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Hypochondriac : Part 02
warnings: mentions of bullying, slow burn, not much :)
summary: returning to Derry was terrifying enough, but when Eddie finds himself forced to deal with painful truths, he second guesses everything he thought he knew. Peggy returns to her childhood home and decides that being a sacrifice isn’t so bad, as long as the ones she loves make it out alive. And she lets herself wonder what could have been when she finds out the fate of her first love.
a/n: this is my first attempt at writing for IT, and feedback is always appreciated!
PART ONE HERE
1985
The plane ride from JFK to Bangor, Maine didn’t sit well with Peggy for more reasons than a hellish storm and dangerous turbulence. Something felt off- even more off than the sound of Mike Hanlon’s voice as he told her that IT returned. She squeezed her eyes shut and marked the page in the book she’d given up on reading.
Unlike Bill Denbrough, who Peggy knew had a movie star wife and a highly successful writing career, and Ben Hanscom, who was internationally famous for his architectural designs, Peggy felt as if she had little to leave behind in her New York City apartment. These days, SoHo lacked the shine and love Peggy first fell in love with. She had never felt more alone after everything that happened with Nick, and that apartment still had his scent ingrained into each and every piece of furniture.
Peggy Turner and Nick Wilson fell in love hard and fast as naive college students, and they’d been so in love they never left the city: even after graduation. The lovebirds married by 25 and soon enough they had a decent apartment and the lives they’d always wanted. Peggy had a gallery in Brooklyn and Nick finally got that spot on the NYPD he’d always dreamt of. For a long time, they were really, truly, blissfully happy.
Until the summer of 1984.
Looking back, Peggy felt as if she should have known it was only the beginning of the end for her. As things usually happened for Peggy Turner, good things turned sour fairly quickly. And the summer of ‘84 was pretty high up on her list of bad memories.
Eyes still closed and fluttering softly, Peggy grasped around her memory for images of her husband. She could see him only fleetingly, in flashes of unruly hair and dimpled smiles. Just as quickly as his memory appeared, it morphed into someone else; someone Peggy had nearly forgotten. Nearly. Her heart thudded at the thought.
She had loved him so long ago, as if in another life entirely. Their relationship was sweet and innocent and pure, but when he moved away her young heart was shattered. If she didn’t think they were too young at the time, Peggy might have called him her first love.
And through her painful memories of last summer, Peggy found herself smiling like a fool on a crowded airplane. She didn’t know where Stanley Uris ended up or what he was up to, but she really hoped he was doing well.
For a moment- a brief, selfish moment- Peggy felt nearly excited to return to Derry if it meant seeing him again. She couldn’t have been more wrong about what Derry had in store for her.
1958
The pair walked in an uncomfortable silence, with Peggy carefully pulling at her cardigan in shame, and Eddie fiddling with the aspirator in his hand. She glanced sideways at him, mouth agape with half-spoken words.
“Eddie,” she said. “Am I loser?”
The boy nearly dropped his inhaler at this, taken aback. Sure, that word was no stranger to Eddie Kaspbrak, and to many of his friends, but it was not a term he would think to pin on a girl like Peggy Turner.
“Where did you get that idea?”
Peggy shrugged her shoulders, suddenly feeling very shy.
“That’s what they’ve been calling me,” she paused.
For a moment, he wanted to smile, maybe even laugh, and jokingly welcome her to the club. He and his friends were forever branded as losers. That much at least made sense to him. To their peers, Eddie Kaspbrak was a hypochondriac with a crazy mother, Bill Denbrough had a terrible stutter and a missing brother, Stanley Uris was Jewish and a neat-freak, and Richie Tozier’s glasses were too big and he never kept his TrashMouth shut.
Eddie glanced at her with furrowed eyebrows. He caught the tail end of her fiasco with Greta Bowie earlier that day, and thought about chasing after her, but Peggy ducked into the girls’ restroom before he could get to her.
It was common knowledge that Greta was a bully. She had a nasty tendency to harass anyone who stood out or who didn’t have as much money as her parents did. If Henry Bowers and his gang weren’t already doing it, she might give a go at Eddie and his friends from time to time. But Peggy? No one had seen that coming.
He thought for a moment that there must have been a reason Greta ruined Peggy’s pride and her clothing in one swift motion. What, though, he simply couldn’t work out.
