#richie tozier meta

[yesiwasateenagewerewolf]

I would like to invert the whole "The guys Richie sleeps with wouldn't want to date him" trope.

Those guys would love to date Richie. Holy fuck, he's funny and handsome, has good stroke game, is actually very sweet and charming when he's not being an asshole.

The problem is Richie.

Richie is the one kicking people out after. Richie is the one who's only interested in one-night-stands. Richie is the one who insists on NDAs and freaks out if someone shows romantic interest in him.

It's not that Richie couldn't get a boyfriend.

He could. But he won't. He is the one who won't let anyone get too close, who purposefully sticks to hook-ups. He says it's for his career, but plenty of closeted guys still date and just keep it on the downlow.

Richie isn't willing to accept love because love means being vulnerable. It means letting someone see you at your best and your worst, it means letting them know you. Which is why him loving Eddie - completely, without holding back - is so revolutionary.

It's not a case of "oh, other guys couldn't see what Richie was worth. Eddie is the only one who understands" - it's about Richie choosing to the drop the mask, to be vulnerable, to offer up parts of him no one else has ever seen. Because he loves Eddie.

And that love is more important to him than his fear.

[dear-wormwoods]

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’.

[jasperathrifteddoll]

Richie Tozier - The Stranger (plus the Eye)

Stephen King's IT / The Magnus Archives

Richie Tozier is the most aligned with the Stranger (shortly followed by the Eye). Richie fears his true self being monstrous and other, and spends his whole life attempting to hide behind a likeable and humourous persona. He relies on jokes, Voices, half truths and dramatics to avoid emotional vulnerability. He is considered difficult to understand by his friends and family, and his narration in the 1986 novel is characterized by withholding of his true thoughts and feelings from the reader.

See:

“Stitched on the bloody left breast of the Werewolf’s jacket, stained but readable, were the words RICHIE TOZIER”

and

‘Why’d you do that?’ Beverly asked. / ‘I don’t know,’ Richie said, but he knew well enough.

Richie fears being exposed, understood and Seen, above all, giving him a strong connection to the Eye. This is most obvious with the Crawling Eye manifestation, of course, but can be seen throughout the novel. He is highly concerned by how he is viewed by others, and his actions are motivated by this concern.

While his personal fears are marked distinctly by the Eye, in a world with the fears, Richie Tozier would have a high chance of falling for the allure of the Stranger. Terrified of his secrets, feelings and thoughts being exposed to others, Richie would turn to the anonymity and freedom given by the Stranger, where performance, masks, voices and persona are all consuming.

As he says himself:

"It was easier to be brave when you were someone else"

[embodies]

meta list.

just some notes for my own safekeeping of metas i need to transfer over from characters' original blogs! i'll compile these all in a page somewhere for people to access should they wish to see notes of my specific portrayal of any of my characters ( or even for me just to refer to when relevant ) so nothing to see here for now except a sneak peek!

jesse pinkman.

jesse + confrontation ( in the face of it, responding to criticism, and in particular his relationship with physical violence )

jesse + the dog / moral compass motifs ( the symbolism of his being a counterpart to walt, his values and how they make him the perfect manipulator's target )

jesse + learning ( how he learns, the overlooked intellect, his borderline regression to childhood oftentimes and how that manifests as an eagerness for knowledge )

jesse + empathy ( his intuitive gravitation to protect children, look for the good in people, valuing the emotional over the monetary )

jesse + dependence ( the dual meaning of dependence on a person / society vs. the very literal addiction to drugs he faces often throughout the show, the idea that jesse is a leader that believes he's a follower )

bellamy blake.

the necessity of co - leading ( bellamy as the heart and clarke as the brain, their inability to rationalise unless as a unit and the damage falloff that comes with such )

bellamy + existentialism ( works such as albert camus and samuel beckett, the influences of the theatre of the absurd in the world of the 100

bellamy + body politics ( his body as a tool, telling of his self perception and the overview racism and classism has had on him )

bellamy + touch ( as a love language, a manipulation tool, a restraint, a communication piece : its impact vs. the verbal equivalent )

the conditioning of the big brother ( eradicating the role of the knight but more of the brainwashed older sibling with sole purpose, how that affects his behaviours and reactions )

bellamy + solitude ( the duality of finding peace in it, and fearing it / abandonment issues of the older brother vs. the selfishness of having something for himself )

greek mythos influences ( in particular atlas, the odyssey and the sword of damocles )

mike munroe.

