#fuck you Eddie Ryland

[no-one-picked-maris]

Why I Think They Won't Re-Release Felicity (in any meaningful capacity)

Felicity's stories are very white and protestant in a very alienating way - and I say this as someone who related to her as a child. She's literally a member of the gentry, she's Samantha of the 18th century.

Fun Fact: In the earliest editions of Meet Felicity, rather than referring to Jiggy Nye's language as "not proper", it's referred to as "sinful". Felicity is also chided with reminding her that disobeying one's parent's is a sin. Oh, and this change:

Nan: "Then Mr. Nye called the horse a nag, and he said the devil could have it. And he said he would skin us alive if we ever came back!”

Nan: "Then Mr. Nye called the horse a nag, and he said anyone could take it if they could ride it. And he said he would skin us alive if we ever came back!”

Her hornbook:

(and the parentification)

Felicity and Kirsten share a very similar problem in the way they present history, they are literally the mascots for sanitized white people history. There are no black people in Kirsten's stories. Kirsten is literally Manifest Destiny: the Doll.

There's only one free man in Felicity's stories, Issac. Rose and Marcus are slaves. King's Creek is a plantation, a plantation left to Mother and the children when Grandfather dies (he knew they "loved it so.") Felicity is a slaveowner.

She's not reading Thomas Paine there guys.

I haven't read Felicity's Beforever series. I know they're abridged, and I know they didn't substantially change them. Felicity's relationship with her Grandfather, and his subsequent death, are integral to the series.

How do her central series present her slaveownership? It was ignored as some sort of background consequence of her possession of King's Creek. Like it's just a fact of life, with no need to remark upon it.

okay, and:

Felicity was the worst selling light skinned doll in the collection. Even worse than Kirsten whose sales got cannibalized by Kit after 2000.

I'm not sure if there's a consensus on why Felicity sold so poorly. Red hair, a dainty collection, not girly enough? Her class contemporary, Samantha, is widely agreed to be one of the most popular historical dolls AG released. So it's not class consciousness.

Both don't follow the rules of the time (being a tomboy, befriending people outside her class status):

Felicity only got a movie because Julia Roberts loved her.

Kirsten: Little House on the Prairie and All American History. This is the time of the Oregon Trail Game, after all. I lived on pioneer stories when I was little (1990s).

Samantha: Romanticized "victorian" era things were popular, and her clothing is pretty 1980s inspired. Look at it.

Molly: The Grandmothers' generation.

Is it Felicity's mob caps? She was the horse girl, and that wasn't enough. Was she frumpy, with her gowns rather than dresses? Her schooling - it's unrelatable. She's learning etiquette with Miss Manderly rather than struggling with Miss Campbell's times tables:

Her daddy owning a fucking general store and being prominent enough to provoke a reaction with his refusal to sell tea?

Her Beforever release was out for 2 years, releasing during the 2017 Doll Deluge or whatever we call it. She was gone by 2019. She got a doll, accessories, and undergarments. At least the latter were more period accurate.

you have to keep your trademark active.

Kirsten's unpopularity prior to archival is easily explained by the release of Kit, the decreasing popularity of pioneer stories, and the changing times.

Felicity was never popular at the outset.

Why?

Felicity's 35th Anniversary Edition was the first to sell out, but that can mean a lot of things. AG doesn't realize sales figures and stock figures. Selling out of 2,500 Felicity is relative to selling out of, say, 10,000 Samantha. Businesses order stock based on projected sales. I'd argue, without the benefit of the full statistical picture, that Felicity collectors are a small and passionate group.

They removed Felicity from catalogs in 2001, making her an online exclusive. Did sixty somethings use the internet at the turn of the century? Mine didn't! She wasn't worth the catalog space a year after American Girl was sold to Mattel. Pleasant was inspired by colonial Williamsburg to create AG. She wasn't enough to gamble a new doll line on. She had to wait until they had some footing. I'd argue Pleasant always knew Felicity would be a poor seller.

When Felicity was removed, I got Kit. She was my next favorite after Felicity and I related to her as a small child, too.

Which reminds me, Kit is responsible for a lot in the AG Historical Collection:

She was another blonde haired blue eyed doll, but with a more relatable collection, and easier to deal with hair:

Ta dah ^

I think Kit also a soft relaunch of Felicity:

In photos and brief:

wearing boys' clothing

close with their fathers

tomboys: with felicity being interested in footraces and racehorses, and kit being a newshound, lacking patience for Ruthie's princess stories (at first).

Kit was like a two-for-one special. I'd really like to see her sales stats compared to Felicity and Kirsten.

[wormdebut]

Just some facts about Rockstar Eddie and Prep Brat Legend Steve (The Ryland Chronicles Couple):

Steve is whiny.

Like so loud and whiny and a menace and Eddie lives for it

So after the whole “Ryland” Debacle

Eddie flies him out to wherever they are because he just needs his baby after that shit show.

Fucks him in the green room.

Door open.

They do not care.

Eddie makes Steve name three songs while he’s strung out from orgasm denial. Doesn’t get to come until he names three that Eddie wrote about his ass.

(There’s five, Eddie is being generous.)

On stage that night Eddie dedicated the whole show to Ryland.

“Thank you for the best sex of my life, you elitist asshole.”

Gareth from the drums “if I had to hear Steve moan Daddy one more time.”

Eddie to the crowd: “he gets off to it more than I do.”

Steve backstage: is that a challenge???

Steve is very season one-core. Just a happy little prep boy Jock with his super hot dirty metal boyfriend. And they do not care about anyone around them unless they are family.

Thanks so much.

[omgthatdress]

Samantha absolutely got the WORST BeForever dress. I mean okay Felicity’s dress probably wins for the ugliest, but at least there it at least looked like they were TRYING to be accurate.

Looking at Samantha’s newer outfits and BeForever line.... goddamn is it PINK. Granted, pink was a popular color in the 1900s, but not THAT popular. And somehow this very modern looking party dress is supposed to be an every day Edwardian girl’s dress? Just.... no. Fucking no.