As far as Eddie was concerned, Peggy was a walking daydream. She oozed kindness on cloudy days and always made sure her neighbor was okay, even if they weren’t exactly friends anymore. Apart from maybe Bill, Eddie admired Peggy the most in the world. He had never heard her say a bad word towards anyone, and seeing her with tear-stained cheeks and that defeated demeanor cracked his heart.
“I don’t think so,” he told her. “You’re not a loser to me.”
Eddie wasn’t sure how helpful he had been, but she smiled at him and he couldn’t help but to return the gesture. When Peggy pulled him into a side-hug, he tried to wriggle away, but she simply laughed and skipped ahead of him.
The girl turned on her heel to face her old friend and brushed her wild hair from her face. She started to ask where they were meeting him, but the words caught in her throat at the sight of Stan himself across the road. He stood on a park bench, focused on a book and oblivious to his approaching friends; Peggy thought he looked marvelous.
Eddie pretended not to notice the way she looked at him as he pulled her across the street.
“Stan likes to watch birds,” he explained.
“Birds?”
Eddie shrugged. Peggy smiled faintly.
Eddie had trouble matching her pace as she went to greet Stan.
“I hope you don’t mind that I crashed your afternoon,” she said sheepishly.
But Stan simply smiled at her, glancing at Eddie who stood behind her. Eddie silently pleaded with him not to say anything stupid, afraid it might offend her if he stared at her dirtied clothing.
“You’re not,” Stan said, blushing a faint pink.
Peggy tentatively sat down on the bench beside him, smoothing out her skirt, which left Eddie to stand or sit on the bare ground. He remained standing.
Stan clutched his book a little tighter in his lap as he caught a glimpse of the dirty state of Peggy’s clothing. He never liked unclean things. But this was Peggy and he had watched it happen.
She seemed oblivious to his gaze, as she remained silent for a moment.
“So,” Peggy glanced between the boys. “What’re you reading?”
She gently pushed his hands to close the book, smiling at the title. Stan parted his lips, embarrassed, and started to brush it off. She beat him to it.
“Cool,” she said.
He grinned back at her, surprised by her kind reaction.
The three of them spent the better half of the afternoon strolling around the park, with Stan pointing out some Bluebirds and Eddie trailing a few inches behind them. Stan noted that his book claimed Bluebirds could symbolize transition, but kept this to himself. He never cared much for things like that.
They eventually collapsed on the grass- Stan testing the grass for dirt before sitting cross-legged beside Eddie, who Peggy had dragged down with her. Peggy laid back in the grass, dark hair fanning behind her head. She smiled to herself and watched the sky, occasionally laughing at something Eddie said.
Stan squinted at Peggy through the afternoon sun and grinned. He looked on with soft adoration as she deciphered shapes in the clouds; for the first time, he thought he could watch her all afternoon.
Masterlist
STRANGER THINGS
✧ - contains smut
❧ - my personal favorites
EDDIE MUNSON
blurbs
show me (x AFAB!reader) ✧ ❧
the one where you find out why eddie munson keeps handcuffs in his bedroom and what those stains on his mattress really are.
STEVE HARRINGTON
chaptered fics
send her my love 2 (x AFAB!reader)
the one where steve breaks the reader’s heart with one word: nancy, and everything that comes after
tidal waves (x AFAB!reader)
the one where steve and y/n are forced to spend a summer together in a beach house
blurbs
falling for you (x AFAB!oc)
the one where steve makes a big splash at carol’s lake party in an attempt to defend beth’s honor
kings and queens (x AFAB!oc)
the one where beth puts billy back in his place after he tries to weasel his way into her relationship
cheerleader (x AFAB!oc) ❧
the one where steve feels unloved by his parents but his girlfriend is always there to cheer him up.
back to risky business (x AFAB!oc)
the one where steve’s plans for halloween sound a little too familiar for bethany’s liking
for old time’s sake (xAFAB!reader) or (x AFAB!oc) ✧ ❧
the one where steve and heather’s high school reunion becomes much more than that (female!oc version)
double trouble (x hagan twin!reader) ✧ ❧
the one where all of steve’s wildest dreams come true
IT
Stanley Uris:
chaptered fics
hypochondriac 2 (x AFAB!oc, reddie)
the one where the losers return to derry to find themselves one member short, and peggy loses a whole lot more than that. eddie slowly remembers why he wanted to stop thinking about richie tozier.
