sort of first time. I kind of just want to bask in Ben's performance here again.

After the last episode, clean-shaven Sherlock in a suit is a relief. He's back... at least a little.

His small smile when he asks her how she got out. . .

I'm realizing how much of this scene had to be Benedict looking directly into the camera and talking to Eurus. That had to be intimidating.

***I've skipped ahead to closer than where I was last night because the small people in my house will want food soon. Parentig gets in the way of fangirling. ****

I still love the Hungry Donkey story.

OH MY GOD! I forgot how much I love Andrew Scott here!!!

Are they making out through the glass?

And now the four of them wake up in a cell but this one has glass. Ugh. The plane again. I love how Sherlock changes his voice here to talk to the girl. He isn't incapable of reading people and reacting to them. He just usually can't be bothered. There’s a fan theory that says Sherlock is autistic. I was going to comment that this skill of his is evidence that he’s not but I stopped myself. He -knows- HOW one needs to act to get people to respond to him, but it’s a learned skill. Which actually might add evidence to the “autism” theory more than the sociopath theory.

Mark Gatiss - I forget what an incredible actor he can be. Whoa.

These scenes - these scenes where they have to apply themselves to a task that Eurus sets for them -- they are so fucking good. Tense and well-acted. I can see every emotion on every actor's face. The rest of the episode should have been better to make it worthy of these performances. It physically hurt watching John try to shoot the governor.

Someone said that Jim Moriarty went from a criminal mastermid to manical Thomas the Train Engine on this episode and I can't unthink that any time he flashes on the screen.

I had a moment, when Eurus was using such clinical language of behavioralism ("prompts") etc that I flashed back onto my life as an ABA instructor. Seriously. I know they are a million miles away but no one watching this would ever think, even for a second, that Eurus was morally right. Why, then, do we do a smiliar thing to autistic children? I had a moment of revulsion then. (Restirct physical liberty and autonomy, make them complete a command that's nonsensical for either reward or aversive. Give prompts. Follow through (deny reward) if one deviates from the prompt). She might as well been saying "Touch table, Sherlock." ("Touch table" is one of the first directives often given in ABA. It's easy to manually prompt (force) a kid to do and helps the kid realize the link between following the requests and obtaining rewards.)

Sorry. ABA rant is slightly off topic.

To be continued in comments ..

#bbc sherlock #benedict cumberbatch #martin freeman #johnlock #the final problem #andrew scott

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hongism · 5 years

Text

finding beauty in your darkest places chapter 7

Pairing: TBA (i have no clue at the moment, ot7 for now)

Genre: Psychiatric Clinic!au, Heavy Angst, Fluff

Word Count: 8K

Warnings: this chapter deals with thoughts and feelings of self-loathing, self-hatred, and discussions of suicide and suicidal thoughts. strong language; deals with mental and emotional illnesses and disorders as a heavy theme of the story, future graphic depictions of disorders - please do not read if this makes you uncomfortable

Rating: PG-13/Mature

Summary: Everyone has their issues, and everyone deals with them differently. Jungkook thinks that avoiding his problems is the best option out there.

aka

Jeon Jungkook is the newest patient at the Omelas Specialized Psychiatric Clinic, and he just wants to get in and out as quickly as possible so that he can go back to university and be with his friends again. Of course, that doesn't work out according to his plan.

a/n:

6 | 7 | 8

Finding Beauty in Your Darkest Places

Chapter 7: Of Winning and Losing

“You know what they say about hope. It breeds eternal misery.”

At the first clinic Jungkook resided in, one of his fellow patients had blessed him with that bit of wisdom. A girl, younger than him yet much wiser and far more mature than anyone else her age, who always smiled and tried to help everyone except herself. Jungkook remembers reading a book about clinics prior to arriving to his first one, and that girl reminded him so much of a character within the book that he almost thought he was living in the pages for a moment. Yet, as time went by, the girl with endless hope turned dark, and a few days prior to her departure from the world, she shed those words of wisdom on Jungkook. For the longest time, he refused to believe what she said, but now he fully understands what she meant.

The black leather of the boxing bag is rough under his knuckles, and even though he has his hands wrapped, the sting is still present on his skin. The method of distraction is doing nothing for his mind, because with each punch thrown, he recalls the conversation he shared with Taehyung a mere three days ago as though it just happened. Funny how the mind chooses to remember some things so well that it feels as though he’s reliving the moment over and over again.

“Is it all true?”

“Wh-what are y-you asking me?”

“Is what you wrote true? Hoseok? Is that what really happened last night? And Y/N? Is anything you wrote about her true? Does she...she can’t possibly believe those things about herself, right? Tell me it’s not true. Please tell me that it’s not true.”

“I-I...it’s not my place to say, Taehyung. I c-can’t—she would be furious if she found out that you know. She told me not to tell anyone and I—”

The journal had hit Jungkook squarely in the chest, Taehyung’s aim impeccable, and it struck with enough force to push Jungkook back a few inches.

“Stop lying! Ever since you got here, things have gone to shit! And now you’re making everything worse with this journal, and that’s not fair! Please, just tell me the truth.”

