#like she is tone deaf when it comes to like. complaining about her supportive family and better-than-stable financial situation lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ilikekidsshows · 3 years

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I edited the ask slightly to make it clear this is about apologists making excuses for Chloé's behavior and not fans who just feel frustrated over not getting an arc they wished to see.

Anon said: I think what really annoys me is Chloe apologists that cry she’s, “just a kid she can learn to be better and outgrow her abusive tendencies” seem to gloss over or ignore that Chloe has been given MULTIPLE chances to do better for 3 seasons and at every turn she always returns to her spoiled bratty bullying ways. Especially in season 3 where she didn’t listen to Ladybug about never getting the miraculous and felt entitled to the power.

It’s just so annoying how chloe apologists act like she’s the real victim just cause her mommy doesn’t love her, news flash she’s not the only character in the show who has a bad relationship with a parent. It doesn’t give Chloe the right to degrade and abuse people. Im not sure if Chloe needs to hit rock bottom before she turn things around or this is heading towards a corruption arc. However im also annoyed when parts of her fandom claim it’s misogynistic that she doesn’t get better.

Because sometimes bad people stay bad and never get better, it would be a very powerful lesson to teach kids who are in toxic abusive relationships especially with childhood friends that sometimes you have to let them go and cut them off because they’re causing you harm. It was very powerful of Adrien to stand up to Chloe multiple times as an abuse victim and not let her drag him down to her level. All the people mad at him for queen banana don’t realize that Adrien can’t make chloe a kinder person. No one can make someone mean good.

Plus the show is chock full of actual good and kind girls with positive supportive friendships so having one or even two female characters turn out bad isn’t sexist to me. Same with people who claim Zoe is a Mary Sue and it’s wrong that she’s replacing Chloe. Which is weird because Zoe can’t replace what Chloe never was, a friend to the main cast. Chloe was never close with the class or their friend even if she tried to be involved in their projects he never tried to get along with the others.

Plus Zoe made a mistake by trying to emulate her family and be a bully but eventually realized being awful like them wasn’t worth their approval. Whether she’s a better hero or deserves the miraculous is another discussion but we’re talking about Chloe here. If she continues down the path of selfishness and hate becoming like her mother and her sister Zoe, who also comes from an abusive family, doesn’t that just means one overcame their trauma and the other didn’t.

Sorry for the rant just I’m so tired of seeing the tag be cluttered up by Chloe apologists who won’t stop crying or complaining about her character.

With what the canon actually gave us, Chloé's arc could have gone, and could still go, either way on the redemption/corruption scale. Yes, Chloé messed up royally in the season three finale, but she was under duress to a degree. While Chloé showed few signs of becoming a selfless hero, since most of the people she helped as a hero were people she put in bad situations to begin with or she helped out to get to hang out with Ladybug, she's also showed no signs of becoming a true villain the same way Lila has. We can clearly see Lila developing into a supervillain, but Chloé is very much stuck in the middle and could go either way if she suddenly got superpowers with no strings attached.

The real issue here is Chloé's civilian life. She's never been kind to her classmates and goes out of her way to make sure they have a bad time. This has never been influenced by whether or not she had a Miraculous, so obviously something not-superpowers-related needs to happen for her to see anything wrong with what she's doing.

And there's a real chance Zoé is meant to be that thing that makes Chloé see. Chloé could see how her sister was forgiven and welcomed by her classmates and realize how easy it is to stop being awful and get validation and friendship from the class that way. This realization might make her look down on the class as gullible fools, like Lila, or it might make Chloé want to belong and try to adjust her behavior, having her follow Zoé's lead.

Of course there's still a chance that Chloé will just keep swinging between sitcom arch nemesis and not-quite-a-supervillain, that she'll still be used as a civilian life obstacle for the heroes to overcome and she's not meant to be redeemed or corrupted. In this case I can see this fandom discourse continuing for years to come, since it's the uncertainty of Chloé's role that's fuelling it so much.

Crying misogyny every time your favorite female character is treated in a way you don't like, when it’s used in a way that’s clearly just a buzzword meant to manipulate people, is something I'm just so done with. In the case of Miraculous, though, it's especially misguided, with how much the creators clearly try to be feminist. It's one thing to say something they did fails at that goal and leans into sexist attitudes and another to say they're being purposefully misogynistic because the show isn’t to your tastes. Because, let’s face it, a lot of the show’s attempts at being progressive have been tone deaf, but it usually seems to happen by accident and sometimes, at least with Fei’s design, they seem to be willing to amend a mistake when it gets pointed out.

Also, because sexism and feminism are about gender politics, the thing with discussing sexism is not actually comparing a female character with other female characters, it's about comparing a female character with male characters. If a show aims for gender equality, a character's gender can't influence how they are treated. This means we need to see if we can compare Chloé's character to a male character and find equality.

And we can. Miraculous Ladybug has a male character who causes others pain on purpose. This same character has several chances to stop being awful with "not being awful" costing him nothing. He even shows a softer side in 'Style Queen', just like Chloé in that same episode, but ultimately tosses that change aside when he finds something he thinks can help him gain his goals, like Chloé does in 'Miracle Queen'.

I am of course talking about Gabriel Agreste. I have repeatedly said that Marinette and Chloé are mirrors, what the other could be if they changed how they view other people and themselves. Gabriel is a foil to Marinette, so he naturally mirrors Chloé as well. However, Gabriel's arc has a similar forwards-and-backwards beat as Chloé's does. Even Chloé Apologists recognize the similarities between the two, since I've seen them voicing concerns that Gabriel might get redeemed while Chloé doesn't, because they think Gabriel having sympathetic aspects is a sign of a redemption arc for him like it supposedly was for Chloé. Instead, they are still both firmly in the area of antagonists and villains.

Although I will concede one key difference: Chloé is still way more likely to get redeemed than Gabriel.

I also think that, even if Chloé does get redeemed eventually, it’s still important that Adrien didn’t just hang on waiting for it when she spent so long proving again and again that she didn’t want to change. Because the other characters couldn’t know for sure if Chloé would change. Just like in the real world you won’t know for sure if your toxic friend will ever change, so you might have to let them go for your own sake. Even if they might get better one day, even if you’re not their target, it’s not on you to stand by them when they do things that are against your personal ethics.

#ml fandom salt #long post

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evakuality · 5 years

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Druck: my complicated feelings

First, I really do have to preface this by saying I haven’t watched much of this season. Watching s4 of the original in real time was probably one of the hardest experiences I’ve had in fandom. It was so good and so promising and then ... well, we all know what happened. So after watching episode one of Amira’s season, and wary that it could all happen again, I made the decision to back off. The plan was to watch the entire season when it was over so long as it had gone well. That means that I know what happened because I still follow blogs and see gifsets, and I sometimes go into the tag because I needed to know if it was going badly. But I’m insulated in some ways because I didn’t have to see this happen ‘in real time’ so to speak.

I’ve seen so many different reactions to this week’s episode and, as with everything, they’re all valid because they’re all people’s valid personal feelings. Still, I’d like to give my perspective as something of an outsider but one who has been following along. So under the break (because as usual I can’t be concise), are my thoughts on this whole business and why what I feel is complicated.

So, the way I see it, there were several complaints about Sana’s original season.

1. She wasn’t the focus of her own season, constantly overshadowed by other characters’ drama, particularly Noora and whatever was going on with William.

This one, I think Druck did a pretty good job of addressing in the bits of the season that were Amira’s (we’ll get to the other part of that when we get to another complaint). Mia was gone and the bits we saw with her were all in support of Amira and Amira’s plot. That plot was organic and built fairly well, from what I could tell.

2. Other characters’ drama was used to exploit emotion in a way that was insulting to the groups represented (eg Even and his backstory)

This one, again, was dealt with well. That whole side plot disappeared and Mohammed’s reasons for losing his religion were based in more personal things. It stopped the weird ‘why did Even’s story affect Yousef that much?’ stuff and made Mohammed a seemingly more rounded character (lol, says me, who hasn’t actually watched it) with an interesting backstory of his own.

3. The love triangle was nonsensical and didn’t really serve any purpose except to make Sana jealous and push her into some very bad behaviour.