WIP & Coming Soon
Here’s a snippet of what to expect next from me, as well as a list of my current wip’s. Feel free to lmk which ones you’d like to see more of next!
CHAPTERED FICS
Happy Hauntings pt i (ghost!Steve Harrington x widow!oc)
In which Steve Harrington loves his lonely existence in his little farmhouse and dedicated his time in the afterlife to keeping it that way. The arrival of a new widow, her giggly infant son, and burnt out brother cause Steve to confront his own unfinished business, but not before he helps raise that baby.
Mr Brightside pt i (Steve Harrington x Henderson!oc, Billy Hargrove x Henderson!oc)
Hawkins’ resident man eater Delaney Henderson and playboy Steve Harrington have been the dynamic duo since the fifth grade, long before sex complicated things, but what happens when Billy Hargrove tries to drive a wedge between them?
“She wanted him to absolutely wreck her- anything to get that sickly sweet butterfly feeling out of her system. Billy was no Steve, but that was Delaney’s favorite thing about him. “
Tidal Waves pt ii (Steve Harrington x reader)
the one where Y/N finds herself weirdly attracted to her Dad’s best friend’s asshole son. It’s the recipe for a summer they should probably forget.
I I: The part where Y/N and Steve hit the beach and Steve learns that getting on Y/N’s nerves is better than not getting her attention at all.
Send Her My Love pt iii: Who’s Crying Now (Steve Harrington x reader)
the one where steve breaks the reader’s heart with one word: nancy, and everything that comes after.
I I I: when dustin’s scheme is set in motion just as christmas creeps up on hawkins. y/n finally confronts her demons and guilt.
Hypochondriac pt iii (Stanley Uris x oc)
the one where the losers return to derry to find themselves one member short, and peggy loses a whole lot more than that. eddie slowly remembers why he wanted to stop thinking about richie tozier.
I I I: just as peggy’s fears begin to close in on her, she finds herself grounded in newfound friendships. her older self grasps at straws to cope with the death of a loved one
Euthanasia pt i (Weasley Twins, Fred Weasley x oc)
Keira Lynch made a vow to herself to never step foot into London again; George Weasley was beyond desperate to find every piece of information he could about the afterlife.
Keira had sworn off using Internum Magic decades ago, but George was willing to do whatever it takes to get his brother back.
Fred, after falling victim to a curse that was never meant to kill him, found himself stuck in the eternal cycle of limbo.
She wanted nothing to do with them; the twins reminded her just a little too much of another pair of brothers who were long gone. But George, no matter what, would not take no for an answer.
None of them would even know what hit them.
what would y’all say if i told you i was working on a 2 parter stan uris best friends’ brother!/prom au
lots of fluff, a dash of angst, an entire second off of filth smut
IT MASTERLIST
𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝔃𝓲𝓮𝓻
𝓫𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓵𝔂 𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓼𝓱
𝓮𝓭𝓭𝓲𝓮 𝓴𝓪𝓼𝓹𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓴
𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷 𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓼
𝓶𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓵𝓸𝓷
𝓫𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓫𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱
things I think everyone should know about Stephen King’s IT (the book)
Part 1, bc i’m only 200 pages in
Stanley wears bell bottoms on his days off
Richie is gentle!af. He makes friends with everyone who works for him and tries to make them all laugh. He hangs up the phone “gently.”
Eddie understands full well that he doesn’t love Myra and only married her because she reminded him of his mother.
There’s a kind of love between them that comes from familiarity, or maybe family, but it’s never romantic and it’s very fleeting.
Their relationship is just… ugly.
He calls her Marty, though, and I think that’s sweet.
The first thing Richie remembers from Derry is being bullied. Mike says Richie was bullied the most out of all the losers.
Ben says “Beverly Hanscom” out loud and has to press his face into the grass to cool down.
Stan is Very Good in bed.
Ben only gets Really Mad at Henry Bowers when he remembers that Henry destroyed his library books and he realizes that his favorite librarian will be upset.
He proceeds to kick Henry in the balls.
The reaction of pain lasts, like, multiple paragraphs.
Patty Uris is the purest, kindest woman in the world.
