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bettyfrommars · 10 months

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Death Becomes Us

Part 8: Warm Hands, Frozen Hearts

vampire!eddie x supernatural!reader

masterlist playlist

18+Only, werewolf!steve, allusions to smut, allusions to devious deeds, mention of addiction, mention of drinking blood, angst, waitress!erica, Bob Newby lives, Chief Hopper sighting, as well as another glimpse of vampire!max.

summary: you go on your "just friends" date with werewolf!steve, but meanwhile, Eddie makes a bold decision and things heat up between the two of you. Jareth's interest in you grows stronger, as does his determination to find out exactly who/what you are as everything begins to come to a head.

word count: 4.8k

author's note: for the sake of this story, Jareth is meant to be a cross between Jamie Campbell Bower and Eric Northman from True Blood. As a little reminder, The Upside Down exists in this story, but not the same way it does in ST. All of the ST characters in this do not know each other in the same way they do in the show. But, Steve and Robin are friends, because, well, always.

Fanger: derogatory slang for Vampire

Previous Chapter here

One week earlier

Steve was summoned to visit Sacrament in the Upside Down, and he should have gone with a few of his brothers in the pack but decided he didn't want company. He snuck out there through the portal in the woods in his hulking wolf form at first, to sniff the place out, noting the high number of vampires and demobats circling overhead.

He came back the next night in his truck, through the bridge, and was told to ask for Craven at the bar.

Craven sniffed the air and snarled when Steve walked up, and Steve returned the gesture, curling his top lip to show that he had sharp teeth too. Werewolves were very strong—supernaturally so—but they were not immortal like vampires, and so it was always wise to operate around bloodsuckers with a measure of caution.

“I’m here to see Jareth,” Steve shouted over the synth music, squeezing in between two scantily clad human women.

Steve was dressed like he’d just come from chopping wood in the mountains in a plaid button-down and jeans, and a wholesome curl of dark hair that bounced over his forehead. Craven, on the other hand, was tattooed from neck to hands, wearing a wife beater that fit tight around his muscles and slicked back hair that was a bit greasy, but in a sexual way.

“No one sees Jareth without an invitation,” Craven said smugly, throwing a rag over his shoulder to brace his hands in front of him.

Steve gave a wry smile. “You think I’d come here just to shoot the breeze with you Fangers? He knows I’m coming.”

Craven clicked his tongue disapprovingly and went to grab the phone on the wall above the cash register, but in the blink of an eye, Jareth was already standing there, right next to Steve. He must have watched him come in on one of the cameras mounted on the ceiling. Steve moved back, out of surprise, but then he stepped forward again, meeting blonde, vampire Jareth eye to eye, letting him know he wasn’t afraid.

Steve really wasn’t afraid; his alpha ego was too big for that. Sure, he knew there was a chance that an older vampire might best him in the end, but he’d get the fight of his life.

“Whatever he wants, it’s on the house,” Jareth told Craven, all while never taking his eyes off his guest.

Steve declined a beverage and followed in Jareth’s wake through the sea of people moving to the music under the blue lighting.

Back in the simple black and cream decor of his office, Jareth found his firey assistant Maxine sitting behind his desk and he waved her out.

“Oh? You didn’t tell me we were adopting a pound puppy,” she teased with a deadpan delivery, keeping a bored expression on her face.

Steve knew they’d be taking cheap shots at him, he’d prepared himself for it.

“Get out, Maxine,” Jareth said impatiently. “I need to have a word with our lycanthrope friend here.”

She obeyed, slinking out the door in her skin tight latex dress and platform heels, smacking her glossy lips in Steve’s face as she went.

Jareth was in all black with a slim leather jacket on that looked like it had been tailored just for him. He perched at the front of the desk, crossing his booted feet at the ankles, and folded his arms over his chest.

“Take a seat,” he told Steve.

Steve glanced down at the chair in front of Jareth. “I’ll stand, thanks. What is this about?”

“You really don’t know why I’ve asked you here?” Jareth’s face looked like it was carved out of stone. “Do you need a hint?”

For the first time, Steve broke eye contact. “I don’t have any news about the girl.”

Jareth tilted his head back, so that he was looking down his nose at the visitor. “You’ve been keeping an eye on her, like I asked?”

Steve gave a tight nod.

The truth was that Steve hadn’t accidentally bumped into you at the bookstore that day two months ago; he knew where you would be and he’d sought you out. His pack were in league with what some would consider “vampire royalty” and they made a lot of money doing jobs for them.

