i started reading the newest chapter of the redemption of richie tozier and i have to finish it later bc i full on fucking sobbed at the part where richie is telling eddie about his past suicide attempts and need a break lol. it hit really close to home as someone who has survived suicide attempts and has lost someone to suicide. thank you for writing about suicide and mental illness in such a realistic and open way. it means so much to me.
hi honey. take as much time away from it as you need! i am very fortunate to have never lost anyone to suicide, but most of my friends have survived attempts, and richie’s own are a parallel to mine at the same ages. i thought it was a normal thing everyone wanted to do back then (as he told stan when stan told him he also felt that way) because growing up as a kid in the 90s, we didn’t have any mental health awareness at all, and i wanted it to be as realistic as possible without going into the Details. i didn’t think i could write his attempt(s) without triggering myself, but i wanted him to be able to talk about it; and then realized there’s no chance he’d ever be comfortable discussing it with anyone who could remember the conversation. it all fell into place in this chapter, and that’s why it took so long for me to write – it was incredibly difficult and there were several rewrites trying to get it right. i wanted everything to be as realistic as i could manage, from how richie relayed it to eddie’s drunken reactions. i’m so glad it meant something to you. if you ever need to talk, i’m here and i understand. much love darling 💕💕
