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arabriddler · 3 months

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Gotham Fic rec list

A Modicum of humanity makes everything harder

Fic AO3 description :

Bruce Wayne first donned the cowl ten years ago, vowing to protect Gotham's citizens from crime, but who protects him?

Jim Gordon is called upon by an unlikely set of people to find Bruce Wayne aka Batman, solve the case he was working on before he disappeared, and find him before Gotham gets wind that its caped protector is missing.

my notes :

this is an incomplete series of stories set post-canon. It’s great because it offers a variety of characters and interactions. Tbh I only read up to Evol Love but it’s very fun. Ties gotham and comic Batman together nicely ! I personally consider it canon.

The Edcubus

Fic AO3 description:

Edward Nygma attempts to live his life well under the guise as a normal, human forensic pathologist. He just likes human souls as a side dish now and then. It's what an Incubus does. So when he sees a dapper looking fellow at a club, and how well they hit it off together, a soul seems guaranteed.

my notes:

This fic made me laugh and cry and giggle and smile and cry again and it’s just. A journey. It’s sort of a Gotham rewrite but with a twist ( Ed is an incubus ). Ed’s DID is written very well here as well as Oswald’s disability and the way his mind works and runs Gotham. The relationships are very light and the dialogue seems very authentic and the highlight of the fic is Zsasz. I loved hims so much here. Also, Tabitha is written so well here. I loved her

The Fox and The Scorpion

Fic AO3 description:

Ed and Lucius both think they can help each other, and maybe in doing so help themselves along the way. But the more time they spend together, the more the line between help and harm begins to blur.

My notes :

If you know me you know that I constantly talk about this fic. It’s just. So good. Had to stare at the wall after it for such a long time. The way Ed and Lucius mirror each other? Their conversations and interactions ? The plot twists? Moreover, Lucius is underrated across all Batman media. This fic really gets in depth when it comes to him and I appreciate that.

4 am

Fic AO3 description:

Oswald Cobblepot works in the campus cafe of Gotham University where he meets Edward Nygma, a student looking for a quiet place to study.

my notes:

college AU! That’s also a coffe shop AU! It’s so cute. Oswald and Ivy are sort of siblings here and I love that so much. Ed is adorable, and I loved the way Jim’s written here ( we have Ed and Jim as roommates ! ) I’ve reread it so many times.

On the corners of neibolt and Waterbury

Fic AO3 description:

There were many stories about the monsters that lived beneath Gotham. People always assumed that they were harmless stories, but the children of Gotham knew better.

my notes:

IT AU!! It’s set in Gotham verse BUT it’s also an IT AU I don’t know how to explain it but it’s so fun. We also have Ed and Oswald and Jim as childhood friends and it’s adorable. Made me want to read my IT book gathering dust on the bookshelf

Avast!

Fic AO3 description:

Oswald Cobblepot is the proud captain of the pirate ship Iceberg. He crosses paths with the surgeon Ed Nygma.

my notes:

pirates AU with supernatural elements. Complicated Ed Oswald relationship we just love to see it. The writing is so good It makes you picture everything in your mind. There is a laviathan and a kraken.

Puzzled

Fic AO3 description:

After Oswald saves Edward on the pier he tells him that he's going to take Martin with him and leave Gotham forever. Shocked by this sudden turn of events, Ed finds himself unable to let Oswald go... So he decides to go with them.

my notes:

road-trip with Ed, Oswald, and Martin. It’s simply wholesome.

Seizing My Guts ( he Floats me with dread )

AO3 fic description:

Oswald awakes from a coma with a bullet hole in his stomach and no recollection of how it got there. With his sight impaired, the task of finding his would-be killer seems to be impossible. Luckily for Oswald, Ed Nygma, his Chief of Staff, is there to lend a hand.

my notes :

went through so many emotions reading this. Complex nygmobblepot vaguely toxic ? Perfect.

Love is a four-legged word

fic AO3 description:

"It's a Maltese Shih Tzu," Ed says. "If there's a dog in the house, it shouldn't be a breed that generates puddles of drool."

"I thought you didn't like dogs," Oswald says, still cradling the ball of fluff.

"I don't," Ed agrees. "You do."

my notes :

a one shot that has it all! Dogs! Growing old! Post canon! Insane amount of fluff! This is such a comfort read I’ve re-read it so many times

Unexpected Visitor

fic AO3 description:

Oswald and Ed receive an unexpected late-night visitor.

my notes:

Oswald and Ed being uncles and it’s so wholesome I just love it. It’s part of a series which I recommend reading it all ( this is the second story ) I read it a long time ago so I can’t remember it well but I remember this part because it was so wholesome

I’d want to be felled by you

Fic AO3 description:

"We would be stronger together. No one could stop us."

They’re in love with each other, and he’s the only one that knows.

My notes:

Set after the season 5 knife hug, a very wholesome one shot with a hint of angst and lots of feelings. Ed nurses Oswald’s eye and they talk

We should be a settled argument

AO3 fic description:

Who would have thought Blackgate Prison and No Man's Land would have so much in common? Restricted food choices, unreliable air conditioning, and surrounded by gangs that can easily be bought, albeit for cigarettes rather than bullets. It's the same posturing and negotiating, and Oswald could do it in his sleep. It's almost relaxing, if you ignore the bounty on his head from the Russians and the grumbling from the Irish.

my notes:

I’ve read this so many times, it’s set post No-Man’s land and catches up with the finale, it’s basically the ten year period where Oswald’s in prison and his handling of black gate is written in such an Interesting way, and Ed and Oswald’s interactions are perfect and fun to read.

Russian Roulette

AO3 fic description:

Edward and Oswald find themselves captured by the Court of Owls. It will take the two of them working together to escape, but not all is as it seems. Escaping their prisons is only the beginning and survival depends on their all too fragile truce. In the end, will it be enough to save either one of them? And are they even capable of maintaining it?

my notes: this is the kind of fic that makes you bite your fingernails and stay up reading it and walk around in circles because it drives you insane. It also has lots of horror and tense elements that make it captivating

Point D’ Amour

AO3 fic description:

Oswald and Edward finally accepted their love for each other. Edward is the happiest he's ever been. Until an incident at a warehouse sends him spiraling. He loves Oswald, so why does he want to hurt him?

my notes: I received this fic as a gift and it’s so 😵‍💫😵‍💫 makes me insane !! Was reading it like :0

#Gotham #fic rec list #nygmobblepot #nygmafox #If you’re in this list hiiii Ily #Insane to me lots of people here I ended up befriending later also yeah lots of this are big inspirations for me

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dear-wormwoods · 10 months

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Rising from the dead to express a thought I had at the gym the other day while listening to IT again. I don’t know if anyone is still around to read this, and this post will probably be a bit incoherent, but - here it goes:

Okay, so we all know that Eddie feels a ‘rot’ inside him and that’s why he relates to the leper and goes back to Neibolt to put himself in the leper’s shoes before IT shows up.