the subversion of the jock & class clown archetypes and the plot points that reveal such ( jess chase scene and wolfie encounter as pivotal moments )

mike as the sole survivor and his post - game journey

mike's interpersonal relationships with each of the others ( including hannah & beth )

mike's relationship with conflict ( how that manifests into what others can only interpret with annoyance )

rework of the creatures!

elizabeth march.

the countess and love ( what she believes it to be, whether she's capable of romantic love, her obsession with the heartbreaks and where that originates )

the countess' fashion ( the duality of old hollywood with a modern twist, vintage and contemporary, what this reflects of her as a person )

the countess' abilities ( in particular her tasting of emotions not as a metaphor but a very literal quality, being so emotionally encapsulated she has a sensory relationship with feelings )

the countess + media ( how art, music, film, etc. all encompass her and tie in with her grand delusions )

the countess + antithesis ( we have two selves quote, how this manifests in my writing in particular )

vanasha.

vanasha + deception ( as a second skin, feminine wiles, forever destined to be a double agent )

richie tozier.

richie & observance ( the literal representation of the glasses, his abstract perception of the world, memory as photographic, echoic, and iconic

richie as the man of the thousand voices ( eradication of the novel's racist impressions, the development of them as a quirk to a tic to an ingrained trait )

richie + adhd ( the trashmouth, the yo-yo as a fidget toy, his crudeness manifesting as an unwarranted idolisation of his father to neutralise the demeaning )

alec lightwood.

alec + touch ( his aversion and yet complete reliance on it, touch starved but also rejecting of such )

alec + autism ( how this manifests in social situations especially, his view on others, the link to his queerness )

alec's bow ( the significance of it beyond a weapon, both to us as the media consumers and to him as its owner )

[sorin-sunchild]

What I love most about Richie's 'I'm a lover' mentality is that out of everyone we see him go through a pretty full array of love to back that up. - Platonic love (for parents) - This kid loves his parents, he took up his way of speaking from Wentworth and his worry for those he cares about from Maggie. He wept like a baby at her funeral and then never again until 'The Call' because he loved her so much. They have a good family dynamic, with Wentworth understanding him fully and Maggie always doing her very best despite not understanding him. Platonic love (for friends) - The Losers are absolutely his world, a strong platonic love beyond just a 'platonic bond' with someone. What they do together would not be possible without this love between them all. Platonic love (intense - aplatonic?) - I don't know how to name this one but his platonic love for Bill most certainly borders on romantic without explicitly being romantic. One could claim the same for Eddie if you wanted, but for Bill especially the admiration is very intense and unique to his love for Bill, but doesn't seem to go into a different category. Romantic love (blooming) - He feels the first beginnings of childhood romantic attraction for Eddie. He wants Eddie's attention, thinks about Eddie, thinks Eddie is cute and expresses such, ignores others in favour of Eddie etc. In the movies, he engages in the childhood expression of romantic passion (carving your initials and your crushes initials into something). Romantic love (blossomed) - As an adult, his love is obviously more intense and fully formed and he engages in a lot of the same behaviours towards Eddie with greater knowledge of his own emotions. Also Romantic/sexual love combined (possible) - As an adult he probably did also feel a combination of romantic and sexual attraction for Eddie, but the sexual side is largely unexplored. Romantic/Sexual/Intellectual love (combined for sure)- He had a girlfriend (Sandy) that hit all these markers and he would have married her and been happy with her if their career paths hadn't gone vastly different ways. Sexual interest love (blooming, naive) - He had sexual interest, but not sexual attraction, in Bev. He states clearly that he 'didn't like her like that' (as in, didn't fall in love with her) but still had some interest in her differences as a woman as opposed to 'other guys'. This interest has soft naïve sexual tones but mostly revolves heavily around loving her as an individual and thinking she's actually Very Cool and more than a little Awesome. Sexual interest (attraction, basic) - He gets off to looking at pictures of women, and although we might count this as 'love' it's not really full of the emotions, just basic sexual interest. What I'm saying is, this boy has gone through the spectrum and likely more, from periods of just not feeling much for anyone to absolute intense love on many levels. Richie Tozier is 100% a lover, which is great because Eddie would absolutely take the 'fighter' side for them if needed (then promptly have a panic attack and need a cuddle, which Richie would happily give and end by making Eddie laugh and praising him for being brave).

