Really Underrated And Powerful Part Of Richie’s Character Is This Excerpt From The Book:

really underrated and powerful part of Richie’s character is this excerpt from the book:

“…he saw a boy who wore glasses, a thin boy with a pale face that had somehow seemed to scream ‘Hit me! Go on and hit me!’ in some mysterious way to every passing bully. ‘Here’s my lips! Mash them back against my teeth! Here’s my nose! Bloody it for sure and break it if you can! Box an ear so it swells up like a cauliflower! Split an eyebrow! Here’s my chin, go for the knockout button! Here are my eyes, so blue and so magnified behind these hateful, hateful glasses, these horn-rimmed specs on bow of which is held on with adhesive tape. Break the specs! Drive a shard of glass into one of these eyes and close it forever! What the hell!’“

i dont know why but it just hits me its so… powerful? like he just sort of, hates himself and hates how he cant keep his mouth shut? thats the vibes im getting here - and how he almost blames himself for everything and thinks he deserves to be punished for just, being himself.

this excerpt coupled with:

“He was vaguely aware that he was doing one of his Voices - not a strange and outrageous one, like those he sometimes did on the radio, but a warm, rich, confident Voice. An I’m-All-Right Voice. It sounded great, but it was a lie. Just like all the other Voices were lies.”

and:

“Now he had to go back to being himself, and that was hard - it got harder to do that every year. It was easier to be brave when you were someone else”

just wow it really says a lot about Richie