I’ve written about this a few times over the years, so I don’t need to get too deep into it, but Eddie’s fascination with Neibolt only begins after he finds out that the leper doesn’t actually have leprosy but syphilis, at least according to Richie, and that the STD can be transmitted between men, not just men and women. It’s only then that his experience with the hobo transforms from a scary encounter with sexual overtones to something he identifies with in a way that’s confusing to him. He takes the feeling of ‘badness’ he’s had his whole life (see: church/toilet anecdote and shoplifting sign anecdote) and applies it to something he can actually visualize - physical rot, like he witnessed on the leper. He subconsciously associates the sexual nature of the leper’s disease with his own feelings - the rot is tied to sexuality, which IT used to target Eddie. The reason all this is relevant to THIS post is that Eddie is never able to express his thoughts and feelings in a way that is helpful or healing for him - he spends his entire life subconsciously repressing his sexuality, and thus is never able to rid himself of that ‘rotting from the inside’ feeling.

Which brings me to the scene I want to actually write about: the scene where Bill and Richie talk about Georgie’s death.

Like Eddie, Bill is weighed down by something rotting inside him - his feeling of guilt over Georgie’s death and thinking he’s responsible because he’s the one who made the paper boat. Unlike Eddie, Bill is able to voice his feelings, and voicing them allows him to let them go. He unloads on Richie, and subsequently receives some comfort, albeit not the best comfort because Richie is not very nurturing. Specifically, Bill feels clean after that release, which I’ll come back to in a bit.

On the same page, still on the subject of Georgie, Bill expresses that maybe Georgie didn’t know that Bill never meant for him to die, to which Richie responds:

This idea that death is like a window and everything becomes clear when you die, including knowing what others think and feel, seems like a relatively unimportant line at first glance. It definitely seems like Richie is making shit up - the closest line I could find to what he’s talking about is in Corinthians I, but that verse isn’t about death, it is about love and doesn’t mention any windows, only a mirror. Richie is just talking out of his ass. To be honest, I never paid this quote any mind any other time I’ve read or listened to the book. This time it jumped out to me because —

The concept returns upon Eddie’s death! Now, obviously Eddie’s death is incredibly important and meaningful because it symbolizes self acceptance in his last moments, but I never realized before that the window imagery had come up in the text previously.

As Eddie’s dying, both the ‘clean’ feeling Bill felt and the clarity Richie described come into play. This is the first time in Eddie’s life that he feels the ‘impurities’ leaving him. His death is cleansing him of his rot, allowing him to accept himself in a way he never has before. In addition, he’s able to see through a clear window and bask in the light of it, which, if what Richie said is true, means that he now has a true understanding of what others think and feel about him. This adds another layer to Eddie’s death that I never realized before - he is suddenly aware that the other Losers love and accept him for who he is, because he has that death clarity, and not only does that allow him to let go of his own pain and confusion (the rot), it almost allows him to voice his own feelings.

Richie loves him. The other Losers do too, but Richie is the one talking to him, the one he’s looking at in this moment, the one whose face he touches before he dies. He wants to voice his own love, because now that he’s let go of his self doubt he finally CAN, but dies before he’s able to.

The full Corinthians verse Richie MAY have been referring to before is often read at weddings:

Now, Richie was obviously inventing shit when he was comforting Bill, but there is something to be said for this verse re: Eddie’s death. It was not just about self acceptance, it was about accepting love from others and giving it in return.

After the fight is over, after ‘but he knew well enough’, when the Losers are back outside, this moment occurs:

Love overcomes everything, it’s the only thing that lasts, the thing that allows for full clarity and ‘knowing’.

All this dot connecting is to say that Eddie was going to say ‘you know I love you’, not ‘you know I hate that’.

#Stephen king’s it #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #bill denbrough #it meta #it novel

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turningsoft · 3 months

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Richie Tozier & Will Byers Werewolf Metaphor Post

@pinkeoni's old What's up with all the werewolves? post and its further discussion made me think of a lot. Seriously, it's lengthy.

I wanna preface this by saying I don't actually believe everything is connected or intentional, as it would be a huge reach. However, it's rather interesting to draw connections even where there were intended none. Proceed at your own peril.

As we all know, the Duffers originally wanted to write Stephen King's IT remake. Naturally, we also know they took some inspiration from King's various work, so for me it was a really small leap from werewolf references in Stranger Things to Richie's werewolf in IT.

Richie Tozier Was A Teenage Werewolf

In the book, Richie goes to see a horror double-feature, which includes movies I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (both 1957). Let's read the excerpt from the novel.

The Teenage Frankenstein was suitably gross. The Teenage Werewolf was somehow scarier, though… perhaps because he also seemed a little sad. What had happened wasn't his own fault. There was this hypnotist who had fucked him up, but the only reason he'd been able to was that the kid who turned into the werewolf was full of anger and bad feelings. Richie found himself wondering if there were many people in the world hiding bad feelings like that. Henry Bowers was just overflowing with bad feelings, but he sure didn't bother hiding them.

Now, this quote contains a lot of information to suggest that Richie at least empathizes with the character, but we don't actually see him relating to Tony until Richie comes face to face with Pennywise — for the first time, or so he thinks. During this encounter, It takes the form of the Teenage Werewolf and chases Bill and Richie out of the house on Neibolt Street. His appearance is described in great detail and mostly doesn't contradict the original movie, except for the werewolf's silk jacket.

It was black with orange piping — the Derry High School colors.

And a bit further on:

It was the other thing that made him feel as if he might faint, or just give up and let it kill him. A name was stitched on the jacket in gold thread, the kind of thing you could get done down at Machen's for a buck if you wanted it. Stitched on the bloody left breast of the Werewolf's jacket, stained but readable, were the words RICHIE TOZIER.

In the movie it's Tony's signature jacket that allows others to recognize him in his werewolf form, so it only makes sense to assume Richie's scared because he's forced to recognize himself in the monster. The implications affect him so deeply that he considers giving up his own life.

Bad feelings

It provides a bit of insight into Richie's head and makes us question what exactly he considers “bad feelings” within himself, if not anger (he doesn't seem to be an angry person). Some speculate it has to do with growing up and becoming an unstable, hormonal teenager in the future. Others link it to his possible undiagnosed ADHD, self-hatred and the ever-present fear of being ostracized for his differences, both visible and not. Being a queer person in the 50's would also fit the narrative pretty well. For those who are interested, I strongly recommend reading expanded analysis on the matter here (werewolf as a symbol in IT), here (bisexuality viewed as “monstrous”) and here (Richie's fears explained).