Again, dealt with well. This whole plot again dropped away pretty quickly, and the confusions of her relationship with Mohammed were things that came from their own merits. It was Amira and her own hangups that caused the issues and the distance.

4. Sana’s world was quite narrow. The only Muslim people she really interacted with were either family or related to their friends. She didn’t seem to have a friend group of her own.

Spectacularly destroyed. We see (or hear about) various different people from Amira’s circle all in various stages of life and all with different takes on what it means to be Muslim. This helped shape both Amira and her story and how she felt, and also gave a lot more nuance to Mohammed and how or why he might have come to the feelings he did about religion. It showed a complex, diverse group of people and gave Amira’s story complexity and interest.

5. In order to really hammer home Sana’s feelings of isolation, the development of the girls was regressed so they could be ignorant, particularly Vilde.

This was mostly also dealt with well. The weird bit with Kiki seemed a bit off (and it may be because I didn’t watch but it seemed the resolution to that was ... also strange), but mostly the girls were pretty good and the friendship they’d built wasn’t sacrificed for pathos and drama. The biggest problem here is that some of the girls were sidelined in favour of others. But overall, pretty good.

So far, so good, right? It all looks pretty cool. Not perfect, but doing quite well. So why did I call this ‘my complicated feelings’? Well, the big problem is that there was other stuff that added some problems or made others worse. So let’s look at those now.

1. Mia gets an entire episode to herself in a season that should be about Amira and worse, this pushes the ‘Sana only got 9 episodes!’ complaint to ‘Amira only got 7!!!!!’

So, okay. Druck did a good job of focusing on Amira during those seven episodes, and that’s great. It really is. But the problem here is that because they dropped some of the plots (thankfully the stupid love triangle thing but also the bus and cyberbullying things) they were left with less material to work with. Instead of actually filling that with things relevant to Amira (more discussion of Mohammed and his home, some more development of helping Amira reconcile her Muslim side with her German side, better preparation for her tript o Australia and all that means for her), they chose to return to a main from a previous season with clips that were almost entirely unnecessary. Amira’s story got told in messages and Mia’s (which could and should have been in messages) was told in clips. It’s a baffling decision ad it’s no wonder people are unhappy about it.

Some uncharitable parts of me wonder whether writers just have no idea how to write a romance after they ‘get together’ if they can’t show a physical relationship. Both Sana and Amira’s stories were cut off once they got their man. Yousef was sent away so it didn’t have to be dealt with, and with Amira we get this strange shift into Mia’s PoV.

2. Depending on how many episodes there are left and how they are split we get either some mains with far fewer (and shorter!!!) episodes, or we get mains that aren’t Amira get fully fleshed out ‘goodbye’ episodes when she doesn’t.

So either Mia gets 11 episodes and the final one is split 3 ways between Hanna, Matteo and Amira (so they get 10 1/3, 10 1/3 and 7 1/3 respectively), or Amira gets the final episode which still means 11 for Mia, 10 for Hanna and Matteo and 8 for Amira - still vastly different and still a problem. OR, probably worst of all, there are two left and Hanna and Matteo get them and so they all get 11 and Amira gets 7 (or potentially one of them gets one and Amira gets one and the numbers are still completely out of whack). The biggest complaint about Sana’s season was that it was Noora 2.0. And while Druck did a good job of avoiding that in the seven episodes that Amira got, this is still a huge problem. No matter what they do, they can’t balance this out in any way that doesn’t make Mia ‘the’ character of Druck in the same way that Noora was ‘the’ character of Skam (or at least in a way that doesn’t make it obvious that Amira is the ‘lesser’ main in her own season!!!!!). And either we get a ‘goodbye’ to the other characters as well and thus make the inequity between the numbers worse, or we don’t and Mia is the total focus.

For the record, for those who are all ‘no-one would complain if this was Matteo or Hanna’ - this is why it’s worse that it’s Mia. Noora was the problem in Sana’s season, so for this to be Mia rather than one of the other two ... it’s salt in the wound of the seven episodes.

3. Druck hinted at wlw representation, but it seems like it’s being given at the expense of Amira and her story.

This one is just baffling. If they really are going with Mia ‘getting’ a girlfriend at this point, then it’s weird. First, a rebound relationship is just not great rep. They don’t usually last and that’s a weird message to send about wlw. Also, Sara and Leonie were right there. So much has been playing out on instagram that it could even have been done there if they didn’t want to ‘waste’ clips on it. But this feels like a cop out, and worse, it feels bad that it’s been done at the expense of more time with Amira. Again, the fact that it’s Mia pulling this focus away from Amira is salt in the wound. For a show that seems to realise just what issues people had with the original, and has mostly reacted well to them, this is all so tone deaf.

Obviously, it’s not over yet. But the thing is we can see what’s happening here and at the very least the imbalance is upsetting and nothing that happens in the next week or two can change that. Even if there’s one last episode and it’s Amira the whole way we can’t just ignore the fact that one character has been elevated. And that character wasn’t Amira in HER season.

So that’s why my feelings are complicated. I will probably still watch Amira’s 7 episodes when this is all done. I think they look good enough that I want to. But. There’s a sour taste because of how this last part is playing out and I’m not sure that I can overcome that enough to watch even if the next week isn’t about Mia.

#druck

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vfdbaudelairefile13 · 5 years

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Chapter Forty-Five:

The One Where Klaus Causes an Accident & Violet is Pushed Off the Deep End

Like the day prior, the Baudelaire orphans were woken up by the unpleasant sound of Foreman Flacutono banging metal pots together. Sunny opened her eyes and looked at her brother.

“Get up, lumber laborers! Lucky Smells has no time for dawdling!” the foreman’s voice boomed from the loudspeakers. Almost immediately, Klaus sat up smiling.

“Klaus Baude-liar, would you like to get out of bed this instant?” the foreman asked.

“Yes sir,” Klaus muttered monotonously.

“Would you like to bring your baby sister? Lucky boy.”

“Yes, sir,”

“Klaus?” Sunny asked as Klaus roughly picked her up. Sunny looked at her brother worriedly, noticing something she hadn’t been able to notice last night. When she looked in his eyes, Klaus’ eyes weren’t the same shade of brown as her eyes, they were dull, colorless, and grey. This seemed odd to her, she didn’t remember Klaus’ eyes changing colors before. She knew her eyes didn’t do that. So why did his?

“Lucky boy, it’s wood chipper day. Would you like to make some mulch?” the foreman asked Klaus from the loudspeaker.

Klaus’ eyes stayed grey and wide as he said, “yes sir.”

He walked hurriedly to the mulch machine and while he threw random pieces of wood into the wood chipper, he held Sunny without the same care and caution as he usually did. Sunny began to wail as Klaus swung his body around to grab wood and to release into the scary looking machine. Sunny was not easily scared nor easily overstimulated but this frightened her. Her brother was definitely not himself if he was carelessly holding her over such a dangerous and deadly looking machine. Another thing she noticed was that he was not complaining about the excessive noise, which was very odd for him.

“Klaus!” she yelled through her frantic tears, but he continued to work. Sunny stared at him holding on to his uniform as tight as she could. “Terrent!” she screamed, which meant, “You’re scaring me, Klaus! Put me down!”

“Stop!” she screamed as she placed a hand on his cheek. “Leave!” she shouted, which meant, “Stop it and we can leave just like you wanted!”

Klaus looked at Sunny and just like the mill workers had yesterday, he stopped what he was doing and in a monotonous tone chanted, “Lucky Smells is our life. Lucky Smells is our home!”

“No!” Sunny yelled. “Molendini!” which meant, “No, it’s not! A home is where people take care of you! Not make you work in a mill until you come of age!”

Klaus just stood there staring at her.

“Esculto!” she cried desperately, which meant, “I should’ve listened to you when you wanted to go! When you wanted to protect us!”

Klaus went right back to making mulch. Still carelessly holding his baby sister over the wood chipper. “ Miss! ” She screamed in his ear starting to wail again, which was her way of saying, “Klaus...if you’re still in there. I want you to know I miss you an inordinate amount.”

But Klaus’ eyes stayed grey and wide. Charles, who was passing by making sure everything was going good, noticed how Klaus was holding Sunny and he rushed up and took the younger Baudelaire from her big brother. Sunny hung on to Charles with all her might, crying.