Stephen King is honestly quite sexist.
He’s obsessed with women’s bodies/nipples.
Sometimes being graphic about bodies makes sense, but nipples don’t work like that Mr. King.
It took Eddie three tries to leave his mother.
Beverly is intensely competitive.
She keeps her nails very short so that she can’t bite them.
Turtles are a Very Big Deal. Why wasn’t this a bigger deal in the movies/miniseries?
Not much has been reviewed about Mike yet. Sorry guys. He’s had a chapter, but it’s mostly plotty backstory.
Audra is about 10 years older than Bill.
The hate crime at the beginning of IT Ch 2 is a really big deal in the book. Like, if you could be triggered, DON’T READ. Mr. King, tag your shit. Extremely upsetting and graphic. I mean, it’s a “horrorbook” (as Patty would call it), but that’s not even clown shit.
Patty and Stan had the healthiest relationship in the world.
Richie: [Playing out of tune on a guitar]
Stan: Hey, you take requests?
Richie: Sure!
Stan: Please stop.
It: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 belong in the pride section of movies, argue with a wall
Theorhticall speaking, pennywise could just eat animals instead for humans, they scare just as if not more easily.
But
Penny's preferred meat is
Long pig
just another player in your drinking games (rt)
based on this song
✮ wc : 2k
✮ content : angst, clueless (douche) richie
✮ synopsis : this isn’t the cliche first kiss with richie that she had hoped for. this isn’t the richie she had romanticized in her head.
✮ a/n : this is a rewrite of this! this one is so much better and written completely different. this is so long overdue and so many people have been asking for a part 2 to this but i figured before i write a part 2 i might as well rewrite it because my writings progressed from a year ago. i’m satisfied with this fix being a one and done but if you have ideas of a part 2 lmk.
richie was there first. he sits on one of the extra-wide lawn chairs that’s tucked away in the corner of sally mueller’s yard. richie’s knowledge of the girl was limited to ben describing her as a “stuck-up snob due to her rich family with nice clothes and permed hair.” (so basically a duplicate of greta keene and the other one. richie doesn't remember her name– maybe it’s the buzz he’s starting to get. marie? maria? something like that.)
somewhere from, what richie decided, was the largest backyard he has ever stepped onto, beverly calls. “rich!” he watches her as she trips over herself, trying her best to keep her shaky hands steady, half of the contents in the red solo cups clasped in her hands already spilling onto the floor.
extending her arm, beverly grins from ear to ear. “for you.” she sits at richie’s feet as he breathes an inadequate thank you. cringing at the sticky feeling, he thinks for a moment before opening his mouth, rubbing his palm off on his jeans. “where’s yn?” richie says with none of his usual smartmouth, mumbling around the rim of his drink.
he instantly regrets it. beverly’s been convinced that the boy was in love with her since they were eleven— he’s too drunk to figure out how many years ago that is. he figures bev is too because it completely flys over her head. it’s a shame, normally she would’ve jumped at the chance to pinch his arm, tease him about ashley and yn and ashley and yn and ashley—”
“i was at her house like–” beverly’s eyes dart down to her wristwatch. “thirty minutes ago. we got ready at her place but she wanted to stop by at keenes’ and told me to get a head start.”
“did she forget that you were a lightweight?” richie says amused as beverly yawns. “come on man, you’ve been here, what? two minutes?”
“shut up, stan’s inside, go help him. the chess clubs trying to rope him into their... i dunno... cult?”
after leaving bev with one of her girlfriends he steps into the house, suddenly aware of how flushed his cheeks are. “richie?” finally. he exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in. “ynn.” richie melts.
“why are you here?” there’s concern in her voice, she sounds genuine. “why... wouldn’t i be?”
yn’s confused but it was common for richie to mess about. she goes back and forth before deciding to answer seriously. “yesterday…”
richie visibly deflated. “come on, ynn” he whined, tugging on her sleeve. “are you serious right now. rich, we talked about this you can’t just pretend like–” he threw his head back, hand making it’s way down his red face, “it’s not a big deal. just–” god, he’s a child. yn was friends with a child. “just– let’s do shots.” yn just stared at him open-mouthed, “you want to cheer me up so bad, so be my partner in a round of beer pong.” “this is so unhealthy.”