Not his fault

Obviously, none of the aforementioned reasons justify putting such strong labels (monster, werewolf) on a literal child. Richie seems to understand he's not at fault for whatever makes him a target, but he also believes in a strong possibility someone can inflict this inhuman identity upon him. Despite already being bullied, he fears his situation can take a turn for the worse. And despite having a wonderful support system, he somehow knows it's not enough. If someone or something decides to “fuck him up” and exploit his vulnerable state, they will, so he cuts down on the amount of vulnerability. Heavily. I can't believe I'm still not talking about Will Byers.

Hiding stuff

As ironic as it sounds, Richie Tozier is canonically good at hiding. Other people find it difficult to make up their minds about his personality and actions — the most famous instance being, perhaps, this quote.

He had known Richie Tozier for four years, and he still didn't really understand what Richie was about.

Richie uses his Voices and “numbers” both as a shield and a weapon. He shows raw emotions only when he considers it absolutely safe. He takes “refuge in absurdity”. To reiterate @/jasperathrifteddoll's werewolf symbolism post, Richie 1) is confusing; 2) tells half-truths; 3) puts up facades; 4) “through his concealment of his inner thoughts to the reader, seems almost aware of his status as a book's narrator”.

All of Richie's fears are connected to or based on public perception. “But he knew well enough” has earned a meta post in and of itself.

Will Byers Has Werewolves In His Closet

So what's the meaning behind this werewolf costume in the Trick or Treat, Freak episode? Maybe it's a manifestation of one of Will's fears, or maybe there's no hidden message. After all, even if Stranger Things and IT are connected, I Was A Teenage Werewolf has nothing to do with ST… Unless we consider it left a huge legacy and inspired The Cramps to write a song of the same name — the one that introduced Eddie Munson to the audience in S04E01. Frankly speaking, I don't think this was an easter egg the writers were actively trying to include, but it doesn't take away from the parallel. It's still fun to compare Will and Richie, especially because on a surface level they're so unlike.

To execute Stephen King's werewolf metaphor, one would need:

a character with enough emotional baggage,

who is afraid of being perceived as a monster,

especially as a result of trusting an authority figure,

who breaks his trust and exploits his vulnerable state,

potentially making him dangerous in the process.

Let's see if Will ticks all the boxes.

Bad feelings

Will's otherness is easy to pick up on. It's either “being a sensitive artistic kid who grew up to be gay in the 80's” or “being a child who was abducted to a horrific dimension and is now attached to it”. Arguably, we don't even have to choose: these two plots are closely related and can become one through the AIDS metaphore. Not to mention the whole “growing up poor with an abusive and neglectful father” thing. Simply put, Will Byers has plenty reason to experience “bad feelings”. On a rare occasion, we can hear about his struggles firsthand.

Bad feelings = self-hatred

So far, Will has internalized a variety of epithets:

“Zombie Boy”

“Freak”

“Stupid”

“Mistake”

We can see each of them affect him to some extent.

In season 2, during multiple heart-to-hearts with Jonathan, Will expresses his desire for everyone to stop treating him different, like there's something wrong with him. Meaning, he himself doesn't think there's something wrong. He stubbornly insists: “Yeah, I am. I am [a freak],” but he's quick to be offended when Jonathan agrees. It reads as a defense tactic, not his own opinion. After all, when you pointedly address yourself in a hurtful fashion, shouldn't those words stop holding power over you?

When drawing the Zombie Boy, Will essentially tries to reclaim this identity in a way that's true to him — by using art. He doesn't want to passively accept the label, he wants to strip it of its negative connotations. But then again, when a kid deemed as dead comes back to life, it's a pretty dumb reason to bully him. Will probably knows it's dumb, so he fights back. His homosexuality, though, is a harder pill to swallow.

There's no denying he feels guilty for his attraction to Mike (well, boys, but Mike specifically). Guilty and other things as well, a mixture of shameful, jealous, hurt, confused and angry. In seasons 3 and 4 he learns that even the tiniest portions of his affection and his sincerest attempts at salvaging a friendship can be neglected or misconstrued. It cuts deeply.

Then there's, of course, the van scene. Will says he feels like a mistake sometimes. Not all the time, he clears up. Mike makes him feel better for being different, and yet Will cries after the speech, knowing full well his differences don't make his life any happier or simplier, or better.

Bad feelings = past trauma

Still, all of it pales in comparison to plain old trauma and its prolonged effects. This anon ask and @/heroesbyler's answer have summarized it better than I ever could. Here's a quote that I can't not mention:

His trauma is one of the most if not the most multifaceted in the entire story, and also he literally is the main character foil to the big villain. Saying that Will hates himself for being gay is such a gross oversimplification of what we see. It's haunting to know that people want to project a stereotypical situation to his nuanced one.

Additionally, there were theories that Will is a victim of CSA, and I'm not only referring to the ones about Vecna/MF/UD allegories (these I very much agree with) but those about full-on CSA by Lonnie. While I'm still on the fence about it, I acknowledge this is also a possibility.

To sum up, our boy Will has been through a lot. Emotional baggage? Check. Susceptibility to “monstrous” labels? Check.

Not his fault

Up until this point I was being ambiguous about whether my theory is applicable to S2 only or other seasons as well. I have to admit, right now the werewolf costume guy is no more than a little foreshadowing of the S2 plot. However, given the fact that S5 is promised to take inspiration from S2, some of its key elements or plot points may be reused, albeit probably in a different fashion. Additionally, new information might be revealed, meaning that the metaphore has potential to grow into something bigger in the future.

For now I'll focus on the S2 events mainly and compare them to I Was A Teenage Werewolf.

___

Movie: Tony Rivers embodies a typical delinquent from the 50's. He's a troubled rebellious teenager with anger issues. He exhibits such violent behavior that he's advised to seek psychological help.

IT: Richie doesn't fixate on the anger part and instead uses “bad feelings” wording to convey broader (or perhaps, entirely different) meaning. Ultimately, we're led to believe that it doesn't matter what character traits Tony possessed. What's more important is 1) he had psychological issues; 2) he was advised to seek out professional help.

ST: Will has a lot of unresolved trauma from his experience in the UD, which manifests in “bad feelings”, so-called flashbacks and coughing up demonic slugs. He's advised to undergo medical supervision/scientific surveillance at Hawkins Lab.

___

Movie: Dr. Alfred Brandon embodies the classic mad scientist archetype. He conducts experiments on people by using hypnosis and medication in unconventional ways and claims it's for a greater cause. He draws out Tony's traumatic childhood memories during their sessions. Brandon has an assistant, Dr. Hugo Wagner, who comes across as compassionate and humanistic.

