History Fanfic / SunshineThroughTheClouds

* ADayintheLimelight: In Chapter 12, Detective Louis Scott, Darci’s father, gets a POV section.

* OCCIsSeriousBusiness: Barbara is normally cool and not easily tempered. In the aftermath of James Sr. revealing that he cursed Jim during one of her appointments with her counselor in chapter 25, however:

* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: One of the major downsides of Jim's curse. He changes between human and troll ''strictly'' according to the movement of the sun and/or when underground, and how long is dependable on the season. Since Jim cannot consciously control his shapeshifting ''at all'', he must stay hidden in his house every night.

* SecretKeeper: Barbara's the only one who knows about Jim's nightly transformation and, basically, she's the only person he can talk to when dealing with the unnatural changes he's going through... until Toby, Claire, Darci, and Mary learn Jim's secret themselves.

## '''Acceptance:''' WordOfGod claims that Jim will slowly but surely accept what he is once he has the support he needs.

* YoureNotMyFather: After the events of chapter 32, Jim officially the "Jr." out of his name and instead prefers to go by "Jim Lake"; a sign that he's cutting all ties of his biological father out of his life for good.

* CallingTheOldManOut: When Jim meets his bio-father for the first time, he reveals his nocturnal form and wastes no time calling James Sr. out for abandoning them when they needed him most... Then James Sr. reveals that he knows something of the bath bomb that cursed him.

* HateSink: [[PsychopathicManchild James Lake Sr.]] After just one chapter after his debut, he trespasses the high school and harasses Mary with no regard for her well-being. Then nine chapters later, he publicly chases five teenagers (one of them being ''his own son'') and verbally attacks Douxie when he hides them from him... Then he reveals he knows something of the bath bomb that cursed Jim upon seeing his nocturnal form.

* HateSink: [[PsychopathicManchild James Lake Sr.]] After just one chapter after his debut, he trespasses the high school and harasses Mary with no regard for her well-being. Then nine chapters later, he publicly chases five teenagers (one of them being ''his own son'') and verbally attacks Douxie when he hides them from him. It's a satisfying feeling whenever [[LaserGuidedKarma he gets arrested]].

* TheReveal: When Toby, Claire, Darci, and Mary once again break into Jim's house, they discover Jim in his troll form, ultimately blowing his ten-year-long secret.

* SalemIsWitchCountry: Barbara believes that the bath bomb that cursed Jim is somehow connected to a witch named Sarah Good from Salem, Massachusetts. She plans to spend half of the summer with Jim across the country to find potential answers.

* HateSink: [[PsychopathicManchild James Lake Sr.]] who, after just one chapter after his debut, trespasses the high school and harasses Mary to meet Jim with no regard for her well-being. Then nine chapters later, he publicly chases five teenagers (one of them being ''his own son'') and verbally attacks Douxie when he hides them from him. It's a satisfying feeling whenever [[LaserGuidedKarma he gets arrested]].

* TranquilFury: When the girls confess to Jim they broke into his house twice, spied on him, and eavesdropped, Jim manages to keep cool and doesn't raise his voice, but his expressions to the revelations say otherwise.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Aside from anxiety, Jim shows a lot of signs of struggling with a depressive disorder.
** Not so ambiguous in Barbara's case that she suffers from [[ParanoiaFuel paranoia]], which has been taken up a notch soon after her son was cursed and spent years struggling to hide and take care of him differently.

--> '''Barbara''': It’s important that when you do see things like that, the best thing to do is just not react, either positively or negatively, treat it like it’s completely normal, because for Jim it is.\\
'''Claire''': I get it, it’s kind of like someone who’s diabetic. Don’t make a big deal out of it when they check their blood sugar or give themselves insulin and stuff like that.\\
'''Barbara''': ''[taken aback]'' ...Y-Yes, exactly.