yn stood awkwardly next to richie, across from them were curtis allen and marcia fadden. that’s the name he was trying to remember. richie tugs on her sleeve as he picks up the red solo cup curtis just landed his ball in, reaching in and delicately handing the light ball to yn before knocking back the contents of the cup. yn languidly tossed the ball, it bounces, and misses. she sighs and turns to richie with a look on her face. are you happy now? marcia drunkenly bends over, clutching her stomach as she searches for the dainty ball.
yn’s so over this— but richie’s mind is somewhere else.
she follows his gaze and eventually lands on ashley martin. yn’s bottom lip juts forward for a second before she bites down on it, hard. ashley’s here alone, she’s in a pretty dress. she’s visibly glowing. yn bites harder on her lip as she feels jealous. she feels like she needs to throw up.
she turns back to richie, he’s mesmerized. who wouldn't be. he snaps out of it when ashley throws him a smile. “hey, you have another turn. i’llberightback–” he doesn't spare yn a glance, and he’s gone.
she’s left wide-eyed and embarrassed, distracted, the same ping pong ball from earlier lands in one of her cups, and marcia squeals. yn reaches for it but is stopped by fingers holding her hand back. “don’t fucking drink that. let’s go.” eddie grimaces and leads her away from the make-shift beer pong table. a “hey!” and a “sore loser!” going into her ear and coming out the other as she follows eddie out the house onto the lawn.
“you have to talk some sense into richie.”
“what? about what?” eddie pulls a face. “i don’t have the energy for this right now. i just walked past richie and ashley talking. don’t know what the last reason they broke up was or even how they resolved it and sure ashley’s great and all but she’s fucking crazy and i can’t handle another meltdown from richie when she breaks up with him for the fucking twelfth time.” it’s silent for a second before eddie speaks again. “that’s why you guys are weird right now, right?”
yn turns her head to the side, thinking before taking a seat on the couch that had been drunkenly pulled onto the lawn by god knows who. “he came in through my window at like three in the morning and looked like he was about to punch a wall down. he didn't say anything though.”
“bingo.” eddie rolls his eyes and falls back onto the couch next to yn. “just try and if he tells you to fuck off you can say i told you so; next time he throws a tantrum. i would do it but i can’t deal with him right now and my mom also needs me home like yesterday. i am so fucking dead and grounded. i can’t drive you and ben to the quarry tomorrow. sorry, hope you still get to do your nerdy watercolor shit.”
yn feels a crease in her eyebrow as she struggles to keep up with what eddie’s rambling on about. “it’s good. i’ll get a ride with stan or something— speak of the devil.”
“no fucking way— after the way you trashed my car last time? i’ll think about it though because i know it was mostly bev and not you.” stan says nonchalantly, he doesn't stop walking to greet yn, his main goal right now to get beverly into the car. “i was super stoned, that doesn't count.” beverly slurs, hand gripped in stanley’s. not in a romantic way but almost a forceful one. “i need to get her home before she starts whatever she was trying to start over there.” stan stops to explain before walking, purpose in his strides, once more.
“gotta go, he’s my ride.” eddie says before jogging to catch up with the pair. a “see you!” and drunken “byyyee!” reverberating around the lawn from her friends.
“talk to rich!” is the last thing eddie booms before they take a turn outside of the lawn and disappear from yn’s eyesight. yn can imagine stan’s low reply of ‘talk to rich about what?’ that would send eddie into a spiral.
it had been about five minutes before a hand was placed on yn’s shoulder. she didn’t believe in god but if he was real he’d be laughing down at her right about now. “hey, sorry i ditched, what’ve you been up to?” it’s richie, he steps over the back of the couch and drops down next to yn. he’s using a twizzler as a straw (something bill showed him) as he sips on the odd purple liquid in his drink.
“not much. you just missed stan, bev and eds, actually.” “oooh— no shit.” richie smirks as he runs his fingers across the brown couch, falling against it with a soft twirl. richie’s hair is in his flushed face as he turns to face her. “how much did you have to drink after beer pong?” yn cross-examined the boy‘s face.
richie puffs his cheeks out before jokingly darting his eyes around. “i’m not sure… about to have a lot more though.” he grins before nodding his head towards something behind the couch with a raised brow. yn straightens her back to look at what her friend was motioning at. she feels her heart drop to her ass as her eyes land on ashley.
she clears her throat before turning back. “you’re back with ashley?“ “oh yeah.” he says lamely, running his tongue across the inside of his cheek. “i can’t believe you.” she sighs, shifting in her seat while she brings her converse clad feet onto the couch— the only thing separating her knees and chest being her crossed arms.