ST: Dr. Martin Brenner is affiliated with multiple scientific projects that conduct experiments on people by using sensory deprivation, psychedelic drugs and various abuse/manipulation tactics. He, too, claims it's for a greater cause. Also works with traumatic childhood memories, e. g. the whole NINA project. If twelvegate is proven true in S5, these parallels will become positively unhinged. Brenner repeatedly works with Dr. Owens, who on the outside seems more sympathetic towards main heroes.

___

Movie: Tony finally accepts Dr. Brandon's help after a Halloween party gone wrong. He decides to trust everyone's opinion, goes through the procedure and ends up becoming “possessed by wolves” (= made into a werewolf).

ST: Will accepts the fact that he's spiraling and needs help on Halloween night. He decides to trust Dr. Owens, Joyce and Bob that his visions are just PTSD-related episodes. He follows Bob's advice and ends up possessed.

Ultimately, this is the moment when Will's trust is broken. Although it's definitely not Bob's or Joyce's fault, a collective authority figure represented by Hawkins Lab fails Will. It fucks him up big. And one can argue, Owens' incapacity to protect him wasn't a simple negligence but an extension of Brenner's politics. @/runninguplenorahills suggests the following:

If Owens knew about Brenner being alive and deliberately kept that information to himself (which he did), and if Owens knew about Henry and everything that happened (which seems to be the case too)……. Well….. doesn't that make Owens' inability to help and protect Will in s2 a deliberate choice?

Regardless, it isn't Will's own doing that turns him into someone dangerous — it's the Lab's fault.

___

Movie: Dr. Brandon and his assistant argue about the necessity of transforming Tony because it might be harmful or even fatal to him.

“But you're sacrificing a human life!” ”Do you cry over a guinea pig?”

ST: Dr. Owens argues with other scientists over attacking the UD vines/tunnels and potentially harming Will in the process.

“And if it kills the boy?” ”Then quite frankly, Sam, it kills him.”

___

Movie: In his werewolf state, Tony kills a bunch of his classmates, a random dog, Dr. Brandon and his assistant.

ST: While being possessed, Will leads the soldiers into a trap and gets them killed because they've upset the MF. Owens ends up injured, and Bob gets killed. We can view them all as Brenner's “assistants” to different extents.

All in all, I'd say the metaphor fits. But wait, there's more!

Hiding stuff

Once again referencing @/pinkeoni's posts, there's a long history of Will hiding his feelings. Fascinating how the conversation that basically establishes this trait of his, aka his exchange with Joyce, happens in S2 and specifically in relation to his not-actually-PTSD episodes. But the motive of hiding, be it in a literal or a figurative sense (as in hiding parts of himself), is integral to Will's character. It is continually present troughout seasons and is supported by in-show elements and costume design choices alike.

Billy Hargrove And Henry Bowers Are Overflowing

Parallels should be drawn between Henry and Billy, too. This section is small, but nonetheless I like it — it's a finishing touch to the story and a cherry to top it all off.

Richie completes his train of thought by contrasting Tony and Henry Bowers, accentuating how the latter “didn't bother hiding” his bad feelings, e. g. his anger, bigotry and violent outbursts. The same could be said about Billy. Both of them killed people under the influence (Flayed!Billy, Pennywise-inspired!Henry) and definitely were capable of assault regardless. For both of them a relationship with one's father seems to be an instigation of their descent into madness, although Billy hates Neil, whereas Henry appears to have a more complex, effectively love-hate attitude towards Oscar.

It's also noteable that Billy is a foil character to Will, who is mirroring him in many ways, while Henry and Patrick may be seen as foils to Richie and Eddie when it comes to handling “their same-sex attraction”. And by the way, if sexuaility and attraction is consired “bad feelings” within Will's mind, one particular part of this post becomes all the more relevant. To quote and paraphrase, “Billy wears his sexuality proud and openly”, yet Will's sexuality is suppressed — another case of hiding versus overflowing.

I'd love to TL;DR this post into something concise and coherent, but I fear I'd just end up repeating my points and wording. I'd rather say I have more thoughts on Richie and Will's similarities, so there's gonna be a short post about it sometime down the line. Thank you to anyone who decided that this was worth reading!

#tw csa mention #will byers #richie tozier #stranger things analysis #st analysis #my analysis #this is not gonna get noticed but whatever #i'm doing it for the sake of doing it

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https-lovers · 5 months

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Reddie Longfic Recs (6 fics)

Majority of the recommendations are >100k words, and are categorized by timeline! I might make a second part to cover more fics.

Chapter I – 12 years old to immediate post-canon transition During the 27 Years – High school to adulthood Chapter II – Adulthood to Reunion, and post-canon

Enjoy!

Chapter I

are you lost enough? by tozier, trashmouthling (Teen and Up)

Premise: Summer of 1991, and there's no Pennywise. Ben is the new kid, and the Losers going to high school. Notes: This fic has a way of bringing the teenage Losers to life. It has its feel-good moments in summer, and although Reddie makes a meaningful part of the fic, each Loser's story is explored extensively. I also adore the way this was written. Each character's story is written like a dedication, where we find fleshed out characters with purpose behind their actions. The fic transitions in seasons, and even when the descriptive notes don't focus on the weather, you can still experience the Losers progressing from summer, to fall, to winter, and so on. This was a very enjoyable, insightful, humorous and witty read. Richie and Eddie's dynamic in this fic is easily one of my favorites; Where we're able to see their own perspectives and vulnerabilities, but we also see other characters' perspective of their growth, how they talk about each other when the other isn't present– the subtleties of growing up and falling in love with their best friend are all written with intention. If fondness was an extreme sport then they WON.

Reap What You Sow by Honbunbun (Teen and Up)

Premise: They've just defeated Pennywise, but now more monsters are drawn to Derry. The turtle gives them superpowers, and the Losers move in to Neibolt together. Notes: This fic has a unique exploration of the Losers' roles within the group. We pick up on Richie and Eddie's relationship after the first time they defeat Pennywise, with full awareness that the other is there for them. When they aren't defeating monsters or learning how to defeat monsters, the fic is undeniably domestic. They get together somewhere between the beginning and the end, and my favorite part was watching how their relationship progresses past "getting together"; It's a development of trust, and easing in to the kind of comfort you have when you realize someone is never going to leave. This fic was hilarious, explored topics of trauma and death with sensitivity, and honestly felt like a shorter read than it was because of how engaging the author's writing and pacing is.

