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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 9 months

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excuse me i need to Muse on something for a moment

so in Wally's secret 'vinyl' audios, specifically the last few (if we're listening to em in chronological order), obviously he starts to sound more strained/distressed. his breathing is more labored, like it's taking all of his energy to make contact.

but the audio that really caught my attention was the "But i still can't see" one. cause he just said he has more eyes than he did before. he knows We draw them a lot, and it's thanks to that that he can see. but he still can't see?

so my question is: where is Wally physically? cause although he can (assumedly) see the WHRP goings on, he can see through the eyes We draw, that could all be on a, uh... more Intangible level of sight. like the spiral pit is forming an eye, and then there's the eye on the ceiling in the secret Staff Only section - could Wally be in the pit, that space between his reality and Ours, "watching" through the eyes? but unable to actually see with due to the pit being pitch black nothingness? is he somewhere else? is he stuck? he can see, but he can't... see.

(or is he trying to explain an abstract concept - he's not actually viewing anything, but he can sense it. like how he knows We're there, even if he can't see or hear Us. but he just doesn't have the words to describe it other than using physical senses - see, hear, look.)

and him saying "...that I can see. But it is still... I can't..." but it's still what, Wally? dark? something else that he doesn't have the words to describe, so he just says that he can't see?

i know that in the Livestream Trivia Document (compiled by @/the neighborhoodwatch) there was something said about Wally being in a box. my first thought reading that was "oh, so he's in storage? the physical puppet, i mean?" which would make sense - show's over, there's no more use for him. pack 'em up and put him away. but that paired with the "can't see" audio makes both seem a lil... connected.

Wally can't see > he's likely somewhere dark > the inside of closed boxes are dark > Wally's in a box. (or maybe the Neighborhood is the box? it's a stretch, i know, but the map is a box. television sets are often set up in "boxes". maybe it's less of a physical storage box and more of a 'boxed in' sort of thing...)

one question i've had since the Start of my interest in this incredible project is: how is Wally communicating? how has he connected to the site? how does he connect to our reality? the pit almost definitely has something to do with it - most likely acting as a bridge, or the deteriorating of the barrier between our two 'worlds' - but if Wally is in a box and Not the pit or even just in the puppet's reality... how is he reaching us beyond just seeing through the eyes he's given?

or is he in their reality, and he can contact through the pit or something, but he can't actually see the other side? Our side? he knows it's there - that We're there - but none of it is visible to him. maybe his apparent disassociation in the 14 bug audios is a demonstration of him contacting Us. we can see through him, but it's a one way street.

and speaking of the pit - i just had a thought. his whole thing with Us letting him in, opening... the pit on the neighborhood map is getting bigger and clearer. but the presumed Other Side, the one on the Staff Only ceiling, is small. it's the size of a ceiling panel. it seems to me that Wally is chipping away at his side of the pit or 'portal', trying to reach Our reality, but he needs Us to do the same thing on the other side. the QA can hear him calling, but there's no phone on their (Our) side of the pit. how do We call back???

there's a fundamental barrier & lack of understanding between Wally and the QA/Us. he's trying. he wants to be let in, but what does that mean, really? let him in where? open what? he's desperate. he wants us to understand. he's trying so so hard Without the right tools to clearly communicate what he wants. he can't see Us, We can see him, both know the other is there, but there's no way to connect. and the attempts are hurting all parties involved, however unintentionally

#and its very ah. Autistic/Neurodivergent Horror i think?#the Wanting To Explain but Being Unable To because the people you're trying to communicate with #function differently than you. they don't understand. they Can't understand. their brains are wired differently.#no matter how hard you try there will never be understanding. your attempts to connect are somehow Incorrect.#and often - in my experiences at least - being that Different gets you hurt. people perceive your actions/behavior as a slight.#or as intentionally malicious! and then they get mad and you just.. dont get Why? you didn't Want to hurt anyone. you wanted to Explain.#you wanted someone to look at you and Understand. say 'oh. i see you! i get it now!' and have that Connection.#but you will never be understood. never Seen nor Heard. left in the dark. you're accidentally hurting them. they're hurting you.#it takes all of your strength to try to reach them and yet you still. fall. short. because they don't reach back.#anyway ive had these thoughts simmering for a lil while #Knowing whether or not the bug audios are present day or not would cross some theories off and write up new ones i think #that confirmation seems Important imo....#homebogging #welcome home speculation #welcome home theory #then of course there's the question of how Home fits into all of this... in the early days i was a 'home is evil' believer but now??#nah. home's not outright Evil i think. there's something complicated going on between them and wally and its role in all of this #im just... unsure of what. i think confirmation of whether his morse code says 'help me' or 'hello' would massively help clear up the sitch #is home an accomplice? a victim? a perpetrator? a secret fourth option? who's to say (yet)#i have many Thoughts about it based on a couple different things - the distorted voice under wallys. the waLLy guestbook entry. etc #but this post has gotten long enough and its Not on that particular subject #*grips the bug audios & home's morse code* you two motherfuckers would clear so much up i stg-#the bug audio's timeline placement could tell us whether or not wally is with his neighbors or if the neighborhood is intact (in some way!)#home's morse code would give Major insight into their place in all of this!!!#AGH THIS FUCKING PROJECT MAKES ME INSANE. IT'S SO GODDAMN GOOD WHO AUTHORIZED THIS-#as always take my words with a Hefty grain of salt & i hope it's coherent!#anyway there's nothing more dangerous & all-consuming than the need/desire to be understood <3

