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reesiereads · 1 year ago

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Lucas and the Worms (Goosebumps 2023 Analysis 4/5)

If you haven’t yet read the previous parts I’ve written of this analysis I highly recommend you do. However the jist of it is that I believe each haunted object linked to the kids was chosen deliberately by Biddle and symbolically represents a major struggle the kid linked to the item is dealing with.

This time let’s discuss Lucas. Fair warning, this one is a fair bit darker then the other sections. Trigger warnings for discussions of suicide and self harm.

(Spoilers below the cut, I seriously recommend watching the show before reading it’s worth it)

Lucas is the fourth point of view character, staring in the episode Go Eat Worms. Prior to this episode three things about Lucas are made apparent: He’s reckless, he’s (seemingly) laid back to the point he doesn’t seem to care about much of anything, and he’s extremely socially awkward/unaware.

Now Go Eat Worms emphasized all these traits but it also portrayed the reasoning behind them which changes the perception of Lucas from a burn-out skater boy who couldn’t give less of a fuck to someone who is… well, all of that as well as excessively self-destructive.

While a lot of Lucas’ social awkwardness seems to come from a genuine struggle of not knowing what to talk about or what would be socially appropriate I believe a part of it also ties in to his laid-back attitude. In The Haunted Mask Isabella rips into a multitude of Lucas’ insecurities, one of the most effective being when she insults his “jackass facade.”

Based on Lucas’ reaction here, which is something close to a flinch or a cower, we can tell Isabella hit the nail on the head. Lucas deliberately gets himself intro trouble and then ignores the worry or anger that this behavior ignites. The perfect example of this is in Go Eat Worms when Lucas drags his bike to the school roof and rides it down straight into Colin Stokes car. He severely injures himself in the process but he brushes off Colin’s shouting and Margot’s fretting in the exact same manner: essentially giving the impression he could not care less.

While this reaction is partially affected by the worms in general this is in line with Lucas’ previous behavior, as he reacted similarly when he first got in trouble for destroying Isabella’s drone in The Haunted Mask. At first he comes across as simply an asshole, uncaring of the damage he is causing around him. With the added context of his recent Dad’s death however, alongside some of Nora’s lines (such as her line to Colin in The Haunted Mask about how she “assumed he’d be sad after Dennis died, not reckless”) which all imply that this behavior goes deeper then just simple impulsive trouble making.

It becomes increasingly clear over the course of Go Eat Worms that Lucas is dealing with a severe amount of grief… badly. We open the episode with him attempting to talk himself into performing the same trick his Dad did when he died where Lucas ends up fighting off tears. It’s implied Lucas spends a lot of time in his Dad’s old shed and he has a poster of his Dad’s stunt work on his wall right over his bed. When breaking down at the Booms of Doom Lucas states that “we’re (meaning his Father and him) so similar. We’re Father and Son.” His grief is quite literally consuming him and only a few minutes into the episode something becomes very clear: Lucas is severely depressed.

The other important thing about Lucas’ behavior that’s elaborated on is his most obvious trait: his recklessness. Lucas’ introduction is quite literally skateboarding off a roof and giving himself a possible concussion. Throughout the other episodes we continue to see him perform other unsafe acts: Skateboarding down the stairs, jumping at a tall height to catch a drone and landing on the pavement, and attempting to eat a worm (not necessarily as bad but still shows a disregard for his health and general well-being). We know Lucas likes skateboarding and other dangerous stunt stuff due to his Dad however the amount at which Lucas gets Injured is notably excessive as Nora quite blatantly calls it reckless. Lucas is also extremely nonchalant about his actual injuries, one of his first lines being: “it’s fine Mom, it’s just my head this time.”

Not all of Lucas’ disregard for himself can be blamed on grief however, as it’s also subtlety implied throughout the show that Lucas is insecure. Specifically, Lucas is extremely insecure about his own intelligence. The first we see of this is actually at the Halloween party, when Lucas makes a joke to Margot about coming as a guy with brain damage. While this can be taken as a dig at his penchent for injuries his tone seems to imply something else, it’s too serious. We see it once again in The Haunted Mask when Isabella is digging at Lucas. While her comments about him pretending to be a jackass get to him the comment he has the worst reaction to is her first one: “This moron.” There is a noticeable shift in Lucas’ body language here, he is no longer calm or nonchalant. It’s the first time we see him openly upset. Then, in Reader Beware, Lucas states: “You make me feel so dumb, but not in a bad way like… literally everybody else.”