During the 27 Years

I Left My Umbrella at Home by hyppityhoppy (Explicit)

Premise: "Some of the lost years, recovered" as phrased by the author. There's no Pennywise, but the Losers make distance as friendships do after high school. Decisions turn the tide, and in the middle of the semester, after little to no contact, Richie finds himself on Eddie's doorstep. Notes: This fic was like comforting crack to my nursing student brain telling me it's all going to be okay. The fic shows us the reality of friendships, without being pessimistic. The dialogues are witty and tinged with an edge depicting the characters' ages. They're college students dealing with newfound responsibilities, but we see them progress into adults with careers and marriages. This was a slice of life, the author described it as the recovery of their lost years and it's a completely apt description. Richie and Eddie do the college student mating ritual of having a hundred things to worry about, but still finding the time to make excuses for each other, to be around each other. I love how casual touches, and actions of caring are written into the scene; Some touches are a revelation, and some are written like it's an unquestionable necessity. Love the "Richie and Eddie"ness of all of it.

a strange sense of familiarity by Katranga (Explicit)

Premise: Months before Mike calls everyone back to Derry, Richie and (divorced) Eddie meet in a bar, and proceed to have a high commitment long-distance situationship. The fic follows their first meeting until a retelling and post-canon of Chapter II. Notes: The Eddie character study in this fic was amazingly done, and I adore Richie’s characterization. I have no idea how to describe their relationship in the first part of fic. Richie and Eddie connect right off the bat, and they go through the Horror of Being Known in separate ways. A lot of what I love about this fic are at risk of spoilers; But it made me very sentimental over Eddie. It deals closely with what he went through with Sonia and Myra, and how it’s affected his relationships and self-perception— The author brings in many realistic outliers and flaws in both their lives that could affect their relationship BEFORE they remember the clusterfuck that is Pennywise. The build up towards chapter II was extremely satisfying to me. The epilogue is so sweet I got cavities.

Chapter II

Things that Happen after Eddie Lives by IfItHollers (Explicit)

Premise: What is says on the tin. Everything is post-canon of Chapter II. Eddie lives, Richie is put on trial for murder, they become roommates (and they talk to the dead) Notes: This is my Eddie Lives Bible. Richie is hilarious, and this fic explores the agency he seeks for himself extensively. This fic is basically canon to me. The writing feels grounded for a fic that explores ghostly possessions and Richie Tozier on trial for murder. This is a reddie list, but the inclusion of the other Losers is one of the best aspects of the plot. This fic is hilarious and endearing. Richie and Eddie are figuring out their footing. The part where Richie takes Eddie to the Kissing Bridge is like Top 10 Reddie moments and it's thousands of words before they even get together. This fic is like the navigational journey of two adults who are going through the wringer physically, emotionally, and blindly– with familiarity and sheer will as their saving grace.

Keep on Loving You by notso_bad

Premise: A retelling of Chapter II and post-canon, with Eddie and Richie's enlightening inner commentary (to clarify, the fic is still written in third person). "Emotional edging" as the author put it. Notes: It isn't a reddie rec list without a fic giving extensive, quality, real time inner commentary of Eddie and Richie upon reunion. I'm not eloquent enough to describe it, but the fic is written in such a charming way? The writing has a casual voice that switches between character perspectives, and it flows so naturally. The addition of flashbacks tied the fic together. The rapidity of memories tied with the surges of affection, outpours into two characters who don't know what to do with themselves around each other. Despite this, they know that the feeling– that all of it is still familiar, like they're picking up where they left off. Top tier dynamic.

#https-reddie #reddie fic recs #reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #richie x eddie #longfic recs

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sunshinereddie · 2 years

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WAIT OK I KNOW I JUST MADE MY REDDIE HAUNTED HOUSE AU YESTERDAY BUT....... WHAT IF I MADE IT SPOOKIER

neibolt richie is the kind of ghost who doesn’t like to do harm on people (unless it’s some asshole coming into his house and disrespecting the place, then he has no problem giving people a lesson) and he finds “harmless haunting” very very fun. he also, one day, finds that he can leave neibolt house, the place he died and thought he would be stuck in forever.

he goes back to explore derry, the town he grew up in and always hated, until he stumbles across a little halloween carnival that the town is putting on. now, as a ghost, richie looks quite gruesome (something that is well-respected in the ghost community, something that richie is quite proud of) and he realizes ohhhhh this could be good. he’s been getting bored of life (or should he say, death) at neibolt, so he heads over to the carnival, walking around, taking in all the compliments from people walking past him, telling him how good his costume is, how realistic his makeup is, asking to take a closer look, asking him how he got all those scratches and the stitches in his face to look so real.

richie’s having a great time, and just after he gives two little kids a good laugh by pretending to be scary, he comes up to a haunted house, and decides to take his scaring to the next level.

in the haunted house, he really starts scaring people. like, crawling up to the ceiling, having his eyeballs pop out of his head, jumping out at people from behind corners, making his face look extra horrifying. he gets some good screams, but he always makes sure to hide when another staff member of the haunted house comes close, trying to figure out why all these people are screaming like that in a part of the attraction where none of their actors have been placed.

meanwhile, on the other side of the haunted house, eddie kaspbrak, who got roped into working the haunted house with his friend and is currently dressed up as a vampire with fake blood covering his face, can’t stop wondering where all those screams are coming from. seriously, this was a haunted house on a budget- even their scariest attraction couldn’t make someone scream like that. so he decides, during a lull of customers, to sneak off from his post, and go investigate himself.

#can you tell that i love halloween aus #and that i love ghost/neibolt aus #richie tozier #richie tozier hc #richie tozier headcanons #neibolt richie #neibolt au #eddie kaspbrak #reddie #reddie hc #reddie headcanon #it #it au #it hc #it 2017 #it 2019

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thepagemistress · 5 months

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Saw this floating around and thought I'd do it because why not? (Also I have two AO3 accounts so the answers will incorporate both.)

Fanfiction Q&A

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

128

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

374,590

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, mostly just Supernatural. I'm not good at multitasking. But I've still got some IT and DBH fics lurking in my WIP folders and there was an OFMD one I wanted to write ages ago that isn't even canon now but fuck it, right?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

#1 Braver Than You Think - It (1,280)

#2 Or Are Ya Chicken? - Castle (525)

#3 One I posted anonymously for Reasons™️ 😅 (505)

#4 Note to Self - Detroit: Become Human (333)

#5 The Domestication of the Swanman - Supernatural (316)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

*sigh* Not as often as I should. If someone leaves a long comment or an enthusiastic one or asks a question then I'll usually respond. But I don't like that AO3 includes replies in the comment count. I don't like inflating the number by responding to everything.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm. I guess Eighty-Sixed? My dark version of SPN but I did kind of subvert it right at the end because I'm me.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Braver Than You Think. My middle finger fuck you to canon deaths!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hate is a strong word. The one I posted anonymously ended up with ✨️drama✨️ on it because someone accused me of stealing their friend's idea and then some other people swooped in to attack that person and defend me and then some other person said I needed Jesus lol. But other than that one fic, no 😂

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have done but I don't write it nearly as much as I used to and the more I don't write it, the more I don't think I probably can anymore. But I do have some in the back pocket should the mood strike. And it's usually pretty intimate stuff these days. Actually depends on the pairing, I guess. Not really opposed to trying my hand at anything.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