Charles grabbed Klaus’ arm. “Klaus, I don’t think you should be operating this sort of machine. You’re honestly pretty lucky to have not gotten you or your sister hurt. Why don’t you go see if Phil needs your help with the stamping machine.”

“Yes, sir,” Klaus replied as he walked away from Charles and Sunny.

“Wait...is he not wearing any shoes?” Charles asked confused then looking at Sunny smiling. “Hey...hey...it’s okay.”

Sunny watched her brother walk awkwardly to Phil and furiously shook her head at Charles. “No,” she replied.

“Hey, I know what could cheer you up,” Charles said and held out a peach for Sunny. Sunny looked at the fruit and then the man holding it. “I know Sir said yesterday all you guys needed was gum for lunch. But I thought you and your brother would enjoy a peach .”

Sunny sighed and rolled her eyes. She was happy to have something other than gum for lunch, but one peach wasn’t an efficient lunch either and even if it was she was too worried about her brother to eat. She took the peach from Charles’ hand and slipped it into her pocket for later. She was determined to figure out what was wrong with her brother. When she slipped the peach into her pocket, she felt the pieces of paper that she found from the library yesterday and realized that she hadn’t had the time to even mention what she had discovered to Klaus.

“Baude-liars!” The foreman yelled. “You have visitors!”

Charles looked to the foreman and then to Sunny. “Oh, that must be Dr. Orwell with Klaus’ glasses.”

Sunny looked up at Charles happily. Maybe if she got to lay eyes on Dr. Orwell she can see if whether or not Dr. Orwell was Count Olaf in disguise, which might explain why Klaus was acting so strange.

“Baude-liars! Please report to the Lucky Smells entrance,”

“Yes sir,” Klaus said as he began to walk towards the entrance. Charles followed close behind with Sunny.

Charles opened the gate of the mill, to see Dr. Orwell standing alone, smiling a big smile.

“My...my...my...aren’t you a lucky boy,” Dr. Orwell said in her sickly-sweet tone smiling at Klaus.

“Yes, sir,” Klaus replied.

“I have your new glasses, dear boy,” Dr. Orwell replied as she gently placed the glasses on Klaus’ face. Sunny looked skeptically at Dr. Orwell and was completely confused. Dr. Orwell seemed sweet and nice...but if that were the case what was wrong with Klaus? “And you must be little Sunny,” Orwell said smiling down at the infant in Charles’ arms. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Huh?” Sunny asked.

“Your brother spoke so highly of you while we were doing his examination,” Dr. Orwell explained. Sunny glared at her still very confused.

“Dr. Orwell!” a loud voice came from behind them. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well. I am just delivering Klaus' newest pair of glasses.”

“Now, Dr. Orwell. I may be his guardian, but I consider him my worker and you provide free eye exams to all Lucky Smells employees.” Sir pointed out as Klaus muttered “yes, sir,”

“Sir! I’m surprised at you!” Charles cried as he shifted Sunny in his arms. “These two children should be considered our family, not simple workers.” Sunny could tell by Charles' tone that he really wanted to start a family with Sir but Sir shook his head and his cloud of smoke stayed where it was.

“Nonsense! These children are just useless orphans. They’re not our family!” Sir replied.

“But they could be,” Charles remarked. “We could give them love and support. Raise them to be hardworking and responsible. We can provide them a better childhood than you had growing up.”

“Why should these children get a better childhood than me? Why would they deserve better than me?” Sir asked angrily as Charles became sheepish.

“Well, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant don’t you think with each generation we should do better than the last?”

“NO!” Sir yelled.

Dr. Orwell looked uncomfortable watching this couple’s quarrel. “Sir, have you considered our little proposal?”

“What proposal?”Charles asked confused.

“It doesn’t concern you, Charles.”

“Doesn’t concern me…? I’m your partner.” Charles said sadly.

Dr. Orwell smiled at Charles. “You know...I’ve never seen you in my chair.”

“I have excellent vision,”

“Well, vision changes.” Dr. Orwell replied as she stared at Charles' eyes. “Just as I suspected. Cloudy and dull. You know since I just gave this lucky boy, here, a new set of glasses for free. I can waive all fees for you, too.”She said kindly.

“I don’t know…I’m positive that I can see just fine,”

“I insist. You must see me right away. Free of charge.”

“I can’t have a cloudy, dull-eyed partner,” Sir said to Charles sternly. “How would you make my omelets?”

Charles frowned but sadly nodded. “I’ll rearrange my schedule.”

Dr. Orwell smiled. “I’ll see you soon,” she replied as she turned to walk away. Sunny couldn’t help but feel that Dr. Orwell was talking to her when she said that. But she felt like it was her anxiety making her feel so paranoid. Dr. Orwell seemed sweet and nice.

Just then Foreman Flacutono yelled over the intercom that it was lunchtime. Sir shooed the two Baudelaires aware. Klaus just stood there and stared at Sir.

“Are you deaf, boy? Go get your lunch,” Sir barked.

“Gum!” Sunny yelled.

“Aren’t you two lucky that it’s lunchtime. You can eat that peach,” Charles said more to Sunny but Klaus’ eyes went wide again and he began walking towards the mill again. Charles chased after him and handed him Sunny.

“Talk!” Sunny demanded as she glared at her brother. When they arrived back at the lumbermill, Foreman Flacutono handed Klaus two pieces of gum. Klaus did not say a word, he did not even put his gum into his mouth. Sunny struggled in his arms to get her brother to release but he just sat there silently waiting for their lunch to be over. She sighed when she realized what she could do to snap him out of his zombie-like state. Sunny faced her brother and frowned at him. “Sorry,” she said before slapping his face as hard as she could with her tiny hand. His head swung to the right side but just barely. Sunny hated how much it reminded her of when Olaf smacked her brother during their stay at his house. But this time, Klaus did not cry. He did not react at all to his baby sister smacking him. He just continued to sit there, his gaze still staring into endless space.

Sunny put her arms around her brother as though she was afraid he was floating away. The two Baudelaires sat there like that, a heap of Baudelaires until Foreman Flacutono clanged his pots together to signal the end of the break.

“Stamping time!” the foreman declared, Sunny couldn’t see through the gas mask, but the foreman was smirking. “Everybody line up for stamping! And you,” he said, pointing right at Klaus. “ You, you lucky midget, will be operating the machine. Come over here so I can give you instructions. Put the baby midget anywhere, I don’t care.”

“Yes, sir,” Klaus said in a quiet voice. Sunny gasped in surprise. It was the first time he had spoken since they returned to the lumbermill. Without another word he stood up, disentangling himself from his sister, and walked toward Foreman Flacutono while his sister looked on amazedly.

Sunny stared at Klaus as he awkwardly walked away from her not even caring that he was leaving her alone. Her heart felt shattered. She remembered the promise she had recently made to herself about protecting Klaus. She felt as though she was already failing because she couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. If she couldn’t even figure out the problem, how was she ever going to find a solution?

Foreman Flacutono whispered something to Klaus, who walked slowly over to the machine covered in smokestacks and began to operate its controls. Sunny watched as the foreman nodded to Klaus and clanged his damn pots together again. “Let the stamping begin!”

Sunny had no idea what the foreman meant by stamping, and thought maybe it involved jumped up and down on the boards for some reason. But it turned out to be more like stamping a library book. The workers would lift a bundle of boards and place it on a special mat, and the machine would bring its huge, flat spindle down on top of the boards with a thunderous stamp!, leaving a label in red ink that said “Lucky Smells Lumbermill.”

Phil walked over to Sunny, who was watching her brother cautiously. “There’s nothing to worry about. Your brother is smiling!”

“Agunt!” Sunny explained, which meant, “He would never operate a machine without reading the manual first!”

Phil, of course, had no idea what the younger Baudelaire orphan had said but he smiled down at Sunny. “He’s operating it perfectly!” then he turned to Klaus, “You’re doing great, Klaus!” Klaus didn’t acknowledge Phil whatsoever, just kept moving in a zombie-like fashion.