At first, he started looking out for you because Jareth told him too. But after around the third week, he realized he was protecting you because he cared about you. He didn’t trust anyone from the pack to watch your trailer after dark, so he did it himself. There were a few nights when he swore you’d looked out from your kitchen window and saw him: two red eyes glowing in his honey brown fur.

“What’s your interest in her?” Steve chanced, knowing full well that Jareth would not answer it if he didn’t want to.

“She says she’s human, but I don’t believe her,” Jareth raised an eyebrow. “There’s something else going on with that one, and until I find out, I don’t want any harm to come to her.”

You weren’t human, Steve knew that from the first smell. You were part human, part something else, as if your blood were filled with static from a television.

“I asked you here because I need you to get closer to her, to see if you can find out anything more about her…condition.”

Steve didn’t like this anymore, he felt like he was being dishonest to you, and that one day you’d find out he was hired to watch you instead of being the avid science fiction lover he’d claimed to be. Every time he interacted with you lately, he wanted to mention it, but he couldn’t figure a casual way to say, “hey, I’m being paid to watch you, I sleep in the woods outside your trailer a few nights a week, but I’m starting to have feelings, and was wondering if you were free for dinner?”

Steve pulled his shoulder’s back, puffing his chest out a bit. “If you want to know more about what she is, why don’t you just ask her, man? What’s with all the cloak and dagger?”

Jareth pushed off the desk and walked over to look at a piece of abstract splatter art on the wall while he spoke, clasping his hands behind his back. “My presence at her trailer park would certainly ring some alarms, I’m sure you are not so dense,” his tone was condescending but proper. “I don’t want anyone, especially Munson, to know that I have any interest in her. Not yet, anyway.”

Since Steve had been watching you, he was also well aware of Eddie’s comings and goings. “Eddie hasn’t interacted with her in weeks, not that I’ve seen,” Steve told him. “Appears like the two are avoiding each other.”

Jareth scoffed. “I’m not particularly a fan of his, but when Edward has a job to do, he does it well,” he turned from the painting and went around the desk. “My gut tells me that he has something up his sleeve, and my gut is never wrong.”

Steve let the information sink in. “You don’t think Eddie would hurt her? He’s a car thief and a drug dealer, but not a killer.”

Jareth bent down to pretend to look at some paperwork, but then his eyes lifted to Steve and he smirked. “Is that what he told you?”

“We’ve never really talked but—”

“I’ve been doing my own investigating, but until I get some answers, just get close to her however you can, I want to accelerate this end game.”

“And what endgame is that?” Steve’s voice was low and commanding as he pushed the sleeves of his flannel up to reveal the generous muscles in his forearms. He rested his back against the wall, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

“The official endgame, Sir Harrington,” Jareth’s striking, ancient blue eyes gleamed. “Is none of your business.”

—---

“Sorry about that,” you told Steve as you climbed into the cab of his truck. “I had no idea he was coming over.”

You were apologizing for Eddie, of course, and the way he’d been giving Steve the death stare when he’d come to pick you up. The snow was coming down harder now, in huge wet flakes the size of quarters, plopping like dissolving puffs of cotton onto the windshield of the truck.

“Was he bothering you?” Steve asked protectively, glaring at the door to Eddie’s trailer while you fumbled with your seatbelt.

“No, he’s…he’s just a friend,” you said, trying to blink away the flashes of all of the sex dreams you had of him that were ricocheting through your head.

After Eddie had stepped out of your trailer and shut the door, he’d stood on your porch for a minute, taking his time to light a cigarette before slowly making his way over to his place. He made eye contact with Steve a few times through the windsheild, wondering if he should kill him.

The inside of Steve’s big old truck was warm, it smelled like winter wool and the yellow vanilla car freshener he had hanging from the radio knob. The song Working Man by Rush played low from the speakers.

You’d heard about the Werewolves of Hawkins from Bob and Argyle when a few of them came into the bar one night. Apparently, they were very reclusive and only ventured to town in human form every so often.

“Have you never seen a werewolf before?” Bob Newby, the owner of the bar you worked at, asked you with a tilt of his head and a curious smile. “They’re all over the woods. Beautiful creatures.”

He’d said it so casually, as if a man turning into a wolf and roaming around at night was the most normal thing in the world.

