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not-a-matopoeia · 9 months

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HEAD CANNON HILLS I PERSONALLY CHOOSE TO DIE ON:

Fight me (lol)

Bruce Wayne

Gray Hairs are mostly in and around his temples and beard- also he won’t dye it

Asexual but not sex repulsed (it just feels right)

Definitely experienced with makeup, sure to cover bruises and stuff but also he definitely had a phase where he wore eyeliner cause why not

Autistic

Dick Grayson

Crooked nose

Speaks some Roma still but has forgotten most of it, which makes him upset

People deffo thought he was gay all through school, and they weren’t wrong…or right (he’s some form of queer)

Gymnastics teacher as a side job

ADHD

Oldest Daughter SyndromeTM

Jason Todd

I think that Jason runs a book club with a bunch of middle aged women, and they talk about classic lit

Theater Kid (gay)

Good with kids, reluctantly

Has freckles

Hair is caused by Marie Antoinette syndrome

Struggled with body dysmorphia after being revived

Keeps all his receipts (they’re in a box in the kitchen) and is stingy with money

Tim Drake

Wears a Medical Identification bracelet for the spleen thing (it’s recommended guys I looked it up cause I’m normal)

Has acne

Chased Batman and Robin around with that damn camera (I fucking love this)

Has anxiety

Bisexual (not a HC but I thought I’d mention it)

Would eat the coffee grounds

Listens to video game osts

(Bring the skateboard back)

Damian

Strong nose

Just very strong features generally

Giggles, or full on cackles but there’s no In between

I think it’s be cute if he became an art therapist or a vet

Autistic

Cass

Cuts her own bangs, they look horrible<3

Lesbian

Tired to dye her hair once (with Steph and Babs)never again

Steph

Grew up in crime ally (idk where she lived so I choose to believe this- this could also be the truth, again I cannot remember rn)

Freckles

Butterfly Clips

Bisexual

Curly hair

Alfred

Had chased multiple people off of Wayne Manors premises with his shotgun ‘

Got second place in a chili cook off one time and still hasn’t recovered

Extra:

Dick and Jason are big into Taylor Swift, Jason because I think he’d like ballads/the lyrics in songs and Dick because he’s Dick

Selina Kyle actually likes the Robins, and her and Steph got along well

Jason and Steph have really thick Gotham accents, which I like to think is like a Jersey accent, Jason’s shows up more when he’s upset in any capacity, Steph’s is always there and was never trained out of her

Dick has this weird accent where it’s very clearly not anything American, but it’s not not American, and it’s because he moved so much and was around people woth so many different accents that his voice never settled on one

Damian talks to himself in Arabic- Jason knows a bit of it

Cass is a messy eater (this isn’t cannon is it?)

I think it’s be funny to imagine Tim, Cass and Steph going to High School together

Steph was that one girl in the Cookie Monster pjs in high school, and Tim was like this weird goth/skater kid

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bri-sonat · 1 year

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NSFW Questions About Gwen's Big Five - Part Three

Questions are taken from this. The original poster deactivated their account, so it's the reblog that is linked. All the questions are modified and some are removed (either because the question had already been answered or because it referred to hetero relations.)

NSFW Questions About Gwen's Big Five Masterlist

As always, a glorious team effort between @daydream-cement and I. With the occasional assistance from my love, @na-shoba.

Have they ever sent someone a dirty text/picture/video?

Brienne: In modern times, the farthest she has gone was to indulge in a few sexts with her partner at their initiation.

Larissa: A tasteful nude never hurt anyone. With a long-term partner, she may even indulge in an audio message on rare occasions.

Lucifer: No.

Phasma: Yes. To her romantic partner, definitely. All of the above. She loves teasing them and making them “ready” for her planned ventures.

Miranda: Absolutely! She loves sexting and taking nudes for her person.

Would they have sex with their best friend?

Brienne: No.

Larissa: She did in high school and she would again. She loves having a strong bond with the people she has sex with so she would definitely have sex with her best friend.

Lucifer: Mazikeen? Yeah, totally.

Phasma: She doesn’t have a best friend. If she did and it was a woman… probably.

Miranda: She wouldn’t say no to Robin…

Is there anything they do after sex? (for example, smoke, eat, drink)

Brienne: If she was a smoker: she’d need a cigarette after that cause she’d be so stressed after the first couple of times. However, she’d go straight to aftercare for her partner or drink water for herself, depending on if she’s given or received it.

Larissa: B-A-T-H. SHE LOVES TAKING BATHS (especially if the person she just had sex with is her romantic partner). It’s relaxing, there is the option for more sex, but most of all, it’s incredibly intimate and she loves that.

Lucifer: They love a good cuddle, pulling their partner to them and holding them while they both recover.

Phasma: If it’s a “conquest,” she either leaves the place of sex or kicks the person out of her quarters. If it’s her romantic partner, she’d let them hold her until they fall asleep.

Miranda: She loves snuggling and chatting. The most important thing to her is continuing the physical touch aspect as they have quality time together.

Something that will never fail to get them horny?

Brienne: Her partner’s moans, whimpers, whines, groans. Just her partner in general as well.

Larissa: Physically strong women.

Lucifer: Their partner.

Phasma: Having someone completely under her control, having them submit sexually to her.

Miranda: Hearing a woman moan.

Early-morning sex or late-night sex?

Brienne: She dabbles in whatever her partner wishes. She doesn’t have a preferred one.

Larissa: Early-morning sex.

Lucifer: Late-night sex.

Phasma: Whenever sex. But it’s mostly during the evenings. Sometimes morning sex.

Miranda: Late-night sex.

Favorite body part of the same sex?

Brienne: Boobs and thighs.

Larissa: Strong shoulders and a nice ass.

Lucifer: They cannot choose a favorite part of their partner.

Phasma: Ass. Loves seeing it bright red.

Miranda: Boobies :D

Something that they have hidden in their room that they don’t want anyone to find:

Brienne: In modern times: her (possible) sex toys. In olden times: maybe some lesbian literature.

Larissa: Preferably not her sex toys.

Lucifer: No one should be going through their belongings, lest they wish to suffer the consequences.

Phasma: She doesn’t care if someone finds anything in her room, they wouldn’t live long enough to share the knowledge. Also, no one would dare enter her room without her consent and even if they were allowed, they wouldn’t dare snoop around.

Miranda: Her strap-on.

Weirdest sexual act someone has performed [or tried to perform] on/with them:

Brienne: Heterosexuality. Someone tried and failed.

Larissa: Shapeshifting in the bedroom. She did not like shapeshifting her entire being for sex, but on the rare occasion, she doesn’t mind shapeshifting to have a penis.

Lucifer: They only smirked when asked this question.

Phasma: She only chuckled in disbelief when asked this question. She then smirked and said, “No one would dare to try anything with me.” Her romantic partner is excluded.

Miranda: In college, she once had a one-night stand with a guy who had a thing for women’s socks. She doesn’t like to talk about it.

Have they ever tasted themselves? [If no, would they?] [If yes, what did they think?]

Brienne: Yes, because she’s insecure about it and wanted to see how she tasted. At first, she’d feel insecure and a bit weirded out, but after some time she’d start to feel much better about it, especially if her partner tells her she tastes good. After this, she also starts licking off her partner’s fingers after they have fingered her and can appreciate kissing her partner after they have given her oral.

Larissa: Only after kissing her partner after receiving oral. She didn’t care for the taste, but the act itself was very erotic.

Lucifer: Of course. It was delightful.

Phasma: Yes. She loves it.

Miranda: Yep! She didn’t mind it, but she would rather taste herself on her partner’s lips.

#gwendoline christie #captain phasma #brienne of tarth #miranda hilmarson #phasma #lucifer morningstar the sandman #larissa weems #lucifer morningstar (the sandman)#gwen christie

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melodymay-k1tty · 9 months

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MASTERLIST: SCENARIOS & FANFICS (ONE PIECE VER.)

CATEGORIES

Fem!Reader Short/Longfics 🪼

Fem!Reader One-Shots 🪼

Character x Character 🪼

Bf Headcanons 🪼

Caesar Clown♡

Charlotte Katakuri♡

Donquixote Doflamingo♡ (coming soon)

Donquixote Rosinante♡

Enel♡

Monkey D. Luffy♡

Portgas D. Ace part. 1 ♡ / Portgas D. Ace part. 2 ♡

Roronoa Zoro♡

Trafalgar Law♡

Vinsmoke Ichiji♡

Vinsmoke Niji♡

Vinsmoke Sanji♡

Vinsmoke Yonji♡

RULES

1. I don't usually accept requests, because I can only write if I have my own inspiration. So, DON'T rush me or keep demanding something from me (please, I lovely kindly ask). But my question box is open for any ideas.

2. Please don't ask me for disgusting themed stories. I do NSFW, but as long as it doesn't involve some gross stuff I don't even need to talk about (I'm not talking about NCS or anything like that, but about really gross stuff).

3. Don't get your hopes up on character x character stories written by me. If there are any, they will be rare exceptions, as I'm generally not a big fan of this type of writing (except in some VERY specific cases). And I can probably only write that kind with Nico Robin.

4. I can't write (which includes mostly NSFW) about these characters: Franky, Brook, Jinbe, Tony Tony Chopper, Trebol, Señor Pink, Buffalo, Shiryu, and countless other characters, most of which in this extensive list include a few minor characters or extras.

5. Definitely NOT (for now): Franky, Brook, Jinbe, Tony Tony Chopper, Trebol, Señor Pink, Buffalo, Shiryu, Machvise, Lucky Roux, etc...

6. I kindly ask you not to ask me for fanfics Frobin (Franky + Robin) or Jinbin (Jinbe + Robin), I just hate those two ships, but I respect your opinion if you like it. Anyway, I will forever be Zorobin (Zoro + Robin) and Lawbin (Law + Robin), and I can write about them with great pleasure.

DO NOT ask me for!

1. As I already mentioned, stories involving disgusting stuff.

2. Stories involving incest, necrophilia, cannibalism, cruelty to animals, and other terrible things like that. Please don't ask me for this!

3. Stories with racist, bigoted, homophobic, xenophobic themes, these terrible things...

4. OOC characters and stories set in the real world. I just manage to write just for the OP world. Of course, I can open exceptions from time to time, but I don't guarantee anything.

5. Fanfics with male!reader or gn!reader (okay, maybe someday I might try it?! but for now it doesn't work, and it's simply bcs I can't write for that type).

6. Stories for non-binary people (I'm sorry, I'm serious, I just can't write for non-binary people). I swear I already tried it, but it was just awful. So, for now, that's my decision.

7. Character x Character stories (I've only managed one so far, with Nico Robin — and she's just the only one I've felt good doing it with).

8. Fanfics with LGBTQIA+ themes (I'm really sorry, but I can't. Especially those involving characters like Zoro, Law, Doflamingo, Rosinante, Eustass Kid, etc... It just doesn't come out of there). But I can do things like that between women (orange/lesbians).

WHAT CAN I DO?

1. Yes, I can mix races and write reader with fishmen, minks or something else.

2. NSFW content (I definitely can and want to, once I have good development in the stories of course).

3. I can also do size kink, I just don't make it if that will be with characters like Whitebeard, Kaido, Blackbeard, Bartholomew Kuma and others like them...

WARNINGS

1. English IS NOT my first language and I'm not fluent in it. Therefore, I write the stories in my native language, and then I translate them with the help of Google Translate. Any spelling errors should be explained by this.

2. My blog is NOT FREE from spoilers, +18 content, dark content and things that might make you feel a little uncomfortable maybe (like angst, NCS, etc...).

3. This blog is focused on One Piece, but I still don't know if I'll gather all my stories from different animes and doramas here, or if I'll create a secondary blog for that.

Now, I'm going to create a “list” of characters and the appropriate colors inserted will define whether or not I can write about them.

Color Green — I definitely CAN write about this character.

Color Red — I definitely CANNOT write about this character. At least not these days.

Color Orange — Maybe I can and maybe I can't write about this character. And it is very likely that there will be regulations for this.

Color Purple — These are my favorites characters to write about.

Color Pink — Just Fluffy.

Color Blue — I can definitely write about this character. But there will be PROBABLY little or no fluffy/romance and it will likely be +18 Only.

Akainu. Alvida. Aokiji. Arlong. Bartholomew Kuma. Bartolomeo. Bellamy. Boa Hancock. Brook. Buggy. Caesar Clown. Capone Bege. Camie. Carrot. Cavendish. Crocodile. Diamante. Donquixote Doflamingo. Donquixote Rosinante “Corazon”. Dracule Mihawk. Enel. Franky. Hody Jones. Inuarashi. Izo. Jewelry Bonney. Jinbe. Kikunojo. Kizaru. Koala. Marco. Marshall D. Teach “Blackbeard”. Monkey D. Dragon. Monkey D. Luffy. Nami. Nekomamushi. Nico Robin. Nojiko. Paulie. Pedro. Perona. Portgas D. Ace. Rebecca. Rob Lucci. Roronoa Zoro. Sabo. Shanks. Shirahoshi. Silvers Rayleigh. Smoker. Tashigi. Tony Tony Chopper. Trafalgar D. Water Law. Tsuru (Young Prime). Usopp. Vinsmoke Ichiji. Vinsmoke Niji. Vinsmoke Reiju. Vinsmoke Sanji. Vinsmoke Yonji. Viola. Wadatsumi. Yamato. Zeff.

Where can you find me?

Ao3

Discord

DISQUS

Quotev

Social Spirit

Tumblr

Twitter

Wattpad

#one piece #anime #masterlist #one piece scenarios #fanfic

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missingexaltation · 2 years

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Alternative 'Steve coming to terms with being Bi' idea:

(The queer community isn't perfect, there's a lot of infighting that's not obvious on the surface level. A lot of bi/pan/ace people get sneered at by gay/lesbian people even now, and in the 80s it was worse.)

After Vecna, Eddie tells Steve he had and still has a crush on him, but as he's aware that Steve's straight, he's going to stop flirting with him because he doesn't want to make Steve uncomfortable. Eddie will get over it eventually, but he wants 'to be friends so please don't hate me, Stevie, I'm trying to stop'. For some reason that hurts Steve and he can't stop thinking about it. For a few weeks, while Eddie's being his usual boisterous self, Steve just watches and thinks.

Eventually, he tells Robin how he feels, that he thinks he likes Eddie and wants to try being with him because they get on great, and he's nice, and kind of good looking, and why not? He's not used to being subtle about asking people out, so figures he might as well see if Eddie wants to actually date him.

Robin is shocked but then SO happy that he's gay too. But when Steve says that he's not, that he still likes women, she gets annoyed. Being gay is a big deal to her, and she feels like Steve would rather date someone he's not attracted to, just so that he's not single/lonely. 'Maybe I just like Eddie, he has long hair, I dunno?' 'That's not a thing, Steve!'

Steve has no idea, and after his shift, when he's alone, he melts down about it and genuinely wonders if he's deluding himself. Maybe he is 'fully gay', maybe he's desperate for love from anyone. He thinks he likes Eddie, so was he lying to himself before? Did he love Nancy, or did he just want to love her? It doesn't quite fit, and it takes him a long time to get to grips with who he is, and he spirals a bit because he realises that actually he has no real sense of identity in general. He doesn't know what he wants in the future in ANY capacity.

During a movie night with the older teens, it's Argyle (bizarrely) that vaguely states that he finds both the make/female lead actors hot, and it's the catalyst for Steve actually figuring himself out. He doesn't talk to anyone at all about it. He thinks and thinks and thinks, and just comes to terms with it. He did love Nancy, he does find girls attractive, but he also wants to make out with Eddie. (He also thinks that guy in that labyrinth film is kinda hot.)

So he bites the bullet and does what he wanted to do originally. He asks Eddie out, and Eddie's immediately like 'uh HELL yes', feeling like he's won the jackpot. And after a few weeks of vaguely secretive dating (ie making out at Eddie's new house), Steve settles into 'liking both', and tells Robin. He's much more confident this time, now that he's tried and knows he likes both.

Turns out Robin's been thinking about it too, and when Steve tells her about him and Eddie, she's apologetic for trying to tell him who he is. She points out that she'd have hated it, if it was the other way around. She's been looking into it, and come to the same conclusion. Steve was right, he can 'like both'. They have another soft little moment before she brutally mocks him for his taste in men.

(Eddie, meanwhile, has no idea how much soul searching Steve and Robin have been through. He's walking on air, just ecstatic that The Steve Harrington is his boyfriend.)

#eddie munson #steve harrington #robin buckley #steddie #there's so many 'this is what you are Steve' fics and it drives me mad because that's not how it works #Robin means well but she's also a teen in a shitty phobic town with barely any info and only her own experiences to judge from #Steve's just in a permanent state of confusion but he can't stop thinking about Eddie's hands and puppy dog eyes #also...they're all very young still so they try their best but for all intents and purposes they're all still figuring stuff out #stobin is such a great friendship but fanon makes them a bit too nice to each other without any of the fuck ups #also Steve advocating for himself is such an underrated and underused trope #stobin #unlabeled Argyle is also a fave of mine...he's just too chill and cool to care...equality for all 💙#tw: mild biphobia

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lesbiannancytruther · 2 years

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guess what time it is times up its clown au hcs time

I KNOW i said i was gonna do a villainess au post but i actually lied that’s gonna happen later sorry gay people

-nancy in this au is a lot more free with her emotions and also a LOT better at lying because of it. this nancy isn’t always surviving off half truths, confident in the sense that she officially gives 0 fucks about what people think

-robin openly being a lesbian to the circus gang and also more confident in general makes her a bit of a heartbreaker (jealous nancy fans (PRE RELATIONSHIP‼️) rise)

-after nancy reveals herself she and robin train together frequently despite having like 0 spheres in common. nancy just thinks robin is wicked funny and robin likes women that could kick her ass

-vasir and shiva like robin a lot but mess with her frequently. they know she’s scared stiff of them even though they’d never actually hurt her, so they’ll prank her all the time

-that being said: robin having nancy in her lap and receiving death glares from two ominous pairs of eyes across the room😭

-the founding of nancy and robin’s relationship is nancy being desperate to learn about her hometown and robin being desperate to learn about nancy. this goes away VERY quickly in the face of the fact that nancy finds robin way more interesting than anything in hawkins and robin finds that nancy is way more happy with her present than her past.

-robin shares a train car with two other clowns and they start calling the nights she stays there with them sleepovers since she starts staying with nancy in her private car more frequently (even if that means waking up to see shiva 2 inches from her face)

-robin and nancy are the fan favorites, robin in comedy and nancy in wow factor

-someone said aerial gymnast robin and though i don’t fully think that fits since robin is so clumsy i DEFINITELY think she gets lovingly bullied into being tossed around during the trapeze act as added comedy

-despite their acts being so separate nancy and robin always bow together at the end of shows

-after every show robin and nancy have a tradition where they sit on top of nancy’s train car and share cotton candy they stole and look at the stars and talk, sometimes with nancy’s head in robin’s lap where robin DEF puts cotton candy on nancy’s nose (when they kiss its extra sweet)

-when nancy and robin got closer nancy took on applying robin’s clown makeup and always giving robin something new and fun, straddling her in the process ofc (if u see nancy leaving robin’s stall with blue lips no u literally didn’t)

-tbh idk how i feel about other people from hawkins being in the circus but if someone tries to convince me i will ABSOLUTELY add elmax to this (eleven is still experimented on but for weird “the 80’s hates anyone that isn’t normal” reasons not the upside down and she runs into the circus and max runs away from her shit ass family)

-and yeah ronance mothers them

-robin always gets nancy a flower from every new place they visit, nancy keeps them all pressed in a box in her car

-nancy watching and aching from afar every time a potential suitor approaches robin is real idk. the first person she really feels like she loves since barb and so many people are vying for her attention, its hard to believe she’d be first pick, but robin eventually proves that she is

-robin being so in love with nancy its insane. robin will just look at nancy and be told to keep it in her pants

-nancy always touching robin, holding hands or locking arms or leaning against her or in her lap or the occasional piggyback ride that ends with them laughing as they fall down

-robin for the first time really confiding in someone, sharing everything she feels instead of safe and snarky remarks, and it feels good to be open, to not be afraid that someone will turn away when she rambles or says something they don’t like.

-robin making new masks for nancy that get progressively better with time. nancy’s favorites are the ones with pink and ribbons

that is all for now >:) lmk if y’all want more gay clowns and/or elmax integration

#stranger things #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #ronance #circus au #clown!robin #liontamer!nancy

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tjmystic · 1 year

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Unwanted Opinion About Robin/Nancy and Nancy/Jonathan

Short version: as far as romantic relationships go, Nancy’s best match is Robin. However, I still ship her with Jonathan, and it makes me sad how both the show and the fans are shafting him.

Long version: under the cut, because it is long.

First off, let me say that I ship Nancy with Jonathan. I’ve shipped them since Season 1, I’m going to ship them through Season 5. Tis the way.

HOWEVER:

I love that all of the cast wants Robin to get with Nancy because of their desire for better representation and a happy ending for a wlw queer romance. I also love the idea of the internet collectively obsessing over the idea of Steve being bisexual and having it turn out that Nancy is the bi one. (Both is the better option, obviously, but it would still be objectively hilarious if Steve is totally straight and his ex is the bi one.)

I also think that Robin is good for Nancy in a way that Steve and Jonathan distinctly aren’t. Specifically, Robin isn’t emotionally needy. She has a need to be recognized and seen. She has a need to be taken seriously. She has a need for close friendships, which she’s realized through Steve and (now) Nancy. But she doesn’t have a need for a romantic partner. The only reason romance is such a big part of her character arc is that she’s a lesbian in the Reaganite Midwest. Her desire to be noticed and taken seriously is intrinsically linked to her ability to find a partner because she’s living in a world where queers are vilified to the absolute extreme and AIDS is viewed as a disease sent by God to kill all the gays. ANY story arc with her has to emphasize her search for love as a lesbian, just as any story arc with Will has to emphasize his search for love as a gay boy.

Contrast the way she interacts with Vickie with the way Steve interacts with Nancy. She has an obsessive crush on Vickie (and I say obsessive in the sense that she’s an adorkable teenager, that’s how pretty much all adorkable teenagers do crushes, it isn’t something worthy of moral judgement, it’s just cute). She talks about Vickie pretty constantly with her bestie (Steve). She gets heart-eyes whenever she sees Vickie. And the same is true for how Steve interacts with Nancy (though, good God, do I hope it’s just because he’s desperate for love in general, not Nancy specifically—I love both Nancy and Steve separately as characters, but I hate them as a ship). But he’s also obsessed with their future together. Robin isn’t fantasizing about adopting children or taking in a bunch of stray cats in a high-rise apartment in San Francisco. She’s fantasizing about the present—the way Vickie looks when she smiles, the sound of her laugh, the way she (Robin) feels when Vickie touches her. Steve, meanwhile, has a whole future planned out with a wife, 6 kids, and a Winnebago. He has domestic dreams out the wazoo.

And that’s why Steve and Nancy will never work. Nancy is never going to be the traditional wife type. She probably doesn’t even want kids (or, if she does, she wants to wait a good long while for it to happen). She wants to be a successful investigative journalist with an impressive degree and an even more impressive career. She wants to be taken seriously. She wants to be recognized for the genius she is.

That’s where she and Robin are perfectly matched. Unlike Nancy and Steve, Nancy and Robin have the same goals.

The PROBLEM with that is how it fucks over Jonathan.

I’m not one of those people who are like “good guys deserve women as rewards”. I am one of those people who hates when stories throw away great chemistry and experience between characters just because they get bored. And that’s definitely what it feels like—that the story has gotten bored with Jonathan. He hasn’t had a good plot since Season 1. Even his storyline in Season 2, while interesting, had him acting as second fiddle to Nancy. He didn’t really have any goals of his own. Same with Season 3. In Season 4, it feels like his storyline is entirely about how he doesn’t have a storyline. He’s lost sight of what he wants and who he wants to be, and he’s floundering because of it. Argyle is a happy stoner who smokes because he wants to. Jonathan is a sad, desperate stoner who smokes because he doesn’t know what else to do with his life.

The only real complaint I have about Season 4 is how they shoehorned in the “will-they/won’t they” between Steve and Nancy. At the end of Season 3, Nancy and Jonathan were fine. And even after having watched Season 4, I don’t see either of them as the type to struggle under a long-distance relationship. That seems wildly out of character for both of them. It only kind of makes sense under the lens of what I said previously about Jonathan floundering in California. He’s afraid, he’s pushing her away out of fear that she’ll sever ties first (or that they’ll linger on and turn into his parents, as he says to Argyle), and Nancy is left reacting to it the only way she can.

In reality, I feel like they’d both communicate all of this. More than any of the other characters (except maybe Mike), Nancy and Jonathan suffer from being teenagers who don’t know how to deal with their emotions. That isn’t a complaint, that’s just realistic characterization. But I STILL feel like they’d talk things through. After everything Murray laid at their feet in Season 2, I don’t think they would keep secrets anymore. Even in Season 3, their fight had more to do with telling each other what they considered to be hard truths, thereby oversharing, rather than hiding stuff from each other.

So there’s that. And then there’s the fact that, in one way, Nancy is never going to be what Jonathan deserves. (Which, again, not a complaint against Nancy—she doesn’t need to fit a man’s mold. She does, however, need to meet at least some of the emotional needs of whatever partner she ends up with. That’s true of any person in a relationship.) What I’m talking about is what I said earlier about how Steve and Jonathan are both emotionally “needy”. Steve’s needs are a lot more obvious than Jonathan’s because Jonathan never really voices them. But that just makes those needs all the more depressing. He’s never been someone’s number one priority. He isn’t number one for Joyce, he definitely wasn’t for his dad, he only sometimes is for Will, and he will never be for Nancy. The only person who consistently puts him at the top of their list is Argyle. But that’s why I like them so much as best friends. They’re like Steve and Robin—soulmates who don’t need sexual or romantic affection to know how much they love one another.

Basically, then, as long as Jonathan is cool with being his bestie’s number one but not his girlfriend’s, I think they work out the best. They challenge each other. They recognize each other’s strengths. And I think they’re the only two characters who take each other seriously. And I really want to see more of them together as a team because of it.

#stranger things #stranger things season 4 #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #jonathan byers #steve harrington #jancy #ronance #tw: aids #tw: homophobia #anti-stancy

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captinsteveharrington · 2 years

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1) Steddie Engagement/Wedding

(Lots of background before all the cute shit…sorry)

OKAY! First, most importantly, fuck the 1980s- EVERYONE makes it out of 1986, Max and Eddie are fine! By 1990, Steve and Eddie are ready to leave Hawkins, Indiana in general.

Steve wants to go to New York, he’s tired of the slowness of the ‘southern’ US, he wants to feel the drive of a big city, and he’s convinced it’s progressive. (He’s not wrong but he’s also not right)

Eddie wants The West Coast dream, to be as FAR away from Hawkins as he can get, he’s also heard about all these celebrities that live and die for California.

They end up not being sure what to choose because The Kids are divided:

Max, El, and Will want to go to California for college. Max wants to get back to the sand and the sun, it’s her home and she misses it. Will wants to go to school there half bc it’s where he started accepting himself and half bc that’s where Mike isn’t (they’re not in a good place bc Mike still hasn’t figured out his shit), Jane is SO in love with Max and Will is her brother so she’s gonna go with them (even if Cali was rough for her the first time) plus Jonathan has already made a home for himself out there with Argyle. Johnathan is working for CNN as a photographer (The Kids don’t know it but they’re dating, he and Nance broke up on good terms, she needed to find herself outside a relationship and she’s very happy for John and Argyle they talk all the time)

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin want the East Coast. Massachusetts, for Mike and Dustin, bc of MIT. Lucas gets a scholarship to some school up there, he could’ve went to California but he wants to give Max a chance to figure out what she wants out of life (he’s such a good kid and he just wants her to be happy).

In the end, they decide on NYC bc Johnathan is in California to make sure Max, Jane, and Will are okay. They’re close enough to Mike, Dustin, and Lucas that if something goes down they can get to them but far enough away that they can have their own lives.

Lucas ends up in Brooklyn, he’s doing great in school, Dustin and Mike are thriving at MIT. Will, is doing great in art school. Jane is having fun in community college she’s making friends and has even met a few lesbian/bi women, Max is balls to the wall living her best life.

In the summer of 1991, Robin moves to NYC, she’s offered a job at The Smithsonian bc of her history degree. Nancy also follows Steve and Eddie out to East Coast, she gets a job in Chicago for The Tribune. Steve has finished his degree in Social Work, and he’s working for New York States Child Protective Services (they don’t know he’s in a relationship with Eddie for obvious reasons). Eddie works at a dive bar that he headlines at on the weekends.

By spring of 91’ Steve and Eddie have been together for four years and EVERYONE is pushing for them to make it official. Joyce is hearing all this stuff about Domestic Partnerships and she’s hoping that soon her boys will be able to have the same rights she and Hopper have. She’s really leading the charge in getting them married, Robin of course is backing her 100%. Steve and Eddie kind of brush it off bc they’re happy as they are. It’s like their own sexy secret, something they share and love and don’t have to explain to anyone else.

When the kids start graduating and finally get into the real world they all meet up at Steve and Eddie’s home. They’ve moved out of the city into a nice suburban neighborhood, close enough that they get all the night life and shit but far enough away that they feel safe with their not so kid children coming to stay with them. It’s the summer of 1997 at this point.

Jane convinces Hop and Joyce to come up to see everyone for a few weeks at the beginning of June. Each of the boys take turns talking to Steve and Eddie abt the potential of an engagement. It’s a very stressful first three days. By the end of that first week tho, Steve is ready to pop the question. Once the whole family is back together (John and Argyle included) he asks Eddie to be his husband over some of Hop’s ‘world famous’ stakes. Eddie of course says yes. Lots of happy tears follow.

Part 1/2

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owlsinleatherjackets · 4 years

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things I need from Stranger Things 4:

Erica attempting to cash in/abuse her “free ice cream for life” deal with Steve and Robin at the video store now that Scoops is gone

Robin takes it upon herself to learn Russian in case it becomes useful again, with the added bonus that now she can talk shit with Murray

the boys teach Erica how to play D&D, only for her to immediately figure out how to game the system. extra points if this coincides with Lucas DMing for the first time

Mike and Dustin and Nancy fighting over the Cerebro to talk to their long distance boyfriends/girlfriends??

EL AND WILL FRIENDSHIP PLEASE. this is way overdue but there’s no avoiding it now that they’re basically siblings! and they have so much to bond over!

also if Will is revealed to be gay then El would be the ideal first person for him to come out to because she’d have exactly zero learned homophobia

Joyce being the best mom ever to these two supernatural kids

Nancy and Jonathan getting in some good individual character arcs while still maintaining a strong relationship

artistic Jonathan! big brother Jonathan (both to Will and El)! Jonathan making friends!

you know Nancy will get back on her detective grind, but Jonathan won’t be around to go investigate with her so who will she drag along for the ride this time? her little brother and his gang? her ex-boyfriend and his new lesbian best friend? her mom? the possibilities are endless and they’re all great

on that note, I’d really love to see a Dustin/Steve type of bond play out with some of the girls and I think a perfect opportunity for this would be Max and Nancy. Max has a huge void in her life for both a positive older sibling figure and a strong female role model, and she could bond with Nancy over what it’s like mourning someone no one else seems to care about (Billy/Barb), missing having a best girl friend around (El/Barb), and being badass women in general

if when Hopper comes back, I need lots of casual run-ins between him and various minor characters who are all shocked to find out he’s still alive, while Hop gets increasingly exasperated because he’s trying to get shit done and doesn’t have time to explain how he managed to survive to every random retail worker in Hawkins

more anxious! mom Steve please. probably even more anxious now if Reckless Aunts Nancy and Robin are also around being questionable influences

I’d love for one or more of the adult characters to get pulled into the action somehow because let’s face it, how many “hypothetical” science questions can Mr. Clarke be asked or weird stuff happening with her kids can Karen Wheeler notice before they start to think something’s up

also just more of the adults in general tbh

bring back Kali and maybe more superpowered kids?? possibly as El tries to figure out how to get her powers back?

would also love to find out some of the hows and whys of the Upside Down/Mind Flayer/etc please and thank you

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elenajohansenreads · 2 years

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Books I Read in 2021

#133 – Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, by Jaye Robin Brown

Mount TBR: 104/100

Rating: 1/5 stars

[content warnings: discussion of ableism, biphobia, misogyny, and also the fact that I'm aware this puts me in the "unpopular opinion" category of reviews]

For a book I’ve heard so many good things about, this was a disappointment, because it had an awful lot of “yikes” moments and even more unquestioned ableism, biphobia, and internalized misogyny on the part of many characters.

If you’re a teenage Christian lesbian questioning how to navigate your own fraught existence within the teachings of your faith, this book is for you. If you fail to check even one of those boxes, something about this story might very well make you angry.

But let’s start with what’s good about it–despite my one-star rating, there are a few things I liked, just not enough to outweigh all the bad.

1. Friendship. The circle of friends Joanna finds herself with after her relocation to small-town Georgia is generally a good one (minus the obviously telegraphed homophobic apple of the bunch, who is both hater and hated by the end.) When things get messy for both Joanna and Mary Carlson, these friends really do step up and prove they believe in love, forgiveness, and having each others’ backs.

2. Elizabeth, the stepmom. No, she’s not perfect, but over the course of the story I’d argue she gets a better character arc than Joanna herself; she really finds it in her to shed the homophobia inherent in her upbringing (and still pointedly present in her mother) to be a positive force in Joanna’s life. Also, I’m just so tired of the Evil Stepmother.

3. Dana, which I’m honestly surprised to find myself saying. Sure, she’s a total delinquent, but delinquency isn’t a solely male pastime as other media might have you believe, and also not all lesbians are perfect angels who don’t have other problems. Plus, she’s just about the only character in the whole book who consistently calls Joanna on her bullshit, which there’s a lot of.

So what’s bad about it? Everything else.

1. Biphobia: everyone in this book is either lesbian or straight. There are no gay men (ETA: I remembered a few hours after I wrote this that there's a gay couple at the dance who compliments Joanna's outfit, but I don't remember their names, if they even had any, and they never showed up again) and no bisexuals of any gender, let alone any of the even-less-well-known flavors of queerness. When Christianity intersects with the homophobia I’ll give this a pass–like the “returns to being a breeder” example in one of the glossed-over sermons early in the book–but from the actual behavior of named characters, I want to see better. While Joanna knows herself to be a lesbian, so we as readers know she was never really interested in George, to others that apparent interest is confirmation that she’s straight; to everyone else, constantly in all of their discussions and actions, you’re either attracted to men or attracted to women, and that’s that, no murkiness allowed. No one ever goes so far as to say anything directly biphobic, but they don’t have to, because bisexuality simply does not exist in this story, there’s no room for it to.

2. Ableism: other reviewers have gone into far more detail about this subject that I can with my own limited experience, but even I know that this pervasive air of patient but condescending tolerance of the differently abled may appear benign but is still ableism. And as charming as B.T.B could be out of context–I do genuinely like some of the things he says in conversation–he doesn’t strike me as positive representation of, well, anything, firstly because his disability/neurodivergence is never addressed directly so I don’t know what he’s meant to be representing; also because simply making a teenage character so obviously child-like without further explanation of why is such a lazy way of going about it.

3. Internalized misogyny: listen, I’m not a lesbian, I’m bi, so I can’t begin to unpack the complicated relationship any given lesbian might have to traditionally feminine presentation and how that differs (or doesn’t) from my lived experience. But I do know that this book opened by assuming I already knew exactly what Jo the teenage lesbian looked like, because it wasn’t described in any great detail before she suddenly remakes her entire appearance to fit in better with the small-town Christian vibe of her new home. She feels conflicted about making those changes, but then later conflicted about liking some of those changes, while the whole time Dana (in an aspect of her character that I did not like) is constantly ragging on her for selling out, basically. As if the only way to be a “true” lesbian is whatever the mashup of goth and punk and any other fashion trend they think rejects traditional femininity. I hate to tell you if you didn’t already know, but femme lesbians exist and are just as valid, and appearing more traditionally feminine is not a sign of straightness or selling out. Also, Joanna makes a lot of offhanded comments about how her crying is also weakness or “girly girl”-ness, and I’m just not here for that, because crying is both an entirely natural response to stress or emotional turmoil, and that’s not just misogyny, it’s misandry, because dammit, boys cry too and they should absolutely be allowed to, so stop equating crying with weakness and femininity already!

4. Christianity: woooo boy. As someone raised Christian who has left the faith, I suppose I should be applauding that books like this even exist, that there are Christians who say “love is love” and not “God hates fags.” But even the “good” Christians in this book are still pretty inflexible for a big chunk of it and have to have their own character arcs of Joanna holding their hands and gently leading them to acceptance, or occasionally yelling at them to prod them along. (The notable exception being Mary Carlson’s parents, who seem to be awesome and accepting right off the bat, but their transition from not knowing their daughter was queer to being supportive parents happens entirely off-page, until MC and Joanna make up at the end.) It was honestly just exhausting, and that tentative, hand-holding level of change made the whole book come off as apologia for that very same religious inflexibility. Yes, the worst offenders are either disliked by the important characters (Mrs. Foley) or socially ostracized from the friend group (Jessica) but everyone else gets babied about it.

5. Actual writing problems that aren’t some sort of social justice problematic bullhonky: This book is entirely too long for its plot and spends far too much time indulging itself in Joanna waffling about literally everything in her life. Cut even just 50% of her internal whining and the story gets 100 pages shorter. Also, she’s a terrible protagonist, not on a moral or social level, but simply because 90% of her problems are her own fault, in such ways that I don’t feel any sympathy for her. Yes, her father asked her to do something out of line; but she agreed to it, bargained for things she wanted with that leverage, then started a whirlwind of lies to basically everyone she interacted with in order to hold the door open for still getting what she wanted. And that’s most of the story–an external threat to Joanna’s journey of self-hood doesn’t rear its head again until about 2/3 of the way through, with the stepmom’s pregnancy subplot. Yes, the story has to threaten Joanna with being a potentially miscarriage-inducing source of stress to her family in order to raise the stakes, because she’d gotten so close to coming clean about everything that possible sibling death was the only thing to prevent her. Was that really the right way to escalate the situation?

6. The ending: am I actually supposed to be happy that MC took Joanna back after the 400 pages of lies Joanna told her? Oh, right, Christian forgiveness and all. But seriously, MC would be better off with almost anyone else, and the possible girlfriend after Joanna, Deidre, had to be a blatantly manipulative (possible, future) abuser in order to seem like Joanna was a better choice. And in case you didn’t notice this from Deidre’s behavior, more than one friend character literally says so out loud to Joanna, to eliminate any possibility of missing the messaging. It’s a pretty bad romance book when I’m not actually happy that the couple gets back together at the end, right?

#booklr #book reviews #romance novels #YA #lgbtq books

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dex-xe · 3 years

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What do you think the ghosts would be like in modern day, because I think Mary would be a cottagecore lesbian and Robin would be a gamer. Basically I’m just asking for the modern au I’ve been wishing to hear from you for forever! :D

Okay so I’m well pumped for this!! I’ll give it a good go but I also wanna make like aesthetic boards for them all too at some point but I’m just so busy. So maybe some time in the future

So yeh,, and if yall have anything in particular you wanna talk about like with this or any other things then let me know!!

My inbox is HERE if people wanna chat :)

Robin would definitely be a gamer, anon!! I hadn’t thought about that before but you’re so right!! His chess skills would 100% transfer to him being epic at video games. He’d get really excited and over enthusiastic and like jumps up and down when he wins. He’d carry a switch with him everywhere, definitely. He’d also be a conspiracy nut in modern times as well and he’d also visit the planetarium like twice a week, he might actually work as a guide at the planetarium once he recovered from the flat Earth phase XD For some reason I’ve got an image of him in like oversized jumpers and skinny jeans, he just strikes me as the type, and he’d definitely keep the messy hair and kinda lopsided grin.

Humphrey is a library kinda guy, he’d be constantly carrying a pile of history books with him everywhere. He’d be some kind of teacher or preferably a university lecturer because he strikes me as a clever fella. He would also be super kind and like he’d be the one that all the students would go to for help,, think like him talking to Fanny at the wedding. He’d wear neatly pressed trousers and professional shirts for sure,, presentable man. He’d also wear glasses, no reason but he 100000% would. Time for a quick game of: would Humphrey actually wear glasses or is Max projecting his attraction to glasses-wearers on fictional characters?? What are your bets, folks??

You are so right about Mary,, she’d definitely be into the whole cottagecore aesthetic!! Like living in the country and baking her own bread like fullyyyyy. As for work,, she’d own a small business of some kind, maybe like a little cookery school. Idk why I think that but yes definitely. She’d keep like the long skirts and like pinafore dress and everything and like totally carry a tote bag everywhere with her. She’d also be very into funky earrings, I have no idea why but she’s got major earring vibes you know??

Kitty would be super kind and lovely obviously and like a really good friend to everyoneeee. I think she’d be very into fashion and like works to style all her friends, whether they want it or not. She’d love dresses or oversized jumpers just generally like cute clothes. She’d be very inspired by Alison obviously, she also strikes me as the dungaree type.

Thomas is a pretentious indie boy I don’t make the rules. Personality wise I know someone who is the spitting image of modern Thomas, like writing his own poetry in the forest and setting it to acoustics in the style of M*rrisey and then serenading beautiful women who just don’t wanna hear it XD He would dress like an indie boy too,, all button up shirts and huge trousers. He carries leather notebooks and a guitar and generally thinks he’s very cool.

Fanny would be super cool in modern day and really lovely. She’d also be a big book nerd and read romance novels and like Jane Austen and stuff. ALSO true crime buff,, her comments in Bump in the Night show she has a talent for crime XD She’d still wear the long skirts but jeans would be iconic for her.

I’m gonna suggest the Captain’s a mixture of Humphrey and Pat (who we’ll get on to) in that he’d be a book nerd for sure and constantly reading about history and WWII. But I’d be inclined to say he wouldn’t be in the military cause it would be very different to the war but he’d definitely still be the kinda outdoorsy cricket guy type. He’d for sure be a guy for warm coloured jumpers and corduroy jeans. And glasses!! Round two of is Max projecting attractive traits onto attractive actors, place ya bets!!

Obviously both Pat and Julian are close to modern day so not that different,, but yeh Pat would still be a scoutmaster and wonderful parent to Daley. God I love him so much. He’d love big jumpers and cuffed jeans and fluffy socks and huge round glasses. He also usually carries a backpack with a full first aid kit and a change of clothes and drinks and snacks because he’s a caring guy who will do anything to help people,, I love him so much god.

Julian is still a Tory MP obviously and like very very Tory. He’d be constantly jetting off across Europe for various parties and trips with friends. As for clothes: trousers. Just, any trousers. His suits are obvious but on weekends he definitely wears the tightest jeans known to man,, iconic.

I really enjoyed this and got way too into it like usual but yeh!! Thanks anon for asking,, but yeh always open to new ideas in my inbox!!

#max's ghost post #bbc ghosts

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sailorbadger · 3 years

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Book Review - 6 modern female-led Robin Hood adaptations

In the past 8 months or so I have read/watched/listened to over 30 different Robin Hood adaptations. Over the summer I found myself reading almost exclusively adaptations that were written by women and centered women in the story one way or another. (I also found out that “lesbian Robin Hood” is a whole genre on its own.) I decided to write short reviews for 6 of these books since I know I have followers that probably share my enjoyment of this particular niche.

This post includes spoiler-free reviews for the following books

Outlaw and Scarlet by Niamh Murphy

Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood by Anna Burke

Hood by Jenny Elder Moke

Marian, Princess Thief by C.K. Brooke

Heart of Sherwood by Edale Lane

The rest of the post will be under the cut since this is quite long.

Despite the fact that I read other books that could technically fit this same category, I decided to focus on these six in my review because these ones are easily accessible to most of my audience (meaning that they are in English and new enough - the oldest one being from 2018 I think - so that you should be able to find them easily).

I tried to keep these reviews relatively short and spoiler-free. That means that describing specific plot points is impossible because in most of these, the basic premise is the typical Robin Hood origin story. I tried to focus on my general feelings about the books and the characters and their relationships.

I won’t be doing any numerical ratings. I know that the order in which I read these impacted on how I felt about them. If I had read them in a different order, I would probably feel differently about some of them. That’s why it’s difficult for me to give any real ratings. The reviews are not in any real order either, apart from my favorite being the last one.

These reviews are also about 75% serious and 25% not serious. When my friend and I started to go through all these different Robin Hood adaptations, we made a bingo card that features tropes/themes/details found in a lot of different versions of the story. I’ll leave quick comments on the reviews on how each of these did, but I won’t go too much into detail on those.

Niamh Murphy: Outlaw & Scarlet

I grouped these two books together because they are the first two parts of a series. My understanding is that the author does plan on eventually releasing more, but since Scarlet was released this year, it might take a while. If a third book does come out, I might read it, but I’m not in a hurry to reread these two.

Outlaw tells the story of how Robyn, the daughter of a baron, ends up becoming an outlaw. If you are familiar with at least a few Robin Hood adaptations, you will know how it goes. There are no big surprises, but I suppose the purpose of this story is to introduce us to the characters and set the scene for the later books. Scarlet continues Robyn’s story and introduces a new character to the story. (I won’t go too much into details on the second book to avoid spoilers, since its plot does not follow familiar beats as much as the first one.)

Besides the books on this list, I have also read/watched/listened to several other Robin Hood adaptations as well, and when it comes to plot, Outlaw lands in the “uninteresting” section. There was nothing new or exciting there, and seeing that I have spent most of the year in a Robin Hood -bubble, I was left wanting more. Scarlet was a slight improvement seeing as Outlaw was mostly a very generic Robin Hood origin story. Together they still feel like this is just the beginning of a longer story, so I hope that if a third book comes out we get into the real action.

Outlaw is marketed as a “lesbian retelling” of the Robin Hood story, but compared to some of the other titles on this list, I was left wanting more. The romance aspect is barely there, so if you’re going to pick these up for Robyn and Marian’s relationship, prepare for slow burn.

The characters didn’t leave a huge impression on me. I do have to say that the Sheriff’s wife was interesting and I wish we had gotten more of her. Other than her, I felt that at times many of the characters could have been from any adaptation.

Overall, there wasn’t anything really wrong with these books, but they just didn’t entertain me as much as the others. I feel that if I had read these before all the other ones on this list, I would have enjoyed them more. Outlaw and Scarlet are a good read for someone who wants a basic Robin Hood story with a lesbian lead. I still think that marketing the first book as a “lesbian retelling” is setting unrealistic expectations for some, but I hope that in the future the series really earns that title.

I completely forgot to fill out a bingo card for these two and at this point I have forgotten many of the details so unfortunately we’ll never know the result. Most of the tropes hit were so general they probably weren’t on our card anyway.

Anna Burke: Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood

Out of all of the books in this list, Anna Burke’s Nottingham is perhaps the most explicit in its queerness. Although the story obviously doesn’t use modern labels, I would say that it includes representation for (at least) lesbian, bi and trans character(s). None of this feels too out-of-place, and instead Nottingham offers a (mostly) historically accurate Robin Hood tale with a queer main cast.

The plot mostly follows your typical Robin Hood -formula: After a hunting accident, Robyn becomes an outlaw, surrounds herself with loyal friends and helps those in need. This aspect of the book doesn’t offer any new ideas or challenge the existing ideas about Robin Hood as a story. However, it focuses more on the characters, so it doesn’t really need anything new. Marian especially has to come to terms with her feelings towards Robyn and women in general. I do have to say though, that the romance between Robyn and Marian happens a little fast - they only meet a few times before falling in love. [Insert joke about lesbians moving too fast here] It didn’t bother me too much, but I do wish there had been a little more buildup.

From this list, I read this book the most recently. It may be that I was just so burned out from reading all these Robin Hood -stories but I didn’t connect with the book that well. I enjoyed it, but I wish there had been more of that fun sense of adventure I look for in these stories.

I would recommend Nottingham to anyone who wants to read a story that manages to be historically accurate and use the Robin Hood mythos to its advantage while not shying away from its portrayal of queerness. Although it did not hold my attention as well as some of the other books, it is still written well and has a good story.

This book didn’t get a bingo unless you interpret “lähentely* which is uncomfortable for the audience” as the sex scene (there is sex in this book but nothing that explicit, I would say high T/low M in Ao3-ratings) being uncomfortable for the reader OR the third person in that scene being uncomfortable. About half of the bingo card was still filled.

*I couldn’t come up with a good translation for this word, it means something along the lines of making moves/coming onto someone/making advances, though for this bingo I use it to generally mean anything flirty/intimate/sexual/etc.

Jenny Elder Moke: Hood

This book was the first one on this list I read. Compared to the other novels, I would say that Hood is the least like your typical Robin Hood story. The book follows Isabelle, Robin and Marian’s daughter, who has to find her father in order to save her mother. The adventure is brand new, though there are still familiar characters and the basic concept of Robin Hood is honored. This is a story about the next generation of outlaws, so if you’re looking for something that focuses on characters from the legends, you may be disappointed.

Speaking of the characters, I loved Little, Patrick and Helena. I could have just read a book where this group of young outlaws has adventures and been satisfied. Unfortunately I didn’t connect well with the main lead, Isabelle, and the love interest, Adam, felt like a very generic hot guy from a YA novel. The romance itself is practically non-existent, and honestly I could have done without it. Seriously, I had completely forgotten about that whole thing until I started writing this review. This story is more about Isabelle’s relationship with her parents, which I like. She also gets to build genuine friendships with the other characters. I just wish the book had been a little longer so that it could have spent more time developing some of these relationships.

Had I read this book when I was a teenager, I most likely would have loved it a lot more. It is YA, and at times it really shows. As far as Robin Hood stories go, I generally enjoy the “outlaws being outlaws in the forest” content the most, and unfortunately this featured surprisingly little of it. It still offered its own take on what could happen after the legends everyone knows, even if it doesn’t add much to the legends themselves.

It is important that I mention here that if Allan has a child in an adaptation, this child must be named either Allan jr. or Alana. This book fulfills this basic need for me and I am satisfied. It also checked most of the boxes on the bingo, and I almost filled the whole sheet. So somehow, despite not really following the typical Robin Hood formula, Hood managed to include all the important tropes.

If you are a teenager who enjoys Robin Hood -stories, I would definitely recommend this book. It’s not the best YA novel out there, but it’s a good standalone story. I think that for adults, this can be a good read if you are a fan of Robin Hood -stories and/or enjoy this type of YA anyway. I wasn’t sure what type of book this was when I started reading, but if you just prepare yourself for a fun adventure aimed at young teens, you can enjoy this. It’s very quick to read, I think I read it in one day.

Also, I must quote a review I saw on Storygraph (imagine this is in all caps) : “hjsxhfjsdksfjk???????????? Patrick best character no cap”

C. K. Brooke: Marian, Princess Thief

In Marian, Princess Thief, Robin Hood doesn’t exist at all. Instead the story follows Marian, who in this version is a princess, who escaped an assassination attempt and is now living in the forest as an outlaw with six other women - the genderbent versions of the Merry Men. Eventually there is a romance in this book as well, but the biggest force carrying through the book is the friendship between the women. If I had to describe the novel in just one word, I would say it’s lovable. If I had to describe it in two, I would say it’s dissappointingly heterosexual.

Maybe the fact that I found a genre that is basically “lesbian Robin Hood” has ruined me, but how can you write a story that features seven women living in the forest as outlaws, and not one of them is queer? This is entirely a thing that bothers me personally, and the book doesn’t need queer representation to be good, but there is no reason to not include it. Headcanons can fortunately go a long way, but I’m just saying that you could easily keep everything about Scarlett’s backstory the same except make her a lesbian. (In fact, I’m 98% joking when I say that her not being a lesbian is a homophobic choice. I will elaborate on this if you ask me but I won’t go too much into it here because I would have to explain things about other adaptations as well.)

As for the straight romance, I can’t say that I was feeling it. I could see the points where I was supposed to feel something, so maybe it’s just the fact that I’m aspec myself, but I didn’t care that much about it. Still, it was refreshing to see a story where the romance doesn’t overshadow the friendships between the women, and instead they are valued just as much (if not more) as the romantic relationship. The story doesn’t dig too deeply into the characters, but I still loved all the women. (I don’t care about the male lead. But I know others who would.)

I think the biggest “problem” this book has (apart from not making Scarlett a lesbian) is that the ending feels just a little bit rushed compared to the rest of the novel. I still think that the novel achieves everything it tries to do, but I could have used one more chapter to flesh out the climax.

The bingo card wasn’t even close to being full, but you know what, Marian, Princess Thief is good enough as it is and doesn’t need to follow all the familiar tropes. Still, how hard is it to include a bird?

This was a very quick read, in fact I basically just read it all in one go. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read something lighthearted and, like me, is often disappointed by the lack of women in Robin Hood stories.

To end this, I will leave you with a translated quote from my WhatsApp commentary: “What is it that in all these Robin Hood stories these old dudes are all after these young maidens like get yourself a hot milf and leave the kids alone”

Edale Lane: Heart of Sherwood

Heart of Sherwood is my favorite Robin Hood -novel that I have read so far. It has just about everything I could want: good characters, a fun sense of adventure, political scheming, great relationships (both romantic and platonic) and a good ending. I was less than two chapters into this book when I knew that this would be a difficult one to top.

The premise of this book is very similar to Burke’s Nottingham: both follow the story of Robyn becoming an outlaw, making friends with the other Merry (Wo)Men and developing a relationship with Marian. I don’t want to compare these two stories too much, but I did prefer the more lighthearted tone of Heart of Sherwood. This was also the first book where I was actually invested in the romance. Normally in pretty much all Robin Hood adaptations, the relationship between Robin and Marian doesn’t interest me greatly; I don’t mind it, but it’s not something I have too many personal feelings about. However, only a few chapters into Heart of Sherwood I thought: “If these two don’t get a happy ending I’m going to jump out of the window.” (I won’t spoil where this threat ended up going.)

One thing I appreciate about the romance in this one is that Robyn and Marian already know each other, so I didn’t have to deal with a romance that develops too fast. The novel also had other things to offer besides being a “lesbian Robin Hood” story, so I didn’t feel like I had to enjoy the romance to enjoy the whole story. I was very invested the whole way through, and out of all the books I’ve reviewed here, this one made me the most emotional.

As a fan of the BBC show, I do have to say that this novel had a very similar vibe; there was a good balance of action and humor. Maybe that was a part of why I enjoyed this so much. I was also able to predict exactly how certain things would end up. I kind of wish I would have been more surprised.

This novel is well paced, it is exactly the right length for the story it’s telling and overall I can’t really find things to complain about. If I wasn’t petty, I would give this book full five stars, but because I am petty, for very personal reasons I’m giving it 4,99999… stars. As for the bingo, this one filled most of the sheet.

I’ll end this review with this random line I had shared on WhatsApp for some reason: ""Does this mean I am dead?" Alan asked in jest. - - - "Nay; same annoying jester, alive as ever, and likely wanting for a pint about now."”

Conclusion

Writing these reviews was surprisingly difficult because most of the stories follow the same formula, so commenting on anything that moves away from said formula could be considered a spoiler. Hopefully if you read this far you were still interested enough in at least one of these books and feel inspired to read them. I would happily recommend any of them, and if you want to know my more detailed thoughts on them, feel free to message me. The same applies to all the adaptations I’ve gone through. I have Thoughts that I’m dying to share.

#robin hood #my post #I have no idea how to tag this???#my own tag for the bbc robin hood is pretty much my general rh tag but I don't want to put this in the public tag since this technically has #nothing to do with it

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toongrrl-blog · 3 years

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Fashion Analysis: Nancy’s Purple work dress and Others Part 2

We’re back! We examine how Nancy’s dress stands as a beacon of great (admittedly mostly white) feminist hope, Karen Wheeler passes the torch in a consciousness-raising session, and we explore how purple has been used in other period pieces.

Nancy has been no stranger to purple before, wearing it as a symbol of her passion, youthful innocence, and heightened emotion. She wore it in the library when she thought she saw Barb (despite the knowledge that her best friend died) and she wore it the day that Steve invited her for a get-together at his mansion (with a pool!) and it’s something that she promptly changes out of before getting in the deep v-necked, chevron striped sweater to look a little more sexier.

Now the purple is no longer pastel, it’s a saturated lilac that is updated for the times and reflects how she is no longer the naive girl in a ballet slipper necklace. After she talks about her struggles in a misogynistic office with her mother, her mother begins to open up, in colors that look subdued but symbolic (except for the makeup).

First check the colors: lavender tones and yellow. Purple on her eyelids. Put a pin those colors (I want to note that a bold red lip remains timeless) and that necklace. We are going to explore the mystique of Karen Wheeler: Model 1980s Housewife and peel some layers with the help of some other ladies in period pieces and her exposition.

We learn that it was likely Karen Wheeler had her own dreams aside from the conventional and traditional life she leads as a bored housewife (who got close to adultery) until casual misogyny led her to abandon those dreams presumably because she “wasn’t smart enough” or “good enough” and stopped trying. Some other ladies (also with incredible hair) would relate outside of the series.

A savvy bombshell who had to negotiate sexism to get what she wanted, until she left men behind for now.

A young woman in her own bold shadow giving the news to her (unappreciative) boss that she is leaving for better things.

A conventional wife and mother who always relied on her own beauty to get the attention and praise she needed and made the radical choice to go back for a Master’s degree.

A disappointed young girl in sensible (and feminine) cardigan and button up shirt listens to whatever a male relative is trying to tell her.

Two secretaries are reminded vividly of how disposable they are in a white male patriarchy but cannot confront the men themselves.

A sheltered proud homemaker questions her life choices as she is surrounded by women who insist on making bolder moves for their lives and change society for all women. She also finds she is very naive to how life works.

A woman who is renowned for her beauty and glamour fights to be recognized for her skills and intellect, tries to bring different people together, and is willing to confront authority figures on their wrongdoing. She also questions why a woman can’t be considered both beautiful and intelligent.

A hardworking wife and mother tries to use her influence to improve the status of women and manages to fight anti-feminists while enjoying tea time with her daughters and their friends. She is also challenged with expectations for how wives were “supposed” to behave.

A woman, with a impenetrable veneer of perfection, attempts to negotiate her way to patriarchy by exploiting the image of traditional feminine perfection and keeping women's’ status, well, static. She loses out when she sees that no matter how many bodies she shoves under the bus, the men above her do not appreciate her efforts on their behalf.

A young and beautiful princess grapples with issues of being a trophy wife, mother, her own roving eye after a marriage to a much older (and unappreciative) patriarchy, and her yearning to be her own person.

A princess goes bold with her makeup, hair, and clothes to gain the attention she has been socialized to expecting. Trying to be a bombshell and “with it” while dealing with a crumbling marriage, feeling overshadowed by others, and no positive outlet for her intelligence.

A vivacious and stylish housewife grappling with the painful realities that men can be fickle and that gender roles don’t offer women any outlet for their ambitions or a safety net for when things get really bad, she learns she will have to make bold choices to better her circumstances.

All these women, like Karen, have made choices to survive the patriarchy and live life on their own terms. Some succumbing to the patriarchy, others revolting against it, and one who would betray others to win her seat in the boardroom. Many of these women are/were noted for their beauty only to find that other people (men) didn’t expect them to be insightful or smart; some of these women were wives and mothers who loved those roles but chafed at the idea that they’d give up their autonomy and individuality to be excellent at those jobs; a few came into motherhood and marriage rather young, before getting to experiment and mature their way through girl’s trips, work, and messy experiences. And many of them chose a different path for themselves aside from being a domestic and maternal figure, probably swearing off it for their own reasons. That was (and still the reality) of many women in Karen’s generation especially. Those were the options open to her and she chose the option that seemed to reap the most benefits.

Now about Karen’s sartorial choices? First the necklace.

As noted in Seventeen magazine, many fans on the internet noticed the shape her necklace took, looking similar to a vaginal opening with the pearl as a clitoris. Given how heavy the male gaze was in the 1980s, this was a impressive expression of female sexuality. Given the look and symbolism (given added weight from the feminist pep talk she gives Nancy), it’s quite impressive for the conventional PTA mom whose front lawn held a Reagan/Bush ‘84 sign (just look up their policies on reproductive health and sex education, I recommend Gloria Feldt’s The War on Choice: The Right-wing Attack on Women's Rights and how to Fight Back). Then we go from Second Wave Feminism of the prior decade all the way back to First Wave Feminism’s use of White, Purple, and Yellow.

White dresses stood out against men in their dark suits and were cheaper to maintain (laundry practices at the time caused colors to run) and reflect how white mainstream figures of the movement really were, after all Nancy and Karen are upper-middle class, white, cishet, conventionally attractive preppy suburbanites in Indiana and their experiences wouldn’t 100% match those of transgender women, working-class women (Joyce), women in abusive households (Max), traumatized women (El), women of color (Erica), larger or “outlier” attractive (Barb), or lesbians (Robin).

Gold/Yellow stood for “Hope”, Purple for “Loyalty”, and White for “purity” (given that name “Karen” means “Purity” from Nordic origins, it’s pitch perfect).

Hope and Loyalty embody the Party of Stranger Things, as to why Purity isn’t mentioned here, we will go in the 3rd part (all the racial implications can be looked up) and see the group get intersectional.

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hms-chill · 4 years

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ok i really want to start reading but i have absolutely no idea where to start do you have any recs?

Oh man, it completely depends on what you want to read!

Poetry:

I just responded to an ask and listed like 10 of my favorite poems, but more generally:

- Badger Clark: queer cowboy poet; his work is really rhythmic/lyrical and tends to be about General cowboy/Western things

- Wilfred Owen: gay WWI soldier who trained as a pastor; his love poetry is gorgeous and his war poetry is haunting

- Langston Hughes: queer Black writer; lots of poems about race and Harlem (the Black neighborhood of NYC)

- Phillis Wheatley: Black enslaved person; Wheatley was the first woman published in America and her stuff tends to basically say ‘hey look I’m just as smart as a white person maybe we should have equality’

Contemporary fiction:

- I’m loving Sarah Gailey’s work right now, they’ve got two fun gay vaguely Wild West ensemble pieces (Upright Women Wanted and River of Teeth) and a fun magical California noir one (Magic for Liars)

- Tamora Pierce is an author I grew up on and am getting back into; she’s got tons of series about lady knights and lady spies and girls in fantasy in general

- the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo is a super fun, gay, incredibly diverse heist series (good old fashioned doing crime for money)

- Nottingham by Anna Burke is a lesbian retelling of the Robin Hood myth

- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon is about an autistic boy who wants to be an astronaut and needs to find out who killed his neighbor’s dog (it’s also about family, and how much love we can give each other, and how to find new ways to love each other when old or ‘normal’ ones don’t work for us)

Classics

- I’m a slut for The Hobbit not gonna lie; it’s rambly and sometimes slow but it feels cozy somehow

- Les Mis is a dense motherfucker but it was also a pretty fundamental book in getting me into social justice

- Jane Austen in general is fantastic; I’m a huge fan of Northanger Abbey in particular because it just makes fun of trashy Gothic lit

- on the topic of Gothic lit, Dracula is really worth the read. You can’t get the full story or the right vibes from any other medium.

- Frankenstein is also worth the read. Shelley knew what was up.

- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston is in dialect, which can take a bit to get used to, but it’s SUCH A GOOD BOOK

- A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is so painfully gay it was used as evidence in his sodomy trial. If you can, get your hands on the uncensored version for maximum gay.

Nonfic

- Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicholson is about his parents’ polyamorous relationship(s), including his mom’s relationship with Virginia Woolf

- 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time To Write by Sarah Ruhl is a fun collection of 100 short essays about theater, patenting, and life

- This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpan Faust is a bit slow, but it’s a look at the way the American Civil War changed our ideas about death and it made me want to study history

Plays (these got away from me a bit, sorry)

- No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre is about three awful people trapped in a room together. Maybe not the play to read in quarantine but a damn good play.

- Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, adapted by Sarah Ruhl. A play version of the book Woolf wrote about how much she loved her girlfriend, it uses lots of Woolf’s original language and is so fucking gay and beautiful

- Hamlet by Shakespeare. What can I say; I love this funky lil depressed gay and his cute nerd boyfriend. Macbeth and The Tempest are also great.

- A Sunday Morning in the South by Georgia Douglas Johnson needs a trigger warning for racial violence, but it’s one of the most chilling things I’ve ever read in my life. It’s about a a Black family in the Deep South in the early 1900s, it’s pretty short and it’s so horrifyingly good.

- Trifles by Susan Glaspell is about a murder investigation, and more deeply about women protecting each other.

- Tea by Velina Hasu Houston is about four Japanese women in a small town in Kansas in the 1960s and how they find common ground and community.

- Language of Angels by Naomi Izuka is a vaguely supernatural one about a girl who dies in rural Appalachia and the way she haunts the classmates involved.

- Slaughter City by Naomi Wallace is about worker’s rights both historically and in the modern meat packing industry; it’s also got some really cool supernatural elements

- In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl is about the invention of the vibrator, and more generally about intimacy and sexuality/sexual pleasure.

- M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang is a subversion of the white savior trope and a commentary on the effeminization of Asian men, based on a true spy story.

#if you want more specifuc recommendations feel free to ask!#if you like a specific author or vibe or something i might know something like it #not fic #ask and answer #hannah’s recs

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escapekissed · 4 years

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Lucky do you have any favorite pieces of media from the psychological horror genre? Feels like its a genre that matches ur interests very well 👉🏽👈🏽

there are a couple that really speak to me!

first is rule of rose, which is a game that is incredibly formative to me. in a time where i was looking for representation as a young gay person and REALLY into looking up wiki pages for horror games, rule of rose showed me the symbolic trauma of puberty and toxic ‘love’ between girl children and the violence of patriarchal figures that i was looking for. it showed such cruelty but also such strength in its main character, and the symbolism? exquisite.... it also just has such a creepy atmosphere and the fact that the game is near impossible to play along with its shitty graphics for the enemies makes it so. peculiar and creepy in a very special way to me.

catherine is another atlus game near and dear to my heart, tho i dont think i’m ever going to be playing full body for that exact reason. it’s a game basically about eugenics and misogyny, about gods&devils thinking of women as only reproductive objects and the men in their lives that ‘waste their reproductive time’ being tortured and killed for it, taking away a woman’s choice. i always thought it would be so interesting to do trans and lesbian takes on this game, and i have never really? stopped thinking about how this game is so thrilling in its themes of entitlement and stopping people’s freedom to love as they wish. this is also one of the only horror games in which the ‘human element’ actually interests me. so many horror games give u terrible people and i dont give a FUCK ABOUT THEM. but the way this game shows u just snippets of his life as a ‘break’ from the excruciatingly scary (to me, because time limits scare me LOL), stressful as hell puzzles. and u get to figure out the mystery of what is going on in people who would otherwise be boring to you, but in this game are shrouded in just enough mystery that ur actually interested in their boring day-to-day lives. its so satisfying just to drink with ur buds. its like really great gameplay to me tbh. i also just love katherine and catherine and they frusturate me so much and that’s exactly what they’re supposed to do which i LOVE. extremely effective atmosphere setting and worldbuilding, basically.

the lighthouse is my favorite horror movie tbh because it does suspense so well. the movie is literally themed around suspense, the suspense of not getting sexual satisfaction to completion, of being touch starved and lonely and repressed, of being able to hold ur boss but never kiss him, of being fed lobster but it tastes flavorless and bland and u can smell ur boss’s farts the whole time while he prattles on with disturbing sailor’s tales and barks out orders until he’s lulled into his drink. i honestly love this movie. and the acting is brilliant and unhinged

there’s a few indie games i really like that have been either formative to me or i just??? really like their vibe and i can basically tell from them i would like every game in the ‘genre.’

pocket mirror to me is like, this beautiful game about your own inner toxicity and escaping from yourself. i love indie 64-bit games like this, the background art is so beautiful, and while i’ve never played all the way through it because it scares me too much---i love ib and all the games in the ‘ib’ genre LOL.

doki doki literature club i know is a very strange game to like, but i enjoy it for letting the women be actual characters with their own thoughts and feelings. the pychological horror movie ‘i’m thinking of ending things’ is the exact opposite of this game.'i’m thinking of ending things’ is a backwards approach to feminist horror in my opinion. it’s from a male’s perspective of his hallucinations of a girl that once didn’t give him a second glance and his violence towards her in these fantasies. it takes itself painfully seriously. it pretends to deconstruct something that the director helped soldify (the manic pixie dream girl trope) in the public eye. doki doki literature club on the other hand, the passive character who ‘things happen to’ is the man. the active roles all go to the women in the game and what they do to themselves in order to be loved by not just a man, but the player, and in doing so they often become the all-knowing god of their own prison. like tell me that’s not the dopest thing u’ve ever heard of!

twilight zone is a big one for me but 5 episodes in particular have shaped how i view horror forever. ‘to serve man’---where the greatest, scariest thing in the world is not being able to understand the language another person is actually using and for them to manipulate u using ur own, actually wishing u harm as they placate you with your own interpretations. the episode where a rich man’s last will and testament is for his vain, selfish relatives to wear a mask until midnight that reveals symbolically how ugly they are to him. they bicker all night with petty squabbles, and then at midnight he reveals the mask has permeanantly shaped their faces to reveal who they really are and the abuse he suffered under them. the cornfield episode still scares the shit out of me as someone with an entitled younger brother whose entitlement and anger is often enabled by those around us, and i’ve always thought that it was such a good show of like, how patriarchy enables little boy’s violence. the episode ‘all the time in the world’ where an abused man with a shitty life is finally the last man on earth and he can do anything he’d like to do and all he wants to do is read but then he breaks his glasses. and finally! the episode where toys in a box come to life and bemoan their fate as they realize they will be trapped there forever in clothes and identities they do not recognize. these episodes always scare the shit out of me LOL.

besides that i really like. low-budget passion project indie games. the first that comes to mind is ‘the path’ which is about a family of four sisters of various ages all inspired by little red riding hood who stray from the path and are hunted by the woodsman. and then the game that YOU my dear myers! showed me! that haunts me to this day. basically a tape talks to you about the areas of a house and then starts to talk about the house as a living creature. and the living creature is hungry, without you inside it. the living creature is tired of being alone, it’s tired of being abandoned, it’s tired, and it’s eyes are empty with no one in the windows, and it’s mind is blank with no one in the bedroom, and it’s hangry there’s no one in its basement to feast on, to torment as it has been tormented by disuse.

last but not least, i really enjoy the book ‘sharp objects.’ which is not technically a horror novel. but it is about a serial killer, and about women and abuse and it has some of the best writing ever. so i highly recommend it AND the miniseries (watch the miniseries first then read the book bc the miniseries is like. directed better? but the novel is written and characterized better. it’s also very short u can finish it in like a day and a half).

honorable mentions for horror In General (not necessarily psychological horror) are: 1) the birdcage. i honestly consider this movie entirely unsettling. robin williams failing to portray a man that is actually attracted to nathan lane, which could be because they have simply been married so long but also is just awful to me in general bc it makes me feel like even our outwardly gay but still more masc gay men can’t love and be attracted to femme camp gays even when they’re married to them. the fact that both these men that could be so in love, that were so in love at one time, you can at the very least imagine, are told by their only son that they need to go back in the closet to impress some old ass republicans, giving the message that no matter how succesful you are in the gay community, no matter how bright and wonderful a presence you are, no matter how loving you are, no matter how much you love, no matter how interwoven you are in lgbt-ness, the straight people you love most will still try to change you to impress the wold. horrifying.

2) coraline. its children’s horror but that’s still horror baby! i think lately about how much the movie talks about mothers and birth. coraline calls whybie ‘why born’ and i just think about how much she thinks about creating a new life with a new mother, and how going through that small door into a long tube... it’s like crawling into a new womb and being reborn to a new mother that loves you. and that’s horrific from a feminist perspective in and of itself---that your child would feel so unloved and unimportant to you that she would literally... rather die in this life, technically, rather be ‘unborn’ to you and born anew to someone, someone just like you but better, someone just like you but what SHE wants a mother to be, feminine and skirted and smiling. and then there’s the fact that coraline only gives this up when she realizes her other mother basically wants to change her more to suit her liking in ways that would cause her pain, at which point she realizes this whole fantasy is a lie, not real, something meant to entice her and control her and make her ‘perfect’---the same way she wants her mother & father to be ‘perfect’ in a way that causes her to act out and hurt them. it’s psychological horror that’s technically not psychological horror in the best way, something you can really dig your teeth into, something that has so many layers to it. and the animation! gorgeous!

3) finally i have recently watched annihilation. and it kind of changed my life a little bit.... so often we’re used to viewing monsters as either 1) malicious or 2) romantic/sad/sexy. but the monster in this movie is literally a metaphor for cervical cancer.

to me, the monsters and the corpses and all the beautiful scenery in this movie, in every color u can think of, a muted rainbow of flowers and nature at its best and most bizarre and sprawling. i often say that monsters are beautiful, but tbh, i feel like... somehow i always mean that in a way that is near-fetishitic, somehow self-depcrating way, where i want to consider what other people think is ‘ugly’ is ‘beautiful to me’ because what i am also ugly to other people as a monster to the cishet white patriarchy. there are things i consider beautiful, certainly, purely beautiful. but when i talk about monsters being beautiful, it is in the way the sublime is beautiful. it scares me, it haunts me, i love it, i want to possess it as part of me, a totem to carry in my back pocket to make the strength in my own ugliness stronger.

when i saw the monster in this movie (SPOILERS) i was immediately unnerved at this bad cgi abomination that bloomed from the most beautiul cgi cancer death cosmos imaginable. it scared me and i had to sleep with a light on for 2 days after LOL. but i was also moved by its gentleness. by the fact that the cervical cancer alien, when it tried to hurt you, wasn’t trying to hurt you at all. it was simply copying your movements. in the movie, it says that the creature wants nothing. it was simply copying. it was simply changing. it’s a prism of nature---and it corrupts yes, and it can hurt people and things and turn them into scary but still terribly unique and beautiful things that also kill---but the movie says that it wants nothing. it simply exists. it’s a part of nature, same as us, a part of the same universe and cosmos, despite being alien to us and stange and hurting us sometimes in ways that it doesn’t understand.

i don’t know. if i quite believe the movie when it says that, though. because i think if you copy someone, like a child would, you are trying to understand them. you are trying to understand yourself. you are trying to form yourself in another’s image when you have none, and you are failing at that, and hurting people and creating monsters in the process, but you are trying as best as you can to be whole and beautiful and sane like the lovely creatures you’ve met on this earth, or this body. to be part of something great and beautiful. to be part of another world.

maybe it doesn’t want anything. but do WE want anything as children, when we copy adults? why did the bear and the alligator try to eat our heroes if they were not hungry? did the bear and the alligator not WANT to eat? i think everything wants to live, and everything wants to grow, and if it can learn to live better and grow better it Will learn even if that is not its explicit intention. does the alien have feelings? does nature? do we have to personify things to understand them? no. does personifying things make us understand them less? no, yes, sometimes. we ask animals and nature to copy us, follow us, so that we can understand them better. the relationship in between----from the hurt, from the pain, from the droughts and the food shortages and the hurricanes and the fireworks---forms from our kindness and understanding. that our crops are useful, and the man-made mutation of our crops and the help of the ran and the sun is also useful. that our animals may not love us, but they need us, and we love them for putting their paw on our thighs to be pet, for following us into the bathroom even when we just wanted a moment alone.

regardless of its intentions, the alien, cancer, every creature, every human, they simply want to grow. in copying others---in trying to touch, to change, to understand, and be close---we learn to live in the same body, learn to live in the same world. the togetherness--the new sight the prism brings---it’s beautiful. it is beautiful to copy, however poorly. it is beautiful to try. we all shape others to our own standards---we sometimes forget we too, were made in own own perception of others’ image.

#ooc: replies #this took me all day to answer because i had to go to COSTCO in the middle. LOL #destructiveglitch

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thinger-strang · 5 years

Text

no one dies and everyone's gay au

Nancy finds Barb when she gets stuck in the Upside Down when she's in the forest with Jonathan (don't ask me about the logistics) and so Steve ends up finding Jonathan and Barb in Nancy's room? And he's confused because at first he'd just seen Jon and thought Nancy was cheating but then he saw Barb walk into the room? (traumatic sleepover time! except Jon stays on the ground and Barb and Nance cuddle on the bed bc they're best friends and BARB WAS MISSING FOR LIKE TWO DAYS I THINK? she deserves snugs)

But Tommy and Carol started talking about how Nancy was probably sleeping with both, everyone knew Barb was the biggest d*ke in Hawkins, Nancy probably got curious about the other side!

He doesn't necessarily agree but still doesn't stop Tommy from spray painting the theater (because Nancy still lied to him? Lying generally meant there was something? going on? idk Steve's just confused and a little hurt rn)

The rest of the season goes pretty much the same, Barb's just there trying to not die and trying to help the Gang™ find Will and fight this bitch ass demogorgon (I don't think she's really be part of the Nancy and Jonathan luring it to the house and fighting it, she'd help with set up and the plan but I think she'd fuck right off when it comes down to facing it, she's had enough monsters for one life time thx)

But she'd so wanna help get Will out so she's there with Joyce and everyone talking to El while she's in the bath finding Will and talking Hop and Joyce about the Upside Down

(and she's been to the hospital, she didn't get a face sucking monster thing so she recovered quicker? idk don't ask logistics again lmao)

But she and Will end up getting along and sometimes when she's hanging out with Nancy and the party comes over she'll say hi to Will and like ruffle his hair

(also I want a little scene after the big monster hunting trip scene where a) Nancy and Jonathan explain everything to Steve and b) where Steve sees Barb again and pulls her into the biggest hug and starts like apologizing for not paying attention that night and for letting her get taken and even though she assured him it wasn't his fault he still feels guilty about it, it was his house, he should have helped her bandage her hand or something? idk but this right here is the beginning of the Barb/Steve friendship and the start of the "fall of King Steve")

cue s2

and so the four get really close, Jonathan and Steve are actually friends (idk what s2 was pulling but they're friends) and Barb talks to Nancy about Steve and Jonathan and Nancy ends up breaking up with Steve way earlier (bc you know none of that drama would have happened if Barb was there so)

But they're all still good friends, Steve's cool about the break up, and Nancy and Jonathan get together but it's not like right after? so it's all chill and they all went through a dramatic experience together so they remain close knit yeah

and Barb eventually comes out to them (everyone's supportive obviously) and Steve's is ready to throw down with anyone for her

cue Billy

the four of them are sizing up the new guy, Nancy doesn't really care, Jonathan thinks his hair is a little ridiculous (which I mean, that first day? when he steps out of the Camaro? yeah it was a lil rough), Barb can see right through his macho bullshit, and Steve? has a little bi meltdown. bc this kid has definitely had boy crushes before and knows he likes both (kid listens to queen of course he knew he was bi lmao)

blah blah blah s2 happens, Barb, Steve, and Billy have the same English class and Billys generally quiet during school, kinda stand-off-ish, only really bugs people during gym/basketball, but he literally sits in the back and does absolutely nothing during class and still somehow has the highest grade

(FUCK him and Barb get paired for a project and she fucking calls him out? like she's just like you're gay I'm lesbian you can cut the crap around me and they become...not friends? but they have solidarity, they're cool)

and I'm a slut for this trope but BILLY FIGHTS DEMODOGS WITH THEM lmao he hears Max sneak out and follows her and finds her in the junkyard armouring up a bus with fucking Harrington and a couple of nerds? and like the sun is setting and he needs to get Max home so he's like "Maxine! I don't know what the fuck this is and I don't fucking care, we gotta go!" and the four are like yelling at him to either leave or get in the bus! and he's so confused, I'm not here to play games Max! and Steve's running out of the bus with a FUCKING NAIL BAT WHAT THE FUCK HARRINGTON? And Steve's like behind you! and swings at a demodog. Billy has a borderline panic attack before he finds like a fender or exhaust pipe or whatever and starts swinging too

the dogs run away and Billy rounds onto Steve like what the living shit was that? and Steve has to explain everything with Dustin and Lucas interrupting and Max shrugging and trying to understand too? it's a mess

s2 continues with Billy and with HOPPER NOT BEING ABLE TO STAND HIM bc he's caught him speeding and underage drinking and shit and Billy's nervous as hell around cops which makes him mouthy and ITS A MESS

they're all at Joyce's (Barb's there too bc Will's possessed and they need to check up on her too? and she's concerned for Will anyway yeah she's in this too) and El shows up and Steve and Billy are just like what? another one? who the fuck? like Steve heard about her but this isn't a tiny child without hair??? idk it's funny

BILLY WITH AN AXE IN THE TUNNELS

(obviously Steve isn't passed out and the kids don't drive the car, it's Billy's awful impulse control that leads to them going into the tunnels)

okay I couldn't decide where to put Barb here? so I left her with Steve and Billy to babysit and she ends up in the tunnels too? and she's def handling it better than the boys are fuck yeah

Steve has his bat and is in front and Billy found an axe in the pile of shit from the Byers' shed and he pulls up the end

it's awesome

yada yada Steve and Billy end up becoming weirdly good friends by the end and he's good with him and Barb, idk about Nance and Jon but eh

s3 now

Billy ends up getting two jobs; lifeguard and cook at Benny's (bc he's alive too, fight me bitches this is the ultimate fix it) and Barb ends up working as a waitress there too (and working together builds the weirdest bonds so they are besties now)

everything in s3 is pretty much the same but with diner scenes too? and like all the Hawkins moms swarm Benny's too and leave lipstick stains on their kitchen tips and "send my compliments to the chef *wink*"

Billy eats it up but Barb can tell he also kinda hates it bc he's barely 18 and not even remotely into women and it makes him super uncomfortable but publicly he "loves" it (he starts wearing tank tops to the pool and tries to hide out in the kitchen but it really doesn't work)

he still gets caught up with the mind flayer but it's not bc he's about to sleep with Karen bc ew, idk why he's driving out by the warehouse idk maybe he's out on a drive bc he can't sleep yeah

anyway he gets caught up but like he knows, or kind of knows, what this is and calls in sick to both jobs and talks to Hopper bc WHAT THE FUCK isn't the gate closed? I got face fucked my an interdimensional monster so unless you know where the fuck that came from?? and they deal with it earlier (most of the shit still happens but it's less...messy? like Hop and Joyce are more involved in the Billy shit and Steve knows about it?)

Steve still gets caught up with the Russians (I don't think he'd have a chance to tell anyone (specifically Hopper) bc he finds out about Billy then the elevator stuff happens like right after and yada yada)

so for most of the season it's them trying to actually help Billy! and they end up saving a lot of people? (specifically Heather bc she was really nice to Billy and I want he to live fight me it's my au)

but enough people get melted and shit that starcourt still get destroyed blah blah blah!

but Billy makes it and so does Hop and Alexie (no one dies au) and they all end up doing the thing in the mall like they did in the shed with Will? like breaking Billy out? Barb talks about working at the diner and their secret and Steve talks about them hanging out and playing basketball and the tunnels and Max talks about Billy buying her a new board and them scream-singing along to ACDC in the Camaro and the kids mention him giving them rides and shit and yeah! El talks about his mom and that's it! Joyce and Hop close the gate while Billy's holding the one arm (he doesn't get stabbed in the chest, as cool as that scar would be, no...but he gets some on his hands and upper arms and his sides?)

(also Billy's drinking like bleach rn so they try and reverse that as much as possible while he's possessed so that he has a better recovery later bc no! chlorine is not good for you! and Billy tries so hard to not drink it but sometimes he can't fucking stop? idk but he has a support system now!)

and Robin came out to Steve and Steve comes out to her too? like kinda? he alludes to it vaguely bc he's so not ready to be out to anyone FUCK

And Billy comes out to Steve (he was planning on doing it earlier that summer but shit happened)

and Robin becomes friends with everyone (ITS ROBIN X BARB HOURS BITCHES)

(OKAY small like side shit? Benny and Hopper have known each other for years and Benny's like one of the only registered foster parents on Hawkins so he ends up fostering a lot of wayward kids while Hop figures out legal stuff (he hasn't adopted anyone yet but him and his husband (yeah Benny's gay deal with it) really want to? they just haven't yet, all the kids they take care of end up in their care temporarily) BUT Hop finds out about Billy and Max's home life (I know a lot of people write that Neil wouldn't hit Max but...nah son not how that works? idk but he needs to get them out? and Neil's bad to Susan too (he's the worst to Billy but still bad to Max and Susan) anyway Hop helps Susan leave Neil (it takes a while and Billy and Max end up with Benny for a little bit while the divorce is going down and all the legal shit yeah it's safer out of the house rn) long story short Billy ends up staying with Benny after everything and ends up getting adopted (they're like we know you're 18 and you don't need a guardian but if you want we can be your dads? and Billys like yeah sure that'd be nice and yeah) Hop ends up being a weird like uncle figure? idk like I said him and Benny are close and they both adopted kids so yeah? and Billy ends up considering El his little sister and he still visits Max and Susan and yeah?)

ANYWAY everything kind of calms down, Hop and Joyce get together (I just realized I forgot about Bob so...idk I guess this isn't an everyone survives au? no no that's weird um idk him and Joyce end up breaking up idk why) but yeah Hop and Joyce get together and like it's kind of fast but they've been in love for a long time so it's kind of fine? like idk but yeah

Barb and Robin get together (ITS FUCKING CUTE they go to aquariums and have paint dates where they sit on some old sheets and paint while listening to Robin's records ITS CUTE!)

STEVE COMES OUT TO EVERYONE! he definitely cries bc fuck he was scared! bc he likes both and he wasn't sure if that was a thing or whatever for a while and Billy's like oh yeah, like David Bowie or Freddie Mercury? and that's when Steve's cries bc oh thank God you guys get it and you're cool with it oh fuck and YEAH

UM Max is bi too, Will comes out as gay (listen I know none of this is like 80's realistic but everyone's gay and alive and happy, fuck off)

Um it takes forever for Billy and Steve to get together, it's awful. like Barb and Robin have to deal with their pining and shit? and like Robin hears about it from Steve at work and Barb hears about it from Billy at the diner and they put their knowledge together and make a Plan ™

it's like elaborate and dramatic (shut up they're all like 18-19) and shit? BUT LMAO okay one day they're all hanging out at Steve's (bc I've also hopped aboard the neglectful parents train sorry) and idk Steve and Billy are there before Robin and Barb are so the girls walk in on them arguing over whatever and like Billy's talking really fast and Steve's talking with his hands and idk what it's about but Billy ends up yelling that he loves him BUT THEY KEEP ARGUING FOR LIKE A SOLID MINUTE AFTER THAT BEFORE IT HITS THEM and Steve gets all quiet and is just like you love me? and Billy doesn't fucking know what to do?? he's like bright red and frozen and Robin and Barb are by the door trying to not like break the spell (bc it's been months guys) and Billy's like of course I do asshole and Robin thinks Steve's about to have a panic attack but he like rushes forward and cups Billy's face and kisses him senseless and it's like the best thing Robin and Barb have ever seen

and they're resting their foreheads together, Steve's still holding Billy's face and Billy has his hands on Steve's chest it's really tender but Robin's like yeah congrats and shit but you guys ruined our Plan™! and she gives them a long ass rundown of their elaborate scheme and Steve and Billy are like still touching and bumping into each other as they listen and Barb interrupts and says that this was better and Robin rolls her eyes but agrees

and they're watching a movie or whatever, cuddling in their respective couples and Steve fucking jumps up randomly and rounds on Billy like hey woah fuck I love you too, I didn't say that earlier! and Billy's looking up at him like yeah I know that asshole and yeah

#okay this is s u p e r long sorry #but also not #harringrove #robin x barb #fix-it #stranger things #the ultimate fix-it #pls ask me stuff about this im so down to ramble about this?#pls #fic #my stuff #also idk how to do keep reading thungs so sorry 😬#also i barely mention nancy jon the kids or the adults #this is about my gay quad #buckland #bobin #my writings

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