“Wiro,” Sunny said sadly, which meant, “That might be true, but I’m still worried about Klaus. I miss my big brother,”

“That’s the spirit!” Phil said, obviously misunderstanding Sunny. “I told you if you just look on the bright side--,” he began.

“Lucky Smells laborers! Move as fast as you can and then move faster!” foreman Flacutono demanded. Sunny watched in horror as Klaus began to operate the machine at a speed she didn’t believe it should be operated. Phil pushed a new bundle of boards on to the machine. Klaus looked like he had lost control of the machine because the machine began to spin around, Phil pushed Sunny out of the way as the machine hit the debarker machine to the ground, completely smashing it. Instead of the usual stamp! This time the machine made an eerie, chilling Stam--crash--aah! Sound.

Phil fell to the floor before he had the chance to finish his sentence. Of all the noises that the Baudelaire orphans heard at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill, this one was the most terrible by far. Although Klaus didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. The thunderous stamp! ing sound had been cut off by a wrenching crash and a piercing shriek. The stamping machine had gone horribly wrong, and the huge, flat spindle had not been brought down where it was supposed to, which is on a bundle of boards. Most of the spindle had been brought down on the string machine, which was now hopelessly broken. But part of it had been brought down on Phil’s leg.

Klaus absentmindedly stood at the controls of the stamping machine. Foreman Flacutono dropped his pots (nearly hitting Sunny) as she crawled towards Phil to see if her friendliest coworker was okay. The foreman pushed a dazed Klaus aside and with a flip of a switch, he brought the spindle up again, and everyone else gathered around to see the damage.

The cage part of the string machine was split open like an egg, and the string had become completely entwined and entangled. And I simply cannot describe the grotesque and unnerving sight of Phil’s twisted, tangled, stained, and gory leg. The sight alone made Sunny’s stomach turn, but Phil looked up at her and then looked at an emotionless Klaus and gave them a weak smile.

“Code Red! Code Red!” Foreman Flacutono shouted over the loudspeaker once he reached his booth.

“Well,” Phil said wincing but continuing to smile at the children and once the foreman had stopped yelling. “This isn’t too bad. My left leg is broken, but at least I’m right-legged! Half price pedicures for life! That’s pretty lucky!”

“Yes, sir,” Klaus muttered.

“Gee,” one of the workers murmured. “I thought he’d say something along the lines of ‘Aaaaah! My leg! My leg!’’

“If someone could just help me get to my other foot,” Phil said still wincing, “I’m sure that I can get back to work.”

“Coo-coo!” Sunny cried, which was meant, “don’t be crazy!”

“Phil, you’re going to need a hospital,” one mill worker said. “We have those coupons from last month, fifty percent off a cast at the Ahab Memorial Hospital. Two of us will chip in and get your leg all fixed up.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Phil said smiling as two workers helped him up.

“Sorry,” Sunny said glaring at Klaus, who still stood emotionless.

“Oh, no, Sunny it’s fine.”

“Fine?” Foreman Flacutono replied from behind the younger Baudelaire. “This is a disaster! This is the worst accident in the history of the lumber mill!”

“No, no,” Phil said, “I’m fine. I’ve never liked my left leg so much, anyway.”

“Not your leg! You overgrown midget!” Foreman Flacutono said impatiently as Charles and Sir ran in.

Sir looked at the debarker machine and the string machine. His face was still covered by smoke, but Sunny could sense that their new guardian was furious.

“The debarker dispenser is broken!” Sir bellowed. “The string machine is complete smashed! These machines cost an inordinate amount of money!”

Sunny crawled in front of her brother, in order to protect him from Sir’s rage. She looked up at him as she watched his smile fade and his eyes closed. A second later, when they opened, Sunny could tell they were back to being the same shade of brown that hers were.

“‘Inordinate’? What does that mean?” Phil asked confused.

“It means many things,” Klaus said suddenly, in his normal tone, still blinking. “It can mean ‘irregular’. It can mean ‘immoderate’. It can be ‘disorderly’. But in the case of money, it is more likely to mean ‘excessive’.” Klaus explained as Sunny rushed up to his legs and hugged his legs.

“Back!” Sunny yelled as Klaus picked her up to hold her. Sunny hugged her brother as tight as she could.

“Back? Where was I?” Klaus asked confused hugging his sister. He looked down at his feet. “Wait, why am I not wearing any shoes?”

“Who the fuck is responsible for this!?” Sir yelled angrily, slamming his fist on a bundle of boards.

“Klaus Baudelaire caused the accident,” Foreman Flacutono pointed out. “He said he knew how to operate heavy machinery.”

“Faux!” Sunny yelled baring her teeth at Sir as he walked closer to Klaus.

“Well, now I know that!” the foreman replied.

“Wait, what happened?” he asked.

“Well, I certainly remember what happened,” the foreman shouted, pointing at Klaus. “You smashed our machines!”

“No!” Sunny pleaded.

Sir stopped in front of Klaus and Sunny. “Excuses...excuses...just like your parents. They burnt down the town, and now you’ve come back to finish the job!”

“No...I promise I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Klaus pleaded frowning.

“Sir...be reasonable,” Charles explained. “Perhaps we should reevaluate our safety procedures. Or perhaps we shouldn’t force children to work with dangerous machines in a lumber mill.”

“I got a better solution,” Sir said in a chilling voice. “One more mistake, Baudelaires, and I’m gonna send you away to a place where you’ll learn the value of discipline and child labor. As it happens, I have just the place in mind.”

“Boarding school?” Klaus asked confused remembering what Mr. Poe had said.

Sir simply growled in response. “No, not boarding school. Someplace different. Now get back to work! This mistake has already cost me an inordinate amount of money! No one will get a single coupon today!” Sir yelled as the lumber workers all began to glare at Klaus and Sunny.

“That’s not fair!” Klaus shouted. “Whatever happened...it was an accident.”

Sir walked away angrily as Charles looked at the children and frowned. “Children…”

“Charles...please it was an accident. I don’t know what happened.” Klaus explained.

“Taut,” Sunny explained, which meant, “It was an accident! Klaus didn’t mean to hurt Phil.” Klaus translated for Sunny but stopped halfway.

Wait, I hurt Phil? When? How?” he asked.

“I know…” Charles said to Sunny. “I’m sorry. When Sir gets like this, there’s nothing I can do…”

Sunny stared at Charles and frowned at her kind guardian. “Esuba,” Sunny replied, which meant, “So you’re just gonna do nothing? Look, if you can’t speak up for us, at least speak up for yourself.” Klaus translated but still looked at Sunny confused.

Charles sighed. “You’re right, my dear. I’ve been a silent partner for too long. And this mill...it has too many secrets. It’s time you learned one about your parents.”

“Charles!” Sir yelled from afar.

“Meet, me after lunch in the library,” he said to the children.

“You can’t tell us now,” Klaus asked Charles as the man ran to catch up to Sir.

The workers continued to stare at Klaus with glares. He avoided everyone’s glares. “I don’t understand, Sunny,” he whispered to his baby sister. “Everyone is staring at me like I’m a pariah. ‘Pariah’ means ‘outcast’.” he explained as he watched a few workers helping Phil out of the mill. “What happened to Phil?” he asked.

“I’m okay!” Phil reassured as he saw Klaus staring at him. Sunny sighed. “Novel,” she replied, which meant, “It’s a long story. We need to talk,”

Foreman Flacutono appeared suddenly in front of the two Baudelaires and threw his pots on the ground. “You better learn how to handle these machines, midget! Now pick up my pots, four-eyes!” Klaus set Sunny down as he frowned. He went to pick up the pots, but halfway there Foreman Flacutono stuck his foot out, and Klaus tripped on it. This time, Klaus fell right to the ground of the lumbermill with a loud thud! And again his glasses fell off his face and skittered over to a bunch of boards, and worst of all, in the foreman’s attempt to recover Klaus’ glasses for him, he had ‘accidentally’ stepped on them again. Both Klaus and Sunny looked at the glasses now in the foreman’s hand and saw that they were once again, twisted, cracked, and hopelessly broken.

“My glasses!” Klaus cried. “They’re broken again!”

Sunny got a funny feeling in her stomach, all quivery and slithery as if she had eaten snakes, rather than beef casserole the night before. “No!” She cried desperately.