Look, I get the urge to go pink. And the good news is that in this era, you can go pink! but this..... ugh it just completely disregards the pigeon breast  and dropped waist silhouette and goes for lacy and ruffly. I know Samantha can be a little reckless with her nice clothes, but going bicycling and climbing trees in THAT? No. No. No.

Why does she have a headband? I think they’re going for the art nouveau thing but NO. A proper young Edwardian lady going out about her day must have a hat! Ugh this is such an atrocious mess. You can go pink, but do it like this:

(Abiti Antichi)

You can even do a pink party dress, but do it like this:

Ugh the worst part is they abridged her books into just two (which all the girls got, literally fucking diminishing the brand) and they took Eddie Ryland out completely! That is fucking criminal! I know I said previously that both Annabelle and Harriet were THE WORST, but Eddie Ryland somehow managed to be even worse than both of them. I mean, look at this little ginger fucking gremlin:

He was born to antagonize girls and would be an incel today. And the worst fucking thing about him is you just fucking KNOW he grew up to be a senator who said that the New Deal was socialism and that Hitler was nothing to worry about. OF COURSE HE FUCKING DID. Brett Kavanaugh lookin ass. How are girls supposed to learn what misogyny is if they don’t have Eddie Ryland there to embody it?!

Ugh Samantha Mattel did you so dirty I am sorry.

[jomarchswritingjacket]

Samantha Parkington, tying her hair back with a ribbon: what the FUCK is up EDDIE RYLAND no what did you say WHAT THE FUCK DUDE STEP THE FUCK UP EDDIE RYLAND

[insufferable-know-it-all-blog]

A Ranking of the Gayest American Girl Dolls

When it comes to lesbian subtext in the American Girl series, there's so much to unpack. Today I'll be discussing the 6 girls I deem the gayest.

Honorable Mentions

Felicity

Tomboy and horse girl. Has a companion doll. She hates learning etiquette. The Jiggy Nye redemption arc in her series is better than Snape's redemption arc, in my opinion. You may think she’s gayer than an honorable mention, but I think her traits read as “see this is a good and interesting colonist! She’s not like other girls uwu” as opposed to gayness. I am open to debate on the matter.

Addy

Her stories are much higher stakes than most of the other dolls', so the most time we have for subtext comes in her short stories and in her relationship with her friend Sarah. For example: 

An enemies-to-lovers fic where Addy and Harriet are grown up could be veeeery interesting though.

Certified WLW (women-loving women)

6. Molly

Molly's lesbianism is more quantifiable than some of the other dolls. Some contributing factors are:

- bad at math

- lots of internalized self-loathing

- obsessed with her teacher Miss Campbell/daydreams about how pretty she is/snoops into her love life

- her OUTFITS

5. Josefina

Josefina Montoya is a Historical Doll (now called BeForever) from 1824 living in what would later become New Mexico. She's a soft girl with aspirations of becoming a healer. She's scared of goats and has a cool aunt, Tía Dolores.

Much of her stories revolve around adjusting to life after the death of her mother, and her relationship with Tía Dolores.

I don't want to gloss over this: there's a lot of discussion (in the stories and in the historical information at the back of each book) of colonialism and America's treatment of the west and those who live there.

There's also a fair amount of domestic tasks, playing music, and admiring flowers.

tldr; Josefina was the original cottagecore lesbian

4. Julie

If Molly's gayness isn't quite subtext, Julie's is canon. She's so lesbian-coded by way of lesbian stereotypes that I'm surprised a pride flag doesn't come with her accessories.

Julie petitions to join the boys basketball team, becomes an environmental activist, runs for student body president, and attends a Presidential debate. Her mom also has some very gay vibes, being a recently-divorced woman starting a career by opening a resale shop.

Julie lives in 1970s San Francisco and uses her privilege to lift up the voices of others and hold those in power accountable. Julie and her pet rabbit said gay rights.

3. Lindsey

Lindsey is the first Girl of the Year, released in 2001. She was also the first Jewish American Girl Doll. The title of the second chapter of her book is "What a Mess!" A mood. She’s not as well known so I’m going to fill you in a little bit more than with other dolls.

Lindsey is a flaming ball of chaos that ruins everything important to her family (according to herself.) Her story kicks off with her being disgusted to learn that her school is holding a "pet parade," which entails dressing pets up in human clothes and parading them around. She prepares a speech for her class to tell them off, but her teacher shuts her down. Lindsey doesn't take this well. She snatches an iguana and climbs up a tree in protest.

She plays the trumpet in her school band. One day she asks her band teacher if he has a girlfriend and she's very sad to learn he's single. How can he be happy without a woman to take care of him? Projecting much?

Lindsey also befriends a girl who is often bullied in school, cries in the bathroom (a gay ritual), and is told by her uncle, while dancing at her brother's bar mitzvah (post-Matzo ball food fight) that she is not a worm, and despite her chaos, is very loved.

Lindsey knows what she values and will throw food at your face or climb up a tree if you disrespect her. She also craves validation because she feels like a failure due to her unconventional approach to life. A lesbian icon in the making.

2. Kit

Kit spends six books telling you to fuck off with your gender roles, thank you very much. There's a lot of focus on Kit's life as a reporter and what her growing up during the depression will mean for her future expression of identity.

One part of her books that highlights Kit's relationship with gender roles and heteronormativity is when Ruthie reads fairy tales because she likes princesses, but Kit reads Robin Hood because she likes how he steals from the rich to give to the poor and tricks a sheriff. While Kit could become a case of "I'm not like other girls," I think this is avoided by her close friendship with Ruthie. She doesn't necessarily look down on traditional women's roles, she simply has other ambitions.

So yes, this part of her story is important, but what really sells it for me is her longing for adventure and her passion for baseball and Amelia Earhart.

Also? Her bomb outfits.

At one point, Kit gets anxious and hides under her porch. A lesbian oasis.

Kit is a practical and clever young lady with a bright future ahead of her. Keep up the great work, you icon.

1. Samantha

I have read, with my own two eyes, people calling Samantha a homophobe. Please.... I am so tired. Do not underestimate her like that. Let's dive in to the biggest lesbian of the bunch: Samantha Parkington.

