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buckys-little-belle · 2 years

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Mafia Au (Part One)

Origin Story

Stucky x Little!Reader (They/Them Pronouns Used)

Mafia Au Guidebook - Here (I recommend reading this first)

Warnings - Very vague mentions of mafia dealings, someone is told “you should stop talking if you hope to keep your life” and that’s as violent as it will get, reader is technically Brock Rumlows sibling, I totally recognize we don’t all looks like him, talk like him, or are anything like him, please know there is no dictations as of “biological, half, step, or adopted” sibling, and you can easily view yourself as any type of sibling! This part of the story takes place during dinner, people eat food, food is mentioned, reader has a tough home life with Brock, but it’s not at all described in detail, talks of loneliness and feeling left out. (3100 ish words)

Notes - I hate how this came out, but at this point I have rewritten it way to many times to stat again, so I just hope it’s good enough <3

SFW - Please keep all interactions with this post, and with this blog, SFW.

The dining room, to Y/n, felt too big, too extravagant, and elegant to be located in someone’s house. The room was large, the walls white with elegant moulding, the floors covered in black hardwood. In the middle of the room stood a large rectangular table, the black wood seemingly matching the floors, the chairs covered in a contrasting white fabric and each spot at the table had a white plate, gold cutlery, and a beautiful blue and gold placemat.

The owners of the house, the Odinsons, made sure to fill the room, their home, with odes to their heritage, paintings, statues, pottery, and the placemats, all artifacts from, and things based on, Asgardian culture. The small details helped make the room feel welcoming, the bare bones were modern and cold, but the details showed that the room had character.

The house that Y/n was standing in was much different to their own. The large mansion an extreme opposite to their small apartment in the Bronx, Y/n’s apartment could easily fit into the singular dining room at least one time, maybe even two. A rundown studio apartment had no upper hand on a grand home like this one, sure each had historical aspects, but the Odinsons had marble tiles, stairways, and wallpaper from eras past, all having been taken care of and in great shape. Y/n had a bathtub from the early 1900s that was falling apart, and old carpet flooring from the 70s.

The mansion could be compared to her brothers, Brock had a large, more modern, mansion just a few blocks away, the landscape just as beautiful, and the art just as expensive. Y/n knew what luxury was, they just were forbidden to live in it.

Brock kept Y/n at an arm's length, close enough to be shown off at parties, helping him show a united family front, but far enough that no one would know his secret. Brock had prided himself on his ability to run a Mafia Family of just Caregivers, not a Little in sight. He wanted to assert dominance by following past tradition, keeping Littles off to the side, out of the business aspects of this job.

But he needed to keep his sibling close, family meant everything to the other Mafia families, he couldn’t cast his sibling away without valid reasoning, his only reason being they didn’t fit his end goal, which would never been seen as reasonable. So he kept their label a secret, keeping them silent at dinners, meetings, any outing with him, making sure they lived somewhere else so no one would catch them regressing.

So Y/n was stuck in their small apartment, left alone to long for the large dining rooms, bathrooms that didn’t have leaky windows, and a ‘family’ that accepted them for who they really were. For the first few years, when Brock was still the right hand man of the Hydra Family over in California, Y/n thought that this was how all little’s were treated, only to be faced with the harsh reality that life could be so much better.

Here in New York littles were allowed in the Families ranks, they were allowed to be a part of big decisions, they were truly accepted by those around them. This group made sure littles got different meals, chicken nuggets, pasta, and more, if they wanted it, they still got to sit at the Caregiver table when little, they could thrive.

Part of Y/n wished to go back, go back to the days where they never knew that life could be better, the days where they were content with being paraded around others silently, being thrown away when they weren’t needed. Go back to the days that they didn’t long for more, but for now they would be stuck here, sat in the beautiful dining room, filled with sorrow, pushing around the weird food on their plate, longing for some pasta.

“Eat your food.” Brock seethed from beside them, a smile on his face as vile words were spat out quietly.

“What ‘s it?” Y/n whispered, the small circles a confusing dish.

“It’s Escargot.” Brock answered, taking a large sip of his drink, most likely an alcoholic one, one that would make him more irritable throughout the night. “Just eat it.”

Y/n swallowed hard, their eyes fixed on the plate, their stomach sinking at the idea of eating baby snail eggs. “I don’t think ‘m hungry.” They whispered to their brother, a pleading look on their face, silently begging for some mercy.

Brock sighed, standing up and fixing his jacket as he harshly whispered. “I’m going to the bathroom, if you don’t eat at least half of your food you’ll loose Tv privileges for a month.” His threat wasn’t empty, it was one he had acted on many times, one he dished out unfairly.