“Well, well, well,” the foreman said mockingly. “How careless of you. I guess you’re due for another appointment with Dr. Orwell.”

“NO!” Sunny yelled. “Eyes!” which meant, “I’ll be his eyes.” Klaus shook his head at his sister without even translating what she said to the foreman.

“Say goodbye to your brother!” the foreman said pushing Klaus along. Klaus looked back at Sunny.

“No take!” she called out. “Derix!” she shrieked, which meant, “If I can’t prevent him from going to Dr. Orwell, at least let me go with him!” The foreman looked down at her confused but shook his head, walking away to his booth to make an important phone call.

Klaus walked down the path from the lumber mill to the eye-shaped building as best that he could since he was technically blind. With each step, he was shaking harder and harder. He didn’t want to do this alone. He couldn’t do this alone. Before he had a chance to turn around, he felt a small hand touch his dangling fingers. He looked down to see his baby sister.

“Beckett?” she asked, staring up at her brother, this meant, “What’s that thing Samuel Beckett said?”

Klaus smiled down at her. “I can’t go on...I’ll go on.”

“Just us,” she reminded him, at this moment, this was Sunny’s way of saying, “Let’s go on...together.”

Klaus picked up his baby sister and frowned. “I can’t believe I hurt Phil…and I nearly hurt you, Sunny. You know I would never…” he began.

Sunny put her tiny hand on his cheek and smiled. She nodded indicating to her brother that she knew that he would never try to hurt her. Neither Baudelaire orphan knew what had happened to Klaus and neither Baudelaire orphan knew if it would happen again or if it had anything to do with Count Olaf. Although, they had their suspicions. But the children walked together nervously towards the eye-shaped building. Sunny knew that it wasn’t a good time to mention what she found from the library because her brother couldn’t see so he wouldn’t be able to help her understand the quote. But she did pull the peach Charles had given her out of her pocket, handing it to her brother. Who divided the peach among himself and his sister, giving Sunny the biggest piece. As she bit on the pit of the peach, she couldn’t help but feel as though she had already eaten the pit entirely, because as she and her brother got closer and closer to the eye-shaped building, Sunny Baudelaire felt as though she had a pit in her stomach. She didn’t know why but she knew that the building they were walking towards was dangerous and someplace that the Baudelaire siblings should absolutely avoid.

___________________________________________________________________

Violet Snicket was excited, her father was researching the location of her father, well so he claims. Part of her believed him but the cynical part of her thought it was just another lie but she had her hopes. Besides this gave her a little bit of time to gather more information that could hopefully help her understand more about her parents’ past and about this VFD cult.

She was not going to waste any time. She could feel her anticipation about the entire situation getting harder and harder to control. She took a deep breath and made her way to her father’s backpack that sat by the door. She knew this was a boundary that needed to be crossed, although it was one that she honestly didn’t want to cross. But these backpacks are supposed to be full of essentials and keepsakes...so maybe he’s hiding something in here. She moved quickly, she didn’t have time to debate with herself. She dumped the backpack on the floor and started going through everything, she didn’t know what she was looking for but her eyes fell on a large black book. The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations. A smile appeared on her face. Jackpot! She thought to herself but before she was able to read a single page, she noticed there was what looked like a letter being used as a bookmark for the large book. She pulled it out and stared at it intensely. She noticed it had the same handwriting as the two hundred paged letter. Violet was thankful that this wasn’t as long because she was eager to read the book she had just found.

Violet glanced at the front door quickly. She looked back at the letter that she held in her hands and began to read it aloud to herself.

“My Dearest Darling,

I have written this several times trying to find the best words. I have recently heard of a terribly inaccurate rumor that was plastered all on the front page of that despicable newspaper that you had once worked for. Unfortunately, I am unsure whether or not the carrier crows will find you and deliver this message to you seeing that Jacques nor Kit has heard from you. I do hope that you are safe.

My pregnancy went well. B. was with me through all of it. Both of us were heartbroken that you weren’t able to be there for the beautiful event. B. Promises to treat and raise her as his own. He’s truly excited at the prospect of fatherhood. I’ve named her Violet Malina...I hope that’s okay. I remember that one time I had mentioned naming her after my favorite color, you had no objections.

I write to you now to ask for a favor. B and I have been asked to do a recent mission and we weren’t able to decline. But as you and I have discussed, we don’t want to involve Violet in anything related to the organization.

The favor that I am asking of you is to watch over our daughter temporarily. Until after B and I have finished the mission. After that you and I can discuss possible arrangements for Violet, so she can grow up with all three of her parents.

I am truly sorry, my dear, for the events that have transpired and for the retracted marriage proposal but The Force of Destiny has taken over and has made it impossible for us to be together any longer. But no matter what, I don’t believe that Violet should be punished for things not going the way that we had planned. I hope you agree on this matter.

If you do, somehow, receive this letter, please meet me at the last safe place, on the day of the week that M. Caliban’s husband is named after. I will be wearing the same red shawl that I wore the night everything took a turn for the worst. You know, the one with feathers. You’ll most likely be in a disguise which I don’t blame you. Just do me the kind favor of not masking your eyes...I’ll know it is you, my dear, I see your eyes every day when I look down our a darling Violet. Greet me the way most volunteers do. Wait for my response. We will then relocate for the drop-off.

I know it’s silly but Violet is the most precious thing in my life right now and I will stop at nothing to protect her from the evils of this world. We will discuss a pick-up location at this precise time. Hope to see you there, My Silence Knot.

-Baticeer”

Violet felt an intense fire light up her insides. Her mother did want her...her mother did not want him, though. She gritted her teeth and screamed in anger. Throwing the large book to the other side of the room. She felt hot tears pouring from her eyes. All this time, her father told her that his ending up with her was accidental. But as Violet reread the note, she couldn’t help but think that it was intentional. The moment that he got ahold of her, he ran and hid them both away from her mother. A small part of her, felt like she was overreacting...overanalyzing the situation...fitting pieces of the puzzle forcefully in the wrong places but what else could she do? What else could she think? Everything she had known about her past seemed to be one elaborate lie, which she recently learned her father was truly good at. All he did was lie to her. All he did was keep secrets. Where was the line? Where was his boundary?

She wiped her tears from her face angrily. Breathing heavy, she just kept rereading the letter. My mother did want me. She only lost me because of that stupid organization. She sunk to the ground, kicking her feet. If anyone saw Violet’s breakdown, they would think she was a small child having a temper tantrum. She hated this stupid organization. If it weren’t for VFD she may be living a happy life with her mother and father. If it weren’t for VFD, she could have known her mother. If it weren’t for VFD, she’d be able to trust her father.

She walked over to the large black book and picked it up, slamming it on the table. She pulled out a chair in front of it, still clutching the letter. She was done. She was finished. Her research was done. She had everything she needed to demand answers from her father. Violet waited patiently for him to arrive back home. She tried to read the book that was placed in front of her, but she couldn’t concentrate because her mind was racing with a million different questions that she was going to ask her father. Questions that she was going to demand answers to. Answers that she was going to demand be truthful.

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smorkaft · 3 years

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My dad was nice but he was very old, never was very good with feelings and I didn’t see him a lot after I was 6, so he was more like an uncle to me, even on the day he died. I don’t say this to be cruel, I’m thankful for the fun times we had together, but I never felt like I got to know him as an adult, as anything other than a father. My mother and my sister have always been my actual family, and I love them both very much, but they’ve also always been condescending when speaking to me, but I never really knew how to describe it as anything other than “teasing”. In more recent times, I’ve come to realize that it’s really not okay, that they can be manipulative and have intricate tactics to say things without feeling shame, since I rarely reciprocate any hate towards them and their comments are really unwarranted and mean. I’ve tried to identify the things they do. They say things that appear helpful but usually support them with unnecessary negative personal attacks (because you’re lazy, because you’re stupid etc.), they use backhanded compliments, they laugh while saying mean things so they can decide if they’re joking afterwards in case I get upset, they have short spurts of unusual kindness every now and then to make up for their common behavior (moral licensing), they call me sensitive to justify themselves (when really it’s the opposite), test my intelligence with esoteric trivia to justify their stance, amongst other things.