“ynn, don’t be like that.” he weakly drawls out. “rich, what’s wrong with you? you were sobbing cause of her yesterday.” she raises her fingers to her forehead as she smooths out the crease in between her brows. “it wasn’t like that. that was a misunderstanding.”
she needs him to stop thinking with his dick— god, richie needs a good slap in the face. “was it, really? even eddie’s fed up with you and ashley.”
“you and eds are talking shit about my love life?”
“what love life.”
richie scoffs dramatically before letting a laugh slip. “jeez, yn. tell me how you really feel.” drunk richie would never let that comment slide, she thinks. does she need to make the first move? is that it?
god, this is so cliche. now she’s going to lean in and after, he’s going to admit his undying love for her.
“i just care about you a lot— ok?”
“ok.” he smiled clumsily and his eyes glisten. “i care about you too.” the warmth in his cheeks are still prominent but now yn can clearly see the sharp points of his face highlighted by the moonlight. his cheekbones, nose, jawline, and just above his eyebrows all luminous.
she feels a lump form in her throat at that detail. so she waits. waits for the lump to disappear and waits for richie to say something snarky— he doesn’t.
then, she kisses him. richie’s rigid and it’s awkward, and when she pulls away he doesn't look into her eyes. she’s on fire and her breaths are shallow.
africa by toto starts playing through the speakers for the second time that night when she finally decides to speak. “holy shit–” all she can do is swear at herself over and over in her head as she tries to come up with an apology.
this isn’t the cliche first kiss with richie that she had hoped for. this isn’t the richie she had romanticized in her head.
“rich... are you ready to go?” it’s ashley again, purse under her arm and car keys in her hand, she puts the other hand on richie’s shoulder. “um,” he glances at yn before pausing and gets up from his seat next to her. his cheeks are no longer red and his carefree nature is gone. “yeah.” richie’s already stumbling towards ashley’s car and yn’s heart splits.
ashley greets yn with a wave and bright smile before catching up to richie— just like that, she’s left alone for the second time that night.
yn and richie don’t speak again that night, but she receives a call the day after. (in which she apologized for the kiss while he laughed it off.) on good terms again, richie would still inevitably use yn as a safe haven but, inescapably, she would always find herself alone at the end of the night, and the night after that, and the one after that.
requests are open!
For these people!
- wayne mccullough ( main )
- stefan butler ( main )
- otis milburn ( main )
- colin ritman
- any asa butterfield character
- peter parker
- richie tozier
- + all the losers
- gilbert blythe
- wade watts
- anyone from stranger things
- i’ll add onto the list when i’m not half asleep
Watched IT chapter one the other day and all I keep thinking about is this AU idea called “let’s make a deal” where Bill protects Georgie by making a deal with Pennywise telling him that he’ll bring him only the terrible people in Derry to which Pennywise agrees. He enlists the help of his friends and they agree to do this in order to keep the kids of Derry safe (and to get rid of the bullies and Bevs shitty dad). Maybe some bonding occurs between Pennywise and the kids? Maybe he sees them as his kids or little siblings and starts to genuinely want to protect them since no one’s ever given him anything or treated him kindly before?
Pennywise: I know your secret~
Richie: Wait how do you know I’m gay?
Pennywise: Ya know how I can smell fear?
Richie: Yeah…and?
Pennywise: I can smell your fruitiness from a mile away!
