I Listened To Deviser This Week, Which Is A Sci-fi Horror Podcast About What Happens When Bad Literary

'He looks like Brad Pitt's sexy uncle!' 😭 JOHN PLEASE

For those of you not watching along at home, Steve Harrington actually did not bite the head off of a demobat. I know Eddie references Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off a bat when he's talking about what Steve did, but Steve didn't do that. The bats were too large for him to have done that.

What Steve DID do was sink his teeth into the long, serrated tail a demobat had around his neck, causing it to release him from its stranglehold as it tries to escape him. What he DID do is grab it by that serrated tail - because he's not trapped in upside down with them, they're trapped in here with him - and swing it in an arc to bash its head against the ground 3 times before he stepped on one side of it and pulled on its tail until he fully just ripped the thing in half.

Then he spat the blood from the tail out of his mouth and looked around for the next one.

It goes far beyond biting a monster's head off. He fuckin' obliterated it. With his literally bare hands and feet, he was not even wearing shoes. Or a shirt. I feel like it's important we all understand he wasn't even feral enough for head biting. He was just fed up with being fed on, and was not going to take any chances.

"Bad news first, Eddie," Steve sighs as he leans back on his heels, cleaner in one hand and a rag in the other. "They vandalized your headstone again. Good news, I beat Wayne out here so he won't be seeing it."

It's been over a year since they'd had to leave Eddie behind. He'd been cleared of the murders. That had been the easy part, since the Upside Down had exploded out into the Rightside Up. When Vecna started killing people it had been pretty easy for people to realize Eddie was just another victim.

Or so Steve had thought.

Eleven saved them all, the people of Hawkins knew the truth, yet Steve still found graffiti on Eddie's grave.

Eddie's grave is empty, because Eddie's body hadn't been recovered. Too much had happened, no time to mount an expedition to retrieve it, and the gates were closed. Another regret Steve lives with.

Like not taking Eddie's face between his hands and looking him dead in the eye when he told them not to be heroes.

Late at night, Steve sometimes imagines he did just that. Looked him dead in the eyes and says "there is no shame in running, in living to see another day. Don't be a hero because I need you to be okay tomorrow."

Robin says it's not good for his mental health, these what if scenarios, but so what?

Steve isn't sure what started it but coming out here to talk to Eddie seemed to help him clear his thoughts. He'd always start with the bad news, Eddie's voice in the back of his mind. Bad news first, always.

The first time Wayne had caught him out here, Wayne that he was vandalizing. Had scared him half to death being yanked back violently by his upper arm. It didn't take Wayne long for his eyes to process that Steve wasn't holding a spray can.

"You know my boy?" Wayne always spoke on the present tense about Eddie.

"Not as well as I would have liked, sir," Steve swallowed thickly. It was the start of a friendship, of sorts. Wayne seemed happy to have someone to tell stories about Eddie to, and Steve was happy to learn about Eddie.

Months pass and Steve goes every week.

"Bad news. The new guitarist is mediocre at best. Good news. Corroded Coffin lives on and they finally got a new guitarist."

"Bad news. Robin will not shut up about Vickie. Good news. Robin got that date she wanted."

"Bad news. Wayne had an accident at the plant. Good news, he's okay. I think... this might be weird for you but I've convinced him to move in, at least until he's healed fully so he's not alone. He's staying in the downstairs guest room. Not that you know where that is. You've never even been to my house... bad news, you've never been to my house. Good news, I really wish you had."

So it goes. Wayne Munson moves in and never moves out. Steve's parents call once, to ask if he wants the house. Steve says yes.

Shortly after, Robin takes a room upstairs. Says she gonna take a year off school before college. The Party moves their dnd games to Steve's giant dining room table. His house is always full but part of Steve feels empty.

"B-bad news," Steve forces the words out around the lump in his throat, "I found out too late. Good news, I'm bisexuality. Bad news, good news? I don't know man, the news is I could have loved you. I think I do, but that's the you Wayne and the kids tell me about, so who is to say really."

So it goes.

"Bad news. They're seniors this year, Eds. Seniors! Robin going away to college was bad enough. I don't know if I'll even know how to function when they do. 'Cause they're gonna, you know? They're smart. Too smart to stay in this town," Steve is crying, can feel the tears falling, but doesn't stop them. "I know I should go, too. Somewhere else. Anywhere else. But I can't leave. Wayne's here. You're here. And if I go, who will look after either of you?"

"Bad news. College acceptance letters have come in. They're not even graduated yet. This should be good news, but, heh, friends don't lie."

"Bad news, Eds. I can't remember your voice. I didn't think.... I feel like I remember it but I can't hear it. I want to hear it. I-i need-" Steve doesn't know what he needs, doesn't know how to end that sentence so he just sobs, fingers burying themselves into the dirty of an empty grave.

Wayne gets a phone call one day and says he's gotta go back to Tennessee. Eddie's father -that rocks Steve because while he knows Wayne was Eddie's uncle, he never connected that a father was somewhere out there- Eddie's father, Wayne's younger brother, needs him.