Okay so first of all her series begins with her falling out of a tree and sassing her sexist Grandmary. From there, she grows close to Cornelia, her Uncle's girlfriend, who is involved in the fight for women's rights in the city. Samantha is heavily influenced by her and through the books, develops many of the same opinions.

When an Irish girl (Nellie) moves in next door to become a servant to Eddie Ryland's family, Samantha befriends her and teaches her to read. She never speaks down to Nellie or looks at herself as a savior, she just acts on what she thinks is right. The "Looking Back" sections of Samantha's books cover topics like social progress for women, the wealth gap, the treatment of servants, and the disparity in education between classes.

While Samantha follows in Cornelia's path, she also forms her own ideas. For instance: Samantha wins an essay contest with her essay on progress in American factories, and why America is excellent for such progress. When she shows Nellie her winning essay, Nellie tells her that it doesn't represent the truth of factories. Samantha sets out to uncover the truth about child labor that many Proud Americans have kept hidden. She decides she can't read her winning essay, so she changes it and calls out those who condone unfair labor in factories.

Samantha respects every person she comes across and always sees herself as an equal, not a superior. (Except her asshole neighbor, Eddie Ryland. He can choke!) Like Julie, Samantha uses her privilege to bring accountability to oppressors and fight for what's right.

Samantha loves women and won't rest until they all live safe, healthy, and happy lives. She questions the status-quo. She seeks revenge on the men who have made girls' lives hell. And she really loves her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia. And climbing trees.

I imagine Samantha growing up and moving to New York City, hanging out in lesbian-owned speakeasies, and becoming a Mae West stan.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about American Girl subtext on twitter! If you enjoyed this article, please share it with a friend or two! Thank you for supporting an independent writer and American Girl stan.

[ofstormsandwolves]

Hey Jude

Part 3 of if music be the food of love

Campbell Bain x Bella (Bella and the Boys)

Rated Teen (swearing, mentions of mental health issues)

Campbell has a hospital appointment, and is surprised when Bella wants to come with. But a diagnosis doesn't exactly give him the relief he'd hoped for...

Read on AO3

Campbell Bain sighed as he headed for the door of Rylands House. It was frankly too early on a Saturday morning to be heading out, but he knew his appointment couldn’t wait, and that his social worker would be angry if they arrived late.

He was halfway to the door, though, when he felt a hand slip into this. He blinked, frowned, and looked round to see a fully-dressed Bella grinning at him, her hand in his.

“Bella,” he managed through his surprise. “I’ve gotta go, I’ve got hospital. I did tell ye.”

“I know,” Bella grinned. “I’m coming with you.”

Campbell blinked again. In the three months since the pair had been friends, it had quickly become clear that Bella intended to stick by Campbell regardless of what his hospital visits amounted to.

“But I might be getting diagnosed,” Campbell managed shakily. “Are ye sure ye want to be there for that?”

Bella’s hand remained in his. “Mrs Rogers said it was fine, and so did your social worker,” Bella told him, beginning to tug him towards the door. “An’ I thought you could use a friend today.”

“Aye,” Campbell managed faintly.

They were still without a diagnosis for his mental health problem, and while today could change that, it was reassuring to know that Bella wouldn’t run if and when they were able to put a label on Campbell’s problems.

And then, before Campbell could process much more of what was going on, he was in the back of his social worker’s car, Bella at his side.

“Ye alright, Campbell?” his social worker asked from the driver’s seat as he started the engine and pulled into the traffic.

“Aye, Eddie,” Campbell managed. “Absolutely fine.”

Eddie McKenna squinted at Campbell’s reflection in the rear view mirror for a few moments, clearly trying to work out if the teenager was lying. Then, he turned his attention to Bella.

“And you’re Bella, aye?” he asked. “Mrs Rogers said you wanted to come too. You Campbell’s girlfriend, then?”

The two teenagers spluttered at that, as Eddie indicated and turned a corner.

“Eddie! We’re just friends,” Campbell moaned. “I’ve only been at Rylands just over three months!”

“Aye,” Eddie agreed, “but whenever I’ve taken ye to hospital appointments or called to check in with ye, ye always mention that lass. Mrs Rogers mentioned the pair of ye are always hanging out together. I just thought that meant you were together.”

Bella and Campbell shared a slightly uncomfortable look at that. While they had known that they seemed very close (Gary and Terry often teased them and said they were a couple), the incident with Lee had made Bella wary about getting into another relationship so soon. Besides, they were perfectly happy just being friends.

“Do ye think I’m getting diagnosed today, Eddie?” Campbell asked suddenly, trying to change the subject. “They’ve done enough tests now, haven’t they? I won’t have to do any more tests?”

Eddie sighed. “I don’t know, Campbell. I’ve told ye, I’m not a doctor, I don’t know how long a diagnosis would take.”

Campbell huffed and slumped in his seat. Taking pity on him, Bella reached for his hand, squeezed it in hers.

“What sort of tests do they even do?” she asked a little nervously. “Is it, like, brain scans and stuff?”

“Not really,” Eddie shook his head, stopping at a set of traffic lights. “Mostly they just ask Campbell questions. They’ve done one or two scans, to rule out certain things though.”

“So a diagnosis today isn’t particularly likely?” she asked as Campbell slumped even further down in his seat.

“I wish I could say it was, lass,” Eddie sighed, sparing a quick glance in the rear view mirror at the two teenagers, “but I have a feeling it might just be more tests.”

~0~0~

Campbell gripped Bella’s hand harder in his, glaring at the nurse all the while.

“I’m sorry, but she can’t come in. It’s just you and your social worker,” the nurse repeated again.

Eddie looked a little uncomfortable at that, and tried to cajole the nurse into making an exception.

“She’s not likely to tell anyone, is she?” he pointed out. “He just wants his friend in there for support. That lass is all he has.”

But the nurse stood her ground. “She’s not family, she can’t come in, Mr McKenna.”

Bella slumped, but forced a smile for Campbell’s sake. “It’ll be fine,” she told him. “Go on, with any luck they can diagnose you today.” She pulled her hand from his and nudged him towards the door of the doctor’s office.

Campbell blinked at her, expression forlorn, before looking to Eddie.

“Will ye be alright out here, Bella?” Eddie asked after a moment, sparing a brief glance around the hospital waiting room.

Bella nodded, forcing a smile and trying not to let on how nervous she was. They were at St Jude’s, the mental hospital Campbell had been referred to for his diagnosis. And while the staff seemed perfectly nice, the place was giving Bella the creeps. The sooner Campbell saw the doctor, the sooner they could get out of there.

Moments later, Eddie was steering Campbell into the waiting doctor’s office and Bella sank into an uncomfortable plastic chair. She picked at her nails, fidgeted, and eventually ended up scrutinising the posters on the cork board for something to do. Time ticked by and she was still waiting, still tense and still eyeing the other patients nervously.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the door to the doctor’s office was flung open and Campbell stormed out, looking enraged.

“Campbell,” Bella blinked at him as he stormed past her, “what-”

But before she could finish, he was gone, flinging open the doors of the ward and storming down the corridor. Bella blinked, trying not to take it personally, and instead turned to a nervous-looking Eddie.

“What happened?” she asked in confusion.

The man sighed, shoulders slumped as he stared at the doors Campbell had barrelled through. “We got a diagnosis.”

~0~0~

It was decided that it possibly wasn’t a good idea to take an extremely upset and angry Campbell back to Rylands House straight away, particularly when the likes of Gary and Terry would waste no time in trying to wind him up.

So instead, Eddie drove them aimlessly around south London while Bella tried to calm the teenager down.

“What the hell even is manic depression?” Campbell demanded angrily about ten minutes after they’d got him back into the car.

“You’d know if you’d listen to the doctor, Campbell,” Eddie pointed out calmly. “It causes mood swings, and is why you have periods of depression and mania, and why you don’t sleep very well. But they’ve given us a prescription for some medication for you to try, and-”

But Campbell was snorting before Eddie could finish. “Try? They cannae even guarantee the medication will work, Eddie! What fucking use is that?!”

“Language, Campbell,” Eddie berated with a sigh. “And I know it’s difficult, but the doctor did say there could be some trial and error with the medication.”

At that, Bella, who had been mostly silent, frowned and spoke up. “How come? Why can’t they guarantee the medication will work?”

“There’s lots of different medications for this sort of thing,” Eddie explained calmly, “and it could take a while to find the right one to work for Campbell. His manic depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in his brain, that’s why they did some of the brain scans before today, and because of that there are various medications that could work for him but might not be exactly right. The prescription we got today might be perfect, or it might not be quite what he needs and we need to try again.”

“But how long will that take?” Bella asked worriedly. “Are we talking weeks? Months? Years?”

She was vaguely aware she was squeezing Campbell’s hand tight, and considering she was meant to be calming him, she probably wasn’t helping the situation. But she couldn’t help it. Campbell was upset, distraught by what the doctors had told him, and she was beginning to feel the same way.

“He’ll need to be on this medication for a few weeks,” Eddie admitted carefully, “during which time Campbell’s mood swings will be monitored, and then they’ll be able to make the decision whether to keep Campbell on the current medication, or to try him on a different one.”

“So it could take years,” Bella concluded bluntly. “Years of trial and error. Is this because we’re in care? Is that it? If Campbell’s parents were here, kicking up a fuss, would things be different? Or are they just writing him off because he’s in the foster care system?”

Her voice had risen to a shout, Bella realised, and Campbell had been oddly quiet for some while. Eddie just stared at the pair of them sadly in the rear view mirror.

“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” he managed after a long moment. “I’m not going to let Campbell slip through the net, even if it means years of fighting for him to be put on the correct medication. His parents aren’t here, but I am, Bella. I promise you that.”

The rest of the ride back to Rylands was made in silence.

[ofstormsandwolves]

Campbell Bain’s Looney Tunes

Part 4 of Bella and Her Boy

Modern day Campbell x Bella AU. Teen

When Campbell’s music teacher suggests a way to make him stand out from the crowd in his bid to get into music at college, he turns to Bella for help.

AO3

Campbell watched as Bella took some photos from across the Thames. He smiled to himself, and pulled his cigarettes from his pocket, putting one in his mouth and lighting it. It had been three months since he’d moved into Rylands House, and he and Bella had quickly become inseparable. Now, they were at the start of the summer holidays, and the pair of them mingled with tourists down on the south bank while Bella took photos on her battered old camera.

“They’re gonna look shit,” Bella complained, turning back round to face him. She stuffed her camera into her bag and hoisted it more firmly onto her shoulder.

“I’m sure they’ll be great,” Campbell insisted, holding out his cigarettes to her.

She took one and put it between her lips. He held the lighter out for her, and she bent down to light the cigarette.

“I’ve got a crap camera, Campbell,” she reminded him as she took a drag of the cigarette. “Plus I can’t even edit them because I don’t own a laptop to get editing software on.”

She began leading him away from the London Eye and back towards Lambeth.

“What about my laptop?” Campbell suggested. “Aye, it’s not great, but I wouldn’t mind you using it.”

Bella looked a bit pleased with that, but not overly excited.

“I’m not sure your old laptop can take it,” she admitted, only half teasing.

Campbell sighed.

“Aye,” he agreed, putting his cigarette to his lips again, “it’s on its last legs. I don’t want to say anything to Eddie, though.”

“Let me guess, he bought you the laptop too,” Bella smiled up at him.

“Aye.” Campbell nodded.

Bella snorted. “Fucking lucky git. I barely see my social worker. Yours buys you laptops and record players.”

Campbell shrugged, looking a little embarrassed at that.

“He’s not supposed to,” he reminded her, “so please don’t say anything to anyone. It’s just... Like I said, his partner Francine has a bit of a soft spot for me. Eddie, too, though he won’t admit it.”

“I won’t say anything,” Bella promised, and she looped her arm through Campbell’s.

They weaved their way through the crowds that were heading to and from Waterloo station, but once they’d been walking for a few minutes and had entered Lambeth, they were away from the tourists.

“I was going to ask your opinion on something,” Campbell said after a long time, not looking at Bella despite the fact their arms were looped together.

“Oh yeah?” Bella asked, grinning at him.