Richie:
Pennywise:
Richie: I’m gonna kill this fucking clown
if i was the director of it i would 100% play dirty little secret by the all american rejects very faintly while richie is driving away from the kissing bridge
ITS👏NOT👏A👏FIX👏IT👏AU👏IF👏STAN👏IS👏DEAD👏
brief summary of the jade of orient scene
losers: remember pennywise and start having a go at mike for bringing them to derry
ben: ʰᵉʸ ˡᵉᵗ ʰᶦᵐ ᵉˣᵖˡᵃᶦⁿ
also why is everyone only talking about stan and eddie during the paddle ball scene thingy but no ones talking about bens little “ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʷᵃˢ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰʳᵉᵉ ᵈᵒˡˡᵃʳˢ ˢᵒ ᵇᵉ ᶜᵃʳᵉᶠᵘˡ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ”
Ranking the Losers Club Member’s Family Dynamics
(this focuses primarily on the book content, but there are heavy mentions of both the miniseries and reboot movies)
((DISCLAIMER: this is not in any way meant to compare any of their separate traumas that they’ve endured, I only mean to judge their parents and essentially create an analysis of my theoretical reasoning as to why each of them relies on the club. also to point out the inaccuracies of fanfic authors. thx))
Least to Most Healthy
7. Obviously in dead last is Beverly Marsh. While I see nothing with single-parent households or single dads raising their daughters alone, this does not apply to the way Alvin Marsh treats his daughter. And in this case, Beverly’s mother Elfrida not being in the picture has a negative and traumatic toll on the way Beverly’s childhood plays out. The 1986 book version has Alvin abusing Beverly while her mother is out working, making Elfrida neglectful but in proximity to Beverly’s pain. In the movie, Alvin’s resentment of Beverly stems from him blaming her for Elfrida’s death and his projection of his late wife onto Beverly is both disgusting and abusive. This toxic dynamic ends up negatively affecting a good portion of her life by stunting her emotional and mental development as it comes to understanding how healthy relationships work. As a child, she doesn’t have a single female friend (which is not bad) because of her class and her rumored promiscuity. Even upon meeting her new found family consisting of the Loser’s Club, she is unable to recognize healthy and innocent romantic relationship cues from Ben, who unabashedly admires and respects her. As an adult, she is forced to endure several toxic relationships because she has always related abuse and negligence to love. Fortunately for Beverly, Alvin ends up dying and she and Ben end up creating a new family.
6. Eddie Kaspbrak earns the 6th spot on this list. A lot like Beverly, his single-parent household is a large factor as to why his family dynamic is so toxic and unhealthy. His father’s death causes his mother Sonia to spiral and take a deep mental plunge that she drags Eddie into. Because of this, Eddie becomes a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a disorder that his mother has. Essentially, she shifts herself into the role of caregiver by imposing psychosomatic illnesses onto Eddie just so he’d stay with her. Sonia’s disorder causes her to exhibit all of the classic and well-known tactics used by abusers, such as isolating Eddie from his friends and gaslighting him about his supposed illnesses. Though he does end up eventually standing up to her, and standing up for his friends, Sonia’s treatment of Eddie impacts him well into his adult life. He ends up marrying a woman named Myra for the sole reason that she is like his mother, although he harbors no love for her. Both Myra and Sonia are visually identical, though the similarities do not end there. Like his mother, Myra is manipulative and over worries herself over Eddie’s health. He even goes so far as to call her “Mommy” on accident. Eddie clearly has deep-seated issues regarding his mother that he unfortunately never got to work through.
5. This member may be a more controversial analysis as we don’t get much interaction between him and his parents, and his character background doesn’t involve his parents. In any case, Stanley Uris is the last of the tail end of the worst family dynamic. It can be argued that a large part of what makes Stanley himself is the fact that he holds himself to high standards, I disagree. As we see in the book, the miniseries, and the movies, Stan is a logical, rational, skeptical young man who takes the longest to accept that It is an actual threat. The movies definitely do not take much liberty in deepening the characters’ relationships with their parents, besides them being largely neglectful, but Stan’s parents are seen and mentioned to a degree more than the other Losers. In my opinion, this was a good thing because it adds layers to Stan’s character and why he acts the way he does. His father is strict and unrelenting when it comes to the way Stan practices their religion, even going as so far to imply that Stan is incompetent for not being able to properly read from the Torah. In a way, it is almost understandable as to why Stanley’s father pressures him so much, as I doubt that Derry in the 60′s-80′s was very accepting of the Jewish religion. As presumably the only Rabbi to a small and close knit congregation in a small minded town full of prejudice, Stanley’s father had much to lose in terms of respect and status, which of course does not excuse mistreating his own child. This mistreatment negatively affects Stanley as he develops into having unhealthy standards for himself. His is an obsessive perfectionist, logical to the point of being obnoxious, and deep inside himself, a coward. Stand devolves into a mindset that if he isn’t perfect, he shouldn’t try at all. This is displayed when he kills himself as an adult. He is so afraid of being afraid, of potentially letting his friends down that he doesn’t want to live with the consequences if he were to fail them. I really do wish I was able to talk to these kids.