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turtlemurmurs · 3 months

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love that elias feeds on fear and cake y'know, like any asexual

#who says you need to understand how faces work before you try to paint them #elias you're looking kinda stranger-y are ya feeling okay?#jaljlhd I had fun messing around with this painting but I'm releasing it into the wild before tampering with it drives me mad #art #my art #fanart #the magnus archives #tma #elias bouchard #digital art #2024 #turtlemurmurs #tma spoilers #vaguely

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kedreeva · 2 years

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Why I’m Mad About Eddie

Okay, so, like I said earlier, I’m not mad about the fact that Eddie died, the fact that he died is NOT the source of my anger. I’m mad about the poor storytelling that led to it not even being a good death, after they set it up to be a GREAT death. I’m mad (furious) because I deserve to be heartbroken over his death, I deserve to have bawled my eyes out, I deserve the catharsis of a good character death, not this rage burning in me over the disservices done.

If you’re mad about it but can’t quite place why you’re mad (instead of heartbroken, like we deserve to be, I deserve to be suffering a raw, gaping wound in my chest right now!!!), maybe this will help.

I want to be clear at the start here that the following is not an analysis of Eddie as a person, none of this is going to be treating him as if he were a real person. This is about Eddie as a tool of the plot, as a tool of the writers, as a character within a story being told by people that should be able to do their jobs better. If you see me saying things like “Eddie did X” or “Eddie thought X” the intent is not that Eddie, the person, performed these actions, but rather that the writers wrote him as performing these actions.

So with that, let’s proceed.

The core of my problem with Eddie’s death is that the manner in which he died is trying to sell us the opposite message to what the narration showed us to that point. The way the death is set up, the writers are trying to sell us on the message “Eddie is a coward that becomes a hero when he stops running away.” Unfortunately for the writers, that’s NOT what the rest of the narration has shown us, so that message ends up feeling empty.

So let’s look at that. When does Eddie run away?

The first and biggest instance, the one he remembers right before he turns around, is when Chrissy dies. Now, we as viewers might be tempted to believe he “ran away” here, but that’s only even slightly true when we look at him through the lens of having experienced the other characters. Look at the situation objectively; he invites a nice girl he’s a little soft on over to buy some drugs to help her relax because she’s CLEARLY going through it. He leaves her alone for a few seconds to look for said drugs, and when he comes back she starts levitating with her eyes rolled all the way back in her head, and then all of her bones break for no visible reason, and her face implodes. I don’t know anyone who would stick around through that, that is objectively horrifying, so I don’t see taking off as a cowardly action AT ALL,especially since there’s no way for Eddie to know if whatever caused that will turn and do it to him next.

I’m sorry but a 20 year old kid still literally trying to just graduate high school, whose life has been Very Normal up until now (or at least, Very Mundane) is excused from taking off at this point, especially because what’s he gonna do if he stays? He cannot help her. He cannot call the cops himself; there’s absolutely NO chance a cop believes “officer she levitated and something invisible broke all of her bones and smashed her face in, it totally was not me” from the town drug dealer. They should because it’s literally true, but they aren’t gonna. They are going to, reasonably for the information they would have, believe he’s on drugs and killed her. And Eddie learning what actually happened after the fact? Learning it was a supernatural monster that he literally would have had zero power to stop? I can, a little bit, understand him feeling like he SHOULD have been able to do something, but narratively speaking from outside of the story, taking off wasn’t a cowardly move. That was the right move, and the only one he could have made. We know, and he finds out, that there was fuck all he could have done except leave to stay alive to fight another day.

Okay, so when else does he run, that would support the narrative that he’s a coward? He runs from the cops when they’re trying to track him down for murdering Chrissy. But… he didn’t murder Chrissy and, again, there’s no way the cops are going to just believe him if he tells them the truth. Also like!! Good for him for running from the cops, this is not the day and age to tell a story about how you should turn yourself in for crimes you didn’t commit. So that’s another example of Eddie bolting when it’s perfectly reasonable and ostensibly correct to do so.

So when else? Well, he runs from the jock pack when they come to try to kill him with guns. I don’t know about you but if I know meathead religious fanatics that hate me are coming for me with guns, I’m not sticking around to test the theory that I’m bulletproof. I’m getting the fuck out of there, and Eddie did too, and he was right to do so. That’s self-preservation. That’s the only correct move to make, again. Lose the battle, win the war.

As another example, my friend brought up the DND game where he advises the players to run instead of fight, and I can’t really take this one seriously because there’s no stakes and he’s the DM. If they fight or run, there’s no real life consequences. No one actually gets hurt, no one actually dies. DMs are supposed to give their players a little shit. They’re supposed to goad them a little. They’re also supposed to watch out for them; he’s got their info, he’s got imaginary Vecna’s info, he knows the odds. Any good DM wants the players to have a good time, not just have their characters die for no good reason and them be upset IRL(the irony here is outrageous, with that the writers of this fucking show should want the viewers to have a good time not just have characters die for no good reason and us be upset… but I digress). So imo, again, he’s not acting as a coward, he’s acting as a DM responsible for the good time of other kids he’s playing with.