“You already know…it’s all in the journal. If you read it all, then you already know.”

“No, no, no. I need to hear it to believe it. Just because you wrote it doesn’t make it true.”

“It’s all true.”

Jungkook couldn’t look at Taehyung’s face as he said the words, too afraid to see an expression of heartbreak and betrayal there.

“All the things I wrote there are things I’ve heard from other patients or things I know about other patients. But Taehyung, I’m begging you please, please, you can’t say anything to anyone about this. Please keep it a secret. No one else can know about it. Please—”

“How the hell am I supposed to carry on as though nothing’s changed? Everything you wrote is life-changing. I can’t look at Hoseok the same way after reading all that. And I definitely can’t look at Y/N the same way now. She has never told me anything personal or shared any bit of information about herself with me. So how can you ask me to keep my mouth shut about this?”

“Taehyu—”

“You’re the one who wrote it all down! It’s your fault for keeping it all in a journal!”

“No one was supposed to see it!”

“Did you really think no one would find it? That’s bullshit. Secrets never stay that way in the clinic.”

Jungkook’s fist connects with the punching bag once more, angle awkward as he strikes, and a sharp pain shoots up his forearm. Pulling back, Jungkook sighs and turns to the nurse who accompanied him on his little escapade outside the clinic.

“Ready to head back?” The nurse asks, unfolding his arms and resting them by his side. Jungkook merely nods in response and begins to tug the wraps around his hands off.

“Can I ask you something?” Jungkook says as he tries to catch his breath.

“Fire away, kid.”

“Is there any news on Hoseok?”

“None that I’m at liberty to share.”

“Ah. I see.”

“I can tell you that he is going to be released from the hospital in a few days though. They need to keep him there for stability checks.”

Jungkook nods along with the words, dropping his wraps in the trash on his way out the door. The nurse doesn’t say anything else, and Jungkook doesn’t press for more answers; instead, he lets himself fall back into the confines of his mind and drown in the thoughts there.

The possibility of you finding out that Taehyung knows is a serious threat to Jungkook’s well-being right now, and the only release from that stress is the fact that you are under the constant watch of a nurse so Taehyung may not be able to get a hold of you while the nurse is around. Jungkook doesn’t know how long the security of that situation will last though. Dr. Choi stated “an undisclosed amount of time”, and so Jungkook has no clue when that nurse will leave your side. Or, a much worse possibility, Taehyung may decide that it doesn’t matter if the nurse is around to hear and could confront you at any time.

Three days.

He hasn’t spoken to Taehyung in three days.

Much like the first few days of his stay at Omelas, Taehyung has begun to avoid Jungkook again. Gone or asleep when Jungkook goes to bed and wakes up, never in the room throughout the day, blocking Jungkook from sitting with him at breakfast. Jimin hasn’t said anything about the odd situation yet, but Jungkook is certain that he knows because Taehyung must have told him something.

And ever since the day of Hoseok’s incident, there has been a strange fog throughout the clinic. Not a physical or visible fog, no, but an invisible one that adds a layer of tension to every minute of the day. An unprecedented sense of quiet and peace throughout meals, and a strange avoidance of each other.

Even stranger, you and Yoongi seem to not be on speaking terms. In fact, the two of you won’t even sit at the same table during meals. Instead, you pull away to the back table — the one where Hoseok used to be, in the same seat he sat in as well — and Yoongi glares at you from his seat beside Jungkook throughout meals, barely touching his food at all. The constant presence of a nurse at Yoongi’s side is a bit disconcerting, but the strange fallout between you and him causes Jungkook more concern. Neither Seokjin nor Namjoon have made a comment on it yet, either because they don’t care to know or they know something that Jungkook doesn’t. Perhaps if the situation of Taehyung finding his journal wasn’t an issue, Jungkook would be more interested in figuring out what happened, but now his mind is primarily occupied by those feelings of anxiety and panic.

It happens again.

Jungkook finds himself standing in the bathroom of his room, staring at the reflection in the mirror and wondering how the hell he got here. He has a towel wrapped around his waist, water droplets still falling from the strands of hair that have grown to cover his eyes.

No recollection of how he got here. He doesn’t know how he came back from the gym, or how he got to his room and took a shower. He comes back to himself now, looking in the mirror at a reflection that doesn’t seem to belong to him. The return allows him to pull himself together, however, and he hurries to change into a fresh set of clothes and push his hair out of his face. He’s either going to have to get a haircut sometime soon or start having to tie it back as it’s blocking his line of sight now. The first thing on his agenda though lies in finding Namjoon, because if anyone is going to know what Jungkook needs to do about this issue with Taehyung and the journal, it would be Namjoon.

Leaving his room, Jungkook heads to the room beside his in the hopes to find the older man there; however, after standing outside and knocking a few times, no one comes to the door. Even with the limited amount of places Namjoon could be, Jungkook doesn’t know where to start.

