i haven’t watched everybody hates chris aside from some clips, but i think his upbringing was largely Worse.

the first decade of his life included domestic abuse at the hands of his father and emotional neglect at the hands of his mother. and once eileen was born, it was like a switch had flipped—but it’s like putting a fresh coat of paint over a crack in the wall. the crack is still there, you’re just covering it up.

eddie’s family just Doesn’t talk about their feelings. it’s a generational thing—especially given the time period, and how the topic of mental health is discussed in black households (trust me i have experience). so although his parents’ abuse came as a result of their own traumas, they never communicated this to eddie or apologized. they only got “better”, so it was assumed that an apology wasn’t necessary. i want to ensure that eddie’s parents aren’t one-dimensional abusive parents, but also not completely blameless.

eddie stuck around largely because he felt like he had no other choice. boys like him didn’t run away from their families—and his life wasn’t insufferable, so it felt as if he didn’t have a reason to. his first kill essentially forced his hand in that regard.

i will say, though, that eddie does care for his family. he doesn’t want to kill them or see them get hurt. but that care is wrapped up in a life’s worth of disappointment and questions like “why couldn’t they love me more? what was so wrong with me? did they ever love me at all?”. there’s a hole in him that cannot be filled. he loves his parents in a very primal way, the way a young kitten loves and needs its mother. it’s an instinct rather than something built from mutual respect and understanding.

(this ain’t to say he doesn’t resent them though, trust. he does a Lot of Resenting)

i hope this answers your question!!!

hmm, well that depends on multiple different factors. are they killers in this au? does it take place in modern time?

if the answers are no and yes, then i could see them doing ivf if they had access to the funds—they’d probably use one of eddie’s eggs and implant it into thomas’ uterus (i just see Him wanting to Carry the Baby ok. he’s Mother)

i don’t want to portray adoption as a “last resort”, especially since thomas himself was adopted, but i do believe that they would primarily want a child with either of their blood. this would be easier to do in a genderbend au lowk

you hit the nail on the head here anon!! i think thomas is a deeply, deeply envious person, so he’s only ever really viewed the world through his own jealousy. when you have self-esteem that low, it’s hard for you to imagine yourself “above” anyone else—or having anything worthy of being jealous of. so when eddie is lowk jealous of thomas giving his victims his “attention”, it’s strange. not only does eddie want him, but that want runs so deep that eddie envies those thomas kills and wears purely because they get to remain close to him after death. it’s a fucked-up kind of jealousy beyond the usual “some guy flirted with my crush” type of thing.

a significant portion of ch7 will focus on thomas and eddie’s differences in their ability to accept their own queerness. eddie’s life up until this point has been radically different from thomas’, and as a result, his relationship with his sexuality is less affected by that southern, religious guilt thomas holds. oughgh i’m so excited to finish this chapter!