#she were loved [clare strachan];

[ofyorkshire]

I am extremely soft about how BJ hunches forward to shield Clare and shushes her. It's not a thing that's brought up in the films, but she's in her early 20s here and BJ had just turned 16 a month ago, yet he consistently and unquestioningly takes the caretaker role. He protects her and keeps her calm enough to escape the Karachi Social Club shooting, he does his best to keep her morale up while they're hiding out, tends to her through her quickly crumbling mental health, and actively tries to find ways to get them out of their bleak situation. All before he's even 18 years old. And he keeps fighting to 25, when things finally end and he can finally rest.

Particularly, though, I can't look at that third screencap and not see shades of who BJ was implied to be when he was still under Rev. Laws' roof. Again, the films don't touch on it, but the novels suggest that while BJ did not have close or even very good relationships with the other abused neighborhood boys, he still was willing to take punishment for their disobedience. So I don't think that it's a huge leap to say that he probably looked after and comforted them as well, and... doesn't that body language kind of look like someone consoling a frightened child? Maybe. I could be looking too deeply at small gestures--there are only so many ways to shush someone, after all--but the thought still twists at my heart.

BJ cares so much for so many people. It's a shame that his compassion was what usually ended up getting him hurt.

[ofyorkshire]

BJ and Clare. Oh, he did love her. :(