Y/n looked at the plate debating if it was worth it, the new Octonauts episodes were due to come out next week, something they didn’t want to lose, but at the same time they didn’t know if they would be able to swallow the food regardless of the impending punishment’s intensity.

Before they could scoop up a spoonful, someone interpreted them. “Y/n?” A man’s voice asked, Y/n looking up, their gaze now focused on a tall brunette, his hair pulled back in a low bun, a soft smile gracing his lips. “I’m Bucky.” He said, sitting where Brock was just seated. “Would you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

Y/n’s eyes were wide, confused as to why someone was paying attention to them. “Um.” Y/n’s eyes drifting to the entryway of the dining room, when there was no evidence that Brock was entering they answered shyly. “Sure.”

Bucky pulled out a small pad of paper from his suit jacket, words scribbled across the paper. “Do you live with your brother?” He asked, his eyes flipping from the paper to Y/n.

“No.” They answered quickly, a quick rush of fear flooding through them when they realized they answered wrong. “I, I mean yes, we live in a mansion.” Their answer was slightly choppy, too focused on making sure the words were clear and not mumbled to be focused on the flow of the sentence.

“Okay.” Bucky doubted, shaking his head slightly. “Can you tell me what colour the mansion is?” He prodded.

“Oh.” Y/n paused, trying to remember what colour Brock had talked about painting the house, but was that inside? Their mind running in circles as they tried to remember as best they could. “ ‘s it black?” They questioned, hoping they got the right answer, as if they were being tested and graded.

“You were close.” Bucky chuckled, sighing as he read the next question. “If you could have anything, anything in the world, what would you want?”

‘A canopy bed.’ They said in their head, the bed being something they’ve wanted for years. “World peace.”

“You don’t have to lie.” Bucky pressed, his eyes genuine.

“I can’t say.” Y/n said, a frown on their face, tears threatening to spill.

“Can’t? Or not allowed to?” Bucky asked.

Y/n just sat still, their hand reaching for their once discarded spoon, pushing around the food on their plate. Bucky sighed, placing the pad of paper back into his pocket and standing up, Y/n’s eyes filling with tears, disappointed in themself for making someone mad. What they didn’t know was it had nothing to do with them.

- - - - - -

Brock walked into the room, Y/n quickly wiping the tears from their face, trying to compose themself as best as they could. As Brock approached his seat they waited for his snarky comment on how much food was still on their plate, the joy he would have taking the Tv out of their apartment when they got there. “Brock Rumlow.” A voice laughed, one from the end, the head, of the table, one Y/n hadn’t heard before.

“Is something wrong Mr.Odin?” Brock asked, his voice suddenly cherie, his hands clasping together behind his back.

“We’re about to find out.” A snarky voice called out, the voice belonging to one of the Odinsons Y/n knew to be Loki, the man looking terrifying and yet terrified himself.

“Brock, what colour is your house?” Odin called out, a slight mocking tone on the edge of his voice.

“It’s light grey Sir.” Brock answered quickly.

“Yes it is.” Odin faked contemplation. “So why does your sibling think it’s black?” He questioned.

Brock chuckled lowly. “Y/n struggles with colours Sir. Can’t really trust anything they say.” He laughed, looking around the room, hoping for similar reactions, only to be met with unsatisfied stares.

“I find that hard to believe.” Odin boomed, standing up from his seat, causing the room to grow stiff. “Though, I would understand why they don’t know, seeing as you seem to store them across town.” He remarked.

“Y/n lives with me Sir, I don’t know what intel you're going off, but it’s wrong. They have a bedroom right next to mine.” Brock argued back, his attitude growing restless.

“So what is the ‘$1400’ payment to a ‘Mr.Jones each month?” The man questioned. “He owns a rundown apartment building does he not?” Odin added.

“Well, that’s.” Brock began. “Some of my men stay there.” He confidently said.

“Hm, see I might have been able to believe that if I didn’t have pictures of Y/n leaving and entering the building almost everyday.”

Y/n shrunk into their seat, not ready for the wrath that Brock would undoubtedly lash onto them, one of his rules being ‘Don’t leave the apartment under any circumstances.’. “Oh you little -“ Brock shouted, his furious gaze cast on Y/n.