Lucas also tells Margot here that he once broke six bones in his hand at the age of six, implying his reckless behavior has been something he’s struggled with for a long time.

All of this is to say, Lucas in Go Eat Worms and throughout most of the show is dealing with both severe grief, some sort of depression, and what seems to be a fair amount of insecurities. He’s in an extremely bad place mentally and his self-destructive behavior shows this.

Then he finds out about his Mom’s affair and eats the Biddle worm.

The Biddle worms work like this: once one is consumed the consumer will begin to feel ill. While unconscious the other worms will work their way into the consumer’s body and burrow under the skin. They will make the consumer completely unable to feel pain both mental and physical, and will heal any wounds the consumer receives, even broken bones. The only way to expel the worms from the consumer’s body is to put the consumer through intense mental anguish. The worms will attempt to reenter the consumer and the only way to avoid this is to physically destroy the worms.

Before we get into the worms themselves let’s discuss Lucas’ reaction to them. Once discovering that he feels no physical pain Lucas’ first reaction is to slam his hand so hard into his locker that all his fingers snap (keep in mind that when he did this he had no idea if they would heal). Once he realizes his healing factor he then drives his bike off the school roof into Colin Stokes’ car, where it’s shown he severely hurts his shoulder in the process. Thanks to the worms these wounds heal, however the most interesting part of this is Lucas’ line to Margot when she tries to check on him. “I feel fine! I know you’re in pain Margot but that’s the wonderful thing about pain, you can choose to turn it off!”

Lucas is in a severe amount of emotional turmoil, finding out about his Mom’s affair is essentially his breaking point. It becomes clear through this line and his behavior that Lucas distracts himself from mental pain by physically harming himself: he is quite literally self-harming.

Lucas shows no indication of suicidal thoughts prior to the worms driving him to the Booms of Doom (though he does perhaps show a softer version of it. The whole mentality of “walking across the street without looking, not actively seeking death but not avoiding it either” sort of idea). However, as the worms emphasize Lucas’ reliance on recklessness and physical pain to bury his mental pain, the worms also broadcast how quickly that behavior can spiral into something more. While I don’t believe Lucas goes to the Booms of Doom looking to kill himself he also does try to proceed when Nora tells him that’s exactly what his Father did.

The worms are then expelled as Lucas is forced to face the grief he’s been trying to bury. However, they attempt to take him back and Lucas is only able to fight them off with the help of his Mom and Margot.

The message of this one is clear: Running from grief or insecurity and trying to deal with it through self-destructive means will not fix the problem. The only way to genuinely begin healing and moving forward is to rely on the people around you and face the feelings, no matter how difficult they may be.

#goosebumps 2023 #goosebumps #goosebumps analysis #character analysis #Lucas Parker #reesie rambles #(I promise I didn’t go into this planning this to be so dark but worm boy just has… so many fucking issues)#(also this isn’t an attempt to excuse Lucas of his actions particularly for the drone thing that’s just not the focus of this analysis)

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cloveroctobers · 11 months ago

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DECEMBER PROMPTS 🧊 — 1. ISAIAH HOWARD

A/N: the lack of fics is atrocious and it’s also whack that the number of fics *SPOILER* that decide to unalive Isaiah. I’m looking at you archiveofourown and I don’t like that so I’m here to write a little sum sum. Something that is full of love and takes place months before the events of the show :) + I won’t be surprised if this flops but it’s been on my mind to write something since October but we’re here now so if you end up enjoying this please give me a like.

PROMPTS are from HERE + I’m using: 4.) Gift giving & 21.) “You’ve really made my Christmas this year.”

Synopsis: in which Isaiah has come to terms with losing one of his childhood best friends, just for them to turn up in town again after all these years.

<- read my December anthology prompts here.

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Port Lawrence was home once upon a time but being back in the water town brought on all the anxieties—a feeling you surely didn’t miss. The air was nippy compared to the hot continent you spent the last six months in. That became your home and Port Lawerence felt like more of a distant memory until chats with James became more frequent.

The animated boy never had any issue making you feel comfortable. He was the first you reached out to about a month ago and it felt like you never left with your various chats—although there was a huge time difference between you two—James was always interested to know the truth along with what you’ve been up to now that you didn’t live in the states but did question how you were holding up mentally most importantly. Which you appreciated but didn’t want that to be the focus of your conversations, which he respected.

A top tier friend that one is and it’s not something you ever wanted to forget, especially since you two used to be neighbors. Now here you were, down the hill making your way down James’ driveway to the festive decorated home. All the lights and wreaths were beautiful and you knew that he and his mother, Ms. Etten usually took great pride in decorating every year.