4. Smack in the middle of the list is our favorite Stuttering Bill Denbrough. He gets middle place because of how inconsistent his parents’ involvement in his life was. It was said that before Georgie died, they were all a happy and loving family, which would’ve given him a higher place on this list if not for obvious reasons. After Georgie’s death, his parents are suddenly cold and withdrawn, hardly noticing if he’s around. This causes Bill to draw the conclusion that his parents also blame him for Georgie’s death. Coupled with the guilt he is already struggling to deal with, his parents benign neglect pushes Bill into being unable to properly grieve Georgie and sets him on a destructive path of vengence. A large part of the reason why Bill wants to kill it so badly (besides Georgie) is that he hopes that killing Georgie’s murderer will make his parents pay attention to and love him openly again. This neglect continues well after It’s initial demise at the hands of the Loser’s Club, until Mr. and Mrs. Denbrough, along with Bill, forget about the horrific circumstances surrounding Georgie’s murder. While I don’t think their treatment of Bill affects him much in the long run, it is important to note that Bill doesn’t fully repair his relationship with either of his parents before their deaths.
3. Halfway done and only two to go, Ben Hanscom makes it into the top three of this overly long and detailed ranking. There’s not much to say about his relationship with his family, which is honestly a good thing considering the rest of this list so far. Though Ben never really got to know his father, he greatly admired him and held his father to high standards. Ben is shown to love his mother very much, a feeling she reciprocates, but he does hold a light resentment towards her for forcing him to move to Derry against his wishes. Upon meeting Beverly and becoming a part of the Loser’s Club, he quickly forgets his aggravation towards his mother and aunt for coddling his bratty cousin and forcing him to live in Derry. As an adult, though largely successful and more confident in his looks due to losing the weight that made him a target for bullies, Ben is notably lonely. I feel like Ben’s relationship with his mother instilled an internal desire for Ben to have a family of his own, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Just something I noticed.
2. Mike Hanlon is a close second, as he has a pretty healthy relationship with his family. In the book, he lives with his mother and father, along with his aunt, uncle and grandfather. He lives next door to Henry Bowers and his father, which is a large point of contrition between the two as Henry’s father regularly hurled racial insults and long-winded rants of his hatred toward Will Hanlon. This influenced Henry into hating Mike the same way, even going so far as so kill Mike’s dog with rat poison. Due to this bullying, Mike’s family opted to send him to their fellowship’s church school, as Mike was the only African American boy in Derry. This unintended isolation made Mike lonely, though he loved his family dearly. In the miniseries, we do not see Mike interact with anyone outside of the Losers Club and the Bowers Gang. In the movies, Mike witnessed his parents die in a fire when he was young, which traumatized him. He and his grandfather do not get along so well, as Mike’s grandfather feels like Mike should be learning how to make harder decisions and “be a man” like Will was. As an adult, Mike chooses to stay in Derry even after all of his friends leave because he feels a responsibility to both his friends and to the children of Derry that suffered because of Pennywise.
1. I’m sure it surprised a great many people, but yes, Richie most definitely had the healthiest family dynamic. Wentworth and Maggie Tozier were loving and attentive parents who dotted on and supported Richie considerably. This was actually noticeably strange behavior as almost none of the parents in Derry were super into their kids’ happiness and health. Wentworth enthusiastically joined in when Richie did his voices and while Maggie didn’t fully get Richie’s hyperfixation with doing voices, she made every effort to understand and support him. This could potentially explain why Richie held such a laidback point of view of Pennywise and didn’t take the threat as seriously as he should have. Unlike most of the Losers Club, Richie had loving parents who had a steady and constant flow of income. Sure, he was bullied for having glasses and buck teeth, but Richie rationalized and saw the upside to what others saw as flaws. While he did need and love and want to be apart of the Losers Club, he didn’t see it as an escape or an outlet like the other kids did. As an adult, Richie’s nonchalance about Pennywise’s return could factor into false bravado as well as the realization that his life isn’t affected by Pennywise anymore regardless.