DIVERGENT'S CLARITY
Things to Know:
· The following composition contains spoilers for Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant.
· I have only read the books- not watched the movie. If something doesn't line up with the movie, my apologies. But seriously go read the books because the books are always better.
· The composition is based on Clarity by Zedd, featuring Foxes and the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. I own neither. If I did, I'd be rich and not writing crossover fanfic.
· I proofread all my own work, and I tend to correct things in my head so I don't notice a lot of grammatical errors. If you see anything that should not be, please let me know, and I shall correct it ASAP.
· There may be feels in this composition, be brave. Just grit your teeth through the pain, and slowly walk toward a better life.
· I only did the first verse of the song. I might add more later, but that remains to be decided.
· Yes, this is Comic Sans. Why? Because I like this font. Do I care? No, not really.
· Thank you for reading. Be sure to let me know your questions, comments and concerns.
HIGH DIVE INTO FROZEN WAVES WHERE THE PAST COMES BACK TO LIFE
Maybe it wasn't exactly a dive, and maybe they weren't frozen waves, but in order to pass Dauntless initiation initiates had to jump of a building into the chasm of unknown nothingness below. As we discovered in the end of Divergent and the middle-ish part of Allegiant, Tris's mother used to be Dauntless. That would be the past, her past, coming back to life in her daughter choosing Dauntless.
FIGHT FEAR FOR THE SELFISH PAIN, IT WAS WORTH IT EVERY TIME
Tris, then Beatrice, was afraid of what her choice would be at The Choosing Ceremony. She was afraid of what her parents would think of her, of how it would affect them. But to put in her own words, 'I am selfish. I am brave.' Christina and Uriah made it worth it. Tobias made it worth it. Zip-lining off the Hancock Building made it worth it.
HOLD STILL RIGHT BEFORE WE CRASH, 'CAUSE WE BOTH KNOW HOW THIS ENDS
I think this is in reference to the fact they're Divergent. I can just imagine Tobias saying to Tris 'Hold still' so that they could live in the moment of bliss that true love provides before reality came crashing back. And because they were Divergent, they knew how it ended- with their deaths.
**OR**
A slightly less abstract and/or romantic spin: it's for the end of Divergent when the attack simulation was started. The Divergent were awake during the whole ordeal. Hold still- act like them; before we crash- before we're discovered to be awake; because we both know how this ends- badly. Very, very badly. In pain, in death, in sorrow.
A CLOCK TICKS 'TIL IT BREAKS YOUR GLASS, AND I DROWN IN YOU AGAIN
Three ideas for this: One- When Tris was trapped in the glass tank during her simulation. She was the only one to crack it. Tobias started to drown, then. He started to drown in feelings he had no idea what to do with, in emotions he could not control. Two- At the end of Divergent when Tris was going to drown, her mother saved her. Her mother shot the glass, and rescued her daughter. And that's when Tris drowned. In her mother's love, in her sacrifice, in the guilt that accompanied her mother's death. Three- In the last part of Allegiant when they were opening the tank of water in the rock statue, Tobias was drowning. In his memories of her, in the pain he couldn't fix, in the guilt he could not erase.
'CAUSE YOU ARE THE PIECE OF ME, I WISH I DIDN'T NEED
Tris wishes she didn't need Tobias. She wishes that their enemies didn't have something else to use as leverage. She wishes she didn't need Caleb, after all- he was a traitor, he helped them almost kill her. But he was her brother, so she did need him. Tobias wishes he didn't need Tris. Didn't need her to face his fears, didn't need her to fill the hole in his heart and life. He wishes he didn't need his parents either. These people who took so much of him, these people who abandoned him, and the duties of any good or responsible parents, but he does. Christina wishes she didn't need Will, after all, he was gone now. But all these people needed each other. Why? I think Christina put it best when she was talking to Tobias: 'I didn't know Will long, but he changed me. And I know Tris changed you even more. ...The person you became with her was worth being.' And that was why they needed each other.
CHASING RELENTLESSLY, STILL FIGHT AND I DON'T KNOW WHY
Tobias is fighting the fact that Tris is really gone. He knows that he is, but I suppose that when you love someone as much as he loved Tris, you can be in denial about losing the one person your entire world revolves around. To quote him: 'All I can do is stand still- I feel like if I just stand still, I can stop it from being true, I can pretend that everything is alright' and then later: 'She lies on a table, and for a moment I think she's just sleeping, and when I touch her, she will wake up and smile at me and press a kiss to my mouth. But when I touch her, she is cold, her body is stiff and unyielding ... I squeeze Tris's hand, praying that if I do, I will send life back into her body and she will flush with colour and wake up. I don't know how long it takes for me to realize that it isn't going to happen, that she is gone.'
IF OUR LOVE IS TRAGEDY, WHY ARE YOU MY REMEDY?
So many things stood in the way of Tobias and Tris's relationship. The differences in opinion, the lies, the war, the genetics- the list goes on and on. As a Divergent, Tris was not supposed to be in a relationship with a "GD" (or genetically damaged) like Tobias. Tobias's mother tried on multiple occasions to sever their romantic ties. At one point she said something the following to Tris: 'I'm his mother. You'll be gone, but I'll still be here.' But despite the tragedy that existed around the couple, their relationship endured and they were each other's remedy to the pain, the guilt, the bloodshed.
IF OUR LOVE'S INSANITY, WHY ARE YOU MY CLARITY?
Some people could have called the Tris/Tobias relationship insanity. But through each other they saw the world just a little clearer and a little brighter. Or it could be the love of friendship. The love that made Christina forgive Tris and help show Tobias the better side of things. After all, 'There are other kinds of people in this world. There is the kind like...Christina, who lost friend after friend but still stayed open to make new ones.' Or maybe it was the familial love that made Tris hold the brother who betrayed her at gunpoint so she could die for him. 'There is the kind like Tris, who after suffering and betrayal, could still find enough love to lay down her life instead of her brother's.' Or maybe it was the love that drove Tris's parents to leave Dauntless and Erudite, to choose Abnegation so they could be together. So they could live and love, together. Through these insane acts of love we saw the world just a little bit better. We saw the bad, yes everyone's seen that, but now we know that there's a good side too. Now we know that we can find the good even in the bad. To quote Professor Albus Dumbledore- 'Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.' And how do we turn on that light? How do we find the good in the bad? How do we have the clarity that insane, selfless love brings? Remember this: Life damages us, every one. We can't escape that damage. But we can be mended. We mend each other.
I'll close the same way Veronica Roth did in Allegiant: BE BRAVE.