He wanders, not quite letting his subconsciousness take over and steer him somewhere, and steps into the entertainment room first. The room is empty except for a single person, but it is not the person Jungkook is looking for. Instead, it’s Hyewon who turns around and spots Jungkook in the doorway. He nearly turns on his heel and leaves immediately since Namjoon is not in sight, but Hyewon’s beady eyes lock on his. All the sudden, Jungkook cannot move. He’s frozen under her stare, the desire to leave being pushed aside in favor of the panic that swells in his gut. Panic because what if she thinks I don’t like her or that I’m avoiding her.

“Oh, hi Jungkook! How are you?” She greets him with a smile, nose scrunching up as she grins. Jungkook offers a weak smile of his own.

“Just fine,” he mutters back, eyes scanning the room. Despite her previous offers to help him, Jungkook isn’t particularly interested in sharing all the details about what went down with Taehyung or that he kept a journal full of secrets with a person who spends her time around Mingyu and Yesung. Some sort of disgusting shame resides in his subconsciousness as well, a kind of feeling that only serves to make Jungkook feel ten times worse about the situation he caused, and yet Jungkook cannot find it in him to care anymore than that. He doesn’t think about the tears Taehyung shed, or the betrayal etched across his features, because why would he? What good would that do? Would it make him feel any better or worse about the situation? Deep down, Jungkook wishes that it would hurt more, because maybe, just maybe, feeling worse is what he deserves.

After all, Taehyung said everything had gone to shit after Jungkook came to Omelas, so why wouldn’t he deserve to feel the effects of his actions?

Hyewon breaks him out of his thoughts, her light smile drifting into a frown as she looks at Jungkook with wary eyes.

“How are you doing after the issue Dr. Choi addressed?” She inquires further, eyes piercing through Jungkook as she speaks. He clenches his teeth together.

“Fine, I’m not bothered by it at all.”

“I understand if you’re a bit overwhelmed by it. It’s really okay to admit that it’s not all good. It must not have been easy for you to be dragged into that situation, after all. And you had to deal with terrible people like Yoongi and Y/N, who don't care about anyone but themselves…tragic really, I can't ima—”

“I wasn't dragged into it,” Jungkook argues. He finds his voice then, the swell of confidence overtaking the self-loathing swirling in his chest, and he looks at Hyewon with a pointed glare. “I chose to be there. Yoongi was lying when he said that he was the one there with Y/N. It was me. Yoongi was looking out for me, not himself. And Hoseok wasn’t dragged from his room either. He came to the kitchen while Y/N and I were there, then had an episode after that. It isn’t fair for Yoongi to take the blame, or for people to think badly of him or Y/N because of it.” Hyewon shoots down his confidence with a simple click of her tongue against the roof of her mouth. She shakes her head, platinum hair swaying along with the action.

“They must have told you something to convince you of that. Everyone knows what really happened because we know what kind of people Yoongi and Y/N are. They are people who prey on the weak and convince others to say things that will keep them out of trouble.”

“That makes no sense!” Jungkook counters. “Both Yoongi and Y/N took the blame! They got in trouble. What are you talking about?”

“You will learn in time,” she says, “who the good people are and who the bad ones are. If you want to leave sooner rather than later, then you should focus only on the good people. You’re in a good position, Jungkook. Being roommates with Taehyung means that you have an opportunity to be with the good people because Taehyung is in a neutral zone. But hanging out with people like Y/N, Yoongi, and Namjoon? That’s a big no.”

“Why? Why is that the case for me? What about Seokjin? He hangs out with them too? Do you go and harass him as well?”

“Of course not. Kim Seokjin is a special case, but you wouldn’t understand if I tried to explain it to you. It’s nothing personal. Don’t get it twisted, Jungkook. It’s more related to the length of their stay.. People like those three have lost hope of getting better and leaving. Namjoon has accepted it at this point. The longer the stay, the less hope you have. He has realized that, and eventually you will too if you stay on this path. I may not know Namjoon that well, we rarely speak to each other, but I know what I see in his eyes. All I see is hopelessness.”

“No.” Jungkook shakes his head. “I don’t believe you.” I don’t believe that a person like Namjoon would be hopeless.

“He isn’t the only one, you know. I see it in someone else too. I’m sure you do as well. I mean, at this point, isn’t it obvious? I’ve told you already, the ones who stay the longest have the least hope.”

“No!” Jungkook protests, not wanting to hear whatever more she has to say.

“That’s fine.” Hyewon lifts her arms in defense. “You don’t have to, but I’m trying to give you advice. I want to help you out, but if you don’t want to take it, then you don’t have to.”

You’re wrong. That’s what Jungkook wants to say, what he wishes he could say, but the words fail to leave his lips. Instead, all he can do is blink back at her like a deer caught in the headlights, frozen under her stare. A moment passes, then she releases a laugh.

“Your lack of response shows how uncertain you are, though I won’t bother you anymore.” Hyewon steps around Jungkook and leaves the room without another word. He does nothing to stop her. There’s no need to. He would rather spend his time alone anyways, left to stew in his thoughts and struggle with his emotions like this. Left to let the self-loathing return in the absence of confidence. And Jungkook would do exactly that, if not for the time calling him to go to yet another useless and meaningless appointment with Dr. Martin.

