this chapter is very dear to me, not so much because of the situations happening there, but because i decided to name every chapter after a song title and this one is “new chains, same shackles” by $uicideboy$ which is my favorite song by them.
it’s a song about bettering yourself but never actually doing it and i think it fits this chapter perfectly, because Arabella wants to be better, wants to do things right, but she can’t, not fully.
here everyone is trying to move forward but no one is actually free yet. things might look better in the outside but internally they are still too complicated and restrained.
honestly, $B entire discography carried me through the writing process for this chapter. and i think that’s beautiful.
happy new year everyone ❤️