!![Unmarked Spoilers!] The series provides examples of:

* HateSink: James Lake Sr., whom is painted as a PsychopathicManchild. In just one chapter after his debut, he trespasses the high school to harass Mary into getting him to meet Jim with no regard for her well-being. Then nine chapters later, he publicly chases five teenagers (one of them being ''his own son'') and verbally attacks Douxie when he hides them from him. It's a satisfying feeling whenever [[LaserGuidedKarma he gets arrested]].

** Not so ambiguous in Barbara's case; it's made drastically clear throughout the installments that Barbara suffers from [[ParanoiaFuel paranoia]], which has been taken up a notch soon after her son was cursed and spent years struggling to hide and take care of him differently.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Aside from anxiety, Jim shows a lot of signs of struggling with a depressive disorder. By ''A Secret's Worth'', he begins seeing a therapist for help and evaluation.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Aside from anxiety, Jim shows a lot of signs of struggling with a depressive disorder.

''Sunshine through the Clouds'' is a ''WesternAnimation/TalesOFArcadia'' fanfic series by rockymaidenvixen.

The first installment, ''You Are My Sunshine'', can be read on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17958326/chapters/42413924 here]]. The sequel ''A Secret's Worth'' can be read [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/20486987/chapters/48615032 here]].

## '''Acceptance:''' WordOfGod claims that Jim will slowly but surely accept what he is once he has the support he needs – aside from his mother's.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** The story starts off a month after James Sr. left Barbara to raise Jim herself, she seems to have already gotten over that fact and was more than happy to be with her son and would've had a healthy lifestyle... [[MoodWhiplash If only that bath bomb hadn't ruin it]].
** Despite everything she had to go through to raise Jim differently and how she (understandably) had to use [[ParentsAsPeople questionable methods to keep Jim in check, such as locking him in the basement when has his tantrums]], Barbara shows many times what a kind, nurturing mother she is to him, despite his "condition":
*** The night Jim changed for the first time, Barbara is taken aback and almost didn't recognize him... until [[ParentsKnowTheirChildren she saw his eyes, realizing it really was Jim]]. In any respects, she could've horrified by her son's new form and left him alone in the woods, but she instead takes him back home and tries to comfort him.
*** Despite almost reaching a RageBreakingPoint when seven-year-old Jim hits her hard enough to ''fracture her ribs'', Barbara immediately returns home from the clinic and finds a desperate sobbing Jim apologizing for hurting her and begs her not to leave him. Barbara assures him that no matter what, she would ''never'' leave Jim like her ex-husband did.
*** Jim trusts his mother more than anything, mostly because [[SecretKeeper she's the only person who knows "exactly" what he's going through]]. Whenever he tries to hide certain "changes" he's going through, Barbara assures she can handle it.

* HateSink: James Lake Sr., whom the author paints as a PsychopathicManchild. In just one chapter after his debut, he trespasses the high school to harass Mary into getting him to meet Jim with no regard for her well-being. Then nine chapters later, he publicly chases five teenagers (one of them being ''his own son'') and verbally attacks Douxie when he hides them from him. It's a satisfying feeling whenever [[LaserGuidedKarma he gets arrested]].

** In Chapter 6, Jim has this reaction when he realizes that the sun was narrowly down and he must return home from the movies at a panicky speed. And again in Chapter 10 when the girls confess that they saw his claw marks on his basement door.
** In Chapter 14, Barbara has this reaction when the CPS begin investigating her, courtesy of Toby, Claire, Darci, and Mary.

** '''Chapter 27''' may also count, as it focuses on Jim's very first sleepover with Toby. Although things get heated when Jim refuses to eat in front of Toby and the emotional baggage afterward, it's refreshing to see these two ChildhoodFriends reconcile after months of mistrust and secrecy, as well as Jim ''finally'' getting the support he needs.

* DramaticIrony: Toby and the girls initially thought that Jim was in danger of his mother, but soon realize that ''they'' only put Jim in ''more'' danger.

** '''Chapter 27''' may also count, as it focuses on Jim's very first sleepover with Toby. Although things get heated when Jim refuses to eat in front of Toby and the emotional baggage afterward, it's refreshing to see these two ChildhoodFriends reconcile after months of mistrust and secrecy, as well as Jim ''finally'' getting the true support he desperately needs.

** James Sr. believes that by trespassing school property to meet Jim, he believes the school will allow him to have a "reunion" and Mary could help him see his son. Mary points out that's ''not'' case at all; Jim, who's now a teenager and has never even seen nor heard from his father for ''ten years'', wouldn't be ''the least'' bit pleased to see him, and – at this point – Jim and Mary are not exactly on speaking terms.

** Jim has this reaction when he realizes that the sun was narrowly down and he must return home from the movies at a panicky speed. And again when the girls confess that they saw his claw marks on his basement door.
** Later, Barbara has this reaction when the CPS begin investigating her, courtesy of Toby, Claire, Darci, and Mary.
* PsychopathicManchild: James Lake Sr., and ''oh, boy,'' '''''he is'''''. Mary Wang learns for herself just how mentally unstable Jim's father is, if he was willing to trespass school property and potentially get physical with a ''[[WouldHurtAChild child]]'' to try and see his estranged family, it gives Mary a moment of clarity of just [[OhCrap how badly she and her friends screwed up]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The main conflict of the fanfics.
** Unfamiliar with the existence of magic at this particular point, Barbara had absolutely no reason to suspect that a simple bath bomb would ''ever'' alter her ''only five-year-old son'' in such a scary, unexpected way.
** Barbara is constantly aware of this, but many people would notice and question her's and Jim's homestyle because of his super-early curfews and how he's never really active at night, let alone allowing sleepovers and go trick-or-treating. If this happened in any case, the CPS would lead an investigation and potentially send Jim into a foster home. This, unfortunately, ends up coming true in the sequel story, courtesy of Toby, Darci, Claire, and Mary becoming suspicious of her isolating Jim.
** Although Jim is a genuine good boy deep down, he's still just a child who's forced to take a form of another creature, enhanced with abilities he can barely control, not to mention how much it limits his time outside his house before the sun goes down. As such, [[EnfantTerrible he throws explosive tantrums]] and it doesn't help that he DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength in his night form. It's not until he accidentally hurts his mother does he snap out of it.
** After Jim's transformations began, Barbara could not hire a babysitter to look after her son. As such, she schedules her shifts only during the day so she can stay home during the night and look after her son herself. By the time Jim turns nine, the doctors implore Barbara to find a babysitter and schedule for night shifts because it is unhealthy for her to lose a lot of sleep, but she doesn't listen. As a result, Barbara's drowsiness overtakes her in an inopportune time as she falls asleep on the wheel and nearly ''runs into a truck with Jim and Toby inside''. In the end, Barbara ''finally'' schedules her shifts at night and leaves Jim home alone.
** After ten years of being under "house arrest", it has never occurred to Jim of what he might do in the future having to hide his night form, especially now that he was in high school. He'll never get to participate in any social activities other teenagers could, may never go to college, and he'll spend the rest of his life alone when Toby and his mother are gone. This realization results in Jim having a mental breakdown.
** After Jim gets assaulted by Steve and put into the hospital, one of Barbara's colleagues insisted Jim should stay overnight – at risk of his night form being exposed. With no plan, Barbara takes her son ''without being discharged'' in order to hide him when the sun went down. Due to this action, the hospital proclaims that she won't lose her job, but will be under strict provision, will no longer be Jim's primary care provider, and has to take parenting classes. She also loses a lot of respect from her colleagues for what she did and, as far as they know, view her as an AbusiveMom.
** During a broad meeting regarding Jim Lake and Steve Palchuk's incident:
*** Jim and Barbara were allowed to press criminal charges on Steve for battery assault on school grounds. The Palchuks were only lucky the Lakes choose not to after Coach Lawrence decided to ban Steve from basketball indefinitely for his obnoxious lies. Steve is also suspended for the rest of the year (but is given school work regardless) and is banned from other extracurricular activities until the next year.
*** On the same note, Jim also faces consequences for verbally attacking and provoking Steve in the first place. He is given mandatory therapy sessions for the rest of his freshman and likely sophomore years.
** James Sr. trespasses school property in an effort to see his estranged son, Jim, and talk with his ex-wife, Barbara. However, while begging Mary to pass on a message and is implied to could've gotten ''physical'', Señor Uhl and Miss Janeth intervene and have him arrested for trespassing and assault.
** Although Jim's friends now know his secret has made him feel a little more at ease, his insecurities and emotional turmoil from the past ten years[-/-]few months since CPS became involved won't just go away overnight. It takes ''professional therapy'' to properly cope with long-term mental traumas.
---> '''Toby's Nana''': ''It's good that you're all putting in the effort to do better, but some things just take time. And Jim might need a lot of time to sort out his emotions and readjust.''