Regarding what they say, it’s a lot of belittling my physical / mental traits, my hobbies or openly calling me lazy and stupid as if it was a given fact; they make comments about my hair, my nose, my weight and my clothes, so much so that I didn’t let myself look how I wanted to until I was about 19 and underwent several style makeovers in my teens. A very common one is also that I can’t complain about anything because everything I do and study is apparently really easy to them, despite that my technical knowledge of art is good for a 20 year old and I’m trying hard to get better. My mother and my sister like to bring up how my sister works in her free time and that her school is much harder than mine, as if we were on the verge of being homeless and without a future and that working longer is a good thing. My sister also sighs and gets bothered by the fact that I am anywhere near her, answers in silence, with muffled “mm”s or with an attitude, which has led me to avoiding her as much as possible. Her personality completely changes to a cheery, invested daddy’s girl as soon as anyone outside the close family comes by, so I think she’s just insecure and manipulative but doesn’t see anything to gain in interacting nicely with any of us at home since she’s got us wrapped around her finger anyway. My mother is always very nice to me and people in general, but she has made it a habit to belittle me quite often. I think she mostly sees it as harmless, so I don’t hold it against her too much, and she has toned it down after I’ve brought it up, even if I had to do it a couple of times first. I’ve noticed that in my friend groups, some people target me more often than others and I’ve been called a drama queen before, so I know very well that I am more sensitive than most and that it’s noticable to others. I’ve worked on making teasing me feel less enjoyable to get people to stop, either by smiling it off or ignoring them, but I guess it’s just tattooed on my forehead that I can’t stand it. My mother and sister’s comments especially, since they always feel so honest and cutting. Though it might be a stretch to assume so, I suspect they’re the reason I have performance anxiety/ a feeling of forced over-politeness around strangers and that I feel like women can push me around verbally and that I find it scary to critize them. My mother, even if I know she’s nice and tries very hard for us, has a very short temper. Especially in public, because I know that she’s very preoccupied about how she appears to others. In the past, when I’ve annoyed her in public (like asking to play on her phone while we were waiting and I didn’t have a phone yet), there’s been times where she’d scream right in my face to fuck off, which would make everyone around us stare and go quiet. I feel like my mother has a pretty sad look on parenting; her parents were emotionally absent and had issues and her mother married an abusive man that she lived with most of her life, and when she didn’t live with them she’d live with a childminder. She wants to be a good parent, but she’s a bit lost on how in some areas by inheriting the absence of her parents. Nevertheless, having all of my closest family be so on edge all the time has had a toll on me and my ability to open up/feel safe around others sometimes. I suspect that they’re also the reason I’m somewhat self-conscious about my looks and my behavior when I’m in public (especially the length of my hair). It’s clear that my lack of masculinity hasn’t gone unnoticed, I’ve been called a faggot a lot of times, and it’s a shame that my looks and my behavior is stereotypically gay or female, but I can’t do much about it unless I were to brainwash or censor myself further. I used to wear brighter clothes, have a high-pitched voice, act more flamboyant than I do now and and just generally be more down-to-earth, but I repressed that part of me when I realized it was seen as gay and feminine. I didn’t like that people felt entitled to comment about things that evoked insecurities in me, no matter who they were and how the comment was presented, so I conditioned myself to be manlier. Constantly having to put up with degrading comments in an environment you can’t exit, no matter how much kindness you try to meet these people with, it really starts warping your perception of personal relationships and slowly erodes your mental fortitude over time, and now here we are. When I DO make similar remarks about my mother and sister, it’s always the biggest deal ever. I can admire their boundaries, but I also realize they’re the cause I have fewer. If I bring up that I find their behavior to be hurtful it’s always a battle, I never get met with any understanding. If I bring it up with my sister, she brings up things I did when we were kids as if she’s got The Great Book of Grudges under her bed and I’ve made no growth at all since I was 8. Always this fucking whataboutism, furthering my sentiment of being required to always be nice to her so as to not be a hypocrite. She takes absolutely no shit from me, no matter how small; and now she wants to become a cop too, go figure. If I bring up my sister’s behavior with my mom, she somewhat agrees with me but usually says that my sister is still growing and will be nicer soon, as if she can’t be held responsible for any of her actions and her terrible attitude even when she’s now 18. If I bring up my mom’s behavior with my mom, she starts victimizing herself and saying I’m ungrateful for the things she does for me (again, whataboutism). The way she sees it, taking care of her kids materially (household chores, help with emails, work etc.) exempts her from having to respect their boundaries or give them emotional care sometimes. I agree that I should help her more at home, which I have taken measures to do, which means I can listen and show sympathy, but a part of me also knows that no matter how hard I work for her, I’m still not going to have her fully listen to me, because I can’t remember a time that she has asked me how I feel/ if I’m okay in my entire life unless I’m bawling my eyes out in front of her, despite the fact that I’ve lived as a shut-in during my whole life. And that really hurts. It feels like she wants me to be someone else, someone tougher and better, so she doesn’t care about how I really feel, and so she doesn’t ask. It feels near impossible to ask someone to listen now, that I can’t be sad about anything. That you can just walk all over me and that it’s okay, because I didn’t walk the dog during my lunch break or something. I was just never taught that it’s okay to be sad and talk about it, and I’m finally realizing that my family hasn’t always been nice to me growing up. Just asking for help/comfort produces this massive guilt and panic in me and it would have been unbearable if I wasn’t so self-conscious about it and good at hiding it by now. I feel like I have to be controlled and smiley, or else people will think I need them to listen. When I’ve tried reaching out to friends, it’s usually a select few and after a problem is over, when it’s too hard to stay quiet. Some of them are really nice and caring and it means a lot to me to have my struggle be validated by people I look up to, but I’ve also had my problems fall on deaf ears sometimes, which is understandable, even if a bit disappointing. In 2019, I made a huge life decision that I thought would finally prove my worth to my family. I moved to Belgium and attended a really hard school. First time I lived alone. First time I had to take care of myself. In a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language. Didn’t have any friends. Where I had 5 different subjects at once, several of which I sucked at and all really hard to pass. In a country with an unforgiving school culture that I never experienced before. A school with power-tripping asshole teachers. A country with the most bureaucratic administrative processes I had ever have to go through. A bitter taste of reality, and a really stupid decision born from desperation I didn’t acknowledge I felt then. I tried and I failed miserably. I felt like I was going insane and I was breaking down every day. I chose to drop out after two semesters and return as a failure, but now I feel like I have some sense of direction and a more realistic understanding of what pace I need in life.

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misssophiachase · 7 years

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So I officially suck at AU Week and timelines (this I’m reminded of EVERY time this event comes along). This was supposed to be a day 3 update for sci-fi but now it’s just another chapter update. If you’re still reading I hope you like it. Thanks to the awesomely brilliant Nicole @romanoffsbite for the beautiful cover.

Synopsis: Caroline Forbes takes a post-graduation camping trip in the mountains with her friends only to return to nothing and no one. Can she find out what's happened, especially with arrogant Klaus Mikaelson along for the journey? You can read from the beginning HERE.

Chapter 4: Fader

Her high pitched squeal was enough to render him practically deaf but Elijah didn’t really notice until Katherine’s lithe body was firmly nestled in his arms.

If he was being honest it didn’t feel entirely foreign but unfortunately they had so much more to worry about. The fact her house was bathed in darkness and there was no sign of human life was just another reason to believe the worst.

“Any reason why you jumped into my arms?”

“It was dark and I thought I felt something?”

“Me, perhaps?”

“Well, what do you expect it’s pitch black in here,” she complained, freeing herself and straightening her denim mini shorts that had managed to ride up further in the process. “You know it wouldn’t hurt if you could be a little less judgmental..”

“Judgemental?”

“And robotic...”

“Robotic?” He huffed. “We are in the middle of a crisis but you’re too busy trying to type cast me and by the way you are way off the mark, Miss Pierce.”

“Sorry,” she conceded. Even in the darkness he could make out her downward gaze. “Call me stupid but I spent the whole time travelling here telling myself they were going to be okay.”

“It’s not stupid,” he murmured sincerely. “I did the same thing earlier to be honest. But there has to be some explanation to all of this, people don’t just disappear so suddenly. Our parents can’t just disappear.”