“I suggest you don’t finish that sentence if you want to leave here with your life.” Odin said, two large bodyguards immediately grabbing Brock by each arm, dragging him to stand at the other head of the table, now on display for everyone to clearly see. “Y/n stops at a toy store everyday, standing outside and looking at what they have on display. I don’t think that can be easily explained, hm?” Odin added, Brock just looking back with wildly angry eyes. “And then they go to a Cafe, take out a stuffed animal, and drink a cup of hot chocolate.” Odin continued, Brock growing more restless the more the leader talked. “We have come to the conclusion to have you removed, you left a little to their own devices, lied about it, many, many times, and you treated them as if they mean nothing to you, your own sibling.” Odin scoffed, pure disappointment dripping from his words.

“I treat them the way they should be treated.” Brock seethed. “They are mine, I can do with them as I please.”

“Actually you can’t.” Loki interjected, Brock immediately taken aback in confusion. “You signed a contract, I have it here actually.” He beamed, standing up from his seat and walking to the other end of the table. “I, Brock Rumlow.” Loki mimicked the man's voice. “Declare that I will treat any little in my care with respect and human decency, I will provide them with a safe and stimulating environment, I will make sure their needs are taken care of, blah blah blah, it just goes on to list more things you didn’t do.” He noted.

“Brock your territory will be given to the Romanov Family, Y/n will be placed in the care of someone who will provide it, and you will be banned from New York.” Odin listed. “Oh and if you are to step into New York again, you will be dealt with accordingly.” He added, finally sitting back down in his seat.

“That’s unfair! You can’t do this to me! Y/n is mine! I will come back, I will!” Brock’s shouts could be heard as he was pulled from the room and dragged through the hallways, chuckles and murmured conversations heard through the dining room.

“Y/n?” Odin asked, his voice much softer now, the room coming to a silence when they heard him speak. “We have paired you with Steve and Bucky, the leaders of the Barnes-Rogers family.” He began. “They have agreed to take you in, and are eager to get to know you. Steve is actually the reason you are finally free from your brother's grasp, he started the investigation.” Odin proudly beamed, his favourite family once again proving why they are his favourite.

Y/n just sat still, unsure of what to do, sad that they may never see their apartment again, a few stuffed animals that they would love to have, but excited for what this newfound freedom may lead to. They nodded their head in agreement. “With that done, let’s get back to dinner!” Odin cheered, the room laughing and smiling in response.

Y/n’s eyes searched the room, looking for the only familiar person, Bucky, their gaze finally landing on the Barnes-Rogers Family, a few of them sitting at the end of the table, where Brock once stood on display. Two boys were already looking at Y/n, waving their hands in a ‘come over’ gesture, Y/n slowly standing up and walking over.

“Hi! I’m Peter, and this is my best friend Ned, he’s our guy in the chair. I’m ‘the spider’, you need information? I can get it, you need someone sneaky! That’s me!” Peter ranted, pointing to the boy next to him, as well as making dramatic gestures with his hands.

“I see you’ve met Peter.” An unfamiliar voice laughed, Y/n turning to see a man with blonde hair smiling, his height similar to Bucky’s and his demeanour just a serious. “Here.” He said, pulling out a chair, that sat across from Peter, for Y/n to sit in. “I’m Steve, Bucky is just getting you some food he’ll be right back.” Steve smiled, answering Y/n’s unsaid questions, them nodding their head in approval.

“So what do you do? Are you sneaky too? Or really smart? What can you bring to the team? We could be sidekicks!” Peter started.

“The Spider, The Egg and The Guy in the Chair.” Ned added, him and Peter breaking out in laughter right after. “The name could use some work.” The two of them entering their own conversation.

“Hi Dove.” Bucky called out, sitting in between Steve and Y/n, placing a plate down in front of them. “I got you a bit of everything, this way we can know which one you want for next time.” He smiled, looking to Steve with excitement. Y/n just nodding at his words.

“Manners Dove.” Steve said, some food on his fork as he looked to Y/n.

Y/n’s eyes filled with tears, nodding their head, trying to get any words out of their mouth, but failing to do so. “What’s wrong?” Bucky immediately asked, his hand settling on Y/n’s back to comfort them as best he could.

“I.” They stuttered. “I din’, I din’ know I could talk.” They cried, confused as to why they were mad that Y/n wasn’t talking, something they were told not to do, something they weren’t allowed to do. “I, please don’ be mad, ‘m so sorry.” Tears continued to flow down their cheeks.

Steve stood up angrily, throwing his napkin to the table and storming out of the room. “Steve.” Bucky called after him, his hand now rubbing circles into Y/n’s back.

“ ‘m sorry, ‘m thankful, ‘m so thankful, I love the pasta I do.” Y/n cried, trying to show how grateful they were, and how sorry they were for not using their manners.

“We know Dove.” Bucky soothed. “He isn’t mad at you, he’s just mad because it took so long for Odin to do anything about your situation.” He explained. “He just needs some fresh air.”

Y/n nodded, their hands wiping away their tears as best they could, a few new ones falling as they turned back towards their plate, picking up their fork to begin eating. “Boy’s, I think we are going to go, Ned, can you make sure Odin gets the right files please?” Bucky asked, both boys nodding in agreement immediately. “Peter, could you go grab me a container from the kitchen for this food?” Peter didn’t even answer, just springing into action.

“Did you bring anything with you that we should grab?” Bucky asked Y/n, being met with a head shake ‘no’.

Bucky put Y/n’s food into the container, standing up and saying a few goodbyes before walking back to Y/n. “Ready to go Little Dove?” He asked, his hand held out as an invitation.

“Mhm.” Y/n murmured, standing up and waving to the boys, holding onto Bucky’s hand as he led them out of the room and down and out the front entrance.

“Steve?” Bucky called, not able to see where he was standing.

“Yah.” He called back, walking out from behind a wall. “Sorry I just needed-”

“I know.” Bucky sighed, Y/n still holding his hand as the three of them waited for their car.

“ ‘m sorry Steve.” Y/n blurted out. “I shoulda said thank you.” They mumbled, squeezing Bucky’s hand slightly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for Dove.” Steve responded. “I’m sorry for walking out like that.” He said, crouching down to his knees and grabbing Y/n’s other hand.

“ ‘s okay.” Y/n weakly smiled, trying to be as genuine as possible, their smile not meeting their eyes, Steve standing up, still holding onto Y/n’s hand.

The three of them stood together, waiting for the car, ready to go ‘home’, wherever that was. “A canopy bed.” Y/n said.

“A what?” Steve chuckled.

“Bucky as’d me what I would wish for, I wish for a canopy bed.” Y/n said matter of factly. Bucky and Steve both began laughing. “ ‘s that a bad answer?” Y/n asked, only to be met with soft coos.

“No, no Dove, it’s a perfect wish.” Bucky answered. “It’s just funny because we bought you a canopy bed already.” He laughed.

“It even has curtains.” Steve added enthusiastically.

“Oh.” Y/n breathed, even more excited to go ‘home’. Though they would miss their stuffed animals, a canopy bed seemed like a fair trade, they tried to reason. “ ‘m gonna miss my stuffies.” They blurted, the thought too much to keep in.

“Our friend Sam stopped by your apartment during dinner, all your stuffies are sitting on your bed, safe and sound, as we speak Dove.” Steve stated, squeezing Y/n’s hand slightly to reassure them.

Maybe everything was going to be okay, only time could tell.

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insertsomthinawesome · 3 months

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I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!! Okay so honestly I have been very very inconsistent over the years with just disappearing for periods of time due to various things 😂 So it probably seemed pretty normal to most people.

But it felt different on my side, so I'm excited to be back in business. I took a month long hiatus! 31 days of not drawing digital art. Its not something I talk about on here? But I've been suffering from some serious long term Art Burnout for.... a really really long time. Long enough that I should've taken a break probably years ago. It finally got so bad that I could barely draw. I was scared to do it (cause it always looked "bad" in my eyes [i'll come back to that]) and doing it was exhausting and disheartening.

I talked it over with somebody and realized that the fear and anger and frustration I felt towards my own artwork was uh. Not Normal or Healthy. And I finally committed to taking a real break for once.

I still drew a little bit by hand? Traditional art has always felt like it has lower stakes for me (i don't often share it online, and sometimes I don't even share it with friends) so I did some of that when I felt like it. But Digital art was completely off the table.

I had put such an immense pressure on myself to make my digital art perfect, to make as much of it as quickly as possible to satisfy something. It wasn't fun anymore. I'm proud of what i've made over the years! But for a long time now the stuff I've been making was made while hating every second of making it. With some rare exceptions.

I hated my art! It was a combination of Perfectionism, taking in too many external expectations, and the burnout. If you hate doing something its kinda hard to love it even when you want too lol. It wasn't "Bad" in the sense that the quality was low and it was ugly! It was "Bad" in the sense that it was unhealthy for me to keep doing it at that point in time.

