#cembrie

Their dynamic is really interesting to me because they only spend time together near the end of the book, and by McVries telling Garraty he’s the only one Stebbins will speak to I feel like that means McVries might’ve tried to talk to him at some point during the walk.

There’s also the whole scene where him and Stebbins have their heads together and wordlessly part to let Garraty walk with them. Overall, I think that McVries found Stebbins interesting but not to the obsessive extent of Garraty, and that Stebbins wasn’t really interested in McVries until they had their forced bonding moment where Stebbins trauma dumped about his father in front of McVries while talking to Garraty.

This is SUCH a good question and hard to answer.

A sequel written by 1960s Stephen King would be so interesting because I’m endlessly fascinated by the headspace he was in back then, and I would love to know more about the world The Long Walk takes place in + the fate of Ray post-novel.

That being said, I think part of what makes The Long Walk so interesting to me is that it doesn’t necessarily need a sequel even with the cryptic ending we were given. I think not knowing what happened to Ray, or even Stebbins really, adds a lot of horror to their situation.

I would love to see Ray and Stebbins show up somewhere else and interact outside of the walk even if it’s just as a cameo. If there’s a universe where they weren’t picked as walkers, Ray might see Stebbins watching from the sidelines and find him just as fascinating as he did when he saw him in the tree.

@5gumhargreeves also asked about them, so I’ll tag her

I LOVE raybins, they’re the ship of The Long Walk(novel) to me.

Their dynamic and chemistry is so good, and you can tell there’s some complex emotions there from the very first time Ray sees Stebbins. For chapters before they speak to each other for the first time, Stebbins stays on Ray’s mind.

McVries is the one to point out that Ray is the only person Stebbins speaks to, and Stebbins even tries to give Ray advice at a few points in the story(although Ray doesn’t really pick up on this every time because Stebbins is so cryptic and has a bit of a weird way of speaking).

Their relationship is nuanced, and so are their feelings towards each other. Ray wants to know everything about Stebbins, and Stebbins wants to be known by Ray. However, they’re mutually antagonistic and like getting under each other’s skin. Despite this, in the end Stebbins reached for Ray in his final moments and Ray stopped to check if Stebbins was still breathing.

There’s a lot going on with both of them. Ray’s father was squaded, and Stebbins’s father is a squad leader(the squad leader, if you believe the Major is his father). Ray has a lot of feelings towards his masculinity and sexuality; Stebbins is a walking reminder of everything Garraty represses.

you also remind me a lot of the southern gothic literature subtype...also based on vibes, methinks :3

This is the biggest compliment of my life, THANK YOU.

I love the Two-Headed Calf poem by Laura Gilpin which is why I have my profile picture set as one! I’m also a huge fan of Ethel Cain and can relate to her a lot as someone born and raised in Alabama, but you knew that already.

I love Southern Gothic literature from the bottom of my heart and could talk about it for ages. Someday I’ll make a recommendation list of Southern Gothic books just because you mentioned it.