This time, Jungkook welcomes the thing that demands control over his mind and body, letting himself melt into the background. It’s strange this time, though, because as he sits in the chair across from the middle-aged doctor, Jungkook feels a drift. His mind coming in and out of control, fighting against that other thing which brought him here, but fighting against his will as well because Jungkook doesn’t really want to be wholly present for this appointment. It happens nonetheless.

“How are the medications treating you, Mr. Jeon?” Dr. Martin asks once Jungkook sits down.

“It doesn’t feel like they’re doing anything.”

“Stay on them a while longer. It takes time for medicine to take effect.”

“I know they won’t work. I’ve tried them before and they never worked.”

“It is the best choice for you, Mr. Jeon. We chose it for you because it is what you need. You will keep taking it for at least three months.”

Jungkook slumps in his chair, and the will to argue further about the topic leaves him. Thankfully, Dr. Martin changes the subject, although Jungkook isn’t happy to hear the question that next leaves his mouth. When are you ever happy though? It’s a chiding tone that resounds in his head, something close to what his father sounds like, and Jungkook bites down hard on his tongue as the voice makes itself known.

“Are you still feeling the same about the incident a few days ago?”

“Yes, I’m still frustrated with it.”

“For the same reasons?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Martin sighs, the only other sound in the room besides the noisy scribble of his pen as he writes on his notepad. All Jungkook’s secrets are contained in those pages. He wonders if Dr. Martin ever shows it to anyone else, just to get a kick out of it, maybe a good laugh for a bit. Perhaps Taehyung should have laughed at the pages of Jungkook’s journal instead of crying. It would make reality a bit easier to handle, wouldn’t it? Making someone laugh instead of disappointing them and betraying them with secrets written in the pale yellow light.

“Have you ever struggled with delusions or hallucinations in the past?”

“No.”

“Have you ever seen or heard things that others cannot?”

Yes you have.

“No.”

You dirty fucking liar.

“Struggled to trust that what you’re thinking is real?”

“No.”

If it’s not real, then you’re just crazy. Are you crazy? Am I?

“Do you ever get the sense that someone or something is controlling your thoughts and emotions?”

“No.”

Where’s the line? Where do I start being honest?

“Do you ever feel as though you have powers that others cannot understand or appreciate?”

“No.”

“Is it difficult to organize or keep track of your thinking?”

“Yes.”

Honesty. A sliver of honesty amidst the cloud of lies.

“Do others ever tell you that it’s difficult for you to stay on subject or for them to understand you?”

“No.”

“Do you feel as though you have little in common with family or friends?”

“No.”

I just feel like a disappointment.

“And do you ever feel that you’re being tracked, followed, or watched?”

“Only when nurses are breathing down my neck.”

Dr. Martin stops his scribbling to send Jungkook a pointed glare, before dropping his chin and continuing with his barrage of questions.

“Do others have a difficult time guessing your emotions by facial expressions?”

“No? What kind of question is that?”

Perhaps Jungkook is getting a bit too bold, but he’s ready for the questions to end. It’s too much.

“Do you find it difficult to express yourself in words?”

“Yes, everyone does.”

“Do you believe in anything that no one else seems to believe in?”

“No.”

I know what’s real and what’s not. I know the truth. I know what happened with Hoseok. Hyewon is a liar.

“Do others not believe you when you tell them things you see or hear?”

“Yes.”

Just Hyewon. But she is a liar.

“Can you trust what you’re thinking at all times?”

Too much.

“Yes.”

It’s all too much, isn’t it?

“Do you talk to another person or persons inside your head that nobody else can hear?”

“No.”

Dirty fucking liar.

“One last question, Mr. Jeon. Do you ever feel things crawling across your skin or see things moving that others don’t see.”

“I’m not crazy,” Jungkook protests all the sudden. He tightens his fists around the material of his pants.

“That is not what I asked or thought, Mr. Jeon. This is merely an assessment for further issues not detailed in your initial examination. These delusions you seem to be having around the situation involving Jung Hoseok do not seem to be random. I believe they are coming from a source in the mind. It could be an issue in the brain sourced at the relationship between your frontal lobe and sensory cortex. Or you could have an overactive auditory or visual cortex.” Dr. Martin pulls away from his desk, leaning down and digging through a drawer. When he comes back up, he has a laminated chart in his hand and sets it down in front of Jungkook. Jungkook glances between the doctor and the chart of the brain, bracing himself for the onset of medical jargon that is undoubtedly about to come his way.

“I’ll explain this in full medical terms first. Hallucination patients typically have a significantly reduced grey matter density in the left superior temporal gyrus, the medial prefrontal cortex in periventricular areas, and in the thalamus. There also tends to be a pathology in the speech processing areas of the left temporal lobe, in addition to low concentrations of glutamate. If that’s the case for you, then we can prescribe antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone since it targets dopamine receptors. There is a possibility that it could be an issue within the right middle temporal gyrus, which responds to external speech. Normal people respond to external speech with greater left side activity; however, the right side of the brain tends to be hyperactive in people with certain mental disorders, suggesting compensatory increase due to the left-hemisphere language processing dysfunctions.