[sunshines-fabulous-legs]

Richie Tozier Thoughts

I just got back from watching “It: Chapter One” for the second time in under two weeks, and I noticed something about Richie. He’s the one who speaks his mind all the time. But as we learn in “It: Chapter Two,” he’s hidden his homosexuality and his love for Eddie. Therefore his blunt, unashamed personality is a kind of mask. If he continually acts like he says whatever comes to mind, his friends will assume that he has nothing to hide. When in reality, he has everything to hide!

[m87gallium]

RICHIE TOZIER (Reddie-ish) ANALYSIS — The Eye and It [spoilers]

I was rereading some bits and noticed a pattern in Richie’s fear of eyes, its correlation to It and Eddie being the antithesis to that fear!

1st of all I should establish that It is implied to be somewhat like the troll in ‘The three Billy Goats Gruff’. This is one instance but there are a few times that “or would it feed?” is associated with It (I would like to put the other instances but there is an image limit. Also it is a long book [sorry :P])

-Chapt. 4: Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall So with this in mind this bit comes off as pretty interesting!

-Chapt. 14: The Album I just think it’s pretty prophetic?? The way there is a “black eyelid” implied to be It that gives Richie a scare but it’s all ok because of Eddie. It’s also ‘prophetic’ in another sense: it tells us about Eddie’s injury a full chapter before it happens. (I am being pretentious in my wording but you get my point hopefully)

Also! Remember the phrase “we doan need no stinkin batches!” I ironically say to you it is a surprise tool that will help us later.

——

This is the scene I believe the previous points at! It’s a really great moment for Eddie, so I like that it is related to him helping Richie, even if his main motivation is to help Bill! It’s fascinating! [also haha mashed potatoes funny]

-Chapt. 20: The Circle Closes

——

And then in Eddie’s death scene [:(] this happens!

-Chapt. 22: The Ritual of Chüd

——

I guess it’s also worth noting that 2 of the times Eddie has fought and saved Richie of his fear he’s lost something? First his shoe and then his life :(

——

Since there is a clearer connection between the chapt20 and chapt22 scenes I would like to add this bit from Chapter 23: Out—>

“We doan need no stinkin batches” ALMOST RIGHT AFTER EDDIE SAVES HIS LIFE!

——

So Richie goes from being afraid of eyes implied to be like It to being afraid of It’s Eye form to finally fighting it... and I think it’s almost beautiful that Eddie is always the one to help him.

——

I don’t know if I have been concise but!! I hope this makes people think! There are some people who like to talk about the Eye’s symbolism but I am not very good at that stuff so I will simply point this pattern out. [Also this post has some of the best scenes w them so :). See it as a mini-anthology if you wish.]

[slutabed]

okay. a small rant about it: chapter 2 that someone else might better be able to explain to my small dumb brain bc it doesn’t make sense in my head. and uh spoilers for the movie if you haven’t seen it yet but mostly spoilers for me rambling and being incoherent

i know the choice to make richie in love with eddie was like. specific to the new It adaptations and not a stephen king-specific thing, but is there a reason why eddie had to die?

watching It (2017) after the sequel because I’m dumb like that lol, it made a lot more sense to see why Stan died in the second one. He was consistently reluctant and hesitant and just scared in a way the others could move beyond and push aside. He was never able to fully, 100% move beyond his fear to commit to returning to Derry in the sequel, so that makes sense to me.

I don’t understand how Eddie’s death makes narrative sense other than to serve as a catalyst for Richie’s pain (and some fabulous acting from Bill Hader, who I adore lol). He was scared and hesitant like Stan, but not to the same degree? It didn’t seem like he was MORE afraid than, say, Richie, who was kind of equally freaked out about it all but still powered through and did the work to defeat the clown. 

It seems like — idk I’m probably not making sense, but:

Bill was the leader who had the most at stake in the first movie. It would have made sense for his death to be the catalyst that puts an end to the cycles of violence.

Mike was the outsider who stayed behind collecting information about Derry. As the keeper of the history, his death also would have made sense — if he died and the secrets of Derry died with him, it all also dies with the clown. There’s no need for a secret keeper or truth keeper if the thing the secrets are *about* is also dead. 