“Are there no werewolves where you come from?” Argyle asked while he wiped down a bottle of tequila.

You moved your eyes as if to think. “Uh, nope, not that I know of anyway. Hawkins is the only place I’ve ever heard of them ever existing before. What’s next? Are you going to tell me that Faeries and Shapeshifters are real too?”

Bob and Argyle exchanged a knowing look. Bob gave you a consolation pat on the back, “one day at a time there, missy. Let’s give you a chance to get used to werewolves first, and then we can move on to the next.”

That night in the darkness of the movie theater with Steve, you turned to whisper in his ear. “Can you change into a werewolf whenever you want, or only during a full moon?”

He chuckled, leaning in so that his cheek was on your head. He was so warm, you wondered if he had a fever. “When you’re a pup, in the early days, the transformation happens at the most awkward times. Once we get older and learn how to control our emotions, we can go through the change whenever we need to.”

“Like right now?” Your lips were close to his neck, breath tickling his skin, giving him goosebumps.

The side of his mouth moved against your forehead. “Just say the word, darlin’.”

Your hands fumbled together a few times while reaching for popcorn at the same time, and a voice in your head said:

This is nice

Steve is nice

Steve was a good guy who probably thought you were a normal woman who’d led a fairly typical life, and you worried you were misleading him.

There were a few times though, after the movie and on the ride back, when you felt like he wanted to tell you something, but then he would stop short. He’d rub the back of his neck and start out with, “yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” but then he’d shake his head and jump to another topic.

Steve cursed to himself at how bad he was fumbling the night, he felt like he was a goddamn teenager again.

The only thing he knew for sure after that night was that he liked you a lot, and more than ever he needed to cut ties with Jareth. He’d been meaning to break free from the politics of the pack to become a Lone Wolf, and this felt like the perfect opportunity. He was next in line to be Alpha, but it was a role that he had no interest in playing.

Parked next to the hearse in front of your trailer again, the snow had stopped, but it was up to your ankles now, and you couldn’t help but notice the light in Eddie’s living room was on.

“Here, wait, let me walk you,” Steve insisted.

“No, I’m good,” you were already on the ground, looking up at him across the seat. “If Bela hears your voice too close to the house, she’ll just go nuts again.”

You'd told him about your new companion earlier, and he looked at you like you'd decided to take in a pet dragon.

“I’ll wait here until I know you got in okay.” Steve said softly, giving you a nod. “Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow night?”

“I’m, well, I think–” you stammered. Was Steve about to ask you on an actual date? “I might pick up a shift at Main Vein tomorrow night.”

“There’s going to be a reading at the bookstore, and I promised Robin I’d help string some lights and set up some chairs. So, I’ll be in the neighborhood if you want to get something to eat or, whatever. I’d really like to see you again.”

He said the last part in a rush, partially hoping you wouldn’t catch it.

The admission made your cheeks hot under his steady gaze.

You told him you’d stop by if you weren’t waitressing, and at your front door with the key in the lock, you turned to wave at him one more time over your shoulder before slipping inside to flip the deadlock behind you. You closed your eyes and leaned against the door until you heard the rumble of his truck growl onto the main road, and then you flipped the lights on.

“Mr. Wonderful couldn’t walk you to the door?”

The voice made you jump and a scream caught in your throat.

Eddie was sitting on your couch, arms stretched out over the back of it, as if it were his trailer and he’d been expecting you.

You let the shock of it subside, taking a long breath to slow your heart rate.

You hung your bag on the hook by the door and started to shrug out of your coat. “You know, when I invited you in, I didn’t mean break in whenever you felt like it.”

“I didn’t break in,” he lowered one arm and rested that hand between his legs. “I know where you hide your spare key.”

“It’s not funny, Eddie,” you threw your jacket on the recliner. “I’d like you to leave now, please.”

“How was your date?” He bit out the last part.

“I’m not answering any of your questions,” you stopped in your tracks and looked around, suddenly alert. “Where is Bela? I don’t hear her. Eddie, if you did anything to her, I will —-”

“I would never hurt her,” he moved to stand up, and under his breath he added, “or you.”

“So?” You flapped your arms out, impatiently, blood pressure spiking. “Where is she?”

Eddie came forward and put a finger to his lips, motioning for you to lower your voice. He guided you down the hallway, ignoring your protests, until he arrived at your bedroom door and turned the knob, opening it slowly.