“The issue is that auditory hallucinations compete with external speech processing site within the temporal cortex. Using music or speech can help alleviate auditory hallucinations. Have you ever used music as a way to ‘quiet your mind’ or ‘keep the voices at bay’?”

“I have…” Jungkook trails off, staring at the chart before him rather than looking up at Dr. Martin.

It’s all just too much.

“Just a moment.” Dr. Martin pushes away from his desk again and moves for a filing cabinet now. He returns a moment later, a manila folder in hand, and Jungkook knows exactly what lies within it without needing to ask. It’s a thing Jungkook grew accustomed to seeing after his visits to previous clinics. The doctors would all pull out a similar manila folder, unfolding it to bare all Jungkook’s secrets to the light of day. His ‘medical history’ and ‘childhood trauma’ that Jungkook doesn’t care to think about any longer than he has to, because it’s nonexistent. “There are no reports of serious injury on your file. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever had a concussion or other sort of brain injury?”

“No, never.”

“Hm, I see. Can I explain this further in medical terms for you? It may help you better understand the relationship between your conditions.”

“That’s fine.”

The doctor motions towards the chart before him again as words begin to tumble from his lips in something that sounds like a foreign language to Jungkook.

“Chronic stress and anxiety can cause damage to the brain. The pathological nature of both leads to structural degeneration and impaired functioning of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, which can account for increased risks of developing neuropsychiatric disorders. Anxiety disorders such as Jungkook’s are associated with alteration in fear neurocircuitry such that ‘bottom-up’ processes in the amygdala which respond to threats are exaggerated. The regulation of those processes by the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus is thus impaired.

“During a panic attack, a multitude of things happen within the brain. Certain regions of the brain become hyperactive, including the amygdala, which is the fear center of the brain, as well as parts of the midbrain that control a range of functions, including our experience of pain. Activity in the periaqueductal grey, a region that provokes the body’s defensive response, and other malfunctions can lead to an over exaggeration of a threat. Anxiety disorders in and of themselves are caused in part by disruption in the balance of activity in the emotional center of the brain rather than in higher cognitive centers. Chronic stress exposure similarly alters fear neurocircuitry by enhancing amygdalar functioning while causing structural degeneration in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus thereby inhibiting the control those two parts have over the stress response.”

Dr. Martin pauses once more, turning to his drawers and digging out another chart, and places it in front of Jungkook. “This is a walkthrough of the brain’s response to fear. Fear activates the amygdala and it branches into two sectors: the sympathetic nervous system and the HPA axis. Once the amygdala is activated, it triggers the locus coeruleus and the hypothalamus. The release of CRF, corticotropin-releasing faction, triggers the pituitary gland, which releases ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and activates the adrenal cortex, thus releasing cortisol. At the same time, the sympathetic nervous system triggers a neural impulse which activates smooth muscles and glands, in addition to the adrenal medulla, which releases adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream. That all leads into a fight or flight response in the body. The brain’s response to fear can become somewhat distorted because of anxiety disorders. Chronic maladaptive stress response can cause psychiatric disorders to develop and could be the result of trauma in early childhood experiences.”

“I didn’t have any early childhood trauma that would’ve triggered this sort of thing,” Jungkook protests, shaking his head at the doctor’s words.

“There could be memories that are being blocked out because of stress or trauma. I recommend that we begin to talk about childhood and your memories at the next meeting. For now, however, you can go ahead and leave as we are out of time.”

Jungkook presses his lips into a thin line, standing and leaving Dr. Martin’s small office with a word of farewell, because what good would it do? The hefty weight of all the meaningless medical jargon that filled his ears won’t help him understand this any better. It won’t fix anything. It’s all too much.

You dirty fucking liar.

That voice won’t leave him alone. It’s playing on repeat, the same tone that he heard when he thought about his own happiness. Jungkook is just about to hand himself over to his subconsciousness when he spots a tall form bearing dirty blonde hair walking in his direction.

“N-Namjoon!” Jungkook calls out, a bit too loud seeing as the man is only a couple feet away from him, but Namjoon doesn’t comment on the loudness of his remark. He merely smiles at Jungkook, and the warmth from the action catches Jungkook off guard. “Can…uh, can we talk?”

“Of course, that’s fine. I was just on my way to pick up a book, if you don’t mind walking in that direction.”

“Not at all.” Jungkook shakes his head. Namjoon’s smile pushes that nagging voice to the back of his mind. He falls into step beside the man, palms sweaty all the sudden. The prospect of admitting what he did hits, and the realization that he must also admit that he hurt Taehyung, betrayed his trust — not only Taehyung’s actually, everyone he has spoken to thus far in the clinic — Jungkook is a lot less sure about his desire to talk with Namjoon now.

The pair walks in silence for a few precious moments, then Namjoon decides to break it in favor of questioning Jungkook.

“What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

Jungkook’s heart is in his throat now, the rhythmic beat drumming in his eyes so loud he can barely hear Namjoon’s words over the din.