“Aye,” Campbell told her, jamming his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. “I was thinking of starting a YouTube channel. My music teacher said it might be a good idea. It won’t get me any better grade in my GCSEs, but he said my running a YouTube channel centred on music might look good when I go to college.”

Bella was watching him carefully as he spoke, smiling softly at his nervousness.

“And what did you want to ask my opinion on?” she prompted gently.

Campbell let out a sigh, and shrugged.

“I... I don’t just want to record myself singing. I mean, my songs aren’t that good anyway-”

“They are, Campbell,” Bella broke in gently, eyes wide and pleading with him to believe her.

Campbell gave her a wry smile. “I’ll accept that when you accept your photographs are good.”

Bella bit her lip, and said nothing.

“Anyway, I don’t particularly want to just do a YouTube channel full of videos of me playing guitar. There’s loads of those channels already. I wanted to do something different. An’, an’ I was thinking of doing, like, a review show. For new CDs and songs. And maybe some older stuff too, like when there’s a resurgence. You know, Beatles, Bowie, stuff like that.” He came to a stop then, causing Bella to stop with him. “Do ye think that’s any good, Bella?”

“It sounds great,” she assured him happily, “I don’t think I’ve come across many channels like that.”

Campbell’s face fell.

“You mean people are already doing it?” he asked, wide-eyed and broken hearted.

Bella slipped her hand down to Campbell’s, tugging it out of his jeans and entwining their fingers.

“Well yeah,” she shrugged, “if you can think of it, there’s probably already a YouTube video for it. Loads of people do review videos. Not necessarily for CDs, or whatever, but they do already make them.”

Campbell frowned. “Well, I’m never going to get noticed, am I?”

Bella rubbed his arm soothingly. “We just need to... Change things,” she told him, although she wrinkled her nose as if to say she wasn’t entirely sure what to do. “Make it a bit more noticeable. Maybe do it like a vlog, instead? The vlogs are the things that get noticed most. Or, you could combine the two! Do some sort of music review vlog.”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Campbell mumbled as Bella tugged on his arm to make him start walking again.

Bella smiled at him. “Yeah, alright,” she relented. “But like I said, we just need to shake things up a bit. We’ll think of something.”

~0~0~

Over the next few weeks, the pair of them worked on Campbell’s vlog. They were still working on it when the summer holidays drew to a close and they returned to school for their final year.

“Got a name for it yet?” Bella asked one day when they were in the park smoking cigarettes instead of going to school. They’d got into the habit of packing jumpers and jeans into the schoolbags so that they could get changed. They were hoping to pass themselves off as college students. Whether it worked or not was another story.

Campbell shrugged, and stubbed out his cigarette beneath his shoe.

“I’ve got a few ideas,” he admitted softly, and Bella realised he was embarrassed. “But nothing definite.”

“What are your ideas then?” Bella prompted gently, smiling at him.

Campbell sighed. “Well,” he told her, “when I say ‘ideas’, I mean just the one really. And I don’t even know if it works.” He suddenly went to his rucksack then, and Bella thought he was stalling for time, or something. But when he straightened up with a piece of paper in his hands, she realised that wasn’t the case. “I’ve got a few ideas for videos though.”

He handed the paper over to her then, and she looked down the list. There were several new albums and singles, notes written beside the titles in Campbell’s familiar scruffy handwriting, all points he wanted to make about the songs- the lyrics, the style, the music videos. There were also some older things- a few Bowie albums that were making a comeback, and an old Black Eyed Peas number.

“Bella?” he prompted nervously.

Bella blinked, and realised she hadn’t said anything. “It looks good,” she told him honestly. “Have you started filming yet?”

Campbell shook his head. “I was hoping you could help with that, actually. Can I even do it on my laptop, or will that look awful? I don’t want it to look awful, Bella!”

“We’ll work it out,” Bella assured him, and she wrapped his arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. “It can’t be that difficult, right?”

~0~0~

By the end of September, they had the first video ready to go. They’d set up Campbell’s YouTube page, and while the editing of the video wasn’t great, it was at least watchable, and Campbell and Bella were pretty damn pleased with themselves.

“Chosen a name yet? Bella asked as Campbell did the final few tweaks to his YouTube page.

He gave her a slightly pained look, before adjusting his laptop screen so she could see it. He’d been filling in information for the video, which they were preparing to upload. And in the title box were the words ‘Campbell Bain’s Looney Tunes- episode 1’.

“Is it alright?” Campbell asked a little worriedly.

Bella grinned.

“It’s brilliant.”

And just to prove it, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

[ofstormsandwolves]

Rylands House (2/2)

Campbell x Bella, modern day AU

Teen (swearing)

15 year old Campbell is less than impressed with his new home. But a certain new friend might help change that.

Part 1 | AO3

By Monday morning, Mrs Rogers had just about forgiven Bella for failing her maths test. Of course, Gary and Terry being brought back Saturday afternoon by two Police officers who’d caught them trying to filch some vodka from the off-licence down the road had helped too. Mrs Rogers had been so angry at them that Bella’s poor test score was all but forgotten.

“Why’d they not make you move schools?” Bella asked Campbell as the pair of them headed out of Rylands House that morning.

Shrugging, Campbell adjusted his rucksack on his shoulder. “Somethin’ about routine, Eddie said. Besides, it’s not that far. Ten, fifteen minute walk that way.” He nodded in the opposite direction to Bella’s school.

“I guess I’ll see ya later, then,” she sighed, watching as a couple of other kids from the home pushed past them on their own way to school.

“Aye.” Campbell nodded. “If ye want, we can use my room to hang out. I mean, it’s not like I share with anyone, an’ we can’t keep kicking Stacy out.”

Bella giggled a little at that. “I suppose not,” she agreed. “So. After school, your room.” She beamed. “See you later then.”

Before Campbell could quite process anything, Bella was pressed against his chest then, her arms round him as she hugged him. He blinked, then slowly wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back.

“I’ll see ye after school,” he told her after a moment, reluctantly pulling away.

They went their separate ways then, Bella east towards her school and Campbell west to his. Mrs Rogers watched them leave from the window.