Those are the major times I can think of that Eddie is shown “running away” and none of them are acts of cowardice. They are all reasonable, normal reactions to incomprehensible and/or dangerous situations. So where is the narrative that he’s a coward coming from?? Because you know what I see? I see exactly the opposite being told to us, in the chances he has to run away where he chooses NOT to run already. They play his death like it’s somehow the first time ever that he’s chosen to not run but it’s literally not even the second or third time!

He may not stay to fight an entire posse of armed jocks, but you know when he does hold his ground? When Steve is jabbing around the boathouse with an oar. Eddie doesn’t hesitate to defend himself at that point. He’s ready to fight Steve with just a broken bottle rather than bolt. He ran when he was panicked, terrified, out of his normal mind with confusion. But as soon as he has his feet under him and is dealing with something he understands? He holds his ground.

The girls jump into the water after Steve, and Eddie tells Steve after that, you know, what was he going to do, NOT go after them? And he’s kind of playing it like he didn’t have a choice because he didn’t want to be shown up in courage by the girls, but I’m sorry, an actual coward would not have gone after them regardless of reputation. At the very least, a coward would have waited in the boat, and reasoned to himself that, well, someone needs to be here when they get back, someone needs to be able to pull them out of the water etc (which imo isn’t even all that cowardly, that could be very helpful if they needed it). A coward does not dive into a pitch black lake in the middle of the night, to swim through the little fiery gate to hell at the bottom. That’s not cowardly behavior, even if it is motivated by not wanting to look bad in front of others. He is scared, terrified, and he goes anyway, knowing full well he might die. That’s literally the definition of bravery: being afraid and doing it anyway. And what’s more?? Is that by that point, they’ve explained the deal to him. He is informed about the Upside Down by then. He was told the equivalent of “hell is trying to break into our world and we’re the only people that know and we have to stop it but we might die” and he fucking goes anyway.

Which is like. The Mordor speech is another point. They explain to him the deal, and they give him an out when there’s no pressure. He can hide out safely here, they’ll go do what they do (what they clearly know how to do, have done before, and are pretty sure they can do), and he does not need to be involved. No one is currently actively in danger when they ask him. The people around him clearly understand that what they are asking is Big and no one there is going to blame him for saying yeah, I think I’ll stay here, good luck. THAT would have been the action of a coward. That would have been the point to run away, when he could have done so with some modicum of dignity. But instead, he stands up and he tells them he doesn’t want to do this, but it’s the right thing to do, and he’s going to do it with them. That is a hero’s choice. He knows there is a chance he will die, he knows there is a chance they all die, he knows there’s a chance it will hurt and be terrifying and that if they fail the world might end. He knows!! He knows because they told him and he says Alright, let’s do it. Bravery is not the absence of fear, it is being terrified and doing it anyway, and that’s what Eddie chooses in that moment and in the lake and at the trailer. Even if he’d run away the entire rest of the season before that point, THAT moment in the woods is the point Eddie decided not to run away. That is the point, narratively, where choosing to not run away mattered; when he knew the stakes and chose to stay despite them. That’s the point where Eddie decided, narratively speaking, to become a hero.

Which is kind of weird, because the writers shortly afterward try to sell us, the viewers, on the opposite message. The group comes up with the plan; Eddie and Dustin square off with the demobats while Steve, Nancy, and Robin square off with Vecna. Neither group can handle both things. Both groups are important to the success of this mission. The trio is going to be sneaking up on what is basically a sleeping target, and with the bats gone all they have to do is watch where they step. Eddie and Dustin, on the other hand, are going to be literally facing off against hundreds, if not thousands, of massive, demonic bats that want to literally eat them alive. And the writers look us dead in the eyes and try to tell us through Dustin and Steve and Eddie’s conversation, that this is somehow NOT heroic.

Excuse me?

If I was faced with calling hundreds of giant killer demon bats to me, I would 100% consider that a heroic action. That’s brave as fuck!! Eddie has seen those fuckers up close and personal! He knows the damage even just one or two can do. He’s WELL aware he ends up as lunch if he’s not good enough. But he does it. He plays right there out in the open and then he stands back to back with Dustin and fights the bats that get inside. They both fight like hell to keep the demobats’ attention and keep each other alive.

So, up to this point… the narrative has shown us that Eddie actually doesn’t run away. In fact, it’s shown us the exact opposite: that given information and a choice, Eddie chooses, repeatedly, to stay, to help, to fight. Eddie chooses bravery (being afraid and doing it anyway) SEVERAL times in major ways.

Which is the first reason why his death rankles SO MUCH. The writers tried to TELL us that Eddie was “redeeming” his earlier cowardice (running away) by choosing to stay and fight, but they told us this after spending all season SHOWING us the opposite. Bad.

But… that’s also not all.

