Just Taken
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Just Taken is the name of a Spice Girls/Ace of Base Alternate Universe Real Person Fic written by Beta_Log_86 on Archive of Our Own.
Melanie’s health problems were discovered by her peers, who opt to cheer her up in their way. Yet, trouble arises when they have a run-in with an unknown gang of hoodlums. If that wasn’t serious enough, Melanie had been sectioned by the Mental Health Act and been taken from one hospital to another. Now, with her secrets out in the open, Melanie has to handle a lot more than she can handle.
The entire fic can be viewed here.
Tropes used in Just Taken include:
- Alternate Universe Fic: Set in 1998, where the characters have civilian lives.
- Ambiguous Disorder: Melanie was diagnosed with a list of malnutrition-related illnesses, likely from her anorexia.
- Bedlam House: Olympus Multi-Diagnosis and Treatment Centre.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Emma explains to Geri that she had enough of being kept away from the reasoning behind Melanie's section. Geri knows that Emma raises her voice and attitude when she has to, even if she's injured.
- Break Them by Talking: Melanie is subjected to this, while Emma backs off.
- Broken Masquerade: Melanie's secret diet was exposed, despite Emma keeping it to herself.
- Consulting Mister Puppet: Alan explained he used to a puppet when Melanie was a lot younger. When he presents a stuffed animal, Melanie eventually breakdown.
- Face Your Fears
- Cry Cute: Melanie ends up crying over it.
- Cry Into Chest: Alan was finally able to hug Melanie in hopes of calming her down.
- Do Wrong Right: Linn had her brain transplanted into a wolf-like dog, which wasn’t spayed.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Melanie takes this attitude, which Emma respects. The others... not so much.
- Fainting: Victoria faints after being told about what happened at the courthouse.
- Flipping the Bird: Melanie’s message to the driver who ran her over.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The rest of the ladies start to succumb to this after learning how seriously sick Melanie was.
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Melanie opts to use Klingon along with a white crayon to write in her secret diary.
- Last-Name Basis: Mel and Emma often address Joan as O'Neil.
- Look Both Ways: Geri fails to do this because she was upset about how worse Melanie had got. She got minor injuries.
- Major Injury Underreaction: The ladies were all injured in the nasty fight with a group of gangsters, with Melanie suffering the worst. Yet, Melanie responds to being stabbed by headbutting the hoodlum who did it. Despite this, they just calmly walk to the nearest hospital. Melanie even wakes up in the middle of surgery but shrugs it off
- To top it off, Melanie even injuries her neck further when she yells at Alfie and Arthur for causing a ruckus.
- Emma is later confronted by Carol, who stabs her in the chest. Emma demanded to know what was Carol thinking.
- Mama Bear: Joan cares about Melanie a lot, finding herself upset over her condition.
- Step-Papa Wolf: A teacher caned Melanie when she was a child, which was a bad idea. When Dennis found out, he left bruises on the teacher who carried out the caning.
- Mass "Oh Crap": Melanie's health problems are known, including her own family were caught off guard.
- Upon hearing what was happening to Victoria, Mel and the company knew they needed to get to her in time.
- Meddling Parents: Carol takes this route after seeing Melanie in the condition that landed her in the hospital. Joan doesn't intervene unless Melanie wants her to.
- Open-Minded Parent: Joan seems to take this part, as she's described as a socialist.
- Moment of Weakness
- Buried Alive: Victoria points out that Melanie has taphophobia, which she considers pretty common.
- Neat Freak: It's implied Melanie is such given her flat appeared to be if she had moved in. The other women didn't bother with it.
- Nervous Wreck: Melanie tries not to reach this. Sadly, it's wasn't working on her own terms.
- No Medication for Me: Melanie flat out refuses to take medication, even for her injuries. The orderlies had to give them by force.
- Not So Stoic: Alan loses it while Geri and Joan were getting furious at him and Carol. Alan couldn't believe it and was scared of what he did. Carol tells Alan that he did what he needed to do.
- What Is This Feeling?: Alan hadn't felt upset before.
- No Time to Explain: Melanie had a short amount of time to inform her parents about what happened, before requesting Victoria to take over the court case. Melanie was placed on a 1:1 order, meaning she was to be observed all time. When an orderly wasn't looking, Melanie took the opportunity to tell her parents, but had to have another patient as a lookout.
- Out-of-Character is Serious Business: Melanie pleads for her mum, Joan. Knowing that how she was often well-hard, seeing Melanie crying to her mum got prompted Alan to explain to Carol that means "messed up big time".
- Parental Obliviousness: Alan wasn't aware of what Declan was doing until a distress call from Melanie's hospital room.
- Pet Food Diet: Melanie was found to be consuming some pet food, mostly cat food, along with her limited diet to prevent another choking incident. Emma doesn’t mind this.
- Linn also consumes pet food, which is justified as her brain was transplanted into a canine.
- Pet Owl: Melanie revealed that she had raised an owl named Archimedes when she found her as an owlet, and would feed her dead vermin as part of her meals. Since it's illegal to keep an owl as a pet, she was forced to keep her outdoors so she could be raised properly as a wild animal. And yet, Archimedes opted to stay around, having found a place to serve as a makeshift owl hole.
- Reluctant Psycho: Melanie had to ask if she was becoming insane.
- Sanity Slippage: Melanie starts to believe something is wrong, but rejects help.
- Screw the Pain Medication: Melanie strictly requests that she isn't given pain medication after she is severely injured in a fight, which included getting ran over by a car. She even woke up during the middle of emergency surgery, which she just shrugs it off. Of course, this request was later denied when she finds herself in a different hospital, whose staff administers the medication by force. Melanie complains that the medication was making her even worse, wanting to vomit at one point. However, considering one of the reasons for admission against her will was due to her eating disorder, she wasn't able to do so.
- Secret Keeper: Emma had kept what was happening to Melanie, even from Melanie’s family.
- Knew It All Along: Alan already knew about Melanie's taphophobia and her fears of ducks.
- You Didn't Ask: Emma had thought Melanie had told them. She even explains that she rather have Melanie talk.
- The Confidant: Emma, Geri, Victoria, and Mel all knew about Melanie's fears of choking, buried alive, and "real" ducks.
- Tough Love: Carol takes this stand towards Melanie.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Downplayed, as Declan didn't know one of the buttons was connected to the medicine Melanie was placed on.
- Step Mummy Issues: Melanie gets fury when Carol calls her out.
- For Your Own Good: Both Alan and Carol explain that Melanie needs to follow Doctor's Orders. Alan takes the gentle route due to Melanie's fragile health, while Carol chews her out.
- Unbroken Vigil: Pauline stays by Emma's bedside during the night the latter was admitted after being stabbed, forcing her to have surgery. Luckily, Emma gets better.
- Understanding Boyfriend: David comes to the aid of Victoria, giving her a place to relax.
- Weight Woe: Melanie's fear of choking to death lead to her weight loss. She doesn't like anyone looking at her as she eats, making matters worse.
- Why Did It Have To Be Snakes: Emma explained that Melanie has a fear of choking, being trapped, and losing control. Victoria explains that Melanie also has taphophobia, fear of being buried alive, which she considered normal. It was also revealed that Melanie is also afraid of a stampede.
- Author Phobia: Victoria explains how ducks and geese can have a nasty attitude when provoked. The fear of some birds is reflective of the author's fear of pet birds going on the attacks. Birds of prey don't scare her as much, since most would just leave alone unless one gets too close to their young.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Joan is quite serious about this, as is Dennis - to the point he'd beaten up someone who hit Melanie.