Bela was curled up on your bed in a blanket, breathing heavy like she’d just been dosed with a tranquilizer.

“She broke out again while you were gone,” he whispered. “Blew the bathroom door right off its hinges and came scratching at my door like maybe I had you.”

Your eyes went to the window across the room, seeing that there were boards hammered over it now, which was more of Eddie’s handiwork.

Feeling you softening at his side, Eddie pulled the door closed with a click. You were having a hard time meeting his eyes. You’d been so mad at him, so ready to scream and kick him out into the snow.

“She let you hold her?” You asked, noticing that you no longer had a bathroom door, Eddie must’ve taken it out to fix it.

“I'm charming, what can I say?” he shrugged. “And I gave her some of my blood from a little eyedropper.”

“You what?” You spun on him, appalled.

“Don’t sound so horrified,” He put his hands on his hips once you reached the kitchen. “They need vampire blood to calm their nervous system. She’ll sleep like a baby now.”

In the book you were reading, the author did say that demobats who drank regular doses of vampire blood seemed to fare better than the others, but you’d decided to disregard that information as speculation.

“In that case, I guess I should say thank you,” you opened the fridge and took out the Brita water filter and a glass from the cupboard.

Eddie crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his thigh against the counter. “Did that Steve guy try to make a move on you or what?”

You frowned at him. “Listen, you don’t get to invade my space and bombard me with personal questions. Why does it matter so much to you what we did?”

“I don’t trust him,” Eddie had his eyes trained on one spot in front of him, studying a patch of air while he worked his jaw.

“If it’s any comfort, I don’t think he cares much for you, either.”

Eddie’s head spun to look at you. “What did he say about me?”

“Nothing!” You clarified, raising the tone of your voice to match his. “He didn’t mention you at all, actually. It’s just a feeling I got.”

You took a drink, and when you put the glass back down, Eddie moved in, bracketing your hips with his hands on the countertop, caging you there while he searched your eyes. “Did he kiss you?”

You didn’t answer right away, and so he asked it again.

“Did he kiss you?”

The way his lips hovered there so close to yours made you swallow hard. The air between the two of you crackled with electricity. You waited for his eyes to go black, for his fangs to eject, for him to take your blood into his mouth like he had that night in the alley.

“Would it bother you if he had?” There was an air of pleading in your tone that you had not intended to be there.

Please let it bother you.

Eddie slid his bottom lip through his teeth and leaned back, stepping away from you. “I just think you should keep your distance from him, that’s all. Werewolves are notoriously…” he trailed off as if searching for the right word. “...undisciplined.”

You wondered about Eddie’s discipline, how hard it was for him not to go the rest of the way and claim you just then. To sink his teeth in and suck on that nectar of yours that he craved so deeply. You could see the desire in his eyes, the way the brown irises melted into umber and his pupils expanded.

You would not have stopped him, that was the final truth of it.

In that moment, you knew that if Eddie Munson wanted to kiss you, you would not put up a fight.

You would not pull back and ask, “what are you doing?”

You would just know.

“I changed the bulb in your porch light, by the way,” he added on his way to the door. “Noticed it was out.”

You did not turn to watch him go, you kept your back to him. “Thank you again for Bela and for boarding up the window.”

He mumbled something under his breath that made you look over your shoulder. “What was that?”

He stopped in his tracks with his hand on the doorknob, hair long around the shoulder of his leather jacket. “I said, you know where I am, if you ever need anything.”

Eddie stepped out onto your front porch and exhaled a shuddering, long-held breath. He shut his eyes and rubbed the heels of his palms into them. “Holy shit, Munson, you are such an idiot,” he scolded himself, feeling a sprinkle of snow again on his flesh.

He took a step down and then paused, thinking he should go back in.

Thinking he should tell you…everything.

Maybe you would understand.

Maybe you’d lean into his kiss and pull him closer.

Maybe…

But then the shadow of uncertainty shrouded him and he kept going.

—-------

You ended up covering for Argyle behind the bar the next night while he went to California for a week, and thankfully it was a slow shift because you were still figuring out what alcohol went in which drink. But then a crowd of people on their way to the poetry reading at Robin’s came through, and two of them were vampires, so you had to get out the manual to remember which synthetic blood type to use in the various mixtures.

“Another whiskey with a beer back for the Chief,” Erica scooted up next to you and tapped your arm to get you to lean in closer to her. “Do you think he’s waiting for someone?”

