last modified: 5 oct, 2023 ----------------------------------------------------------------- back at it again with one of my favorites <33 lumax was one of the only good things that came out of the finale istg :sob: here's some snippets of rants ----------------------------------------------------------------- he has done no wrong in his life and i love him. *** i love that lucas is probably the most traditionally masculine boy in the party, he likes basketball, he mows his neighbors lawns, he sees himself as a little bit of a hero, but his nerdyness has never made him insecure in his masculinity. like even in season four even as he wants to be accepted by the basketball team he still loves and wants to be a part of dnd. it could have easily been a conflict where he thought he was too dorky to play basketball or too cool to continue dnd, but he sees literally zero problem with these things coexisting, as he should. this also applies to his relationship with max. he has no problem with a girl who could be seen as more assertive or athletic than him but no, that’s part of what he likes about her. it’s literally not your business what does or does not make him a man he is just most importantly epic. *** the way ucas is established to have issues with stress and by extension anger in season 1 but in season 2, we quickly see through max that he is the type of person to switch into caretaker mode as soon as she expresses issues with her own and more easily and quickly calms himself with the goal of cheering her up. the way lucas sinclair is a caretaker by nature in the way that he is more able to take care of himself if he’s taking care of others. the way it makes me think of his relationship with will and even potential added tension at mike’s refusal to let him help on halloween night and the way lucas tends to heal himself in the process of healing others but will tends to set things down to avoid conflict. the back and forth of someone who insists on apologizing, not selfishly so much, but because it actively isn’t a chore and is healing for himself. thinking about his parents and the way he goes to them immediately for advice on conflict resolution with max. thinking about how he only ever begrudgingly apologized when max didn’t seem genuinely hurt in their relationship. thinking about lucas seeing max hurting and not letting him in even later when she did ensuring that she knew he how much he wanted to help and how he even regretted not trying harder. thinking about how he wouldn’t stop brainstorming until he realized the best and most comforting thing he could do for her against vecna was trust her. thinking about lucas, who we’ve often seen a bit tense with mike, especially surrounding will, jumping at the chance to help with something and offer advice and a place to vent. thinking about lucas' relationship with dustin, who seems pretty self-sufficient (and sassy) so ends up just as a fairly harmless source of bickering that can help blow off steam. thinking about a similar relationship between lucas and erica. thinking about the desperation required for the caretaker who cares for himself by caring for others to call for help from her. thinking about Lucas Sinclair as a caretaker. ***
(more a of a max-centric rant below lol) max taking the risk in season 2 is the reason she survived so long, and it will (hopefully) be the reason she gets saved in season 5. i love the angsty lumax scenes comparisons/parallels as the next peron, but it's not true that max getting involved led to her being in a coma in s4. i think people want an angsty lucas arc for the last season where he blames himself for everything, but i need someone to reassure him it's not because he got max involved in s2. i believe his guilt will mostly stem from him not being able to stop jason in time, letting max go through with the half-baked plan and, in general, letting max isolate in the months leading up to vecna. (which is already enough. someone needs to give him a hug in s5) max being part of the group by accepting the risk, actually saved her life in multiple ways. in s3, the chance of her dying due to billy would have been significantly higher than it actually was. billy would have gotten possessed either way. it was karen's fault, not max or the party, that he was at the wrong place at the right time. if max hadn't known about the mindflayer or el, she wouldn't have suspected anything, thus making her an easy target to get flayed as well. if she were to survive s3 on her own, vecna would have still targeted her because she felt guilty about milly dying not because she witnessed it but because she wished that something would happen to him to make the abuse she suffered from him stop. and when something did happen, she blamed herself. her complicated relationship with Billy is the reason why she got cursed. It was never because she took the risk. her issues stem from outside of the supernatural things. without lucas and her friends, she wouldn't have survived the first attack. she would have been confused like chrissy, patrick, and fred, not knowing what was going on and then dying a horrific death. taking the risk ensured her to live as long as she did because she had the opportunity to get information that were vitol for her physical well-being. but taking the risk also gave her the opportunity to live a more fulfilled life. in the beginning of s2, max was super closed off. she was scared to get close to anyone because of her brother. he was threatening to harm people if max disobeyed him (aka him trying to run the party over as a scare tatic to get her back under control after the argument). so she pushed dustin and lucas away. -t was easier and safer for everyone involved. if we take runaway max as canon, then milly actually physically harmed one of her friends, so it's understandable that max tries her hardest to stay away in the beginning. only due to lucas and dustin constant persuading and pushing she opened up a bit more. and then when lucas told her the huge secret she was suddenly a part of something so big she had to allow herself to trust others because her life was dependent on it. it gave her the opportunity to be honest and vulnerable to an outsider, which also then led her to free herself from her brother's control by the end of s2. meeting steve and the rest and seeing that someone was willing to protect her from her brother's abuse gave her the strength to set boundaries, which then allowed her to be happier and more open. she met ll and found amazing friends in the party, which she wouldn't be close otherwise. it also allowed her to have a different relationship with billy. In s3, they seemed to be more relaxed before everything went south. without getting involved, she probably would still be the closed off girl she was at the beginning of s2. she would still be under Billy's control until he died. and then she would be alone without anyone really looking out for her, which would lead to her definite death in s4. lucas saved her physically and emotionally by giving her the opportunity to take the risk. And because of that, she can still be saved in s5.