“I-I, uh, well—”

“Woah, Jungkook, breathe. Are you alright?”

“No,” he says before he can stop himself. “No, sorry, I’m fine. I’m fine. Uh, well, something...something happened between Taehyung and I, and I-I just don’t, I don’t know what to do. I’m worried that maybe — no, I’m worried that it’s going to get out of hand.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I, uh,” Jungkook fumbles with his words some more. The confession lingers on the tip of his tongue, and yet he can’t spit it out. There is an invisible hand around his throat, choking the air out of him, and the pressure in his head increases tenfold.

Dirty fucking liar. Tell the truth. Worthless piece of shit. That’s all you are. You think you’re wanted? Needed? If you’re going to kill yourself, at least do it properly.

“Jungkook.” A hand finds his shoulder. Grounds him. Brings him out of his mind. Shelves surround him now, books litter the walls, and yet all he sees is the brown of Namjoon’s eyes. Warm. Concerned. Bringing him back. “Are you alright?” Jungkook breathes again at the question. He swallows the lump in his throat. Then, he carries on as though nothing happened, and Namjoon doesn’t press for answers.

“Taehyung found something personal of mine and made a big deal out of it.”

“That sounds very suspicious, Jungkook. Can you at least tell me what it was?”

“I had, um, a journal. I wrote everything in there.”

“Everything?”

“Yea…all the things I heard around the clinic and everything I was told as well. Taehyung, he found and read it. Um, it didn’t go over very well.”

“That makes sense,” Namjoon says with a nod. He’s not mad? Why isn’t he upset with me as well? Shouldn’t he be? “Why did you have the journal in the first place?”

“I forget things easily, so I just wanted to be able to remember everything. I didn’t think anyone would find it.”

“You should have expected someone to find it eventually, Jungkook. You ought to know better.”

It isn’t anger that laces Namjoon’s tone, moreso a hint of disappointment, but that stings a lot worse than anger would have. He wanted Namjoon to be angry, to tell him off and raise his voice at him, because at least Jungkook would see something other than disappointment.

“Something like that was bound to come out at some point. I don’t blame you for having the journal, but you should have known this was a possibility when you first started writing in it. It’s one thing to have something that the doctors ask you to use, but another to keep a journal full of other people’s secrets. It’s all a matter of privacy. You wouldn’t want me or Y/N to put down private information like your disorder, right? So, while it’s fine if you want to remember that information somehow, you have to be more careful about it.”

“I was trying to be careful!” Jungkook argues. He balls his fists at his side as he looks up at Namjoon, feeling a bit like a child trying to defend himself.

“That may be the case, Jungkook, but obviously you weren’t careful enough. What exactly did Taehyung read?”

“Everything,” Jungkook sighs. The air leaves his lips and takes his will to argue with it, a white flag of defeat waving in the wind.

“I need specifics. It could be problematic depending on what Taehyung read.” Namjoon’s eyes bear concern still, yes, but something else hangs alongside the emotion. A hint of fear, worry, dread over what Taehyung learned. And the sinking sensation in Jungkook’s stomach only serves to give him certainty that what Taehyung read is truly detrimental.

“It was mostly the information about Y/N that he was upset about. He told me that he won’t be able to look at you the same way because of it. I don’t—it was never my intention to d—”

“What did she tell you?” Namjoon cuts him off, tone more frantic than it was a moment ago. Jungkook sinks further. The self-loathing returns, but this time Namjoon does nothing to break him out of it.

Stupid, useless, worthless.

“She told me all sorts of things the night of Hoseok’s accident and the day prior. Most of it was about how she feels helpless and unable to do any good for others. Feeling incapable of doing good and that her attempts always end up hurting people in the end.”

Worthless piece of shit.

Jungkook wonders for a moment if you have the same voice haunting your mind and thoughts. Namjoon exhales a deep sigh. More disappointment. Jungkook feels himself slipping, although he isn’t sure where he’s going to land at the end of this.

That’s all you are.

“And now Taehyung knows that.”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Namjoon. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I’m not the person you need to apologize to. Y/N never told Taehyung these things for a reason. Taehyung sees her as a strong person, someone who has a good grip on reality and the things around her. In his eyes, she is invincible and untouchable. He doesn’t know why she’s here, and frankly he doesn’t care because she’s always strong in his mind. He looks up to her for that, because he struggles to maintain a grasp on reality. Y/N only ever lets herself crumble when Taehyung isn’t around. She knows how Taehyung views her; he idolizes her. He cares about and trusts her wholeheartedly because of how confident and strong she seems. If he knows that she isn’t actually like that — that the pedestal he put her on crumbles — then his entire mental image of her is a lie. Taehyung struggles with reality enough as it is, but now he’s not going to be able to believe his mind either. Any progress he had is now going to be gone. He’ll have to start over.”

“Am-am I responsible for that?”

Namjoon purses his lips.

Jungkook can’t stand the silence.

“Is that on my shoulders?”

“You shouldn’t have to ask that question, Jungkook.”