“But they have, Elijah.”

“There must be some explanation,” he repeated desperately.

“I spent so much time rebelling against my parents which is why they sent me away,” Katherine admitted sadly. “I guess I didn’t really appreciate them and now I’ll probably never see them again to say I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that,” Elijah ordered, his hands finding their way to her shoulders in the darkness. “They’ll be fine; everyone will be fine. We just need to find out what happened and then we can fix this.”

“How can you be so calm during a crisis?” Before he could respond she continued. “Let me guess, it’s all that Tai Chi you practice?”

“That and having to grow up in the Mikaelson household. It was either fight with stubborn, know-it-all idiots or relish in the peace and quiet whilst always knowing I was actually right.”

“Suddenly, it doesn’t seem like such a bad choice,” she smiled knowingly. “So, what exactly happens next?” Klaus couldn’t miss the hope reflected in her brown eyes and was suddenly scared to disappoint this beautiful girl he barely knew.

“We’ll see what supplies we can collect here and then head to Bonnie’s place, she’s the closest right?” Katherine nodded by way of response. “I’m sure...”

“Thanks,” she interrupted his hurried spiel, placing her soft hand on top of his briefly. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to walk in here alone, you know given everything that’s happening.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Although it was dark, the feeling of her touch was enough to know he wasn’t alone either and to take some form of much needed comfort on his part.

xxxx

“I’m not sure why I’m surprised,” Bonnie whimpered. The kitchen was dark as much as it was lifeless and Kol was struggling with what to say to comfort his girlfriend. “I just somehow hoped that…”

“It’s okay.” Kol attempted to offer some form of support but was standing way beyond arms distance.

“How can you say that?”

“Well, the sooner we accept what’s happening, the sooner we can work out the best course of action.”

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sound so incredibly clinical,” Bonnie conceded, the disappointment evident in her tone.

“Well, what do you expect?” He asked incredulously. “My parents are missing too. The whole town has disappeared and we are facing a hidden threat, Bonnie.”

“I get that, I get all of that,” she sobbed. “But just for once I’d really appreciate something much more sympathetic and a lot less cold from my own boyfriend.”

“It’s difficult,” Kol conceded, his lips pursed.

“I’m just so scared.” He felt his chest constrict, knowing that he’d been so selfish without much of an explanation. He had never been the best person in crisis, that’s what his eldest brother Elijah was for, after all.

As Kol attempted to encircle her waist in comfort, they noticed a flash light shine into the bay window. He froze thinking the enemy had finally found them and scampered behind the couch to avoid detection. Bonnie was frozen to the spot before finally dropping to the floor in fear. If he could have played that better he would have.

“It’s just us!” A familiar voice cried out into the darkness. As much as Kol usually dreaded his older brother’s voice this time he more than welcomed it.

In the end it wasn’t Kol that unlocked the back door, it was Bonnie. And it wasn’t him that comforted her inside, it was Katherine. Elijah was regarding him seriously and he wasn’t sure whether he was trying to ascertain what had happened or whether he was disappointed in his little brother. By Bonnie’s subsequent behaviour towards him, Kol knew it was probably the latter.

xxxxx

“It seems so dead,” Caroline murmured, her eyes glancing over the main street of Storm Lake. Even if it was a small town she was at least used to some activity. “Where is everyone?”

They’d taken brief shelter above, their bodies laying outstretched on the grass in wait. The fact she accidentally rubbed up against his left leg every now and again and sharing the warmth wasn’t completely lost on Klaus.

“Too dead,” Klaus murmured suspiciously, his blue eyes taking in the view from the hill they were using as a vantage point to spy.

“We need supplies, Klaus, otherwise...”

“I know,” he replied gruffly. “But walking into town might be a death trap. I wouldn’t want to put you in that position.”

“You’re scared?” She asked, her gaze unflinching even in the brief morning light as the sun began to rise slowly from the east.

“Is that your way of trying to prove I am the wuss you always imagined me to be, Forbes?”

“Sounds like someone has a complex,” she uttered, unapologetically. Klaus was beginning to realise that Caroline had a problem with being too honest. But so did he and given their possible dire circumstances it wasn’t completely unwelcome at this point.

“What can I say? You always had this way of making me feel a little intimidated.”

“And what exactly did I do?”

“Student body president, debate captain, cheer captain, tennis captain, do I need to go on?”

“I always was an overachiever, from birth, blame my parents,” she replied gruffly. “As bad as it sounds I just wanted to get out of small town Iowa and make something of myself. The way I saw it, extra circulars were my ticket.”

“You hated this place that much?”

“Maybe not as badly as you did,” she shot back. Klaus had to admit she had a point. “You wore that intense hatred like a badge of honour.”

“I was resentful,” Klaus baulked, wondering how their conversation had reached this point, especially given what they were possibly facing. “No one likes being held against their parent’s will.”

“Maybe so,” Caroline agreed. “But last time I checked you were going to RISD.”

“And how did you know that exactly...”

“Everyone was talking about your amazing art portfolio..” Klaus didn’t want to address that given her picture played a big role in that particular decision. In fact it was probably the main reason given the extreme feeling behind it.

“Last time I heard you were going to North Western, love.”

“Maybe.” Klaus lowered his head sadly, the undefined word resonating in his own future too given their horrible predicament. They held each others gaze, their hands intertwined tightly in anticipation of what was to come.

“If you stand in line you won’t get hurt,” an automated voice bellowed via a loud speaker below. It was then a spotlight illuminated main street, highlighting a long line of helpless and scared residents.

“No, not them too,” Caroline whimpered in response to seeing her family, her head hitting the grass and trying to stifle her sobs. Klaus noticed his parents there too but was too focused on Caroline’s pain to process his initial grief.

“It’s going to be okay,” Klaus offered, his hand finding his way onto the small of her back and rubbing it slowly. She cried and he continued to apply pressure hoping it was providing some form of comfort. It was something his mother had done from when he was a little boy and if he could do the same he would.

Her whimpers seemed to steady eventually with every stroke. Klaus had fantasised about her for months but suddenly all he wanted to do was hold her tight, tell her everything was going to be okay and never let her go.

“I’m sorry,” Caroline offered, swiping at the stray tears and facing him.

“Me too,” he offered shakily, his hand moving swiftly away from her bare skin even though every fibre in his being was willing it to stay longer.

“I’ve had enough of being a victim,”

“Funnily enough, me too,” he growled, trying to rid the image of his parents captured helplessly from memory.

“Let’s go make ourselves known,” she replied confidently, her tears and grief practically non-existent now.

“Show them who runs this town you mean?”

“If I knew you’d better I’d say you were declaring war, Klaus Mikaelson,” she offered.

“Correction, we’re declaring war, love,” Klaus confirmed, grasping her hand and moving in step towards main street. There was no way in hell they were getting away with taking over their town. They had too much to live for after all.

On FF HERE

#fader #tomorrow when the war began #sophia chase #misssophiachase #chapter four #romanoffsbite

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miraculousrivetra · 7 years

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The Queen’s Painting

Day 1 - Royalty

A/N: Okay, I don’t even know what this is. This may not seem like royalty to you, but in my mind it kind of is because I imagined a whole plot for this supposed-to-be-one-shot! I know, I’m crazy and I don’t even know what I’m doing with my life anymore. As such, just so you’re not confused over where the royalty is in this poor excuse of a story, I’ll briefly explain: Petra’s father has a brother and both of them are descendants from the royal family, which is no longer ruling. They don’t get along, you know, the whole mean-brother/good-brother kind of thing. So, the mean-brother wants to steal the painting that was currently with Petra’s family because he thinks he has more rights over it than them (and he wants to sell it). That’s basically it, I think :p Sorry for taking so much of your time, enjoy it nonetheless :D Happy Rivetra Week!! Omg, so excited <33

As he climbs up to the window, he can't help but curse every entity known in this universe. The intercom buzzing in his ear was extremely annoying, and he couldn't wait to take it out and throw it as far as the sun goes. But as of now, he knows he can't, so he simply grits his teeth and tries to bear with it. That is, until a loud beep that almost makes him lose his grip pierces his eardrum.