~0~0~

After school, Bella all but rushed back to Rylands. Usually she took her time, wandered back as slow as possible, or went to the park, so Mrs Rogers couldn’t make her do her homework immediately. But today, today she was excited. She and Campbell got on very well, it seemed, and he made a nice change to all the other boys in Rylands; boisterous and loud and obnoxious, none of them were particularly friendly to the girls. Campbell was different, though.

He wasn’t ridiculously polite, but he did respect Bella. He respected her opinions, and her space, and they shared a love of music. In the two days they’d known each other, they’d got on better than either of them ever had with anyone else at any of their previous homes.

When Bella arrived back at Rylands, she couldn’t see Campbell coming from the opposite direction, so she hung about on the driveway for a while. Maybe she’d walked a little too fast, and Campbell hadn’t made it back yet. She knew his school was roughly the same distance away from Rylands as hers, but his classes might have overrun, or something.

“Oi, Bella! Who you waiting for?”

Bella groaned at the words.

“Fuck off, Gary,” she groaned, not even turning around. She didn’t want to see Gary’s taunting face.

“Fuck off yourself,” Gary retorted, smirking as he and Terry grew nearer to her. “You’re not waiting for that Scottish twat are you? The nutty one?”

Bella all but growled at that. “He’s not nutty!”

But Gary just smirked again, an annoying smirk that made Bella want to kick him in the balls.

“You do know how to pick ‘em, don’t you?” Gary continued, taunting. Bella knew she shouldn’t rise to his words. “I mean, as if Lee wasn’t bad enough. Then again, he did have a junkie for a Mum.”

Bella pointedly ignored him. Lee was gone, moved into a different home, along with Martin, and Bella hadn’t had so much as a text off either of them since they’d gone. She didn’t miss them, either. Well, maybe she did a bit.

“Campbell’s not like that,” Bella managed quietly after a moment.

Terry laughed at that.

“Know lots about mental health problems, do ya?” Terry asked with a smirk.

She squared up to the two boys. “I know Campbell wouldn’t hurt me.”

“What, like you knew Lee wouldn’t hurt ya?” Gary countered.

At that, Bella could only splutter.

“What’s going on?”

The tension left Bella almost immediately as those words reached her ears. She turned, saw Campbell only a few feet away. He was approaching them with his hands in the pockets of his school trousers, but he was glaring at Gary and Terry, both of who were still smirking.

“Just havin’ a chat with Bella here,” Gary announced cockily. “Weren’t we, babe?”

Bella bristled at that, but before she could say anything, Campbell was in front of her, standing between her and Gary.

“She ain’t ye ‘babe’.” Campbell was all but growling, and Bella watched him carefully.

Almost immediately, Gary squared up to him. Gary was shorter than Campbell, but what he lacked in height he made up for in width; he was stockier than Campbell’s skinny frame, and Bella wasn’t quite sure her new friend would walk away if a fight broke out.

But they didn’t need to worry about that, because suddenly the door to Rylands House was flung open and Mrs Rogers practically barrelled out, demanding that they got inside.

“Why are you four hanging about on the drive?” she asked, gravel crunching beneath her feet. “Get inside, all of you! You’ve got homework to do!”

Gary and Terry gave Campbell one final look and, apparently after deciding he wasn’t worth it, sloped off into the house.

“Ye alright?” Campbell asked softly, finally looking at Bella properly.

She nodded, managing a smile. “I could handle him, you know,” she said, even as the pair were chivvied inside by Mrs Rogers. “Not like I’ve never had to deal with Gary before.”

“Aye,” Campbell nodded, “but he looked like he was upsetting ye. And I don’t want him upsetting ye.”

Bella couldn’t hide her grin then.

~0~0~

It took some convincing, but Mrs Rogers finally agreed that Campbell and Bella could go do their homework in Campbell’s room. While there weren’t any rules about girls and boys hanging out in each other’s bedrooms, Bella thought that maybe Mrs Rogers wasn’t convinced they’d actually do their homework.

But after a lot of begging, they seemed to have convinced her enough, and they were soon sat at opposite ends of Campbell’s bed, homework laid out on the duvet between them.

“What was that outside?” Campbell asked as he started on his maths homework. “With you and Gary?”

“It was nothing,” Bella shrugged, eyeing her science homework with disdain. “Just trying to wind me up. Gary’s a prick, he likes to provoke people, that’s all.”

Campbell eyed Bella carefully.

“I heard him mention a ‘Lee’.”

It was a statement, not a question, and Bella froze.

“How much did you hear?” she finally asked.

Campbell shrugged, turning his attention back to his homework. Bella watched him for several moments, and was just beginning to think that maybe he wasn’t going to tell her when he finally spoke.

“I heard him say something about ye knowing Lee wouldn’t hurt ye.”

Bella watched Campbell for a few more moments before turning back to her homework again.

“Yeah, well, I was wrong about that.”

~0~0~

No matter how much Campbell begged and pleaded, Bella wouldn’t elaborate. In the end, they both went to bed angry at one another; Campbell angry that Bella might have been hurt but wouldn’t tell him, and Bella angry that Campbell was pushing her. She hadn’t thought he was like that. He’d seemed to have respected her privacy and opinions in the few days since they first met, but now Gary had dragged all the shit with Lee and Martin up, and it seemed Campbell was showing his true colours.

They still weren’t talking at breakfast, and they left for school in silence. Campbell went his way, Bella and everyone else the other. But by the time she was round the corner and about to cross the road, she heard her name being called.

She looked up with a frown, and saw Campbell running towards her. He’d gone down the next road along from where Rylands was, presumably so that Mrs Rogers didn’t see him heading in the wrong direction for school. Despite the fact she was still pretty pissed off with him, Bella couldn’t help but smile at that.

“You’re not actually going to school, are ye?” Campbell asked, slightly out of breath as he reached her.

“Why?” Bella retorted, folding her arms. She wasn’t sure if Campbell was suggesting what she thought he was suggesting. Because she was fairly certain he was suggesting bunking off school.

The Scot shrugged. “I don’t fancy going in, myself,” he admitted with a slightly cheeky smile. “Thought you could join me.” He paused. “We could talk.”

Ok, he was suggesting what she thought he was. Bella bristled at the suggestion they talked, though. Was he still not letting the whole Lee thing drop? Did he not get that she might not want to talk about it?