His eyes sting at the words, and the weight of the reality that falls on him is too much for him to carry. I just want out. I just want to leave. How can this happen? How can I be responsible for this?

“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened with Taehyung either. When Taehyung first came to Omelas, he used to be close friends with Mingyu. After about a year, Mingyu started showing his true colors and what kind of person he really was. Taehyung…he had a mental crisis when he saw that. He had been doing very well up until that point, and there were lots of rumors that he would be able to leave the clinic before that. But everything crumbled once Mingyu showed his true colors. Taehyung backtracked and lost every ounce of progress. He’s been here for four years now, Jungkook. It has taken three of those years just to get him back to this point.”

“I-I can’t, I can’t be responsible for something like that. I can’t. There’s no way.”

“It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, Taehyung is going to blame you for bringing the info to him, albeit indirectly. But he’s going to be more upset with Y/N because it involves her and the mental image he had constructed of her. You aren’t going to want to hear this, Jungkook, but it needs to be said. This is the worst thing that could happen to Y/N right now. First Hoseok’s incident and now this? The two people she cares about and wants to help more than anything else? This is why she doesn’t let people get close. She feels that she made that mistake one too many times in the past, and we both paid dearly for it in more ways than I can count.”

The constriction around Jungkook’s throat tightens to a point where he can barely breathe. He’s fighting it, fighting it with all his might, but the onset of the panic attack is about to settle in. Namjoon must notice the expression of terror on his face, because he continues speaking with a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder.

“This is just life and part of being in a place like this. Everything and everyone is volatile here. There is no stability and nothing is certain, because things can change in an instant. That’s why you should’ve known better than to keep everything in a journal. Even relationships aren’t guaranteed. Something can flip in the blink of an eye and destroy the relationship without even trying hard.”

“Is that what’s going to happen with Taehyung and Y/N?”

The soft smiles you passed Taehyung’s way, the laughs and grins he had because of you, the fiery will and determination you held just so that you could make Taehyung happy, the mere action of giving him a stuffed bear in efforts to help, all you wanted to do was help — Jungkook can’t bear to think of it all crumbling because of him.

“I don’t know. There are a lot of things that are impossible to expect or understand, and this is one of them. A person like Taehyung could hold a grudge one day and change his mind the next. And a person like Y/N will hold onto any mistakes she makes forever and try to put a wall between herself and others as a method of protection. She won’t blame you for it though. She’ll believe that it was her mistake. She trusted you enough to tell you those things. She won’t think you betrayed her, she’ll think she betrayed herself.”

“Th-that’s not r-right,” Jungkook stammers through quaky breaths. “I would r-rather have her blame m-me. I would rather her blame me than herself.” Namjoon offers a shrug.

“I have tried time and time again to tell her the same thing. She blames herself no matter what. It’s just part of who she is as a person.”

“Why do you just accept that? Why don’t you try to help her or change her?”

“Why would I want to change her?”

“Isn’t it annoying or frustrating for you to have to deal with that kind of mindset all the time?” Jungkook’s question is innocent, one a child would ask his parent or teacher, an attempt to learn, to know, to understand. He doesn’t think he can understand Namjoon’s line of thinking though, not when he seems so ready to give up on you.

“It’s not.” Namjoon smiles back at him. Jungkook doesn’t have a response. His lips part, and air rushes into his mouth, but he doesn’t say anything. There’s nothing to say, after all. Jungkook asked. Namjoon answered. That’s that. Namjoon laughs, the airy sound filling the room. “It’s strange yet funny in a way, because Yoongi asked me a similar question once. He can’t stand that about her either. He always wishes that she would look after herself and not take the blame for everything. For her to not care so much about others. Yet the moment she slips into that guilt and self-hatred, he’s at her side as though it doesn’t bother him. I don’t wish that she would change though. That isn’t what it means to truly love and care about someone. If you truly love and care about a person, you don’t want to change who they are.”

“B-But the disorders. The mental illness. Don’t you want to change that? To fix it?”

“Fix what? I know it’s not the disorders that make her that way. Even if it were, I wouldn’t want to change that about her. What matters more to me is that she is happy and healthy. I want to meet her in her darkest place and love her there. Not to pull her out of it and then love her. She tolerates every single bit of stupid shit I do and say because she knows it makes me content and happy. She listens to every bit of Seokjin’s research and medical talk because she knows it makes him content and happy. She makes an effort for Yoongi because she knows it’s what he wants, and that matters more to her than her own wants and needs. It’s only fair if I do the same for her.”

I don’t understand. Why? Why wouldn’t you want to fix them? If you truly love them, wouldn’t you want to see them better? To be free of any disorder or illness?