Richie’s fear was clowns, in the first movie, and then the reveal about his real fears in the sequel — again in terms of narrative devices, his expulsion from the narrative would kind of make sense? Dying for his love? Dying from one of his fears so that his friends could defeat it? (I’m not arguing FOR kill your gays here but just in terms of narrative symmetry, or like. Narrative satisfaction, I guess? I think it would have made sense.

So I don’t know if I’m just missing the big narrative, like, circle, or conclusion, that makes Eddie’s death make sense to me. I know he broke his arm in the first movie, but dying doesn’t seem like that’s the big narrative parallel the movie was building to? Idk. Again it’s hard because I’m demanding answers from movie logic (why does his death narratively make sense for him, for the group, for Richie and his significance specifically) when the source material doesn’t raise the questions that I’m asking (unless I’m misunderstanding, but I was pretty sure King made it clear that Richie wasn’t canonically gay in the novel). So maybe it’s not fair to say “Why would the movies kill Richie’s gay love?” when Stephen King killed off Eddie who was not Richie’s gay love. But idk. This got long and convoluted but just in terms of like. Narrative satisfaction, and parallels and symmetry and just endings that feel right to the audience, I’m trying to figure out why Eddie’s death was necessary.

I guess part of me knows the answer can just be “life is’t satisfying and doesn’t make sense,” but I’ve taken too many classes on narrative to not feel a little irked when an ending feels unearned, or something. And maybe Eddie’s death isn’t unearned and I’m just blinded by my love for Bill Hader and my desire for his character to get his happy ending. But. Convoluted mess aside, I just have questions and want answers lol.

[yesiwasateenagewerewolf]

Richie using ghost writers actually plays nicely into the werewolf fear and would have been cool to explore more. 

Richie’s comedy is inauthentic because he doesn’t want people to see the parts of him that he thinks would scare people. Comedy is often about truth, but Richie fears that his truth is too dark and unsettling for people to enjoy. 

I know I’ve read a lot of fics where Richie has the ghost writers forced on him as a way of keeping the gay hidden, but I actually think it would be more interesting if Richie was the one in charge of his image and who decided to employ ghost writers because he doesn’t want to let his mask slip. 

A Richie who took a look at the world around him and said he was going to be famous and did what it took to get there, shedding the parts of himself that weren’t profitable and actively reaching for the broadest, lowest common denominator to get him there faster. 

Yes, this Richie isn’t immediately sympathetic, but he is the one pulling the strings and making himself dance. And if people hate ‘Richie Tozier - comedian’ they don’t hate the real Richie because they don’t know the real him. 

No one does. 

[eddielived]

Can we talk about Richie's Werewolf for a sec? I'm sure it's been said before, but I'm in my feelings, so.

For those who don’t know, in the book, It manifests Richie’s fear in the form of a werewolf. Richie had seen the movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf and thinks they���re particularly scary because, unlike other monsters, the Werewolf represents something monstrous inside of yourself. So. SO.

Later, when It appears as the Werewolf, Richie is terrified to see his own name on the Werewolf's letterman jacket.

So, Richie is scared that the monster is himself. Which is all the more poignant thinking about what he might be (or in the case of the movies, definitely is) hiding.

Now, jumping to the movies, Richie’s fear of the werewolf isn’t covered, but there’s a nice nod to it in the Neibolt scene in Chapter 1. 

It’s hands become claws, like that of a werewolf transforming. So given ALL OF THIS, the nod to the Werewolf here implies that Pennywise is targeting Richie specifically. And the IMPLICATION that the Werewolf⁠—which represents Richie’s fear of something inside HIMSELF, his fear of WHO AND WHAT he is⁠—is advancing on EDDIE while Richie begs Eddie to LOOK AWAY is simply too much for my dumbass brain to comprehend

[jasperathrifteddoll]

The werewolf as a symbol in Stephen King's IT, a ramble

A fascinating detail from the book I haven't seen anyone talk about is how the symbol of the werewolf appears not just for Richie, but for Patty Uris.

In her appearance in chapter 3, Patty describes the discrimination she has faced as a Jewish person, the expectations that has been put on her by her parents and herself to be successful and 'Normal,' and how the fear has lingered despite her comparatively happy life.

