luxken27 | Stacy in Bloom | 24: Someday We'll Be Together

Title: Stacy in Bloom
Fandom: Kids Incorporated
Universe: Canon (Season 5 – 1988)
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Rating: T
Summary: With her sister and best friend halfway around the world, who else is there for Stacy to turn to…but Ryan? When the consequences of their actions become clear, the two must decide if pursuing each other is worth breaking up the band.
Mega-meta resource thread: http://luxken27.dreamwidth.org/30667.html

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5873801/24/

Well, as I said in the note at the top of this chapter, it's hard to believe this story even has a two-year anniversary, LOL! I think back to early spring 2010 and the manic high during which this story was conceived, and just shake my head. John Lennon was right - life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans =)

But, since this fic is two years old and nowhere near complete, I decided to dust off the chapter I'd written back in October, clean it up (after changing my mind a couple of times as to where I wanted the storyline to go after this particular chain of events), and put it up. Maybe someone out there still gives a damn? LOL.

Notes & references...

[+] As I said above, one of the reasons I held back on this chapter for so long is because I was dithering about what was to come *after*. In a lot of ways, this is a bridging chapter, between the Big Date and the NYE concert - ways that will hopefully become clearer as this fic turns the corner into its second half =) It was tricky, because it seems like everyone is fighting - Stacy vs Renee, Stacy (and, by proxy, Ryan) vs her parents, Renee vs Ryan - and I ultimately had to decide which to resolve first, and which to let linger.

I wrote it one way, then changed my mind about the hierarchy of importance, slotting events into place like a puzzle, but shifting them around until I was satisfied. This is definitely something I like about writing ahead of my posting schedule: I'm much freer to change my mind without having to backtrack so much.

[+] This is the first time we spend a significant chunk of time in Renee's head. I just love Renee, and love that she has so much complexity. It's touched on in canon a little bit, mostly in the first season, and that's what I drew on to explore her thoughts and feelings on this mess of a situation. First season episodes 1x11 "Space Case," and 1x22, "Her or Me" were the biggies here. Renee has A Lot of Feelings about her sisterly relationship with Stacy, but also her place in her family, and the responsibility her parents seemingly foist onto her (hence the final scene of the chapter). Being the oldest has its own quirky quagmires, but add on top of that being largely absent/overseas/culture-shocked/jet-lag, and you have the conflict Renee is wrestling with.

She comes back to realize that her far away judgments of Stacy's life and relationships are dead wrong, and she's grappling with that at the same time that she's fighting with her sister over this perceived betrayal of trust. She's forced to examine her actions and reactions, and how Stacy maybe doesn't need the same level of guidance/involvement as she did just six months ago. It's so tough to adjust when it seems like everything has changed around you, especially during what amounts to a temporary vacation. So, this is how I think she reacts to that - not perfectly, but not like a stuck-up diva, either. She's still trying to do what she thinks is best for her sister - she still ascribes ulterior motives to Ryan - she still chafes under the bridle of her parents' assumptions. She's the entire package, but hopefully, now its clear why she did what she did.

All of that being said, my dithering basically was here: should I resolve some of Renee's friction, or should it continue on, in favor of cooler heads prevailing elsewhere? The original draft of this chapter had Renee acting remorseful towards everyone, which just didn't sit right with me...so I revised and wrote and edited and hemmed and hawed and sketched out the next couple of chapters, and ultimately came up with this solution: she doesn't get directly into it with Ryan (mostly because she doesn't have the chance, considering he's there to see her parents), and her fight with Stacy doesn't gain much ground, either (mostly because of the way Stacy's acting - her stubbornness is, well, stubborn!).

[+] Renee reminisces in Stacy's bedroom, and recalls a couple of canon events:

meeting a real, live princess at the P*lace - 1x6, "The Basket Case"

her celebratory lunch from Café Paris for winning a poetry contest - 2x20, "No Rhyme or Reason"

giggling over Riley's latest wacky invention - take your pick, LOL, though his invention kick was most apparent during Seasons 1 and 2

Stacy had even managed to snag one of their old promotional posters, bought and paid for by Richie's brilliant scheme of auctioning off a date with Renee… - the infamous and awesome 4x11, "Win a Date with Renee"

[+] Ryan comes to Stacy's rescue, which sort of sets up the rest of this story as well as the sequel. It's a very loose motif; its not one that's going to show up over and over again, but its important, and will have reverberations. Stacy's parents call her on it, basically excusing her because they were that impressed by the way Ryan presented himself, and she's already been given fair warning that such a tactic isn't going to fly again, but it had its rewards =) Her punishment was reduced and delayed, and the stringent restriction re: dating was eased. Her parents definitely overreacted in the heat of the moment, and I think a correction would've been made no matter what, once everyone had a chance to cool off and really think about it.

However. The lovebirds will still be apart, and this will still potentially cause problems in their relationship - though both have made the solemn vow to stick together, even if its not in the way they'd want.

I swear, I'm not trying to torture them (or you!), or turn this into a soap opera. It's just - well, for as grownup as Stacy acts sometimes, she's still 14, and she's still going to have her moments of melodrama. Welcome to adolescence, y'all - it can be a bumpy (but magical) ride.

[+] Stacy's birthday isn't canon. Yes, I know this, but I'd already sketched out the outline of the story and the Major Plot Points before the S1 episode was posted, and Stacy's birthday will, indeed, be a Major Plot Point. Apologies, but I promise - it'll be worth it =)

[+] The title song was the closing number to episode 5x12, "Richie in Love." I don't really like this version, so I remixed it for its appearance in this story, way back in Chapter 13. When I decided to split this chapter off from the last one, I scrambled for a title/interstital - and this one fit so perfectly I was a bit embarrassed it took me so long to realize it :P

KI fandom has been rockin' these last couple of weeks, not in the least because the absolutely awesome charlieinpcbfl1 has decided to share his collection of episodes with us on YouTube! He's planning to eventually put up the entire series (!!), so go support him in his endeavors by subscribing to his channel and making your episode requests! The quality of his stuff is really top-notch - plus, he's just an all-around awesome guy, and way generous, to boot. I ♥ my fellow KI fans so frickin' much!!!