“Jungkook, I’m going to warn you. What you were doing with your journal was drifting into dangerous territory. When you start to objectify people by the things you see, you run a bigger risk. Once you know people’s disorders, that’s the first thing you think of when you see them. People aren’t their disorders. When Yoongi looks at Y/N, he sees her disorders first because that’s what he sees when he looks in the mirror. He can’t separate his image of himself from how he views other. Even if he thinks he has good intentions by trying to “fix” others, he knows he can’t because he can’t fix the person looking back at him in the mirror. Y/N struggles with it too. She wants to fix people. She feels as though that is her duty. She can’t fix herself though, so she’ll only ever view herself as a terrible person because of that. For the longest time, I only saw that reflection when I looked in the mirror. It took a long time to separate Kim Namjoon from the disorders the doctors labelled me with. What do you see in the mirror, Jungkook? Do you know who you are or do you just take the labels doctors give you? Are you “Jeon Jungkook, Panic Disorder” or someone else?

“It’s far better to know people for their heart and not their mind. A person’s mind can be fucked up and distorted. But the kind of person they are, what they do for others, how they treat others — that all tells you much more. We are all souls with a house of flesh and bones, wrestling with a mind that is not our own. For some people it gets to be too much. They just want out of the cage they feel trapped in, and society is the one keeping them there. They don’t see their body as anything good, it’s only a trapped feeling, and sometimes they try to get out. They try to get rid of a certain part of themselves, kill the mind that isn’t completely theirs.”

“I-I don’t understand,” Jungkook whispers.

“View it as such: you are trapped in the clinic, listening to voices that are not your own telling you what you have to do to “get out” when they really want you to stay.” Namjoon pauses, inhales a deep breath, then exhales it slowly. “Do you know what caused Hoseok’s episode that night?”

“No, I have no idea.”

“He had been sneaking pills into his pocket at meal times instead of taking them. He’d been saving up for weeks. He took fifty-three pills before leaving his room that night. Not because any of the voices told him to kill himself, but because he was tired of hearing them, tired of having a mind occupied by so many voices and people that were not him, tired of feeling trapped. And after it was all said and done, he realized that he didn’t want to die, he only wanted to kill that part of himself.”

“It’s all a circle though. You want to get out, try to get out, feel free for a fleeting amount of time, then return to the cycle. It never ends. There’s always a part of yourself that you want to kill. Eventually you’ll be left with nothing.”

The smile Namjoon passes his way is a sad one, a melancholic turn of his lips, and a tragic realization of the implications behind Jungkook’s words.

“You would only understand that if you tried.”

Jungkook glances up at the man but doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. Namjoon understands. Jungkook understands. He doesn’t need to explain, and the sad smile on Namjoon’s face serves to tell him that Namjoon was in the same place too once.

“What’s the way out then? If you can’t kill yourself, then what?”

“If I knew that, do you think they would still be here? Taehyung, Jimin, Seokjin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Y/N. Would any of them be here if I knew that? And what of the others? Don’t they deserve that release too? The people who deserve that release most? We’re all reaching for it, trying to connect who we are and who we want to be, stretching to reach this ideal version of ourselves that only we know. Perhaps connecting those dots and looking up to see the constellation of your life is the answer to your question. It’s far easier said than done though, and I have my own thoughts about it, but obviously they haven’t done me any good in all my time here.”

“What are they?” Jungkook inquires, head falling to the side as he asks the question.

“If I can’t love the reflection in the mirror or feel as though my body is a home and not a cage, accept my mind as an ally and not an enemy, then I don’t deserve to leave. I need to love myself for who I am today, who I was yesterday, and who I hope to become in the future. Those versions of myself create the constellation of my life. I need to accept that. We all have to. The ugly bits, the parts we want to hide from reality, things we don’t want anyone to know about — if we bare it all, what’s left? What weapons do the minds that are not our own have? If they can’t use anything against us anymore, then won’t we win?”

Win? What does it mean to win though? Is it release from the prison that is the clinic? Freedom from the things that plague your mind and emotions? A cure? But Namjoon isn’t talking about the clinic anymore, he isn’t talking about being freed from the shackles of illnesses or disorders. No. No, Namjoon is talking about something else. Jungkook understands it. He sees it. To win is to live. To be alive. To continue. To keep fighting no matter what.

Hopelessness. That is what Hyewon said she saw in Namjoon. She saw it in someone else too, and Jungkook knows exactly who she meant.

To lose. If you lose hope, then you’ve lost something else. But you haven’t lost, no, because if what Namjoon means by winning is “living”, then losing can only mean one thing.

“How many people…?” Jungkook asks, but he doesn’t want to hear the answer. He can’t even finish the question with confidence. The guilt on Namjoon’s shoulders, the weight that traps him and confines him to the vicious cycle of relapse after relapse, Namjoon’s words hold too much behind them. Jungkook can see it clearly now. He sees it, yet he doesn’t want to. It hurts, burns, chokes him. He pushes forward, looking Namjoon in the eye as he speaks again. “How many people have you seen lose?”

“In all my time here? All six years? Only one.”

And yet, as Namjoon whispers the words, Jungkook knows. He knows that the day that one person lost, two other people did too. And Jungkook is looking at one of them.

...

a/n: woW! what a chapter! i cranked this out in two days (even tho it is a bit later than i had hoped ;-;) NONETHELESS let me know what you think! come rant in my inbox! rant in a comment. take my survey! i love love love hearing from you guys! thank you for making this story possible!

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