Jim Hopper was in a booth by himself in the dimly lit room, facing the door, and you had noticed that he seemed very interested in getting a good look at everyone who came in that evening. He still had his uniform on, since he was only recently off the clock, and he was tapping his knee and chewing on the side of his fingernail with some type of anticipation.

You knew that if you got closer, you’d be able to get a better read on his emotional state.

“I’ll take it to him,” you said to Erica, and then the two of you talked about the movie you went to with Steve because she hated it and said she was angry those were two hours of her life she could never get back. “I can’t believe you let a werewolf take you on a date,” she squinted. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were looking for trouble.”

You moved around her with both of Jim’s drinks and winked. “I’m the one who’s trouble. They come looking for me.”

“Oh I believe that,” she quipped in your wake.

The closer you got to Jim, the more you could sense the yearning inside of him. There was desperation with sadness around the edges, and the hint of a familiar sinister urge, much like you’d felt with the Klemps all those weeks ago.

His eyes met yours only briefly when you set his drinks down, and then you asked if he wanted one menu or two.

“Not tonight, thanks. I’m waiting for someone, and then I need to split,” he nodded as he warmed the whiskey in his big hands and wiped a sheen of perspiration from his forehead.

Well, there was your answer.

You and Hopper both looked up when the door opened that time, and you were pleasantly surprised to see Steve standing there. Shoulders broad in his plaid shirt and his luscious head of hair looking wild from the wind outside. His face lit up when he saw you.

“Hey stranger,” you walked over to him, beaming.

Steve had been pacing out on the sidewalk between the bookstore and the bar for the past 15 minutes trying to decide if he should go in or not. By the way you were smiling at him, he could tell he'd made the right decision.

“Hey, you,” he gave a smirk and raked his big hand through his unruly hair a few times. He glanced around at the 8 or 9 customers. “Do you have a break soon? Or can I bring you anything?”

“My shift is over in an hour,” you talked as you returned to your station, waving at Bob through the serving hatch. Steve rested his elbow on the bar. “I was thinking I’d make my way over to the bookstore if you’re still around.”

“Oh I think I’ll be around,” he assured, tapping his knuckles on the wood, not wanting to sound too eager. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught Erica glaring at him. She was not much of a fan of the supernatural.

Right behind Steve, a strikingly beautiful woman with short black hair and red lips strolled in. She had a long leather coat that she pulled tightly around her as she walked, and she appeared to know exactly where she was going, strolling over with ancient grace to Jim’s table. He stood up to greet her, and then they hunched across the table toward each other as if they were telling secrets.

You realized you were staring as you spotted a tiny vial of dark liquid in her palm just before she slid it across the way to him under a cupped hand.

“I’ll come back when you’re finished,” Steve said a few other things, but your mind had not retained them. “We can walk over together.”

“Sure,” you said absently. The mysterious woman with Jim got up and left after only a minute or two. Jim downed the rest of his drink, left a tip, and exited out the back, putting his hat on as he went.

A bit later, as you were changing out of your apron in the back room and counting your bills, you wondered where Eddie was and what he was doing.

It made you curse out loud, the persistent way your mind clung to him.

It was irrational and wholly unfair.

You wanted him to pull up in the GTO and tell you to get in without any explanation of why or where you were going.

The customers continued to wane, and Bob told you to skedaddle 20 minutes earlier than you’d expected, so you figured you’d get a head start and meet Steve half way. Erica flipped you off, playfully mocking the fact that you could go home before her. You snuggled down into your winter coat and pushed through the employee door that led to the parking lot at the greeting of a gust of bitingly cold wind. You stopped to pull your gloves out of your pockets and the door that could only be opened from the inside locked shut behind you.

When you looked up, Jareth stepped out of the shadows and loomed there, blocking your path.

“I’m afraid you'll have to come with me, love.”

----

hugs and kisses, thank you so much for reading! Your comments, asks, and reblogs mean the world xoxo

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#Eddie Munson fic #Eddie Munson #vampire!eddie #werewolf Steve #Death Becomes Us #vampire Eddie Munson #True Blood au #Eddie Munson series #paranormal reader #Eddie Munson x reader #Spotify

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darklinaforever · 9 months

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“If you loved me, you would have let me go by now.”

“It is because I love you that I won’t.”

I love these dialogues from Addies and Luc in the invisible life of addie larue. It totally represents two different perspectives on love.