Steve drives Wayne to the airport in Indianapolis. Wayne promises he'll return but Steve won't hold him to that. This is family, and as much as Steve pretends, he isn't Wayne's nephew. It's Wayne's family.

As Wayne disappears onto his flight, Steve is left hollow. There's no one left in Hawkins that needs him.

"Bad news, Eds. I think I'm a danger to myself. I keep having these thoughts... like how easy it would be to drive my car into the quarry. Or just skip into the pool and take a deep breath. I don't know who I am, or how to be me, without someone needing me."

Wayne calls and tells him he's coming home. Bringing a guest if that's ok. Steve says okay because he needs to meet the man who taught Eddie how to hot wire a car but not play catch. Also, he hopes to hear Eddie in his voice when they speak.

"Bad news, Eds. I'm too much of a coward to meet your old man. Afraid of what he'll sound like. Because I want him to sound like you so fucking bad it hurts. So instead of being home, I'm hiding here."

And then, a miracle happens.

"Well, I've some bad news for you, too, Stevie. I got my voice from my mom."

jfksdaljfklsd noel going "he's not talkin to us" when the butcher is confused by arthur responding to john is so funny

“Do you know what it’s like to be named for the dead?” James asks his father in the middle of one of many arguments. “Do I remind you of a man we’ve never met? Am I in honor of someone you watched die? Because I don’t want it.” When James Sirius Potter looks at himself in the mirror, he sees a mess of reddish brown curls and slightly askew glasses and freckles everywhere. He sees hands that climb trees and grip tightly to broomsticks. He sees his mother’s smile and hears his father’s voice. Because James seems like the thick goofball of the family, but he reads history book after history book, wishing to never repeat the sins of their fathers. If he saw any of James Potter he wouldn’t recognize him at all, and maybe, he fears, that’s where he falls short.

“Do you know what it’s like to be named for the dead,” Albus says one day to Rose as they sit by the Great Lake. “Names of men who I think aren’t the heroes I’ve been told about. Men I’m told are brave but seem just as bad as the rest.” Albus Severus Potter loves being called Al and having his hair ruffled by his friends. He loves sitting on high ledges and looking out at the vast sky and thinking about what is on the other side of the earth. Albus Potter sticks his nose in old books and keeps to himself and has no desire for greatness in any form. He doesn’t want to lead a war or be a spy. He wants to be Al and bake with his grandmother on Sundays and give his sister piggyback rides. And, most days, that feels like admitting failure. 

“Do you know what it’s like to be named for the dead,” Lily shouts one day with tears in her eyes. “I’m not her, I’m not her, I’m not her,” she repeats over and over again. Because Lily Luna Potter is a Slytherin and brutal and fierce and full of fire and made of stone. She is not soft and kind - she is not the woman who saved her child from death. Because she can be selfish and harsh and unforgiving. She spends her mornings running through the icy, frozen woods and her nights leaning over windowsills because the rush is just right.  Lily Potter will fight to the death, but for no one but herself. And does that make her somehow distorted, she wonders as she flips through photo after photo of a young woman with pretty eyes she doesn’t have and gentle hands that she will never understand. 

“Do you know what it’s like to be named for the dead?” Fred chokes through sobs as he rushes past his mother. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to be named for someone who haunts us every day and every night? Can you imagine being named for someone you can never look like because of your skin?” Because Fred Weasley ties up his wild dark hair into a thick ponytail when it’s time to play Quidditch and sees deep brown eyes when he looks at his reflection. Because Fred is dark skinned like his mother and will never look like his namesake, and is he resented for that? Is it worse to look like the brother that his father lost or to not resemble someone he loved at all? Because, most days, Fred is already different than the rest of his cousins and friends. Fred loves to laugh and play the highest caliber of pranks, because Fred is a Weasley…but that is something that no one can physically see, and that’s what’s the most terrifying. 

“I know what it’s like to be named for the dead,” Teddy tells them all at some point, his hands on their shoulders or pulling them into a tight hug. “I know what it’s like to remind the person you love of all who they’ve lost. How much it hurts.” Because Teddy Lupin is named for a man who was killed alone and frightened in the woods over twenty years ago. He is his mother when he decides he likes the color pink and his father when his eyes morph into an almond amber. Because he is an orphan and no different from Harry…and he can understand how their father feels, because he wishes to honor those who died for him, too. Because he knows he is nothing like Ted Tonks, and yet his name carries a piece of his grandfather with him and that’s why Grandmother can only call him “Teddy,” otherwise she’d burst into tears. Because Teddy Lupin lives in between Harry and George and their children - born into war and only knowing peace. And so Teddy understands exactly what it is to be named for the dead, and knows exactly why it is so important to do so. 

And even as he tries to tell them all this, he feels hot tears running down his cheeks and wonders to his parents, who have never been there, “Do you know what it is to be named for the dead?” 

Yes! yes to all of this!

Percy is such a complicated character and such a good one andi find a lot of people dont understand that because in fandom he is mostly relegated to 'the annoying one'.