“Not about that,” Campbell added suddenly, apparently reading her mind. “I meant to apologise. And to get to know each other. I know someone who can get us some Vodka, too, if you wanna grab some.”

She blinked.

“Alright then,” she agreed. “But I don’t wanna talk about the whole Gary thing yesterday.”

Campbell looked a little put out by that, but nodded anyway. Then, he held his hand out to her. Bella took it, and allowed him to lead her down the road.

They’d been walking for a few minutes before the silence was broken again, by Campbell.

“I am sorry about yesterday,” he said, looking sheepish. “I just... I know we’ve only known each other a few days, but like I said, you’ve been more of a friend to me than anyone else has ever been. An’ when I heard what Gary said... I panicked.”

Bella squeezed his hand, not really sure what to say. She didn’t talk about Lee and Martin, as a rule, but maybe Campbell deserved to know the truth. Besides, she’d rather he heard it from her and not Gary or Terry or Stacy.

“I’ll tell ya about Lee, if ya want,” Bella told him suddenly. “An’ Martin. He used to hang around with us too. He’s as much a part of it as me and Lee.”

Campbell glanced down at her, before shrugging.

“I don’t want ye to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

Bella bit her lip. “I wanna tell ya though. I want ya to hear it from me, rather than Gary, or Stacy or someone.” She paused. “But I could use some of that Vodka first, though.”

~0~0~

The person getting them the Vodka, it turned out, was an older boy who used to live in the same home as Campbell. He was nineteen, and still lived in the area, and he met them outside the corner shop in Hunters Road. Campbell handed over some money, and the man went inside and purchased the Vodka without a problem.

Bella wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about him. Campbell said he was friendly enough, and he seemed like a nice enough man, but Bella couldn’t help but think they shouldn’t be doing this in broad daylight.

“You sure we’re not gonna get your friend into trouble?” she asked while the man was still in the shop.

“Aye, it’s fine,” Campbell insisted. “Fergus knows what he’s doing. He’s done this loads. Besides, he’s an expert at gettin’ away with things. He was grounded at the home once, an’ he tunnelled his way out an’ went bowling with some mates from school.”

Bella blinked. “He tunnelled his way out to go bowling?”

“Aye,” Campbell shrugged, “what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Bella said, shaking her head.

Fergus returned then, a bottle of Vodka in his hands. He even gave Campbell the change.

“I’ll see ye around, Campbell,” Fergus said then, already pulling his phone out his pocket. “Eddie got me a job interview lined up, an’ he’ll kill me if I miss it.”

Campbell and Bella said bye to Fergus then, and Bella allowed Campbell to steer her away down the road.

“D’ye wanna head to the park?” Campbell asked as he slipped the Vodka into his school bag.

Bella nodded, and they walked in companionable silence then to the nearby park. They got a few odd looks from passers-by, most likely because of their school uniforms; they weren’t heading in the direction of either of their schools, plus they weren’t in much of a hurry even though it was nearly 9 am. They reached the park without being stopped, though, and Campbell immediately headed to a large, old Oak tree.

“Want a leg up?” he asked as he reached the trunk.

Bella wrinkled her nose. “Do we have to hide in the tree? Usually just sit on a bench or whatever. No one ever bothers us.”

Campbell arched an eyebrow at that. “Us?”

Bella shrugged then, looking away in embarrassment. “Me an’ Lee and Martin,” she admitted after a moment. “We used to bunk off school and come down here occasionally.” She forced a smile then. “Anyway. Could do with that leg up. Don’t look up my skirt, though.”

“Aye,” Campbell responded, grinning, “I’ll try not to.”

Bella rolled her eyes, and planted her foot firmly in Campbell’s hands as he boosted her up to grab a tree branch. Only a few minutes later, they were both settled high up in the tree branches, passing the bottle of Vodka back and forth between them.

“You, Lee and Martin were friends, then?” Campbell asked after a few minutes.

Bella nodded, and took a swig of Vodka.

“Yeah. We hung out together.”

Campbell took the bottle back and took a swig himself. “What happened?”

Bella scoffed. “Lee’s temper.” She gave Campbell a wry smile. “I never thought he was that bad. Sure, he got in fights occasionally, but Gary and Terry and the others used to wind him up. Provoke him. He wasn’t like that with me an’ Martin, though. We knew not to push him. But things got out of hand with Gary, an’ his Mum, and one day he just... Lost it. Started yellin’. Fightin’ everyone. Martin dragged him upstairs, away from everyone else, an’ I went after them to see if I could help. Lee just... Flipped. Started hitting and punching Martin. I tried to make ‘im stop.”

Bella stopped abruptly then, and leaned across, grabbing the bottle of Vodka from Campbell’s hands.

“What happened?” Campbell asked, even though he had a worrying idea where it was going.

She shrugged, and took a swig of Vodka.

“He turned around and punched me. I slipped, an’ would’ve gone down the stairs if Mrs Rogers hadn’t turned up. I fell into her, an’ next thing I knew I was bein’ bundled off to my room.” She looked away across the park, the view heightened by their position in the tree. “They insisted I went to hospital to be checked over, an’ by the time I got back, Lee had been taken away to a temporary foster home. A couple of days later, the same thing happened with Martin. Dunno why they moved him, though. Some rubbish about his social worker thinkin’ it would be better for him, or something.”

~0~0~

“Aren’t you supposed to, I dunno, not drink?” Bella asked suddenly, almost an hour after they’d first arrived at the park.

After she’d explained about Lee and Martin, Campbell had tried to lighten the mood by talking about his music; his playing guitar, and writing his own songs.

Campbell shrugged at Bella’s question, before eyeing the now-empty Vodka bottle in his hands.

“I mean, what with you being on medication?” she clarified quickly.

“Suppose not,” Campbell responded, “but it’s not like they can stop me, can they?”

“Well, no,” Bella admitted, frowning slightly, “but it’s probably not a good idea, is it? I mean, I don’t know much about medication, or bipolar, but doesn’t alcohol cause problems with medication?”