Addie, like many people, thinks that love is purely selfless and good. (While she herself can have selfish actions or thoughts) Luc thinks that love is selfish, or at least can be. (Because to say that Luc is purely selfish would be quite hypocritical given all the events of the books and what he does there. Luc is much more complicated than that)

But I like that these two sentences summarize these two visions of love.

Love is selfless. Love is selfish. When in fact... it can be both, separately or together. Love can be something uniquely good and positive. Just as it can be negative. And sometimes it's both together. They are simply different forms of the same feeling.

All this to say that I hate when people try to say that love must be pure, good and selfless. It's bullshit. Whether in fiction or reality. The difference is that in fiction you can explore relationships with toxic connotations without risk, unlike real life or if there are red flags, you obviously have to just run to protect yourself.

Justice for romances like Luc & Addie, Jane Eyre & Rochester, Heathcliff & Catherine (Wuthering Heights), Coriolanus Snow & Lucy Gray Bird (The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Christine & Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Thomas & Edith (Crimson Peak), Hannibal & Will (Hannibal), Hannibal & Clarice (Hannibal), Raistlin & Crysania (Dragonlance), Sarah & Jareth (Labyrinth), Qu Xiao Feng & Li Cheng Yi (Goodbye My Princess), The Darkling & Alina (Grisha), Mare & Maven (Red Queen), Julian & Jenny (The Forbidden Game), and so so many others...

Not without kidding, there are so many examples in general, but also that I know and love that it is impossible to cite them all !

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myveryownfanfiction · 2 years

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18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

warnings: Jareth jumpscares the reader a bit, Hoggle is a bit crass, reader kind of throws themself at Jareth, a few double intendres but they are mentioned in the movie so idk

AN: Happy Valentine's Day! My annual Labyrinth story is here!

"Run the labyrinth he said. 13 hours he said." I muttered to myself as I trudged along through the Goblin City. So far, none of the goblins had come after us. Hoggle trailed behind me, rubbing his hands. I still held his precious jewels but I doubt he cared about them anymore. "What are you muttering about back there Hoggle?" I looked over my shoulder at him, fed up with the noise he was making. Not knowing if the rest of the goblins would jump out because of it had set me on edge.

"What are you going to do if you get to the castle?" He finally asked. I shrugged. "I mean you're leaving right?" I nodded as he sped up to walk alongside me. "But I thought you wanted to do Jareth." I stumbled and Hoggle looked at me, hands out to try to catch me.

"What?!" I exclaimed. Hoggle was wringing his hands again. "Who said anything about me wanting to do Jareth?"

"I just thought..." He trailed off. "The way the two of you interact with each other..." I sighed and gazed up at the castle.

"Hoggle, it wouldn't work. He belongs here in the Goblin City. I have to go back. I should never have said that to my friend." I shook my head, clearing it and banishing all thoughts of the Goblin King out of my head.

"He will probably offer you a way to stay..." Hoggle murmured. "If he did, would you take it?" I shrugged.

"As long as my friend was safe and I wouldn't get turned into a goblin, maybe." My mind was racing. If I could stay, would I? Would I want to be bound to the Goblin King forever? Did I really want to stay? Shaking my head again, I focused on the task at hand. We were at the steps of the castle. "Hoggle, whatever comes next, I have to do it myself right?" He nodded. "Here. Thank you for coming with me." I tossed his jewels back to him.

"You didn't have to do that." He said in surprise. Smiling sadly at him, I started to climb the stairs. I looked back only once to see Hoggle wave at me before turning around and disappearing into the city. Climbing the stairs, I pushed the doors open and entered the empty throne room. Looking around, I saw the clock. Sighing in relief, I looked around for the doorway I knew to be there. There were three doorways behind the throne. Looking from one to the other, I started to worry. I still had time if I took the wrong door but I would have to find my way back to this room if I wanted to preserve that time.

"Think (Y/N). Think." I circled around the throne and stared at the doors. "Which one did Sarah take. Which one leads to the David Bowie impersonator." I closed my eyes and tried to visualize the scene from the movie. "She comes in and it's..." I turned slightly and opened my eyes. The doorway matched what I remembered from the film. "There." Running through, I took in the new maze. Smiling to myself, I walked to the edge and looked out of the staircase world.

"(Y/N)!" My friend called out for me. I waved down to them and took a deep breath, preparing to jump down the center.