I don't understand how people can love and idolize the twins when all their page-time is of them playing cruel jokes and being basically the same person duplicated,

AND THEY ALMOST MURDERD GRAHAM MONTAGUE BY PUSHING HIM IN THE BROKEN VANISHING CABINET BC HE WAS GOING TO TAKE POINTS AND LAUGHING ABOUT IT WHEN HE REAPPEARED 4 MONTHS LATER CATATONIC AND TRAUMATIZED FOR BEING STUCK IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE AND HAVING TO APPARATE HIMSELF WITHOUT TRAINING OUT OF IT. He splinched himself and got lodged in a toilet because at that point he was brain damaged and you shouldn't be able to apparate within hogwarts He barely survived. He was unresponsive for months. And the twins never show remorse or turn themselves in for near-manslaughter or do anything but laugh.

Against that what has Percy done? This boy became Junior undersecretary to the minister at 18 and left because his family never tried to understand or even like him. He was young and disrespected and left. Wouldn't you do the same?

Percy rant because this blog needs more posts

Listen, Percy Weasley is a member of the Weasley family so as much as you dislike him atleast respect the fact that Percy exists because if you don't that is just insulting to the character to pretend he doesnt exist.

And if you do that you're as bad as the movies where Charlie wasn't there.

Next-

I think I resent the twins a little is because there is absolutely no character development shown. Apart from Gryffindor traits(brave, courageous, etc) and being funny, the twins wouldn't exist.

Notice how I say twins because there is absolutely no difference highlighted between them. They're both same or similar. All these differences are headcanons by fans. That's not what pisses me off the most.

The fact that there is no remorse or guilt for the pranks they play. There is no apology for sending Percy dung. No apology for catering to Ron's acronophobia. No apology for anything.

And when Percy comes back, Fred says he's a moron. Okay maybe that's brother talk but seriously?

There's no growth. They were immature when they were little and still immature at 20.

And then there's the whole leaving from school. I mean you are in your last year. All that is left are your exams but you make the reckless decision to leave immediately. After which there are no consequences of your actions. Your parents forgive you and all is well.

The twins never receive any punishment which obviously bolsters their confidence and they become more wild.

Percy is a good person and a good brother.

If someone insults you constantly and it's your own family who does so. Imagine

In your mail you receive animal dung.

You get trapped into a pyramid

You overhear your brother talking about how you're the worst person to their best friend

Your father laughs at you and doesn't show you respect.

Your father accuses you of betraying them

Your father tells you you got the promotion due to him and not from your hardwork

Your brothers take your things and ruin it constantly

Your brothers make fun of you in front of your boss

Your brothers and sister throw food at you

You have a special nickname known as git which is not used fondly

Your gf is in a coma and you overhear your brother making fun of her.

You are accused of being an accomplice to your boss's illegal work and are about to go to court for a trial and your family is not bothered.

So you're tired of the torture. You leave.

And besides your mother noone tries to contact you.

Why should Percy return?

Let me make this very clear:

HIS DAD OR ANY OF HIS SIBLINGS DID NOT TRY TO MAKE AMENDS. THEY DID NOT CARE.

They weren't even worried about him DURING A WAR?????

So when I say Percy shouldn't have to apologise first I mean it.

Another thing

People who believe Percy left his family over a promotion.

Did you not read how Arthur accused Percy of being a spy?

Did you not read how he was treated by the twins?

Did you just ignore how Ron talked about him?

Did you ignore the fact that they believed a villain supposed to be dead was alive?

The entire Magic community believed that Harry was lying?

Did you not read how everytime he talked people kept shutting him down?

Did you not read the way his Dad kept disrespecting him?

It wasn't about the job. It was about the lack of respect in the Burrow. It was about the way he was ignored. It was about the way he is made fun of for being different. It was about the fact that being quiet is wrong. It was about how being smart is wrong.

It was about how Percy didn't fit in the Burrow and noone bothered to comfort him about it.

Finally people who believe that Percy was responsible for the Chamber opening.

1 question -How ?????

How is Percy stopping Ginny from telling Harry about the diary equivalent to opening the Chamber?

People who believe this, I can't waste my time on yall. I seriously can't.

And the real ending-

People who hate that Percy is alive and Fred dead.

Listen you're allowed to have favourites. But hating someone because they lived instead of your favourite character is too much a stretch don't you think?

You can have your opinions. You can dislike Percy. All that I'm asking is that you find legitimate reasons to dislike him.

Don't hate him for surviving a war.

I'll just like to end this with:

I relate to Percy Weasley and I believe that he is one of the best complex side character written and we should appreciate him more.

anthony "acts of service" crowley forced to do words of affirmation and he looks like he's about to have a heart attack the whole time

i am thinking so so deeply about love/hope in horror right now. i am thinking so much about how horror presents the most raw of human emotion and vulnerability and presents the choice to love and heal and protect each other and hope for the future despite it all. it's so important. it's so vital to have heart and catharsis within horror.

Not platonic not romantic not queer platonic secret 4th thing (extream codependency)