That hasn’t changed.

As you stood on the front steps just taking the scenery in, you didn’t have time to ring the doorbell as the front door was yanked open, revealing Margot Stokes who appeared with a less than thrilled expression on her face. She’s glaring over her shoulder before she turns back, facing you and halting her steps of stepping on the door stoop.

“Oh my god, it’s you. Hi!” Margot scrambled over her words, until a smile graced her face.

Awkwardly waving you say, “hey uh, Margot. You remember me?”

Margot rolls her lime green eyes, “of course I do. I don’t forget faces and I’ve also been sworn to secrecy by James a thousand times to not say anything to Isaiah.”

“Right…he’s in there?”

“Oh he’s in there alright, glued straight to Allison’s ass.” Margot muttered making you raise a brow.

“Allison?”

Margot sighed, “I’m surprised james didn’t mention that to you considering how much you’ve been talking…but yeah that’s Isaiah’s girlfriend. They’ve been together since the end of last semester? I don’t even want to bring up what I’ve witnessed against my will between those two living right next door to Isaiah. Truly ruined my summer.”

You grimaced, “Spare me the details please.”

“For sure.” Margot fanned her hand about with a frown, “Hate to be the gossip but just figured you should know…?”

Rolling your shoulders you let out a deep exhale. You didn’t think much about Isaiah having a girlfriend and it’s not like you thought it would never be a possibility. In fact you always though Isaiah and Margot had a thing. You left Port Lawrence two years prior, shortly after turning fourteen during a brutal November. Ties were cut off completely with everything that had to do with this town (even your best friends) and the more you tried to get answers the more the manipulation shut you up while be locked away. It took your grandparents and a lengthy battle with the court to get you out of a bad situation into a loving one.

You thanked them everyday and saw the beauty in life once you were able to live it. Now here you were back in the one place that felt suffocating and not far from the modern cage that should have been home.

A lot can happen in two years right?

Not having the time to provide Margot with a response, James butts into the conversation, peering in between the ajar door, “if you’re gonna storm off Margot, it would nice if you actually closed my front door, you’re letting all the toasty warmth out—YOU MADE IT!”

You couldn’t brace yourself fast enough as James body slammed you into a bone crushing hug, holding onto you as you fumbled along the wet snow. “Sheesh James! When did you get so strong?! You’re gonna cause my asthma to act up.”

“Shit, I can’t believe I forgot about that! My bad.” James was quick to stabilize you.

Lightly shaking your head at him, you both stared at each other for a moment before falling into grins and yanking each other back into a hug, rocking from side to side. “I’ve missed you bud,” you whispered to the curly haired boy.

You feel him nod, “feeling is definitely mutual! Now let’s get your butt in here before your nose turns into Rudolph.”

“Haha,” you mock at James who grabs your mitten covered hand before pulling you towards his house.

You feel your heart squeeze at the thought of all eyes on you but James swore it was just a small gathering, yet something in your gut told you that probably wasn’t true. He pauses at the door as he glances at Margot who has her arms crossed tightly while staring off into the foggy distance.

“Hey, Margot. You know you don’t have to leave right? Don’t let Allison get to you, okay?”

“I won’t,” she affirms, “I just needed some air.”

“Okay girl, whatever you need. My place is the safe space.” James smiles as Margot gives a small smile in return, before deciding to follow the two back inside but picking the bench in the entryway as her spot for now.

You turn back to James who’s pulling you all throughout his house full of students, not giving you enough time to soak in the massive Christmas decor but you pick up on a Ms. Ponytail (Ariana Grande) tune that a pretty Afro-haired girl is belting to no other than Isaiah Howard in the living room. There’s a crowd cheering her on and James nods his head enthusiastically before suddenly sending a glance to you. He lightly bumps your shoulder, gaining your attention.

“What do you think?”

“About…”

“Isaiah’s girlfriend, Allison,” James states, “don’t worry, I won’t say a thing.”

“Kinda like you not telling me he actually has a girlfriend.” You give him a pointed look while James raises his hands in surrender.

“…if I told you then you may have changed your mind about coming.” James rushes out a defense.

Frowning you say, “ and why would you think that?”

James mouth is agape before you’re swept off your feet by no other than Lucas Parker. A instant roll of eyes comes from a freckled face James, “Easy Lucas, we just got them back and don’t need you encouraging them to break something before Christmas gets here.”