If we're talking actual crossovers and not just AUs, I have written one and that was my Supernatural/Santa Clarita Diet one which was a LOT of fun to write. I do have two other SPN crossover fics on my to-do list that I'm excited to get to eventually 👀

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes! It was forever ago, over on ff.net. I don't even remember how I found out. I think the "author" actually messaged me asking permission to plagiarise my fic even though they'd already done it. But they took my Castle fic, did find & replace on the character names and turned it into a Big Time Rush fic. Absolute shenanigans.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had someone ask if they could but I don't know if it ever actually happened.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have not. I don't know that I'd be able to, tbh. I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to writing.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

At this point, it probably has to be Destiel, right? It's endured this long. I still look back fondly on all my ships but none make me quite so feral as those two do.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ugh. I made the mistake of rereading my Reed900 fic the other day and I actually really love it still. But I have no memory of where it was going and no clue where any of my notes are so it's probably dead. There's also my "Richie goes back to Derry to dig Eddie out of Neibolt" fic but I DO still have all my notes for that one so foolishly I keep telling myself maybe one day...

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at coming up with novel ideas. Or at least unique approaches to things. And I'm quite good at capturing a character's voice.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

You mean aside from actually...writing? I suck at writing action or setting a scene. I focus so much on dialogue and internal emotions that I don't realise I've never said where anyone is or anything to paint a clear picture.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic.

I've done it a few times but unless I know someone who speaks the language, I don't really like relying on Google Translate to get things right.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Knowingly, it must have been The Monkees. But I was writing self-insert stories when I was a little kid involving Sonic and Bill & Ted and The A-Team...

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is an impossible question. I guess Braver Than You Think. Especially because a fic author I'd been following for over a decade commented on it and that was the coolest shit ever.

Please, any writers that see this, go ahead and fill it in and tag me in it! I wanna learn more about your stuff 😊 and I'll specifically tag @ncrrington @maccca-chino @wigglebox @castiel @casdeans-pie but no obligations!

#writing #about me #destiel #reddie #reed900 #dbh #spn

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aibari · 1 year

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(shhh i just need a place to put these that will give me an ao3 link) some mix tape thoughts

The HOUSE on Neibolt Street is finally done! (inspired by and with illustration by the wonderfully talented @paprika-moony!) I’m prepping the epilogue to post as we speak! YEAH!

A big part of this fic, to me, has been thinking about mix tapes, and how characters would put together a mix tape, and how they would put together a mix tape specifically for another character. In The HOUSE on Neibolt Street, Richie makes a mix tape for Eddie:

30:17 Abbott and Costello: Who’s on First (1938)

03:49 New Kids on the Block: Time Is on Our Side (1990)

04:31 Weird Al Yankovic: Velvet Elvis (1988)

02:34 Soft Cell: Tainted Love (1981)

03:29 Queen: Don’t Stop Me Now (1979)

04:55 Toto: Africa (1982)

03:59 Simon and Garfunkel: The Only Living Boy in New York (1970)

02:36 They Might Be Giants: Don’t Let’s Start (1987)

04:34 Monty Python: Every Sperm Is Sacred (1989)

02:53 The Chordettes: Eddie My Love (1956)

It’s cursed.

I like to think of Richie as someone with an eclectic taste in music - it’s a lot of random shit he picks up at Derry’s one (1) music shop, weird stuff from the bargain bin, and then comedy albums. This mix tape is also about, you know, having HUGE FEELINGS for someone and on some level needing them to know, but also being so scared of them ever finding out that it makes your skeleton try to crawl out of your asshole. As they say. Anyway, that means you need plausible deniability! Yeah, I put Eddie My Love by The Chordettes on this, but do you really think I mean it when it comes right after a Monthy Python song about sperm?

And then (spoilers for the epilogue)

Eddie makes a mix tape, too:

04:20 Simple Minds: Don't You (Forget About Me) (1985)

02:37 Ella Fitzgerald: Somebody Loves Me (1959)

03:07 Hall and Oates: You Make My Dreams (Come True) (1981)

02:16 Chet Baker: My Favorite Valentine (1952)

02:46 Four Tops: Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) (1965)

02:24 Otis Redding: That’s How Strong My Love Is (1964)

03:43 Fleetwood Mac: Everywhere (1987)

02:55 The Beach Boys: God Only Knows (1966)

Which is, you know. Such an intentionally I WILL LOVE YOU SO HELP ME combination of songs that it kind of crosses the line to trolling.

#it movie #reddie #i write stuff #the HOUSE on neibolt street

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dollarstoreartsupplies · 2 years

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Fic Masterpost!

This is mostly for me I’m not going to lie to you guys

Non-It Fics:

Stranger Things:

A Complex Analysis on Why Robin Buckley and Steve Harrington Are Not a Couple: A Study by Dustin Henderson

Fem Dustin walks in on Ronance making out

One shot

StarKid:

(i swear) i will die trying

Ted Spankoffski POV during the plot of Nerdy Prudes Must Die

2 Chapters

Locked and Loaded (oh so devoted)

Steph shoots Pete at the end of NPMD, but she misses (...sorta)

TW gun shot injuries

In Progress

it's like hearing a ticking sound coming from unmarked packages (something isn't right here)

Basically a what if for if Tinky was Pete's 'imaginary friend' the way Webby is Hannah's

One Shot

slurpees are a love language (prove me wrong)

Fluffy lautski drabble

Date Idea: sharing slurpees so ur boyfriend doesn't pass out

One Shot for Lautski Week 2023 (prompt: blue)

unfortunately, it's not quite a fairy tale (at least, not the one you were expecting)

Lautski cinderella au (Cinderella Pete/Prince Charming Steph)

HEED THE TAGS PLEASE PLEASE FUCKING PLEASE

In Progress

It Fics:

Unfinished:

Forgotten Familiarity

Richie and Eddie find each other as adults without their memories of each other, fall in love, and get married. And then Mike calls.

It’s unfinished and always will be sorry, like the story is pretty much complete I just got overly optimistic where I should have ended it

Note to Self: Don't be Gay in Derry, Maine

Fem Reddie The Prom au

She’s also probably terminally unfinished

(like) Silence (but not really silence) is Infinity

Loose Matilda Ben au

Ben Centric

Optimistically in progress but who knows

we got the keys (the kingdom's ours)

Descendants au

In Progress (optimistically but like y'know-)

whats found in the palace gardens, as seen through silver-framed eyeglasses

Richie Cinderella au (reddie)

In Progress

the real world is where the monsters are

Camp Halfblood au

In Progress

Completed Works:

I Know Your Secret. Your Furry Little Secret.