As a teenager she and her date were barred from attending prom for being Jewish, and the details of this event are seared painfully in her mind. The click of her heels on the ground, the sound of onlookers laughing at her, and the dress her mother said made her look like a "Mermaid."

She thinks of the idea of being a Jewish mermaid as ridiculous. Though i am uncertain if this is due to a contrast between a generally loved fairytale being and the perception of Jewish people, or comparison between this perception and the non-human-ness of mermaids. Regardless, the thematic idea of mermaids is strong: to a be a being caught between two worlds, partly a person, and partly an inhuman creature. In common stories, mermaids appear to sailors only showing their upper halves, and so are able to lure them to grisly ends. Already I would say that the mermaid can be compared to the werewolf in it's connotations.

Stanley, who remembers the most out of the losers (aside from Mike) buys books by Bill Denbrough, aware that they were childhood friends. Patty immediately dislikes the novels, considering them frightening and in bad taste.

Though she points out a particular one with anger: a book about werewolves.

Here Patty uses the werewolf as a symbol for the discrimination and fear she has experienced. She may try desperately to conform to the social standards set for her, to become successful, happy and 'Normal,' but the fear of being targeted always exists. This is expressed through her constant worries that others are gossiping about her and her husband, and that their safety and security will be compromised for being Jewish.

And so she thinks of Bill Denbrough and his book with derision, because in her eyes he is a man with no troubles and at the top of the social hierarchy (a view that is mostly true, Evil Space Clown and Childhood Trauma aside), and could never understand the experience of being a symbolic werewolf. Something seen as dangerous, monstrous and inhuman, and something that must hide and pretend, that lives in constant fear of it's own exposure.

And while I foremost wanted to discuss Patty Uris, I also think this is a useful detail to think about when it comes to Richie's werewolf. As stated before, Stephen King has established the werewolf through Patty as: Something seen as dangerous, monstrous and inhuman, and something that must hide and pretend, that lives in constant fear of it's own exposure. And furthermore connected it with experience of being a minority facing discrimination.

And so it is interesting to look at the connection between Richie Tozier and his own werewolf. What is the monster he is so afraid others will see him as? Neither Richie or King himself gives us any concrete answers.

Personally I think that Richie's position as a young boy with visible differences/disability, such as his glasses/poor eyesight (something he attempts to hide as an adult) and complicated behaviourial issues, that are likely undiagnosed ADHD, are strong factors. As someone who similarly grew up with undiagnosed ADHD, I can attest to a strong feeling of being "too much" and distinctly abnormal, something that has bordered on monstrous or alien.

Queerness, in terms of being Bisexual/Gay is also a good fit within his story. His relationship with Eddie and how the Werewolf itself ties into the long history between movie monsters and Queerness is well discussed. Bisexuality especially, can be easily matched to the duality of the werewolf and I personally interpret Richie as such.

But regardless, Richie is shown to put facades up in front of most of his genuine emotions, and is described as confusing by many characters, including his own mother. He is a teller of half-truths and of course, a performer at heart. And in some ways, through his concealment of his inner thoughts to the reader, seems almost aware of his status as a book's narrator.

--

Yeah, so werewolves are a really fun symbol and creature, and I just wanted to blabble (:

There are lots of other great analyses of Richie Tozier's Werewolf on Tumblr, especially ones that delve deeper into queer interpretation, so I recommend you search for them if ya like this sort of thing.

Or just check out any of the posts on @reddieanalysis. Lots of fun stuff for the literary analysis nerd who is also head over heels for those clown fighting boyfriends.

[dear-wormwoods]

I keep seeing posts from anti-reddie’s saying that they think Richie is super mean/bullies Eddie because he,,,jokes with him. I just, I can’t with how unbelievably wrong that is.

It’s been a while since I’ve gone off on here, but here goes nothing... it’s not just anti-reddies that do this, and it’s infinitely worse when it’s not them. 😕 So I’m going to address this from the pro-Reddie angle because what antis say doesn’t matter to me. They’re just being willfully wrong.

