neverwasreddie

[neverwasreddie]

y’all are gonna kill me with this slow burn long fic huh

[neverwasreddie]

obsessed with characters being saved against their will. being knocked unconscious and carried away from a danger they won't stop trying to fight. being shoved through a portal somewhere far away and safe right before it closes. trying to self-sacrifice only to have the exact person they're trying to save swap their places at the last second. getting the only cure to the disease or curse bc the person administering it loves them too much to give it to anyone else, including themselves. being thrown to safety right as they had accepted dying. someone else they thought had gotten to safety running back to drag them out of danger. it's so fucking tasty

[neverwasreddie]

“So, you know, I broke an engagement to be here.”

Eddie’s head snaps up and away from the dilapidated Derry sidewalk he’d been staring at to avoid tripping on a crack and losing a tooth in this godforsaken town.

When he looks up, though, Richie is staring straight forward next to him, hands shoved deep into his pockets and shoulders hunched up toward his ears. If it hadn’t been for the subtle red flush high up on his cheeks, Eddie would’ve assumed he had imagined hearing him speak.

But he knows Richie definitely said that out loud for a reason, so he nudges their elbows together and says, “Yeah, I know, it was all over Twitter. Comedian Rich Tozier Bombs Onstage, Cancels Remaining Shows in Vegas.”

“Can’t believe Eddie Kaspbrak is a Twitter fiend,” Richie smirks before dropping his own gaze to the sidewalk.

Suddenly he’s shaking his head, a sharp, jerky motion Eddie remembers from high school.

“Not that kind of engagement, Eds. A marriage one. A proposal. You know — I was engaged. Never got married, that part really was a joke. But I was engaged to this girl. For, like, seven years.”

“Jesus.” Eddie stares at him openly, but he can’t see anything in the face of this man — this stranger’s face on the soul of his best friend. “You always jumped headfirst into Step One of a plan, but never seemed to make it to Step Two. Isn’t that right? Is that what happened here?”

Richie’s mouth turns up on one side, the way he always seemed please whenever Eddie would rib him for something back in the day. But he shrugs one shoulder, too, like he’s taking the question seriously and yet coming up short of a clear response.

“Something always held me back from the actual marriage part,” he admits, kicking at an acorn in his path. “We’d start looking at venues, talk about DJs or live bands, but…something always stopped me before we could make any concrete plans.”

His stride lengthens, just for a second, damn those long legs of his, and Eddie has to scurry to catch up to him and hear what he says next:

“Just always felt like something was missing, until Mike called and the memories started coming back. That’s when I ended things with her for good.”

Eddie’s heart trips for a beat or two, and he tries to shove that strange reaction down and give this conversation with Richie his full attention — he can consider his traitorous body and its weird impulses later.

“Something in you must’ve remembered us, even subconsciously,” he muses, “and you knew it wouldn’t be right to have a wedding without the Losers there.”

He thinks he hears something like a chuckle from Richie, and he can’t imagine why, but sure enough, there’s a smile guarding Richie’s words when he half-turns his face toward Eddie to speak again.

“Think you’re right, Spaghetti. I just couldn’t go through with a wedding without you.”

[neverwasreddie]

Argyle’s completely different from Eddie in some ways, sure. He’s slow and mellow while Eddie is zippy, bombastic; he’s quick with a smile even when he’s annoyed, whereas Eddie is more likely to flick a piece of pizza crust in someone’s direction or snap a pencil in half at the slightest provocation. 

But somehow they really work together in a way that eases the knot in Eddie’s stomach. They make each other laugh. They rib each other about the music they listen to and don’t listen to (“Spare me, dude, I’ll give you the Wailers but get fucked if you think I’m listening to ‘Red Red Wine' – ”), and they’re both weirdly open about speaking about their status as outsiders. 

(“Jonathan doesn’t seem to believe me when I say, like, he’s basically my only friend,” Argyle admits at one point, leaning over to feed Eddie his crust while Eddie, gremlin that he is, lies on the ground, legs flung over the couch. “I don’t care that he thinks I’m cool, but like, I’m objectively a weird dude, you know? I’m fine with it, but, like, he’s gotta stop thinking I’m just being modest or something. I didn’t leave my life behind to follow him out here – like, he’s the best part of my life.”) 

Where the Ragged People Go: Chapter 2 ("In the Company of Strangers") is up!

[neverwasreddie]

I’ve definitely said “the promise” by when in rome is a reddie song right bc like

[neverwasreddie]

nobody is more delusional than reddie fans. somehow, the ENTIRE fandom decided that eddie kaspbrak is alive and well, despite the fact that his death was written in the novel almost 40 years ago, and i hardly ever see reddie content/it content awknoleging that eddie is dead. we all just pretend that never happened.

[neverwasreddie]

Eddie has a specific list of animated movies for when he's down. During his recovery, he asks Richie to play them for him on his phone. For weeks they watch through Eddie's favourites and on their second cycle, Richie notices that he's done voicework for all of those movies.

Eddie does a hazy little smile every time Richie's characters pop up for the first time. And because of how loopy the meds make him from time to time, he even tells Richie about how the aforementioned characters are his favourite for some reason.

Richie cries a little bit when Eddie turns back to the screen because he realises that he found a way to be there for Eddie even when they all forgot.

[neverwasreddie]

Richie Tozier would LOVE grocery shopping with his mum , I know just the moment he hears Maggie say “I’m going to the store” BRO IS RUNNING TO GET HIS SHOES ON 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ . I also know he’d just complain about the prices constantly like “$5 ?!?!? FOR HOTDOG BUNS ?!?” anyways I love him

[neverwasreddie]

Where the Ragged People Go

Still — he can’t help but admit the two are blood bound now. Literally and figuratively. Stevie boy had been the one to carry Eddie’s sorry ass out of hell, already half bat food and halfway dead.

Then, the martyring son of a bitch had gone and donated blood to Eddie in the hospital, so, like, that’s a thing Eddie’s gotta live with now. Like every time he sees Steve, his heart beats faster on purpose as a reminder of whose blood is pumping through his veins.

Like he said — laughable. All of this would be laughable, if it wasn’t so close to making him cry.

***

“Where the Ragged People Go” - chapter 1 is now posted on AO3! 

[neverwasreddie]

Richie admits this as though it were a joke but he absolutely fucking loves Who Framed Roger Rabbit so much completely unironically and he fucking loves that the main detective is called Eddie.

Eddie keeps calling him Roger and Richie doesn't have the heart to make the joke that he wants to make, to jokingly call Eddie "jessie"

[neverwasreddie]

the thing about a horror author and a comedian making a podcast about their batshit childhood is that everyone thinks it’s a v creative docudrama

[neverwasreddie]

Barbie and Ken fr

[neverwasreddie]

Idk if anyone else heard about the massive amounts of spaghetti dropped off in the woods of a town in NJ not too too far from me, but my favorite podcast is covering it right now and turning it into a 7-minute long extended bit about the Italian version of Pennywise which 1. is amazing because I love when my two favorite things collide and also 2. fucking hilarious because can you even imagine the field day Richie Tozier would have if he stumbled across hundreds of pounds of dumped spaghetti in the woods

[neverwasreddie]

Domestic bliss a la reddie

[neverwasreddie]

It’s impossible for Richie to express his relief in kisses alone about how happy he is that Eddie survived. They both survived. Surely that is a sign that he shouldn’t wait anymore, no more holding his tongue. He loves Eddie Kaspbrak. About time he let it be known.

Something sweet about my favourite part of It Chapter Two where Eddie survives! If I was a better writer, I’d write a one shot of a moment like this. Although, I think this art manages to speak louder than any words I could write. <3