Werewolf Richie au

3 chapters

Life (even infinite) Still Must Have Life In It

Time Traveler Stan and Eddie and Immortal Richie au (Streddie)

1 chapter but it’s LONG

so we took it in turns, and to my surprise, we found my words

Richie loose little mermaid au but like only the losing her voice part

Another fic with 1 very very long chapter

Family Road Trip

Eddie and the Neibolt Kids road trip from Derry to California so she can kiss Richie

4 chapters

One Shots:

Living on the Dance Floor

Stan and Richie were on dance moms as children au

i'm sorry. iloveyou.

Richie’s dead, it’s Eddie’s fault, and she doesn’t know how to deal with it it.

Super Hero Losers Club with powerless tech guy Richie au

This ones.... sad y’all

Radio City Presents: Middle Aged Lesbians Learning to Love

Canon divergence where Eddie lives, Richie has chronic pain, and they love each other a whole lot.

Merry (Fucking) Christmas, 1992 (1995)

Christmas themed Reverse Reddie au

A universe where Georgie Denbrough forgets his rain boots

Canon divergence where Georgie lives and Bill raises her little brother, until she forgets she has one

this one is also! sad!

Eddie Kaspbrak Vs. The Olympic Level Asshole

Olympic figure skater Richie and ice hockey team manager Eddie au

Calculated Gambles

Richie takes the hit for Eddie, but she survives. Now Eddie’s waiting for her to wake up in her hospital room.

Something Is Wrong With Richie

Richie stops talking. The Losers want to know why.

Basically my hot take on how Fem Richie having ADHD affects her differently than a male Richie having ADHD

This one is not well written I'm ngl

Tumblr Only One Shots:

Cheerleader Richie au

Only BESTIES get tortured in a lab together (Platonic Stozier) (also like really really sad)

Dracula au (this one is sort of a glorified head canon post)

Sad Internalized Fatphobia Ben One Shot

Emotober One Shots:

Otherwise known as that once scene from Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

Prompt: Collapse, "Why do you even care?"

Reddie

Otherwise known as kissing is gross and Queer Eye is a decent backing track to a breakdown

Prompt: Fears, “I know what you need”

Tumblr Only

Reddie

Otherwise known as Dear Miss Michelle Hanlon it is my sincerest pleasure to accept you into the Derry, Maine school of being miserable, graduating class of 2019

Prompt: History, “I quit.”

This ones a sad one y’all

Otherwise known as this anniversary dinner is sponsored by: a shady black market love potion

Prompt: Disaster Date, "I never had a choice."

Another sad one with very creepy Connor Bowers

Otherwise known as some conversations are worst had on a fire escape drunk at three in the morning

Prompt: Insecurity, “We are not having this conversation.”

Implied Poly Losers, mostly Ben/Stan

Otherwise known as Ben has a nightmare

Prompt: Nightmare, “It’s not enough anymore.”

Poly Losers and posted ten months after October lol

Otherwise known as this anniversary dinner has been interrupted to bring you: the angriest Eddie Kaspbrak the world has ever seen

Prompt: Aftermath, “So it was all a lie.”

Follow up to shady black market love potion

also posted like a year after the rest fhjkl

#fic #fem losers club #fem reddie #rev fem Reddie #rev reddie #long post #masterpost #this might not even be all of them idk man

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wolfofneibolt · 1 year

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“I can fix him” I can make him come back to his hometown after 27 years to fight a fucking clown

#it stephen king #it 2019 #it movie #it book #it #it 2017 #losers club #mike hanlon #bill denbrough #bev marsh #ben hanscom #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #posts from neibolt

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findroleplay · 10 months

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hey hello!! 23nb looking for other 20+ writers. i was hoping to find someone who could write their eddie against my richie (it). for whatever reason some part of my brain was set ablaze like i was a sleeper agent or something, but now i’m back in the dying fandom and desperate for fluff.

ideally, this would be a post-canon, fix-it style au where they were able to actually drag eddie out of the neibolt house and get him some medical attention. standard fair. eddie getting a divorce, moving out to los angeles, and living out the rest of his days with the love of his life. i’m open to slight deviations (I’m especially partial to richie also being a divorcee with a kid and eddie has to learn how to stepdad with all his own parental trauma, but that’s not required.) lots of them filling in the blanks of their memories, learning about what all they missed in each others’ lives. i’m open to flashbacks to when they were kids/young teens, but most of this would take place when they’re older and domestic and no longer worrying about murder clowns. lots of angst!! and potential for fluff!!! just a couple of childhood friends who forgot about each other’s existence falling in love and being in love. what’s better than this? guys being dudes.💕

literate/novella lengths (depends on the partner,) and pretty active. big on communication, so please connect ready to plot!! my biggest pet peeve in a roleplay is dragging ideas out of my partners, so please be prepared to chat. love swapping headcanons, playlists, and pinterest boards. plotting is one of my favorite parts of the roleplay process so i’m always down to listen. nsfw friendly but not required as i’m usually a more plot-focused writer myself. discord based. if any of this sounds like something you would be interested in, let me know by liking this and i’ll reach out to you from there!! :)

#roleplay #rp #it rp

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firstcurse-moved · 1 year

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Good morning, I'm never not out of my mind so I wanted to post some thoughts. When my internet is back, I plan to rewatch season four for the AU and I'm thinking of making a server for folks to come in and chat and plot but anyway, not the point of the post, the point of this post was me thinking about the Mindflayer and Henry as usual and a whole bunch of random crap I wanna share with you all, in particular I want to talk about the UD and what I personally think it is and have been portraying it as because the Duffer brothers made this character specifically for me so now you all have to deal with it. So if you paid attention, which most this fandom didn't so I have to do everything myself, there is a heavy suggestion that the entity we know as the Mindflayer or "The Shadow" was present in Henry's childhood, having some type of specific link to the Creel House which I've mentioned a million times before. I'm insanely confident on my take on this because it lines up near perfectly with all the media the Duffer's took inspiration from. Particularly from Derry/IT/The deadlights which is also obvious inspo in the show. The Creel house is a direct homage to the Neibolt house, and idk how people miss that, BUT MOREOVER, I've also mentioned before that another point of inspo for Vecna's creation and obviously for the Mindflayer is Swamp Thing which the Duffer's did confirm. In particular the concept of "The Green" and "The Rot/Black" simultaneously apply, imo.