"Expecting a song?" The voice made me jump and I turned around, putting some distance between myself and the edge. Jareth was leaning against the wall, playing with a crystal. "You won't get one." I smiled softly at him and shook my head.

"Didn't think I would." I looked over my shoulder and took a step back. I looked back at Jareth as he pushed off the wall. "Besides, you wouldn't get into it too much. I know what to do." He smirked and walked right up to me. We were standing nose to nose when he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Then do it." He whispered before giving me a gentle push. I stepped off at the same time and fell. A new platform materialized under me and I landed carefully, my friend having disappeared again. Jareth entered from a new doorway. "I assume you know what's coming." I nodded and Jareth rolled his eyes. "Then formalities and such." He waved his hand and I tried to stifle my laugh. It brought a smile to his face. "(Y/N)," my breath hitched as he said my name. Maybe Hoggle was right. "beware. I have been generous, up until now and I can be cruel."

"Generous?" I tried to fight the smile that was growing. "What have you done that's generous?" Jareth smirked at me, clearly seeing how amusing I found all of this.

"Everything." There was something about his tone that made me question all of my life's choices until that point. "Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked that your friend be taken. I took them. You cowered before me. I was frightening. I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you. I'm exhausted from living up to your expectations of me." He circled me. All I could do was watch him. Doubt was growing in me. Doubt that I could say the words. Doubt that going back was what I really wanted. Doubt that I could leave him behind. Doubt I could forget about him. "Isn't that generous?" His gaze softened as he came to a stop in front of me.

"I-I..." I looked around him, desperate not to look him in the eye. "Through dangers untold..." I fought to find something in me that wanted to go back. Something to focus on so I didn't have to make that choice while looking at him. "Dangers untold and hardships...." Jareth watched me, regarding me kindly and curiously. When it was clear I wasn't going to recite my part, he took control.

"Stop. Wait." He held up a crystal, taking a step closer to me. "Look (Y/N). Look at what I'm offering you." His voice had taken on a soft quality. When he didn't continue, I looked away from the crystal, meeting his eyes.

"My dreams." I whispered out. He shook his head but gave me a chance to continue. But I didn't take it.

"I ask for so little." Jareth took another step towards me. "Just let me rule you and you can have everything that you want." He had lowered the crystal, nearly letting it drop as his other hand reached out and gently took mine. His thumb ran over my knuckles, waiting for me to make a decision. I shook my head, the thoughts running rampant as I tried to find any reason to go. "Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave." Jareth whispered, gently pulling me closer to him. "The choice is yours. I've done all I must." Slowly reaching up, I cupped his cheek.

"My friend will return?" He nodded, gently leaning into my touch. "And I won't become a goblin?" He shook his head with an amused smile.

"Where would you get an idea like that?" He chuckled. "Your friend will return to your world. If you choose to stay, you will remain as you are. With me. If that is what you so choose." Jareth watched me carefully. Letting go of his hand, I reached out for the crystal. "You need to be sure." He warned. I nodded.

"I'm sure." I touched the crystal just as Jareth leaned forward and kissed me. The world around us shimmered as we were returned to the throne room. Jareth pulled away, smiling softly at me. I looked around the room, surprised by the subtle use of magic. A second throne had appeared next to the first.

"For you." He whispered as he watched me take my seat.

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spencerdaze · 1 year

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'Labyrinth' and how trauma makes us search for escapism

Welcome to 'Mikaela please log off' where i talk and overanalyze movies because i'm unemployed. In today's hell of a post, i'm going to talk about probably my favourite movie and one that has shaped me for my entire life: 1986 'Labyrinth', with musical numbers written and performed by none other than Miss David Bowie himself! SPOILERS AHEAD.

Now i've seen this movie more times than i've seen my own face in the mirror. It's a movie i enjoyed in my childhood and certainly one that has shaped me, with how the puppets have a certain uncanny feel to them almost and how crazy and whimsical the whole movie is. It trully is an amazing movie that can be enjoyed by children, but also by adults as well, with many of the movie's themes and meanings being hidden or something you find with experience or relate to later in life. Because the movie is a very clear reference to fairytales like Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, is no surprise to know there are many, many different readings that can be done to it. The firts reading i made of the movie when i rewatched it as an adult was that the movie was a very clear allegory for growing up and maturing, having to leave behind your childhood but also keeping in mind your inner child so that you don't lose yourself in the labyrinth that is life.