Lucas scoffs at James before smiling down at you, “I knew that was you but had no idea you even thought about coming back to this place, which hurts that I was left out of the loop.”

You shake your head at the spontaneous kid with the wild smile that you often used to get into some reckless shit with. He was also one of the reasons why your parents wanted to get you out of town and fast but you always stood on the fact that it wasn’t ever his fault. You had a brain of your own and if you wanted to get into something crazy that you knew both Isaiah and James weren’t down to do, Lucas was the first person you texted. It was always a no questions asked kind of vibe between the two of you.

Between the both of you he had the most broken bones while you endured the scrapes, bruises, bad sprains, concussions, etc…Oh if your trash parents could see you now standing in the same room with the one kid they never wanted around their child.

“It is the most wonderful time of the year isn’t it?” You stated making Lucas breathe out a laugh as he tossed an arm across your shoulder, taking that feedback with ease.

“Hell yeah it is! Good to see you, come check me out when you have time. I gotta see someone about something.” Lucas told you with a squeeze before disappearing into the crowd.

James watched him go with a shake of his head, “he’s only gotten worse by the way.”

“How?”

“I’ll let him fill you in on that later,” James widens his eyes before grabbing your hand once more, “we have much more important matters to take care of so…Isaiah!” He called out after Allison finished with her mini concert and you dug your feet into the floor.

James whips his head back to you and is immediately confused, “what’re you doing?”

“I should be asking you the same thing!” You hissed while James blinked, “don’t call him over here, I’m not ready.”

“What?” James asked, “you had twenty-four hours to get ready! I told you he would be here, don’t tell me it’s because you found out about—

Glaring at your old freckled face friend you snap, “it has nothing to do with her. I don’t even know Allison. First it was Margot and now it’s you throwing that in my face and it’s really not like that.”

“Then what is it?” James pressed.

You whisper, “…what if he hates me?”

James dropped his shoulders with a shake of his head, “we both know Isaiah can be an oblivious asshole sometimes but I really doubt he hates you. We were both devastated when your parents took you away and we lost complete contact with you. It was like we were mourning you for forever and now we got you back. Time is precious and you’ll never know just how much if you decide to hide from one of your besties.”

Your relationship with James was the opposite of what it was with Isaiah. The both of you had no problem being open, having heart to hearts, and expressing love with each other whereas with Isaiah it was more of a push and pull kind of friendship? Don’t get that misconstrued though, the both of you would do anything for one another but you two were more likely to bump heads by challenging each other. James was the first to approach you at eleven years old and had the bright idea to form, “the three musketeers,” well in his case, “muskepeers,” thanks to his braces back then. It was rocky at the start but you couldn’t imagine life without Isaiah.

Until you had to.

You took a deep inhale and exhale making James nod his head in approval. He also proceeded with the same action as you, coaching you and himself because internally he also didn’t know how the hell this would all turn out. It’s been killing him keeping this secret from Isaiah and although Allison was okay in his eyes, he didn’t want to risk telling her and having Allison blab it to Isaiah. So he put his trust in Margot, ranting to her downtown outside of a bookshop one late fall night. Margot weighed out the pros and cons with James, despite the fact that personally she would have warned Isaiah beforehand.

However she only knew bits and pieces of what happened with you. The gossip around town was simply your family whisking you off to live in some cult commune after cliff diving with Lucas went wrong—which was not true. Maybe living in a commune would have been better over what they put you through, who knows?

Once ready, the both of you turned to face the living room but found no other than Isaiah standing there watching the two of you. There was no smile on Isaiah’s face which was the true contrast with your previous interaction with James but shock was written in his dark cocoa wide-set doe eyes. Swallowing you glanced at James, who gave you a curt nod and you stepped towards Isaiah.

With your eyes set on him and the Christmas pop music fading in the background, you used that as motivation to keep going. Isaiah didn’t step back but he continued watching you as if he was in disbelief still. Allison moved to the side, also staring but not without shooting a look at James, wondering why she wasn’t in on this…secret?

Isaiah still looked like Isaiah as your eyes briefly scanned over his face. He was only a little taller, hair grown out from its fade with curls decorating the top of his head. The baby face was also fading, which you gripped before pulling him into a forceful hug. That action alone made Isaiah forget how to breathe, his eyes stung as they flicked back to James who was now pressing his fingertips to his lips in happiness and Allison watched on unsure.

Isaiah wanted to be angry, not really at you but the fact that everything was so screwed up for you. It was all bottled up but he couldn’t help but to swallow it down as he raised his hands, which shook before he tightly gripped onto the back of your jacket, bunching the material beneath his touch and buried his nose against your shoulder, clenching his eyes shut.