( Quick recap if you don't know what none of that shit is and you don't wanna read my other long ass info dumps, the Swamp Thing universe deals with the concept of omnipresent cosmic god-like forces who have some type of dominion over an element, these forces are sentient, highly intelligent and they're described as a "hive mind". Moreover, they tend to choose a "human" avatar to represent them and carry out their will which essentially makes said human a demigod. This is what Swamp Thing is, he's an avatar of "The Green", which is essentially life, particularly taking the form of nature and plants. But as I said the "The Green" has an opposite force called "The Black" or "The Rot", and this is basically the force of death, represented by things that rot, such as plants and even humans / animals, which again kind of links it very closely to The Green as kind of... The dark reflection of it. )

There is repeated imagery in the Creel's house of flowers / plants, most obviously the symbolic front door is the stained glass rose, but we also see floral and rose patterns on other things like cushions and such, and we've already had the Mindflayer and its bizarre physical manifestations ( The vines, the spores, the weird bulbs, etc ) related to plants and "flowers" on more than one occasion. What do I think this means ? Well, I can't say for certain but basically I'll just cut right to it: I think the entire upside down is some kind of living thing and thats what I've been going with.

AND I KNOW THIS SOUNDS CRAZY. But the other thing that is very noticeable about The Upside Down to me is that it has disturbing digestive properties ( Again talked about this in another big info dump before ) and another major source of inspiration for the thing that the Duffer brothers have made sure to reference in just about every fucking season in some way with multiple homages and even having characters talk about it directly is The Thing. ( Not to mention all the obvious HP. Lovecraft inspiration )

If you're not a massive horror fan or big nerd like me you might not know exactly how that's relevant or might just think yeah haha alien monster BUT NO the significance here is "the thing" is a fragment of a cosmic entity who A) Started out life looking like a spider, and spiders / spider webs are another massively symbol ic thing here, B) is suggested to be part of a larger organism and C) assimilates other organisms into itself creating a type of "hivemind", its body is literally a digestive system that disturbingly doubles as a womb which is how its able to 'replicate' its victims.

So we have that.

Now put that with how the UD "rots" whatever it comes in contact with. Almost like its digesting it. Further put that with how much imagery in the Upside Down calls reference to a living organism. ( The capillary-like growths, which can also appears web-like, the weird saliva like slime, the production of spores, etc ) and how often the UD and the mindflayer have been related to things like infection and bacteria more than once. And how a lot of this relates to things like mould. In fact, just about everything in the UD can resemble some type of mould. It also appears to have sporocarp properties would actually explain the ""eggs"" from season one, which could literally be "fruit" from the fruiting body.

Typically, mould is a living thing, its fungi and for a long time fungi was classified as a type of plant due to its behaviors and characteristics. I don't know where the Duffers are going to go with this exactly BUT PERSONALLY this makes the most sense to me and is where I'm going with it, leaning very heavily into the eldritch horror aesthetic. The Shadow, or the mindflayer, is its nucleus, in a bizarre, metaphysical type of way. Now for the demo-creatures ? They could go two ways here. One being they're the natural defense system of the UD, kind of like a freaky immune system, or the other being they were invading 'pests' that were 'tamed' to be used as a defense system. The reason for the second interpretation is that they seem to be hostile toward Vecna in the VR game but this isn't shown in canon so far and we don't know if the VR game is gonna be considered actual canon. That being said, they could have simply perceived Vecna as a threat in the beginning as a "foreign entity" until they realized he was... "Meant" to be there, so to speak. And this does kind of play a part in my canon because it not only explains how the UD came to mirror Hawkins but it also explains why Vecna himself wasn't present for the first 2-3 seasons. We've already had it explained to us that psychics like Eleven and Henry are like batteries and they can exhaust themselves. The VR game seems to show Vecna "shaping" the UD as Hawkins. If Vecna reshaped an entire dimension, which yeah, I'm sorry but no one else could do that and fandom's Will theory is stupid because do I love Will ? Yes ! But do I believe he has powers anywhere near that caliber ? No ! Further, its pretty obvious Will's powers are his perception of the hivemind, moreover, the UD looked like Hawkins when Will got there after Henry yet it didn't look like Hawkins when Henry got there before Will. Like come on, its obvious who influenced the appearance of the UD. But yeah, anyway, after that Vecna probably needed a rest.

Which would also explain why Vecna literally tells Eleven that basically the reason he's around and could open his own gates is because of her power being absorbed by the mindflayer proxy in season 3, which was apparently transferred to Vecna, restrengthening him or awakening him or whatever you want to say. And this also calls back to Will explaining that mindflayer only "activates" its "victims" when it "needs" them.

PUTTING ALL THAT SLIGHTLY ASIDE THOUGH, I also have something I think about a lot and this is going back to the heavy suggestion the mindflayer entity was always present somehow in the Creel house and somehow connected with Henry. My thoughts are... Was Henry ever actually "flayed" ? In the same way characters like Will and Billy were or is Henry's link merely a subconscious / psychic one ? I've been going with the latter personally, at least until Henry becomes Vecna but its VERY INTERESTING because of the fact that "the source" Eleven encounters in season 3 is identical to Vecna's mindscape.

So lemme explain real quick: In season 3 Eleven goes inside of Billy's mind and finds the fragment of the mindflayer that is "controlling" him. Its represented as a raging storm that encompasses all of Billy's worst / most traumatic memories, seemingly feeding off them. Eleven wanders inside of the storm and comes to its eye, which again, this is an identical place to Vecna's mindscape. Eleven refers to this as "the source", the significance of this "place's" visual appearance seemingly being the place where the victim was first "contacted", so to speak, by the mindflayer. With Billy this is the Brimborn steelworks. With Vecna, again, his mindscape is identical but obviously rather than being the Brimborn steelworks its the inside of the Creel house. The only difference being the Vecna's mindscape is covered with the mindflayer's vines and is also floating around in pieces. For me this is kind of a manifestation of Vecna's unlife, the fact he's been "living with" the mindflayer for longer than anyone else; eg its kind of a representation of the corrosion of time / longer 'corruption' + obviously his 'fractured' mental state. SO THIS LEAVES ME TO WONDER.... Was Henry ever actually flayed ? Like as a child, like Will was, or again is the Creel house just showing up as Vecna's mindscape because its kind of symbolic to when Henry was first "discovered" by the mindflyer. I guess when I think about this Henry's "flaying" was probably different to Will and Billy's just based on the fact he did seemingly already possess some type of psychic ability, which meant the MF had a different avenue into Henry's mind / soul without actually physically possessing or assaulting him to forcefully insert that part of its presence within him as the case was with Will and Billy was. In my canon, child Henry has dreams / nightmares about it frequently, but nothing ever happens in the physical world. But this could change bc Idk if canon is planning in season 5, I just know the Duffers have said we're gonna be seeing a lot more of Henry / Vecna and the lore surrounding him.

Anyways, yeah, thats all the thoughts for today, more surely to come eventually.

#⊰ ° ‧: 🕸️ * ● 𝐈 ° ━◞ Out Of Character ⊱#⊰ ° ‧: 🕸️ * ● 𝐈 ° ━◞ Headcanons ⊱#headcanons #if this format is fucked i apologize i did my best LOL

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