Campbell sighed. “I don’t drink that much, Bella. Besides, it wasn’t like we nicked a big bottle.” He held the bottle up as if to prove his point.

“Suppose,” Bella said, but she didn’t sound convinced.

They lapsed into a silence then, Bella picking at the leaves from a nearby branch.

“Is that why you had to move homes?” she asked again after a minute or two. “Because of your bipolar?”

“Aye,” Campbell nodded bitterly. “The home I was in couldn’t cope. Eddie, my social worker, didn’t want me ‘slipping through the net’, as he put it. I was in a home that had kids as young as five, and Eddie felt that it wasn’t suitable for me. All the attention went on the little kids, and he was concerned that if something went wrong with my medication, or whatever, they might not notice until it was too late.”

Bella frowned. “Went wrong how?”

Campbell shrugged. “Dunno. My medication’s supposed to keep me stable, but I can still get episodes of depression or mania. I think Eddie was worried that they wouldn’t notice me slipping into an episode, an’ that I’d hurt myself, or the other kids.” He paused. “He knows I wouldn’t do it deliberately, an’ that I’m stable on my medication right now, but if it were to happen, there’s a chance I’d wind up in hospital. I’ve moved six times this year, because they couldn’t find anywhere suitable for me. All Eddie kept saying was he didn’t want me to ‘slip through the net’ an’ end up in hospital, or prison or somethin’.”

“At least he cares,” Bella pointed out gently. “I hardly ever see my social worker. She’s never around. Mrs Rogers phones her occasionally, to let her know how I’m getting on at school, but I’ve not seen her for weeks.”

“Pretty certain that’s illegal,” Campbell groused.

“Yeah,” Bella laughed, “it probably is.”

There was the crunch of leaves down on the ground then, and it drew their attention downwards. Bella only just managed to stifle her laugh at the sight of a rather irate Policeman beneath the tree they were in.

“I don’t suppose you two will know anything about someone purchasing alcohol for two teenagers from the shop on the corner of Hunters Road?” the Police officer asked wryly, eyeing the now-empty Vodka bottle Campbell was still clutching.

“If I said no, would ye believe me?” Campbell asked, trying and failing to suppress a grin.

The Police officer, however, didn’t look particularly amused.

“I’ll need the pair of you to come down,” he told them seriously. “Then I’ll be wanting a word with your parents about why you’re not in school.”

“Good luck with that,” Bella muttered under her breath, earning her a snigger from Campbell.

The pair reluctantly climbed down from the tree, and they at least had the decency to look sheepish as the officer took the empty Vodka bottle from them. It was only when the officer led them back through the park that they saw another officer- another man- waiting by a marked Police car. That made the pair of teenagers stop in their tracks.

“A member of the public called us,” the Police officer told them in slight amusement. “They said they saw a young man in his late teens or early twenties taking money from two teenagers in school uniform and going into the shop on Hunters Road. He then came back out with a bottle of Vodka and gave it to them.”

“Shite,” Campbell muttered, eyes squeezed shut. Eddie was going to kill him.

“Are we gonna be arrested?” Bella asked, her voice small. It hadn’t meant to go this far, the Police weren’t supposed to be involved.

“Lucky for you,” the other officer said as he unlocked the car, “the bloke who bought you the Vodka will be in more trouble than you. We’re still going to have to escort you home, though.”

They were bundled into the back of the Police car, and they sat there in awkward silence until the officer in the drivers’ seat asked for their address.

“Rylands House, Portland Road,” Bella told them, voice just loud enough to be heard.

“Rylands House,” the officer in the drivers’ seat echoed, sharing a look with his colleague. “Is that both of you?”

“Aye,” Campbell nodded.

The car journey was made in silence, and when they finally pulled up outside of Rylands House, neither Bella nor Campbell were particularly willing to get out. They were just being encouraged out by the Police officers, however, when the door to Rylands was flung open and Mrs Rogers came hurrying out.

“What’s going on-?” Mrs Rogers stopped short at the sight of Campbell and Bella climbing out the back of the Police car. She visibly deflated at the sight of them, and sighed.

“Someone saw them asking an older teenager to buy Vodka for them from a corner shop,” one of the Police officers explained calmly. “We found them about twenty minutes ago in the park. They’d already drunk the Vodka.”

Mrs Rogers pursed her lips at that, and Campbell and Bella shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

“Will there be any charges?” she asked the officers.

“No, Ma’am,” the other officer said calmly. “The only person who’s in trouble here is whoever it was who agreed to buy them the alcohol. And we’re not sure who that is.”

Mrs Rogers gave Campbell and Bella another look, but they said nothing. So instead, she sent them inside and saw the Police officers off.

The house was eerily quiet, what with everyone else being at school, and the pair of them stood in the hallway waiting for Mrs Rogers to come in.

“What were the pair of you thinking?” she demanded the moment the front door was shut. Apparently, with only the other adults around and all the kids at school, she wasn’t going to bother waiting until they were in her office.

“It was my fault,” Campbell said quickly. “I suggested it. I bought the Vodka. I got Bella to bunk off school.”

“Oh, we’ll get to school in a minute,” Mrs Rogers said angrily. “Right now I’m still on the fact you bought alcohol. What’s your social worker going to say? You’ve been here all of a couple of days, and already you’re doing stuff like this!”

Campbell hung his head, and said nothing.

“I told him about what happened with Lee and Martin,” Bella interrupted suddenly. Her arms were folded protectively across her chest, and made her look small and vulnerable. Mrs Rogers’ gaze softened, but not by much.

“And you really needed Vodka to do that?” she asked, slightly incredulous.

Bella just shrugged, and looked away. Mrs Rogers sighed.

“I’ll have to phone your social workers. They’re going to have to know about this.”

The two teenagers nodded, not looking at Mrs Rogers and instead keeping their gaze fixed on their feet.

“I want your phones off you,” Mrs Rogers continued, holding her hand out, “and then I want the pair of you upstairs and in your own rooms.”

The teenagers handed over their phones and headed upstairs in silence.

“Sorry about this,” Campbell mumbled as they reached the top of the stairs.

Bella shrugged, and shot him a quick grin.

“Could be worse,” she told him. “At least we got to finish the Vodka.”