While the mixed message of cowardice/bravery does suck, it’s not the only fuck up in this death. It’s the characterization fuck up, it’s the one that leaves me feeling confused and the action devoid of emotion; you can’t turn someone into a hero if they were already a hero. It’s an empty message. Hollow.

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The other major reason revolves around the plot.

Like I said above, the point where Eddie actually decided to stay and fight was during the Mordor speech. That was the point where he was no longer running. But, let’s pretend that this wasn’t obvious enough, or even that it’s “easy” to decide to stay when nothing bad is currently going on in their vicinity. Maybe the argument is that bravery only counts when the shit hits the fan. Okay. So when does the shit hit the fan?

The shit hits the fan when the demobats are breaking into the trailer.

Back up a little, for clarity. The PLAN goes like this: Eddie and Dustin distract the demobats, to buy the trio time to get to Vecna. When the trio reaches Vecna, the demobats will turn their attention away from Eddie and Dustin, and go for the house to protect Vecna. This is understood by all party members, and is incorporated into the plan.

Now, here’s what the writers tell us the characters “know.” Attacking Vecna will alert the bats, as will touching vines, and the bats will leave the trailer to go to Vecna if either occurs. The Upside Down creatures they are going to be dealing with are a hive mind- if ONE of the creatures notices them, ALL of the creatures will notice them (which we and they have also seen in other demo-creatures in other seasons, so there’s no reason not to believe this is true).

What this MEANS is that as far as the characters know, as long as the bats are at the trailer, the trio has not A) stepped on any vines or B) started the fight. This also tells us that the trio expects the bats to fly from the trailer to the house and that that time is immutable and factored into the plan already. It also means that Eddie and Dustin can be sure that as long as the bats are at the trailer, the trio is fine (see A and B above) and on plan.

So, that leaves us with this: as long as the bats are at the trailer, Eddie and Dustin have NO reason to believe the trio is off-plan or in need of anything. As far as the duo knows, the trio has not been caught by vines (they have, but there’s NO WAY for Eddie and Dustin to know that, and in fact they must assume the opposite given what we have been shown they “know” about how touching the vines will alert the bats). The demobats (according to what we have been shown the characters know) will remain at the trailer trying to get to them until one of three things happens- they acquire new prey (the trio), they kill the duo, or the duo escapes in a way the bats cannot follow and they give up (at which point they may or may not leave, if they have nowhere in particular to go, we don’t really know what they do without prey besides fly around I guess).

Given that the bats ARE still at the trailer (meaning the trio is on task and safe) and ARE still trying to get to Eddie and Dustin (meaning the immutable flight time between trailer and house has not begun)… what is Eddie buying time FOR? They have the bats’ attention whether or not he does what he does. The trio, as far as he has any reason to believe, is safe. They haven’t communicated any problems. And (and this is IMPORTANT because we are talking about the WRITERS) we, the viewers, are not shown any indication that the plan is delayed in a way the Eddie or Dustin characters would be aware of. Neither of them mention “it’s taking too long” re: the Vecna battle beginning. From Eddie’s POV, we are given NO indication whatsoever that there’s any REASON to need to buy more time. We are shown that the trio is in distress, being strangled by vines but a) Eddie doesn’t know that, because touching the vines is supposed to set off the bats and they’re still at the trailer and b) he cannot “buy time” against the vines strangling them because extra time won’t do anything for that.

Narratively speaking, there’s no good reason for him to try to buy more time in the first place, either from his POV or outside of his POV.

On top of that, we’ve reached the “the shit hits the fan” moment, when Eddie is staring up at Dustin, the demobats are closing in, and Eddie is faced with a choice- leave with Dustin (which is following the plan and is a good move to make) or stay and fight (or to “buy time” for whatever that means). He chooses to stay to buy time for the trio. My wife pointed out that she thought he might be buying time for Dustin, but I would counter that with saying that there’s no indication of that. Their mission is to buy time for the trio, and he doesn’t say “buying YOU time” he just says “buying time.” To me, this indicates he is attempting to further their original mission.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. Eddie’s attempt to “buy time” was not completely without merit, it was just completely without merit the way it was set up and fulfilled. And that’s because it came before his clear “decision” to stay and fight was shown to us in flashbacks, without any indication that more time was actually needed, and because what he did before fighting (staying, running) was not recognized for what it was.

Here’s the deal. They have two sets of time which they could choose to try to increase; the time they are holding the demobats’ attention and the time it takes the demobats to get back to the house. The former increases no matter what, as long as they are focused on Eddie. The latter ONLY increases if Eddie is in motion away from the house, thus leading the demobats farther away and increasing the time it takes to fly back. The literal ONLY way to buy time in that second set is to run away from the house, and keep running until he cannot do so anymore.

Which is WHY it’s so senseless for him to have turned around to fight in the middle of running. He cannot win a fight against hundreds of demobats. He just can’t. And they were going to give chase to him again momentarily whether he turned around or not, so the best use of his time and energy is in fact not fighting, it is putting one more foot and one more foot and one more foot of distance between the demobats and the house where the trio is going to be fighting. Running away is literally the best way to buy time and save them.

Not fighting, not hiding, not holding down the fort. Running. Away. The thing we’ve been told he does, the thing he believes he does, even if we’ve been shown the opposite. The writers set up the exact situation in which running away is literally the correct and best answer for how to save the group. And then they give the extremely mixed and empty message that actually, turning to face the monsters and fight them for no good reason is the heroic thing to do. But why? They show us flashbacks at that point that are supposed to tell us that Eddie is just now considering that he should stop and turn and fight. NOW of all times??? NOW is the first we are shown that he thought of it? The writers certainly seem to think that this is the point, because they are flashing us back now. But that’s ridiculous, narratively, because he already decided to stay instead of flee, back at the Mordor speech. He already decided to sacrifice himself back at the trailer. We’ve been shown that he only runs when it’s sensible to do so, and that he’s perfectly willing to be brave when it’s appropriate, especially if it means protecting others.

So one of my other friends brought up this: Eddie believes he is a coward, regardless of his actions. She pointed out that she could see where even if he was not a coward, he might believe it enough to do what he did. The problem with this is... Remember way back at the beginning of this post where I said I will be talking about Eddie as a character and a plot tool? Eddie "believing" he is a coward is taking Eddie as a person, not a character in a narrative. It is perfectly reasonable for a character to believe something counter to the narrative! But... it has to be shown that it actually is counter to the narrative. There has to be some indication, an acknowledgment from the narrative, that while this character believes X, the truth is actually Y. And that doesn't happen here. The indication we get is that the Eddie character believes the times he ran were cowardly and that the actions that get him killed are not, and the writers, instead of reminding us that's not actually true by what we've been shown, try to use flashbacks to tell us that we should agree because they think the narrative supports that conclusion. Except it doesn't. Despite their best efforts, the narrative so far has communicated the opposite of what they try to sell us at the moment of his death. They want us to look at those flashbacks, agree that he's been a coward, and be happy that in this moment he is turning around to become a hero. But Eddie didn't become a hero in that moment by turning around. Eddie was already a hero. Eddie has been a hero practically the entire season so far.

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And that’s just… the problem. The writers completely failed to communicate the messages they wanted to communicate, and this meant that the things they SAID to us were hollow compared to the things they SHOWED us, and also ill timed.

Hope that helps.

This is part 2, that I added in a reblog but I'm including here now so I don't have to keep looking up the reblog:

Oh my god I'm sorry, I'm apparently not finished, a 4500 word dissertation was apparently not enough to locate all the things they did poorly with regards to Eddie's death and storyline.

I messed up, I looked at this purely from the perspective of Eddie as if he was in a vacuum, and he's not, and the entire- the whole entire season, everyone's plotline revolves around how running (or walking) away is the right decision sometimes. The literal threaded theme music through the season is 'Running up that Hill.' And yeah, some of the message is that at some point, turning to face the music (I'm sorry) may be necessary, but not until you're prepared to do so. Not when you're alone (at least not unless you're alone and cornered). Not when doing so will get you killed.

In Max's storyline, it's actually vital that she run away. She's the party's zoomer, running and being fast is built into her character design. Running from Vecna is what saves her life the first time he comes for her. Listening to a song about running away keeps her safe until they have a plan. More importantly, running to her support group, to her friends, to help so she's not alone, is what saves her fucking life. When she finally does face down Vecna? She hides. The plan is to have her hide out in the school dance gym, where she won't have to fight. Hiding, after spending all this time running, is good and right!! When she must be alone with no one able to help - just like Eddie being alone for Chrissy, for the cops, for the jocks - her job is to run, to hide, and to wait for support. Running is good because fighting alone is bad.

El's big moment with Papa this season? It wasn't when she fought him. It wasn't when she faced him down, those were the lead ups. Her crowning moment with him was when she ran from him. It was when her support group reached her and she looked at him as he was dying and asking her to stay, and she walked away from him. She was not the one to take him down. She tried facing him. She tried fighting him. It didn't work. Leaving, running away, was what finally got her free of him (and this also tracks with season 1, where literally the entire show launches because she ran away from danger and found support to stand beside her). And she was right to do so! I cheered so loud when she left him to die in the dirt. I rooted for every step she took trying to escape him. Running away was good and right because fighting alone is bad.

Jonathan, Argyle, Mike, and Will all ran away from the bad guys, taking the pizza truck and fucking booking it out of there to safety. They spend most of the season on the run! And you know what? It takes them right where they need to be, to catch El when she's falling. Running when you can't beat the odds is right and good. Running so you can fight another day is the smart move, sticking together and finding your group members is the best course of action.

Hopper, when he is alone in Russia, isn't about to take on the entire prison. What's his plan? Fucking run the fuck away!! Of course it is!! That's the only sensible plan he can possibly have! Running away from that danger is right and good! They only go back when he finds the others and they have a plan.

Go back to season 2- when does Will really get into trouble? When he takes the bad advice from Bob that he should turn and face his attacker. When he stops avoiding the mind flayer, it takes him. Bob's advice could have been good advice... in a mundane situation. But they're not in a mundane setting. They're in a supernatural horror setting, and turning to face the monsters when you're alone and have no plan gets you killed. His mother moves him all the way across the country to get him away from it, and granted it finds them anyway and they do end up going back, but... it's after they find Hopper. Joyce left after losing that part of their support network. El, as part of that section of the story, faces her attacker (the school bully) alone, and both times it gets her into worse trouble than walking away, even getting her arrested, taken away from the group and ultimately getting the group chased after (hey look running away) by people who try to kill them.

Just about the only character that routinely snatches up a weapon and stands their ground seemingly on instinct is... Steve. And you know what? He repeatedly gets his ass kicked because of it. He gets his ass kicked so many times it has become a running joke that he can't win a fight. It's become a staple of his character, even to the point of Dustin, in season 3, straight up making a plan that outright involves Steve not getting into a fight (and ironically that's the one human fight he wins) because that's a bad plan. It's a last resort. Fighting is what they do when they've exhausted all other options and have no choice (and this is also a message repeated many times throughout the series, as "this sucks and we don't want to/shouldn't have to do this but there's no one else and no choice, we have to fight").

Over and over and over and over the writers show us "running away is sometimes the right choice to make" and yet... And yet they tell us "Eddie Munson is a coward for running away." Why? Why is he any different than literally anyone else? Why, when he is alone and cannot possibly win, is he the only one punished for running away until the group can find him? He didn't run away when it mattered! He chose to fight with the group when it would make a difference, when they had a plan and were able to support one another. Narratively speaking his death was a horrible mixed message compared to the narrative of the entire rest of the season, and every other character.

Anyway I've run all the way up this fucking hill, I guess I'm gonna die on it.

-----

Allow me a few more minutes of your time, I know this is long already but hear me out about a couple simple changes to the narrative that would have shifted everything:

Imagine if you will, that we have everything set up the same, right up until Dustin goes through the gate into Eddie’s trailer in the real world.

And then imagine that this is the point where Eddie pauses, and remembers being in this very same fucking trailer with Chrissy and being helpless. There’s nothing he could have done then. Imagine getting the flashbacks NOW, while he’s still in the trailer, and his decision hinging not on his guilt over running (which was reasonable) but on his helplessness in that moment. He couldn't save Chrissy but he can save these people, here, in the now. Imagine him remembering the trio talking the timing of the plan over, and imagine Eddie communicating to Dustin in the now that “It’s been too long. The bats should be heading for the house by now. They need help.” and imagine him telling Dustin that he’ll get the bats out of there, lead them away, buy time, and that Dustin needs to go help the others. In no way does he want to send Dustin to do this, in no way does he want to endanger Dustin, but he’s the only one there is and the fate of the fucking world may depend on the party succeeding. That, and it’s currently far more dangerous right now to be demobat bait.

Imagine that he gets out of the house, and onto the bike, knowing full well that if he doesn’t get the bats as far away as he can as fast as possible, the bats may see Dustin (which incidentally places the emotion of the moment on a character we know and love and are also invested in, instead of some random person we had for half a second 4 seasons in). Imagine that he’s desperate to buy that time because it matters now, the stakes of him buying time are so fucking high now. He’s learned to run, and now running is the thing that is going to save the others, maybe the world. He’s running knowing full well that running may get him killed, because the bats are faster than he is, but the group needs him. Running, in this moment IS an act of bravery. This is what he can do, he’s supposed to be good at it. So he does it.

And imagine the moment the bats do catch up, and they do drag him off the bike, and there’s no help coming, and imagine that he literally walks backward deeper into hell while fending them off, fighting tooth and nail for one more foot of distance, and one more, and one more, because the farther he can walk, the farther the bats are from the trio and from Dustin. The more time he can buy for Dustin to reach them, the better their chances of surviving are, even if Eddie doesn’t.

And imagine that this makes a difference. Imagine Dustin reaching the group and pulling out one of the firebombs from their dropped packs, and burning the vines into releasing the trio, and someone demands to know where Eddie is, and Dustin telling them he’s being a hero, don’t waste his sacrifice, and he looks like he’s gonna cry but they don’t have TIME. And Vecna is aware of them now because of the firebomb, but when they get there, his attention gets yanked to El arriving in the Upside Down and challenging him and he can’t split his attention. So they attack him while El is attacking. Maybe it trades off where he’s focusing. Maybe their attack is what distracts him just enough for El to hear Mike and get out of her vines after Vecna was starting to win.

And maybe none of that makes a difference in the end, maybe what ultimately happens to Eddie doesn’t change. Maybe Eddie does die knowing full well that that was the inevitable consequence of his choice. Or maybe they beat Vecna fast enough the bats drop and he lives. At that point, living or dying is narratively the same intensity (although obviously I would prefer he live, I would have accepted and mourned if he has died, instead of being full of rage). Either he died an actual hero whose actions really did buy time and allow the party to survive, or he lives knowing that sometimes, actually, running is the right choice, if it means surviving to continue the fight.

So. That’s why I am mad about his death. Not because it happened, but because it happened in such a completely senseless and ultimately useless manner. He didn’t buy time. He didn’t actually save anyone. He didn’t even really complete his own narrative arc the way it had been set up. He just died and we’re being told we should be very proud of him and terribly sad because he was a hero, and instead I’m mildly disgusted, disappointed, and furious at the inability of the writers to tell a coherent story about his death.

Hope that helps.

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #eddie munson #stranger things meta #my posts #this is fucking long #but if you're mad about eddie too #I think you'll #well hopefully you'll be madder honestly #but you'll understand why you're mad #and how you were let down #and how easy it would have been to be worthwhile #anyway I'm still furious :D #and now you know why!

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bacchuschucklefuck · 11 days

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this whole thing being abt rage is also really interesting. I feel like it comes up so much in fiction as a motive because it's the one emotion that's unifyingly restless while everything else can be petrifying, and just personally nothing hits like impotent rage for me, esp. with teen characters, esp. with characters whose rage is stoked by Someone Else to further that Someone Else's cause. like you'll have done all that in a bout of passion and when you're done you look around you and nothing has changed. those sentiments don't get quelled by being satisfied. righteousness withdrawal is a horrible thing to intentionally drag someone into, least of all just some kids.

#I think Ive brought my personal experience into this whole thing lol but yeah just.#the ratgrinders read so much like radicalization to me. or you know just. high control group recruitment #and I've seen that one time brennan brought up uhhh conservatism? and where people come from with that #that quote of his thats like. before youre a fascist youre a bully. like extreme sentiments take root on specific soils #and that's like a higher level than what we're talking abt here lmao it's fake fantasy high school role playing #but yeah just like. the simultaneous understanding of the grift working on these kids bc they already think a certain way #and also the other part that is no matter what the way that they think is not. conducive to them being happy #like yeah a nasty person is nasty to be around! but that also means they're often isolated #which makes them even easier prey for people who want to use them #fhjy coming out in The Current Climate makes that connection so apparent too lol like #me hearing abt the rage god: oh so like twitter #for the record of course I Dont Know if this is a read that's intended by the show #but it maps well onto my experience with radicalization/decentralized cult #Ive just. been thinking abt the rat grinders in those terms ever since I made the connection #like. you're accomplished and high level and such. is this sustainable? have you done anything For Yourself #or has everything you've done so far been coerced out of you by someone else's sweettalking #anyways if I can run porter cliffbreaker over with a car I would. and I'd reverse on him too #truly thats the highschool trauma as well as the grown man with niblings talking lmao #nothing gets me more mad than a shitty teacher

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tibli · 6 months

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people really act like johndirk murdered their entire family or smth

#homestuck #john egbert #dirk strider #johndirk #dirkjohn #obvs its fine if you dont like it personally #but the amount of VITRIOL i've seen for a ship that is basically harmless is soooooo fucking funny #like oh you're mad? you're mad that the windy boy and the weeaboo boy are holding hands?? that they're kissing???#that they're having the most homoerotically-charged prank wars known to man??? skill issue tbh #also meat!john needs to come back from the dead and make out sloppy style w ult!dirk. and then kick his ass for being a shithead #tbh tho i prefer like. mostly ignoring hs2 as a whole and choosing to think abt post canon just being like #everyone on earth c finally dealing with all their various emotional issues #and i think dirk and john could actually work rlly well together once their got past their own bullshit #john has a hard time like. understanding people's feelings on anything deeper than surface-level and tends to avoid uncomfortable situation #whereas dirk feels things so strongly and deeply but has problems expressing it in healthy/acceptable ways #john is 'free' to the point that he has unintentionally cut ties w his friends #while trying to deal with the trauma of losing his dad #whereas dirk is grounded but obsessed with keeping everything under control. because control makes things safe #and he had very little safety growing up under the condesce #ok im rambling on what was meant to be a funny post so i'll cut it off there

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icycoldninja · 2 months

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Hey, love your DMC fanfics, can I request DMC5 Dante with sweet and kind s/o in her twenties, meeting fem reader parents who are really strict, conservative and lil abusive especially the reader's mother. They have weird ideas of purity for women and are very patriarchal.

Hello, hope you're well. Thank you very much, I am more than honored that you enjoy my writing. I am afraid to say that I have chosen to omit several aspects of your request as I wish for this blog and all material posted on it to remain free from political and social reform-related biases. In order to preserve the intended mood of the piece, I have replaced the aforementioned omitted material with synonymous themes, as needed. I understand that this may be disappointing to you, and for that, I apologize. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this fanfiction and that you have a fruitful and productive day. Thank you for your patience and leniency.

Terrible idea (DMC5! Dante x Fem!Abused!Reader)

TW: Controlling parents, violence, and implications of physical abuse incoming; if you are uncomfortable with these themes, DNI.

-‐---------------------------------------------------‐-------------------------

You sighed, resting your cheek on your palm as you stared out the car window, absently watching the blurred scenery rush by. Your heart was pounding in your chest and your hands felt clammy; you couldn't believe this was actually happening.

For context, today was the day Dante had agreed to meet your your parents. Normally, this would be a joyous occasion, but in this case, it was terrifying because your parents were less than pleasant, to say the least. They hated the idea of you leaving their (abusive) household so much, they did everything they could to make your relationships--be they friendships or otherwise--crumble. At first, they'd attempted to keep you isolated, but now you had a job, and therefore, your own house, which was conveniently far, far away from theirs, so there was nothing they could do. Their only remaining tactic was to embarrass you and insult anyone you brought to see them until your guest left, either in disgust or awkwardness. The only reason Dante lasted as long as he did was because he'd never met them--you'd kept their existence a secret from him and his existence from them up until this point.

