ishisstrength: (Keep Talking)
Justine ([personal profile] ishisstrength) wrote2018-06-18 07:17 pm

History`

[NOTE: Justine's Childhood and classification of her mental disorder is head-canon. It is never explicitly stated in the novels, however I have listed my reasons for this head-canon in the history below.]

It is well known that Justine and Thomas met at Zero, an eccentric and exclusive club owned by the White Court. Given the nature of the club, it is safe to assume that Justine was picked up and brought there because of her pretty face and her desire to obtain drugs or anything that might quite the voices in her head. At this time, Justine is most likely around the age of 16 or 17. For the purpose of this being a little less creepy, I am going to place her at the age of 17.

The most common age for Borderline Personality Disorder to develop is between 15-18 years old. Borderline Personality Disorder can be caused by genetic and environmental influences as well as severe trauma during early childhood (usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual or emotional abuse) Given that Justine's family is never mentioned or alluded to in the series, she's clearly firmly disconnected from them by the time she meets Thomas, which means that she probably developed her mental disorder around the age of 15. This gives her a year or two to develop a physical rift between her blood relations that prevents them from being present in her life.

Prior to that time, Justine's life was relatively normal. She was born in and attended school in Chicago (that's where the club Zero is located). Given her outlook on life and demeanor she's most likely from an upper-middle class family and is an only child. After she disappeared her parents didn't look for her (the White Court might have had a hand in that), they likely assumed that she ran away, filed a police report and left it at that.

At different points in the series, Justine appears to be starved for love, protection and trust. These desires wouldn't have developed in a short time frame but were likely stable desires in her life since childhood. This alludes to an unstable family dynamic. Her father (or likely another close family member) sexual and emotionally abused Justine throughout her childhood, causing her mental disorder as well as her starving desire for family, love and trust. This scenario explains her distaste for Bianca, who had promised a situation similar to what Thomas offered, except with the stipulation that she'd be a whore for whoever could pay enough money. Justine hates Bianca and the life she had tried to press upon Justine, which is evident in Grave Peril, when she's attempting to explain her situation to Harry.

In an attempt to escape her family, as well as the forces in her head, Justine found herself at Zero; where drugs, sex and other escapes are readily available and valued.

Back tracking the timeline, Justine met Thomas one and a half years prior to the first book, Storm Front. In Grave Peril, at Bianca's Halloween Gala, Justine is twenty years old. The next time you hear from Justine is two years, and two books later, in Blood Rites. This is one of the most important times in Justine's life. She is now twenty two years old and she's about to face her death at the hands of the man she loves.

It's during this time that her relationship with Thomas becomes incredibly complicated. For the last 5 years, prior Blood Rites, Thomas was ONLY feeding off of Justine. This is very important to note because it means he's been taking large bites of her soul. Justine regenerates some of that energy but after being Thomas's dedicated for source for so long she's shortened her lifespan by a significant number of years.

Thomas doesn't want to admit to Harry that he might have feelings for Justine or that feeding on her is very bad for her heath. It's in this book that Thomas is mortally wounded and Justine chooses to give herself to Thomas with the knowledge that he's going to kill her. Harry mentions that she looked afraid but she puts on a brave face and helps the man she loves by freely giving him her life.

Thomas does not kill Justine.

Instead, he pulls away from her at the last moment. This action curses Justine. She's now touched by true love and burns Thomas at any skin to skin contact. He also fed on her so much that her hair turns silver white and she's a shell of who she was before. She is unable to speak without getting tired and is committed to a wheelchair. At the end of the book, there is a short scene with Justine and Thomas in the Raith's family gardens. She's sketching and talking softly to Thomas. She's granted protection by Laura, Thomas's sister, under the condition that Thomas must leave the family and be on his own. When Thomas leaves, he kisses Justine's forehead and his lips are burned by the touch.

For the next year, Thomas can't bring himself to feed properly, always remembering Justine, while Justine slowly rehabilitates. [It is a note random note but, Thomas only brings women back to Harry's apartment for this year, making it seem like Thomas is not gay.] After a year of this, Thomas joins the Wild Hunt on Halloween and begins 'feeding' again. This is also the time that he begins his training as a beautician and opens his own hair studio. It's important to note that Thomas does this so he doesn't have to feed on people fully while at the same time getting enough to eat.

Through this, Justine is still healing.

[Another random note, that Justine would know, Thomas can't clean but he can cook.]

It takes two years for Justine to heal enough to walk and function somewhat normally. By this time she's now on medication for her mental disorder and able to withstand stressful situations without lashing out or succumbing to stress. Thomas alludes to the fact that he's been in contact with Justine but doesn't outright say so until White Knight; about 10 months later, when Harry and Thomas help Laura remain in control of the White Court. In this book, Justine is now twenty five years old.

As readers, we know that Justine has been used as a courier between Thomas and his sister Laura despite being exiled from the family. Justine was being used to manipulate Thomas but the pair was happy to see each other nonetheless. She was even able to give him a crotched gift for his birthday while passing messages between the two siblings.

We learn a few things about Justine's life over the past three years in this book. First is that she's been working to get closer to Laura to then pass information over to Thomas. It's very dangerous for her to do this but she volunteers, thinking that it's the best way she can help keep Thomas and Harry alive. Harry describes her in chapter 36 of White Knight and mentions that she's as lovely as Laura Raith but not predatory like the puppet master of the White Court vampires. Given the White Courts tendency to be inhumanly beautiful, this tells us that Justine only continues to grow and mature into her beauty as she gets older. The last interesting fact we learn about Justine is more subtle. The White Court' official language is an ancient unspoken language; Justine offers to translate for Harry implying that she's continued her studies over these last three years. Prior to this moment, Thomas made it clear that he kept Justine in the dark about a lot of the White Courts inner workings in order to keep her safe. This is no longer the case.

In Side Stories, there is a short story about Justine working as an undercover agent for Laura. She goes into a demon's territory and steals important passwords as well as his food; which happen to be children. She has a young child with her when she seeks shelter with Chicago's most well-known gangster, Gentlemen Johnny Macron. She demonstrates first aid skills, cunning and how deceptive she can be while using Macron's protection to keep her and a child safe, while also safe guarding something that she had stolen. Macron takes the passwords from her but allows her and the young boy to leave unharmed and return to the White Court. Thomas never finds out about the dangerous work that Justine had done for Laura.

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting