#eric meta

See, here’s the thing: Let’s take Eric’s personality and probable psychological scars out of the picture for just a moment. Eric still remains in a leadership position in a military grouping of people in a city that is on the verge of civil war. That in and of itself would change the relationship dynamic. Add to that the fact that Eric is most likely working under cover for Jeanine as a mole in Dauntless (this isn’t really touched on in the movies but I’m assuming that canon would carry over from the books, and the subject is heavily alluded to in Four’s book), that his loyalty was always truly to her, to Erudite and to the anti-divergent cause. So, who is Eric really allowed to be around his significant other? Do they know the truth? How is it possible that they do know the truth? Are they a leader themselves? Are they sitting at the table for all of those discussions about classified material kept away from the public for the sake of keeping the peace? Are they working for Jeanine as well? Are they themselves divergent? 

Nothing about this situation is normal or safe or easy. 

Now mix in Eric himself. Guarded, hostile, carrying around so much weight on his shoulders it’s starting to break him. Clearly he went through some shit in Erudite (again, read the Four book. Although you shouldn’t have to honestly, Eric is a pretty easy read himself from a psychological profile standpoint) that he hasn’t completely resolved yet. How does that affect the relationship. I mean, obviously everyone goes through shit and dealing with it together is part of a normal relationship, absolutely. But dealing with it in an environment that is that high stress, that is that demanding, that is that dangerous...doesn’t really leave room for anything to get resolved or worked out. 

Not to mention, Eric is so Type A just watching him move around and talk makes me tense. It’d be like dating a drill sergeant. Sure, he’s hot and the sex would be mind blowing. But you leave a towel on the floor and it’s a fight. You take a step in the wrong direction and he’s gunna give you shit. You think he’s gunna be easier on you ‘cause he likes you? That’s not how perfectionists work. They hold everyone else to the same impossible standard they hold themselves (and the people they love, they expect the most from) (I say this as a type A perfectionist asshole myself). He’s never gunna be easy to love. And you might say to yourself, well yeah but I’m tough and I’m stubborn, I could handle him. Okay, but that shit gets old really fast. It’s much harder work than 99.99% of people are willing to put in when they’re getting treated like they’re not enough in return. It’s not just about being stubborn and strong. It’s nasty fights where he says uses the most private secrets you’ve shared with him as a weapon against you. It’s most likely fighting physically at times, since you’re both in Dauntless and Eric in particular is one of the more violent members. It’s probably a bit volatile and unbalanced. These are not things to be romanticized in a healthy, normal relationship.

I’m not even gunna talk to anybody who thinks they could go into a relationship with Eric thinking, ‘Well, he’s fixable. I could fix him. I could make him a better guy. He’d be a better guy for me.’ You’re just asking for an abusive relationship at that point. Not to mention, if that’s your goal: you don’t want Eric. You want some fantasy version of Eric that does not exist. 

I wanna mention: I’m not stupid, I know why most of us are here. I know most of us just wanna hit that and blow stuff up with him. I know that most of us don’t actually believe a relationship with Eric would be a good idea. But I see enough people who say this kind of stuff or write these kind of fics and it’s so disturbing. And anyway, I just wanted to get that out.