Richie teases Eddie but it’s innocent and flirtatious, not anything that makes Eddie genuinely upset or uncomfortable. He’s not a cruel person, he literally says he’s a lover not a fighter. Yes he can be a dick with his words, but his insults are always only directed at people like Henry and his gang. And his voices and jokes, some of them are really offensive and wrong, but I do think he’d listen if anyone ever actually sat him down to explain that to him (beep beep isn’t exactly explanatory). Point is, he’s not out here trying to be mean to people, especially not people he likes. Especially not Eddie. And more importantly, he’d never try to control or manipulate Eddie.

One of the main reasons why Reddie is a good pairing is because Richie is symbolic of the freedom Eddie needs. He’d want Eddie to make his own choices and be independent. Maybe he’s not aware that what Sonia does counts as abuse, but he’d still want to help Eddie gain agency and be free from control!

As for Eddie... I far more often see people (both pro and anti-reddies) say (or portray in fic/art) that Eddie is mean to/bullies Richie, which has even less basis in canon if we’re talking about the book and not Andy Muschietti’s AU. Eddie... is the sweetest person in the universe and would never consistently tell Richie to shut up, call him an idiot or an asshole all the time, or threaten to hit him (like, excuse me??). Eddie tells Richie to beep beep once, and tells him off ONCE for being mean to Stan... the meanest thing Eddie says to Richie is “you’re a real turd sometimes”. People need to seriously stop writing him or drawing him as a raging asshole, it’s not cute or funny like at all.

The second main reason why Reddie is a good pairing is that Eddie genuinely thinks Richie is funny and brilliant and amazing in his own way. Eddie is the person Richie feels comfortable enough with to confide about his ultimate goals and dreams. And for good reason! Eddie lets Richie be Richie without judgment (and when Eddie does tell him off re: being mean to Stan, it’s in an empathetic way). Richie would absolutely point blank never fall for an Eddie that was an asshole, to him or in general. It’s just out of character.

Reddie is supposed to be a good pairing featuring two people who truly bring out the best in each other and are exactly what the other needs. Making it toxic in either direction undermines what makes the pairing great! There are plenty of toxic pairings out there in the world, Reddie should never be forced to become one of them. Unfortunately in the post-ch.2 world, they often are. And it sucks. They both deserve better than to become false caricatures.

[lesbian-karolina]

EDDIE, LOOK AT ME!

[sorin-sunchild]

‘Comphet’ vs ‘OS attraction’ in IT (long)

Wow can’t believe I’m talking about this again but every so often someone floats into the Reddie tags or the IT tags trying to claim that they’ve read the book and Eddie is clearly bi but Richie is gay. 

Reading comprehension is clearly poor if that’s the conclusion you’re coming to or maybe you already made up your mind from what the films decided was ok and just aren’t willing to move. For whatever reason, please read and please listen. 

You’re probably wondering “But does it matter so long as they’re in love?”. Well yeah, it does. Our understanding of media and it’s messages can help shape our perceptions and understandings of the real world, first of all. Second of all, in terms of enjoyment and respect within fandom, we need to actually understand the characters. 

Third of all, bi and gay are two different identities and deserve to be treated as such. Even in media. They’re not interchangeable. Erasing Richie’s bisexuality, but then throwing it onto Eddie who is clearly gay coded, really just shows no respect for either identity or the characters. 

tl;dr: Eddie is gay, Richie is bi, even by accident, this is irrefutable and important and there is a lot of evidence for these from original canon, not the warped film canon which does not count. If you don’t understand it from reading it, then I can help.

So, let’s think.

Does Eddie Kaspbrak show sincere opposite sex attraction?

No. No he doesn’t. Getting married to a woman  ≠ opposite sex attraction. Many gay men in real life marry a woman for comphet, and even father children with those women, and are still actually gay. To say that Eddie is bi because of MARRIAGE is to invalidate the reality of comphet and places way too much importance on marriage. Like, I’m sorry to break this to you but marriage isn’t all that sacred and isn’t always done because the people are in love and attracted to each other. It literally means all kinds of things and also nothing to many people.

Eddie didn’t even have a physical relationship with Myra, because he couldn’t bring himself to do so, partially because of the trauma of her being so like his mother and partially because he just didn’t have that attraction there. As an unreliable narrator, he gives himself permission to love her late into their marriage, right as he’s about to leave to fight IT, because the whole time he was married to her it was just for the comfort of the familiar and comphet. And that love isn’t stated as romantic, either.

His one other case of mentioning a girl is where he points out his awareness of a girls beauty, in a very bland kind of way. His poetic description of Belch Huggins comes off as more sincere that then, and Eddie attaches himself very closely to his male friends, whilst also having a clear fear of male/male sexual encounters that IT plays on when scaring him. We also know he grew up with a homophobic mother who would certainly have closeted him, and in text is directly compared to Adrian Mellon (who is openly gay) as his more confident opposite who gets killed by IT, and to Anthony Perkins (another man who married a woman but was into men). 

Does Richie Tozier show sincere opposite sex attraction?

Yes. Yes he does. He has a crush on Bev that he speaks of clearly (as a narrator) when he’s a child, even (to be quite crude) wondering about the type of underwear she wears and observing her body. He gets sexually aroused when looking at a pornographic magazine of women. He has a long term loving, deeply connected and sexual relationship with a woman, whom he was prepared to get a vasectomy for because he wanted it to be forever and her comfort with their sexual relationship was important to him.  

The werewolf baring his name and his worry about touching other boys is also really good, even if accidental, bisexual symbolism! Bisexuality wasn’t really talked about at the time Richie was a kid, maybe not in either timeframe (book or film) it was basically seen as not a thing. So Richie lives feeling like he has a double life. Like, he looks ‘normal’ aka straight on the outside because he does like girls, but at the same time there’s this ‘dangerous’ aka socially unacceptable aka same sex attracted side to him that he still has, even if he can pass as straight by trying to ignore it. Any bisexual person can tell you that trying to hide either side of our attraction is incredibly stress inducing and a huge source of depression and anxiety. 

Whether you then believe he loves Eddie specifically is irrelevant and can be left to your personal taste if you so desire. This is REALLY not about Reddie specifically.

I can’t stress enough that it’s not about me defending the Reddie ship. Because either way the two of them are mlm and could be together, but whether one is bi or one is gay really changes them as an individual character, changes who they represent and how and changes how we relate to him. Also, as stated above, bi and gay are not the same thing and it’s just disrespectful to real people with those identities to throw the terms around like they both actually mean gay. Yes, even in a fictional setting. Once again, fiction is everywhere, media is everywhere, and it does influence and portray our opinions. 

Follow Up

[l8rhader]

You Can Change Right Next To Me Universe Meta that might eventually become an in universe oneshot collection.

Bev was ALL of the Losers’ first kiss.

All of them.

Bill (the play... but also between Eddie and Richie when they start “dating” because they’re 13.  it’s not unlike the movies tbh) then Eddie, (she’s probably been spending too much time with richie because eddie is really fucking cute and she can’t? help? it?) then Richie (fall after what would be the summer of IT if any of the clown shit happened they’re sitting behind the ice cream shop talking) then Ben (he does something super sweet one day and she just can’t not) then Mike (truth or dare), then Stan (he’s not not jealous and they’re not not stoned and it’s not not the hottest thing that Bill and Richie have ever seen ever until that moment and it’s definitely not not the moment they both realize that bisexual can definitely be a thing because they’re both so fucking jealous of both of them both in that particular moment.)

BUT HERE’S THE THING.

Stan was all of the boys (except Ben’s) first kiss with a boy and they’re literally all 16 here.  This is ALL in the year before YCCRNTM

Richie (he saw the way that Richie was watching him and Bev earlier that night and didn’t want his best friend feeling left out so, when Richie pulled into his driveway to drop him off, he kissed him to thank him for the ride home and Richie thought he might actually die and that also may have been A Thing for both of them for a hot minute because kiss is a really loose term here because they were ) then Mike (the only one of the Losers to actually come out to anyone else in like a speech type situation and Mike’s just like “BUT I’M GONNA DIE ALONE BECAUSE DERRY” and Stan kneels up and plants one one him, assuring him that if someone else doesn’t see that he’s a fucking catch by the time they graduate, they’ll make a go of it.  Mike laughs it off but doesn’t realize that Stan is 100% serious) then Eddie (they’d actually been fighting.  Stan had already figured out that Richie was in love with Eddie and Eddie made some snippy comment about some joke Richie had made and Stan had to stand up for him and it became a kind of weird back and forth that wound up with Eddie saying “It’d make more sense for me to kiss you” so Stan just... does.  Eddie melts.  Actually like melts.  Then Stan looks at him and goes, “imagine how much better that would’ve been if i’d been him” and stomps off leaving Eddie.exe to malfunction) then Bill (bill didn’t know about Stan kissing Richie until waaaaaaaaaay after and he only finds out because he walks into gym one day to find Richie and Bev talking about their best kisses and Bev says, because she’s incapable of being anything other than candid, that it’s Stan.  She likes kissing Ben, but the way Stan had just grabbed her and kissed her that night Did Things and she definitely had to go home that night and Take Care of Business.  Richie had laughed really hard because SAME BEV HOLY SHIT so next period is Lunch and he’s like yo stan we’re going to burger king because it’s pre-you-have-to-stay-on-campus-all-day-because-people-are-crazy-it’s-lunch-if-you-wanna-go-home-go-home and he’s like “you’ve kissed bev and richie wtf” and stan’s like “yep.  and also almost everyone else.  what about it?  you’re literally the straightest guy i’ve ever met so it never even entered my mind” to which Bill makes an audible “?!!???!!!” and Stan’s like “Okay.  So.  Can we get lunch now or did you just bring me out here to be a pain in my ass?”  and he deliberately Does Not Kiss Bill that day.  or for like a week.  Bill hasn’t exactly forgotten so much as given up when Stan pulls up in The Cardinal to pick Bill up from the library and he is standing there with his arms and legs crossed, leaning against the car and Bill makes a face that screams “?!!???!!!” more than the noise did and Stan, honest to god, smirks.  Bill is practically vibrating the whole way home and Stan.  Doesn’t.  Kiss.  Him.  Just drops him off at home.  Bill stands in the garage for like 10 minutes all flustered and huffy.  He grabs silver and rides like the fucking wind over to Stan’s, finding him sitting in his garage.  “Took you long enough.” and Bill just fucking mauls him.  

Ben’s first kiss with a boy was Richie.  They were paired up for a scene in As You Like It   They played rock paper scissors for who’d be who.  Richie won for Rosalind and stuck his tongue out mercilessly.  Ben was still pining over Bev here not actually with her yet and Richie knew that the line with the “You will not die” would need absolutely no reaction from Ben at all because he had literally said the same words to him over the summer.  not literally but like pretty much they were talking about how, when friends have this kind of conversation (because he may or may not have made bev be eddie once or twice except she didn’t know she was being eddie just a hypothetical person that richie had a crush on that Sounded An Awful Lot Like Eddie) they end up kissing there and there and there.  Ben was like (shocked pikachu face) and richie’s like... so we should kiss there and there and there.  So Ben’s like. um. no. i’ll kiss my hand and high five you?  and Richie was like “Or you could kiss me and not be a pussy?”  and ben gets all grumbly and goes mnotapussyijustdonwanna and richie’s like dude it’s fine i just thought that the point of this assignment was to modernize it and give it more reality and he’s like look put yourself in her shoes here.  she’s pretending to be a guy and then falls in love with a guy and he’s in love with who she is as a woman but she can’t let him know that she’s falling for him because what if he realizes that she’s him.  SO aren’t you, in rosalind’s shoes, going to take any opportunity you can get to kiss bev until you can figure out how to make it work?  and ben’s got this mentally constipated look, then it sinks in.  then, grasping at straws goes “i’ve only ever been kissed by one person.” and richie just leaned in and kissed him.  “now it’s two” Ben looks at him for a second, then kisses him.  so Richie’s like “look we run through it once with then once without and see which works better.”  fun fact- richie was right.  it worked better.  they got extra credit for the insightful commentary.

Bev, on the other hand, has never kissed a girl and she thinks that is a TRAVESTY and they really need more girl friends.

[richiefuckfacetozier]

Richie saying “Thanks for showing up, Stan” was so unexpected but extremely perfect. Because Richie calls Stan weak at the beginning, basically thinking one of his best friends is a coward who left them all to deal with a monster. Then Stanley did show up for Richie when he needed it most. When he was about to yeet out of town because everything was too scary. On a simple sign on the synagogue. And Richie took a moment to go inside and pay his respects. To remember another memory. Of being the only one of 5 others to show up at Stanley’s bar mitzvah. Richie showed up for Stanley and Stanley showed up for Richie. Cause Losers Stick Together.