While the allegory reading is correct, and i think it's one of the meanings behind the movie and certainly the most obvious theme, it's definetly not the only one. One thing kept me wondering after watching the movie this time: Why is the phrase 'You have no power over me' so important? It's used in the beginning of the film, with Sarah forgetting this line in her book, and by the end, when she's facing Jareth, Sarah remembers the phrase by herself, clearly showing us as viewers the inner power Sarah has over her life. It's obvious this line is meant to represent Sarah's ambition and power, but why is it this phrase? Whi is it You have no power over me and not something else like 'My power lies within me' which could tie to the end of the film, with Bowie's Within you playing? Well, after rewatching it recently, i figured it out: Sarah isn't just talking to Jareth, she's talking to her stepmother.

At the beginning of the film Sarah seems to be, on the surface, a spoiled 15 year old girl who doesn't want to do her chores and just wants to play around, not even wanting to date, something her stepmom wants her to do. Her stepmother wants her to mature and grow, to find love, etc. And Sarah and her obviously do not get along a lot. Two important details appear when Sarah goes back to her room at the beginning after fighting with her stepmother over having to take care of her little brother: her stepmother talks to her dad, telling him 'She treats me like the wicked stepmother of a fairytale', and when Sarah goes to talk to her to her room, he doesn't even bother to open the door or make sure she's okay after the fight. To some people these details seem just normal parent behaviour, but it was very clear to me after the film that Sarah is being emotionally neglected by her father, and possibly made by her stepmother to grow up to fast. Sarah is fifteen and an older sister, and unfortunately is common for older sisters to act as parents for their siblings while also not being taken care of themselves. We see Sarah clinging to her childhood as an escapism from the fact she feels completely neglected, since her dad won't even open the door to talk to her.

When Sarah tells Toby her fairytale, it's a clear depiction of how she feels like: There once was a princess who was basically a slave to her stepmother and she was forced to take her of her baby brother. Sarah takes her rage out on her brother and sends him away with the goblins, and inmediatly regrets it. She's repeating patterns of abuse. She's realizing sending her brother away is the submitting him to the same neglectful behaviour she has struggled with. So she makes a deal with Jareth to get him back.

Jareth poses an interesting character in Sarah's healing journey from her trauma. He's in love with her, in very possessive, clingy way that makes him do anything she asks him too to try to manipulate her to love him, which doesn't work on her, because she's probably used to it. The fact Sarah has a lot of toys and costumes, which makes us feel like she's spoiled, while being simultaneously emotionally neglected, is a very common way a manipulator convinces the victim there's no reason to feel that way. So seeing as she's used to being gifted things, being given 'her dreams', instead of actual emotional support and availability, Sarah is basically inmune to Jareth's advances. This could be read as Sarah's first experience with love outside of her family life, which is also a common thing in the experiences of older sisters: they date men who aren't good for them, repeating the patterns they're used to and being once again emotionally hurt. By the end of the movie, after meeting new friends Sarah loves deeply and grows to appreciate, and by being shown there are people who do care about her and who do love her and respect her, Sarah is able to fight Jareth alone, because she might be phisically alone, but she knows her friends have her back always. The found family trope is used here even until the end when we think Sarah has grown and the people she met in the Labyrinth are gone, and Sarah tells Jareth he has no power over her because she finally has healed, and she knows she deserves better.

By the end, Sarah has matured and learned, not just about herself, but about love and relationships of all kinds. She gives Toby her plushie as a way of showing she doesn't need to desperately cling to her childhood anymore, because she now has people in her life who care about her for real, and also she tucks him in as a way to show she's going to break the cycle, and show him finally the emotional support she didn't get from her parents. She keeps many things in her room, but puts others away, and when her friends from the Labyrinth appear to tell her they'll be there if she needs them, they don't simply say this and go away, but she makes them stay. 'I need you', she tells them, because even if she's healed, her life might still be filled with the remnants of her trauma, and an escapism might be needed. But most importantly, 'I need you', because they're her friends, her found family, the people who have shown her what she deserves in her life.

The movie definetly shows us the many highs and lows in life, particularely in adolescence, and how the journey to being mature can be difficult. But these subtle themes of emotional neglect, trauma, and the struggles of a young girl forced to grow up a little too soon trully give the movie another layer of depth that maybe not everyone might see, but some of us, specially those of us who relate to these struggles, do see and aknowledge, reminding us that we're not alone and that we deserve better, for our trauma has no power over us.

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