You were here.

Time went on for awhile with the both of you just holding onto each other to the point Allison started to tap her feet. James wouldn’t let that be ruined and even snapped a picture on his phone for safe keeping. He wanted Isaiah to have all the time that he needed and he wouldn’t let Allison disrupt that. So he nudged her towards the kitchen, eyes continuing to watch his friends lovingly before he went to join allison in the kitchen.

“You’ve got something in your eye partner,” you teased once the both of you pulled apart.

Isaiah roughly wiped at his eye with his sleeve and scoffed, “no I don’t, shut up.”

Once the curly haired boy gathered himself he found the will to breathe normally just staring at you, “I feel like I’m still in a dream. Is this for real?”

“Come here,” you pulled your hand from inside your mitten to pinch at Isaiah’s neck, twisting the skin, making him yelp and slap your hand away.

He yelled, “ow! The hell was that for?!”

You laughed, “you wanted to see if you were dreaming so that was me telling you you’re awake so…don’t be a baby.”

“A baby? You probably broke skin and that’s gonna ruin my skincare tonight so you’re gonna have to see me outside.” Isaiah pointed in the direction of the front entrance with a hardened stare.

Waving your hands in faux fear you laughed in his face while he gripped you by the collar, ready to drag you outside so he could kick your butt with a snowball, “why must we fight when it’s almost Christmas, it’s supposed to be about joy and you’re trying to go to war but wait! I know how to handle this! I have something for you, Isaiah.”

Isaiah huffed as he let go of you, fixing your collar for you as you stood up straight with a thankful nod. Digging into your crossbody bag, you pulled out a stripped small box.

“No way,” Isaiah eyed you suspiciously, “you show up here like a ninja and you bring me a gift? I feel like this may also be a set up but I’ll prepare myself this time.”

Smiling at the boy you held out the box, awaiting Isaiah to grab it. Once he did he slowly brought it up to his eyesight, inspecting every inch of it and shook it around. Shaking your head in disapproval, Isaiah stuck his tongue against his top lip as he began to unravel the ribbon from the red and white box.

You clasped your hands together and pressed them against your chin in anticipation.

Craning his neck forward, cautiously he lifts the top of the box open, then closes one eye as if to protect himself—which was humorous really. Once Isaiah realized there was nothing inside that would bring harm to him, he shifts the top of the box to sit underneath it, to pull out a chicken nugget ornament with a Santa hat on top.

Which actually brings a wide grin to Isaiah’s face.

One you’ve seen plenty times before. One that reminds you of the time you got him to smile for the first time at eleven years old.

It was a insider back to your childhood of Isaiah’s love for chicken nuggets and how you referred to him as such when you were both younger. Inside the box was also a note which he began to read but shook his head, folding it back and placing everything back where it should be. He wouldn’t read it here at this house party full of nosy onlookers. Isaiah wanted to read it on his own time, where it was quiet and would keep the nightmares away. Closing the box, he holds out his arm welcoming you into another hug which you sunk into.

He whispers against your head, “You’ve really made my Christmas this year.”

Those words made you soft as you squeezed yourself closer to his chest. He didn’t hate you just like James said but you knew a conversation must be had at some point during your time here. However the bond between you two outweighed it all for the moment.

“…shit I honestly didn’t get you anything.” Isaiah suddenly said, “if I had known—

You snort, “that’s okay…you’re not exactly the best gift giver anyway. That’s my thing out of us three.”

“Hey! there was that one time—you’re not wrong.” Isaiah accepted his defeat with a scrunch of his nose and a solid nod.

Laughing you looked up at Isaiah, arms still wrapped around each other, “you not hating me is all that I need as a present.”

Isaiah deeply frowned, “don’t ever think that…I actually like your annoying ass too much, partner.”

He winks.

With a dramatic gasp you playfully reach to tap Isaiah’s jawline, “me too, nugget. Me too.”

Isaiah presses a kiss to your forehead just before the both of you break apart to James kicking everybody out so that the three of you could enjoy all the rest of what this season will bring.

Not knowing what was to come next fall…

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Continue with the rest of my ~5 days of Xmas~ anthology prompts here.

#Spotify #queued #goosebumps #goosebumps 2023 #goosebumps hulu #isaiah howard #Isaiah Howard goosebumps #Isaiah Howard x reader #james etten #Margot stokes #lucas parker #december prompts

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