## '''Depression:''' In his teenage years, Jim grows inevitably depressed by his nightly transformation affecting himself and his life. It's taken UpToEleven when he fears he'll never be able to participate in daily activities other kids his age could and may never have a life of his own. This results in Jim having a mental breakdown, but he does get better after making new friends with Claire, Mary, and Darci.

* StrugglingSingleMother: If James leaving the family wasn't enough to put a large burden on Barbara, it's taken UpToEleven when her only son begins to change into a troll at night, having to raise/nurture Jim differently than other kids.

* BreatherEpisode: '''Chapter 3''', where Jim and Toby hang out with Claire, Mary, and Darci at the county fair. After having to get over his mental breakdown (and the consequences that came with it), it's nice to see Jim finally cut off some slack and feel like a normal teenager, and even makes some new friends.

** According to Toby's nana, "Jim might need a lot of time to sort out his emotions and readjust ['''especially with his newfound [[SecretKeeper Secret Keepers]]''']." Although Jim's friends now know his secret has made him feel a little more at ease, his insecurities and emotional turmoil from the past ten years[-/-]few months since CPS became involved won't just go away overnight. It takes ''professional therapy'' to properly cope with long-term mental traumas. Jim even discusses this issue with Toby:
---> '''Jim''': I want to just relax and have fun the way we used to. I want to eat normal and not have to worry about everything all the time, but I don’t know how! I hate being so stressed out all the time, but I can’t turn it off. I just feel like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff and the slightest thing will send me over the edge.

** Jim and Toby's very first sleepover could count with several:
*** When Toby insists he's fine with Jim eating raw meat in his presence, but Jim is very reluctant and [[BlatantLies insists he's not hungry]]. Aside from their massive fallout, Toby has known Jim for years and is quick to realize he made pizza early so he wouldn't ''have'' to eat raw meat. Toby has become savvy enough to see right through his best friend's charades.
*** Later on, Jim has a realization himself. Although his friends now knowing his secret has made him feel a little more at ease, but his insecurities and emotional trauma[-/-]turmoil from the past ten years[-/-]few months still remain and won't just go away overnight; it takes ''professional therapy'' to properly heal from these kinds of trauma.
----> '''Jim''': I want to just relax and have fun the way we used to. I want to eat normal and not have to worry about everything all the time but I don’t know how! I hate being so stressed out all the time, but I can’t turn it off. I just feel like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff and the slightest thing will send me over the edge.

* Jim and Toby's very first sleepover could count with several:
** When Toby insists he's fine with Jim eating raw meat in his presence, but Jim is very reluctant and [[BlatantLies insists he's not hungry]]. Aside from their massive fallout, Toby has known Jim for years and is quick to realize he made pizza early so he wouldn't ''have'' to eat raw meat. Toby has become savvy enough to see right through his best friend's charades.
** Later on, Jim has a realization himself. Although his friends now knowing his secret has made him feel a little more at ease, but his insecurities and emotional trauma[-/-]turmoil from the past ten years[-/-]few months still remain and won't just go away overnight; it takes ''professional therapy'' to properly heal from these kinds of trauma.
---> '''Jim''': I want to just relax and have fun the way we used to. I want to eat normal and not have to worry about everything all the time but I don’t know how! I hate being so stressed out all the time, but I can’t turn it off. I just feel like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff and the slightest thing will send me over the edge.