You hadn't wanted to bring Dante to meet them, but he'd insisted. Because his parents weren't alive anymore, he was unable to introduce you to them; to make up for it, he'd meet your parents instead. You never told him how horrible your folks were, however, and were seriously regretting it now, but he was so excited--you just couldn't burst his bubble like that. Maybe, hopefully, things would go well today.

"Hey, babe, you OK?" Dante asked, briefly glancing in your direction.

"Yeah," You sighed, turning and smiling at him.

"You sure? You don't sound ok."

"I...I'm fine, don't worry."

"Ok...well...we're almost there, according to the GPS."

You nodded, sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, not really sure what to say. You honestly didnt want to be going to your parents' house; Dante didn't need to get involved in your family issues any more than he needed to.

"Come on, I see that frown. You can tell me if something's wrong, y'know," Dante encouraged, patting your shoulder.

"There's nothing wrong," You responded, forcing another smile. "I'm fine." Dante would have pursued the conversation, but there was a sharp turn coming up that he needed to focus on. Once he rounded the curve, you spotted the a building in the distance; a familiar building that you recognized as your parents house; the building that had never been your home.

"This your folks' place?" Dante asked, and when you nodded, a big grin broke out on his face. It was clear he was excited to meet those who had "raised" you. It was a shame he had no idea how awful they truly were. "Alright," He exclaimed, grinning, "Let's go meet the people that raised my angel!" He flung the car door open and bounded out out it, with you slowly following suit. Poor Dante. He had no idea what waited for him there, and it was all because of your weakness. Now that you were literally on the threshold of hell itself, you felt so upset with yourself for not warning him earlier; for being so selfish and keeping the truth a secret from him. You were sure that after today, he wouldn't want to be with you anymore, and so, you decided to simply accept your fate and get on with it; maybe the day would pass by quicker if you pretended to enjoy it.

Your anxiety and fear reaching its peak, you rung the doorbell and waited for the door to swing open; waited to be greeted with the frowning faces of those horrible monsters you couldn't believe you called your parents.

Sure enough, the door creaked open, and you were met with your mother, a scowl plastered across her wrinkling face.

"Y/N," She greeted, stiffly, prompting you to force a smile.

"Good afternoon, mother." Your mother then turned her attention to Dante and narrowed her eyes at him.

"And who's this?"

"My...umm....my..." You words died in your throat; your mother's scrutinizing gaze silencing you. You sighed, folding your arms and averting your gaze. Thinking you were just too excited to function properly, Dante eagerly piped up and finished your sentence.

"I'm her man, name's Dante, nice to meet ya!" He stuck his hand out, expecting your mother to shake it, but she did no such thing.

"What? A boyfriend? Are you crazy? We told you never to get a boyfriend--you don't deserve one! " She yelled, her piercing, fiery gaze directed on you. "Answer me, girl, what were you thinking?!" You couldn't. You felt like there was a burning lump in your throat, preventing you from speaking. If you did, you were sure you would cry. You knew this was a bad idea. What were you thinking indeed, coming here and bringing Dante with you? Clearly angry at your lack of a response, your mother crossed over to you and slapped you across the face. "What has gotten into you, child? How dare you disobey us and bring this filthy troll to our doorstep?! How dare you?!" Suddenly, your mother seized you by the arm and began beating you with her bony, yet painful fists; his vise-like grip keeping you in place even though you screamed in pain and tried to get away.

"Stop it, let go of her!" Shouted Dante, forcing your mother away and standing between the two of you. You sobbed, clinging onto his arm as you desperately tried to wipe away your tears.

"Get out of my way, you have no right to stand between me and my daughter!"

"She ain't your daughter if you hit her like that--the hell you thinking?! What was that even for?!"

"Shut the fuck up, you worthless loser," Retorted your mother, spitefully. "You have no right telling me how to parent my child.

"She's not your child if you treat her like this," Dante said, coldly. "Come on, babe, let's get outta here." He wrapped his arm around you and tried to guide you away, but you remained still.

"I'm sorry, Dante," You said, still crying. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this. I'm so, so sorry--I should have told you about them sooner."

"And what's that supposed to mean, young lady?!" Demanded your father, striding into view in his usual stained shirt. "And who the fuck is this?"

"Her boyfriend," Growled your mother, turning her nose up in disgust. "A bad influence, too." Your father grunted, roughly grabbing your wrist and jerking you towards the house.

"That's easily taken care of. Get outta here, loser, you'll never see my daughter again." You turned and looked at the angry expression on Dante's face, wishing you had the strength to stand up for yourself and break free. Unfortunately, you didn't; you were too afraid to do anything. You could only watch as your horrible parents dragged you inside their house of horrors and slammed the doors in your boyfriend's face.

Once again, you found yourself questioning your thought processes that led you to set foot within a 40 mile radius of your parents' lair.

You knew it; you felt it in your bones and your gut, but you did it anyway.

You were such an idiot.

This really was a terrible idea.

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