"Farlan," he hisses, trying very hard to contain the expletives that were dying to leave his mouth. "What the actual fuck."

Oops.

"What? What is it?" his best friend's voice replaces the buzzing, and he almost sighs in relief.

"You almost left me deaf."

"I did?" his voice sounds utterly confused, making Levi roll his eyes.

"Forget it," he says, finally jumping inside of the house, "I'm in."

"Way to go aniki!" Isabel's loud voice makes him wince, and he comes to the conclusion that he will be deaf by morning.

Levi doesn't respond to the girl, which leaves her grumbling on the other side of the line. His eyes roam over the living room he stepped in, paying attention to every single detail. It doesn't take him long to realize that what he's looking for is not there.

"I think the painting's in one of the offices."

Farlan tells him before he can even ask. Levi hears him typing away at his computer, probably looking for the office where the painting would most likely be. He waits patiently, taking careful steps on the carpeted floor as his index and middle finger swipe over a table top, before analysing the leftovers that got stuck to them.

"Not bad." he mumbles under his breath when he realizes his fingers are clean. He looks back at the table, looking at the contents sitting on top of it. Some papers along with bills, a few coins and picture frames.

Normally, he wouldn't be interested at all in the lives of those whom he had to steal/spy from, but a certain picture caught his eye. He picks it up and brings it closer to his face.

There, a beautiful woman with hair as golden as gold itself stands, proudly holding a card he fails to recognize. Her entire figure screams pride, and so does that of the two people who stand by her side. He assumes them to be her parents, since they seem to be in their early fifties, and the older woman's hair resembles that of the younger one, the only difference being some of the already whitening strands. The man's, however, is a dark auburn color.

He places the picture down as his attention is drawn to another one. It seems to have been taken on the same day, for she wears the same clothes and is showing off the same card to the camera. Although, now she's surrounded by three men, all of them about her age. One of them is holding her on his shoulders while kneeling down on the floor, while the others support her arms, one on each of their shoulders. Bright smiles adorn their faces and they seem to be having fun. He has the feeling he's seen her before somewhwere, but he can't exactly put his finger on it.

"Okay, leave the living room and go down the hallway, third door on the right." Farlan speaks up again. Levi takes one last look at the picture before putting it down and following the instructions given to him.

This job's payment is bigger than any he has ever done before. And it's as easy as stealing candy from a child. It was perfect and it had everything to go right.

Apparently, the painting was a family relic, but not just any family. The late royal family. The one that ruled before a democracy was implanted. And his employer was part of it, royal blood running through his veins.

"Tch." Levi can't help but let out as his eyes lay on the ticket to a better life. All that money for this?

Well, he certainly would not complain. Although it does make him wonder. If this belonged to the royal family, why would these people have it? They were rich, sure, that much he knew from Farlan's debriefing (that is, before he dozed off). But not so rich as to be able to buy a painting that was worth millions. The same millions his client was willing to pay to have it stolen.

He's slowly removing the painting out of the wall, careful not to ruin anything in it, when the door bursts open and the lights turn on.

Well, that was unexpected. Especially considering he didn't hear steps on the hallway, which was a first for him. His hearing was something he took pride in, and no one could easily sneak up on him.

If he was easily scared, he'd probably have jumped out of his skin, but he's not. That's why he places the painting on the ground as if he was not just trying to steal it, before touching a button near his temple to darken the shades of his glasses. He also makes sure to pull the black face mask he was wearing further up before he turns around to face the intruder.

She's eyeing him without any fear whatsoever, disheveled hair and slightly dazed eyes as if she'd just woken up. He easily recognizes her as the girl on the photos; the shade of her hair giving her out immediately. Familiarity slaps him in the face once again, but he still can't seem to remember where-

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she asks, narrowing her eyes.

That's right! He remembers, she's that journalist... the one whose parents are rich, but she refuses to use their money to climb her way to the top. The one who always tells the truth, no matter who she's going up against, even if it's the president himself. That's why she works at a smaller newspaper company. She thinks she'll be able to help them become bigger by her own hard work, which he finds completely stupid. In the world they live in, revealing the truth will only bring you down.

"Petra Ral," her name rolls over his tongue as if he'd already said it countless of times, while he takes a few steps closer to her. She does not back down.

"Levi?" Farlan voices out, clearly a little anxious.

"Tch." he's about to turn around, but she grabs his arm and makes him turn back to her. Her lips are pursed, and she's staring intensely at where she assumed his eyes to be. She could not be certain, since his shades wouldn't let her see.

"That painting you were just trying to steal, it belongs to my family. Don't you dare-"

"Look here, miss. I'm just trying to do my job. I'd appreciate it if you could just turn around and go back to your room, pretend nothing happened," he tries to reason out, his voice coming out a little muffled, "Unless... you want me to do this the hard way. And let me tell you, I don't think you'd really like that."

Even with his threatening tone, she does not back down. She's either feisty, or stupidly brave. He doesn't know which is worse. Neither allows her to realize possible dangerous situations, such as the one she's in right now. He sighs.

"Well, I'm assuming you want the hard way then."

He's about to pick her up over his shoulder when she assumes a fighting stance. His eyebrows raise slightly, clearly not expecting this.

"If you think I'll let you leave like this, don't." she says, and he almost has the urge to chuckle.

"Your fighting stance is almost flawless, although you should try to open your legs a little bit more." his foot comes in between her legs and pushes them further apart. "There."

He doesn't know why he's finding amusement in this, but he is.

Her eyes look at him in confusion and slight anger. She thinks he's mocking her.

"Levi, what the hell are you doing?" Farlan's disbelieving voice fills his ear once again, but he ignores it.

"Now, show me what you've got." Levi tells her, using his index finger to lure her in. She grits her teeth and is about to give him a left, but he quickly takes hold of her arm. She tries to pry it away, but when she realizes she can't, she tries to punch him with her right fist, which he also grabs. He pushes her against the wall, both fists pinned over her head.

"First lesson I'm going to teach you; don't let anger cloud your senses. All it does is make you weaker." his tone is amused, which makes her the more pissed off. He can feel it, even before she starts raising her leg to kneel him where it hurts, so he pins her legs with his as well.

"Interesting... so the famous truth seeker Petra Ral's got some moves on her. Too bad you can't really use them on me. But I'm sure if you tried them against some other fool, he'd be screeching in pain on the ground by now."

"You've seen nothing yet," she huffs against his face.

"Haven't I?" he asks, using just one hand to pin hers against the wall, while the other brings his face mask down. He gets closer to her face, his breath hot against her lips. "What else would you like me... to see?"

Her eyes widen a little at the close proximity, and she feels her stomach twist up. She doesn't understand at all. He's trying to steal from her, for God's sake! One of the most important paintings of her family... But still she doesn't... he's got this hold on her and...

"Let me go." she voices out weakly, making him smirk.

"Now, you don't really that, do you?" he licks his lips, and she can feel her legs starting to shake. But it's not from fear. She doesn't fear him at all, even though she probably should.

"Yes, I-"

His lips crash against hers surprisingly, and her eyes widen even more, completely shocked.

He's... he's kissing me? her mind is a complete mess as his lips move against hers, and she can't do - or maybe doesn't want to do - anything.

He softly bites her lower lip, making her stomach do yet another flip. His tongue swipes over it, as if to soothe it, before he sucks it in between his. And she looses it. She has no idea what comes over her and makes her kiss back the man that's trying to steal from her, but she does it nonetheless.

She kisses him just as fiercely, taking revenge for the bit lip and the sucking.

When the need to breathe arises, he finally releases her lips, and she doesn't even realize her eyes had slid closed. She keeps them that way, even when he let's go of her.

"I hope to see you again, Miss Ral." and that's what makes her snap her eyes open again. But when she does, he's already jumping out of the house with the painting on his back. She gasps in shock, running to the window he used and putting her head out, the cold winter wind slapping at her cheeks. He's nowhere to be seen.

"Hey!" she slams her fist on the window sill, completely frustrated with herself for letting him play her like this. And just like that, the painting is gone.

#snk #rivetra #rivetra week #winterrw2017 #levi ackerman #petra ral #farlan church #isabel magnolia #my writing

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