Stockholm Syndrome Meme

[cornichaun]

 THE STOCKHOLM MEME

WARNING: Meme will contain TRIGGERS, including kidnapping, dubious consent, and general uncomfortable content. Please do not click if you don't want to see, and please respect your fellow role-players.

Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and have positive feelings for their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness. 

Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes "strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other."

HOW TO PLAY:
1) Comment with your character and their series in the subject line of the comment. Include any preferences you might have on type of scene/squicks/etc. 
2) Comment around to start scenes! Use random.org if you get stuck for ideas. 

PROMPTS:
1. KIDNAPPED. You've been taken, either for ransom money or just because you've pissed the wrong people off. Or maybe your kidnapper just wants company. Maybe they need someone to be their companion, to be their confidante, and they chose you. 

2. CAPTURED. Maybe you were a soldier, fighting in a battle. Maybe a spy, or a political dissident. Either way, the military has caught up with you. 

3. IN CUSTODY. It's a law enforcement agent that has you locked up. Maybe you're a criminal and you're in prison, or on house arrest so that agent can keep an eye on you. Maybe the agent doesn't have enough evidence, so they took matters into their own hands. 

4. ASYLUM. This person isn't keeping you here against your will. It's for safety. Maybe you're in the Witness Protection Program. Maybe you sought asylum from your own country. Maybe your criminal life got a little too heated and you had to go underground somewhere. 

5. HOSTAGE EXCHANGE. A war, between countries or gangs or even planets, and the two sides have decided to exchange important hostages as a gesture of trust. You're one of them. It might even involve arranged marriage -- a way to unite your two peoples. Hope you enjoy staying with your enemy. 

6. HIRED. Someone's being paid to keep you. Maybe a new parent or guardian keeping you at home, or perhaps an evil uncle has had you tossed into a discreet asylum in order to claim your inheritance. 

7. SLAVERY. Through birth or misfortune, you've become the property of another. But they're not such a bad master. You might even grow to love them, if enough time passes. If they treat you with the right combination of cruelty and kindness. 

8. WILD CARD. For anything not covered by the other options!

Comments

[captainawesome1701]

He's about to start in on some speech about how his craft is perfectly safe, thank you, and hasn't caused any injuries or deaths (well..... none that he didn't instigate, but still. The boat was more an instrument than a cause in these cases), but he's also pretty sure this guy will have none of it. Instead, he just slaps a hand down on his friend's knee, both as a sign of greeting and of friendship. "I'm Jim."

[therealmccoy_1701]

He looks down at that hand, looks at it a long time before he looks up at Jim.

"Why am I here, Jim? What do you want with me?"

[captainawesome1701]

He's quiet for a few seconds, immediately breaking eye contact with him. This is just massively embarrassing, having to admit the truth, but this friend is the first to even ask that. Well, ask that and not be screaming at the same time. "I just want a friend. And you seemed interesting."

[therealmccoy_1701]

That makes him laugh, but it's sarcastic and kinda worried rather than amused.

"You kidnap me because you want a friend and I seem interesting? Kid. I'm the last person you want for a friend. I'm no good. I'm too mean for people."

[captainawesome1701]

"Yeah, and I'm too..." He waves his hand vaguely. Crazy? Clingy? Much? They all work. "For people too. ....maybe that'd make us good friends."

[therealmccoy_1701]

He ponders what to say next. There's a lot complaints that wanna come out. A lot of yelling, but there's one need that stands above all else.

"Listen. You wanna be my friend? Get me off this boat. I don't care where you take me. It can some deserted island in the middle of shark infested waters. I don't give a damn. Just get me off this goddamn death trap!"

[captainawesome1701]

There's a few seconds silence while Jim stares straight ahead and decides what to do. There's absolutely no emotion on his face while he weighs his options, but when his mind is decided, he hops up from where they're sitting and sulks towards the stairs. "Okay."

[therealmccoy_1701]

He lets out a breath of relief when Jim promises that.

"If you do that, I'll stick around. If I'm on this boat so that there's no escape, then just take me back and I won't. Don't got a damn to run back to anyway."

[captainawesome1701]

He pauses in the doorway and looks back at him. "Everyone's got something to go back to."

Well, Jim doesn't. But Jim figures he's the exception for everything.

[therealmccoy_1701]

"All I've got is a court date. You want me to stick around? Sure. Fine. Whatever. I'm still gonna warn you. You're not gonna want me as a friend."

[captainawesome1701]

"Court date? For what?"

[therealmccoy_1701]

"I killed someone."

[captainawesome1701]

No, Jim, don't brighten up. Sure, this gives them more in common, but clearly it bothers his friend more than it does Jim.

"Who?"

[therealmccoy_1701]

"Maybe I'll tell you sometime."

He turns to face the wall and pulls those blankets over his head. He almost wants to be drugged again so he can wake up when all this is over.

[captainawesome1701]

"I hope you do."

He's painfully sincere in that, and then heads back up to set a course for shore. It's still going to take quite a few hours, but maybe he can trust him to stay.

[therealmccoy_1701]

He manages to fall asleep at least. The combination of the hangover, the remaining drugs in his system, and the sea sickness has drained him completely.

He wakes up when the boat bumps against the pier. At first he panics, runs up to the deck in full "OHGODWE'REGONNADIE" mode. But then slowly he realizes that there's LAND. REAL LAND.

"You took us back!"

Yes, he's surprised.

[captainawesome1701]

And Jim just stares at him like he's saying water is wet. "Yeah....?"

[therealmccoy_1701]

"Didn't think you would," he says as he leaps over the railing and runs for shore. But he is a man of his word and as soon as he reaches the end of the pier and steps on to actual solid land, he stops and waits. If Jim kept his promise, he damn sure will, too.

[captainawesome1701]

He is, actually, completely and totally shocked that his friend is waiting. He didn't even bother watching him run off, not after he got off the boat, so when he finally bothers to look up from his instruments, he's a little speechless. "What are you doing?"

[therealmccoy_1701]

"What?"

He doesn't get the look of surprise. He sinks down on a discarded box and he's still waiting. He doesn't have a clue whee they are after all.

"You comin' or what?"

[captainawesome1701]

Watch him LIGHT UP when he says that. No one invites him anywhere. For anything. Ever. "Y-yeah. Let me close up things here. It'll take just a second."

Can't let anyone take his boat away, after all.

But it does only take a few seconds to shut down the engine and get everything settled and then he's practically sprinting to catch up with him.

[therealmccoy_1701]

"So where the hell are we?"

[captainawesome1701]

"Northern California. We can go somewhere else, though, if you want."

[therealmccoy_1701]

"It'll do."

Jim could have taken him to Alaska and he wouldn't have complained. As long as they're off the damn boat, he's a happy camper. Well, a mildly content camper who's holding off on the complaints for now.



"You got some place to stay here?"

[captainawesome1701]

"Nope. Don't even know a single person here. But I'm sure we can find something." No jobs, no connections, no problem, right? This is why Jim lives on his boat.