I'm glad to report though, that with my hiatus officially over as of Wednesday last week: I am once again. In Love. With doing art, and being an artist :)

I put off taking a break for years cause I was scared that taking a break would mean that I would never achieve all the things I wanted to do with art. I was scared it was a stupid and lazy thing to do that would mean I'd never achieve my dreams. And Also even though I kinda hated drawing, I also loved making art. Its a weird duality that I can't even really explain??? I hated it but I also loved it. I wanted it but I also wanted to run from it. It wasn't until I was more mature and had more clarity and insight (and unfortunately also until the problems got worse) that I was finally able to let go of those fears and just do it.

And I'm really really glad I did. It was everything I needed. And I hope to strike a better balance in the future with art. Taking more breaks when I need them, or just when other things have my attention like reading or Video games (Some star rail got played during this time xD)

From the outside things probably aren't going to be that different?? At this point I don't really have any sure plans to post anything I've been drawing since my Hiatus ended. I might or I might not xD I'm still a hobbyist artist taking things at her own pace, but I hope that it shows how much happier I am :)

Whumptober 2023 is being officially put to rest by this post btw! I was in major burnout when that event started, and I'm ready to just, move on from all the past expectations I'd shoved on my shoulders. If I feel like filling any of the prompts or going back to any of the ideas I'd come up for it I will! But I'm not going to worry about doing it unless the desire sets in. Thanks to everybody who's been so kind to me throughout my time on here as an artist! Ya'lls tags and screaming and kind words, the fanfic, the asks and the responses? Its been fantastic :) You guys have made me laugh, smile, and cry tears of joy. I hope from here that things only get better and sweeter! And if I have bad days again, that's okay too.

Here's to 2024 and whatever it may bring ya'll :D 🎉🎉✨✨🧡💜

#isa screams #long post #gif #flashing #i think? Lemme know if I'm incorrect on that one alksdjfLKSJDJDSG #I don't normally talk this much so its kinda strange?#its kinda nice to be more honest about this stuff though #I'm a bit more of a private person so its hard to find the balance between wanting to discuss things openly and honestly #but with the fact that I don't owe the entire world an explanation for everything I do #its a tricky thing #but today I felt like doing this and I think that's okay #if i regret it I just won't do it again alsdjLSDJLFJSGSDG #thanks if you read this! I appreciate it!#I'm a pretty smalltime artist relatively. So sometimes it feels as though it doesn't mater what i say or express.#But hm. I doubt its really that simple or bleak #And if I don't respect myself then well. Who will right?#And I want to learn how to be happy with how little or how much I get #part of the reason I've done so poorly mentally as an artist is chasing numbers and outside praise instead of asking the harder questions #am i happy with what i do? what I make? Who I am #I'm going to probably be working on those questions and problems for the rest of my life.#But thats okay. Thats not a bad thing :)

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thepradapariah · 2 years

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Your Rising Sign ✨. The Male Gaze 👀. & Female Character Movie/TV Tropes 📺.

Are you the manic pixie dream girl or the femme fatale?!

Astro Observations 🪐

Using Movies & TV shows, I’ll be talking about observations I’ve made about rising signs! This is just my opinion! You are more than welcome to share your thoughts in the comment section!

(If you know your sidereal Rising Sign Naksaktra EVEN BETTER!)

Disclaimer:

BARE WITH ME HERE!!! This post is written in a VERY generalized way. I am not trying to be exclusionary at all! I want this to be a fun post about movies & astrology. Please be creative with your pronouns if needed! This post is for anyone who wants to read it, no matter your gender or preference, but it will be written in traditional cis-gender fashion, BUT!!!!! I have tried to incorporate all female identifying communities within the examples! I hope there is something for everyone :)

Before we begin:

Definitions:

✨What is the Male Gaze?

“In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world, in the visual arts and in literature, from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. In the visual and aesthetic presentations of narrative cinema, the male gaze has three perspectives: (i) that of the man behind the camera, (ii) that of the male characters within the film's cinematic representations; and (iii) that of the spectator gazing at the image.” — Wikipedia

✨What is a Character trope?

“A trope is an idea, pattern or motif that appears often enough in a particular art form that consumers of that art form begin to form particular associations with that idea.” - The Novel Factory

Introduction:

Men tend to be VERY simple creatures. Yes, they may present themselves as the broody artist w a checkered past or a sci-fi-nerdy-glasses-wearing-type fellow who LOVES Star Wars & Comic-Con. But believe it not, both these men have something in common…Their simplicity. Most men see life in black & white. They tend to take things at face value & rarely feel the need to dig deeper into something unless they are called to. This is not to over generalize (or perhaps that’s exactly what this is) but to draw attention to the straight forward attitude men usually have towards life. (I blame this on their primal hunter/gathering nature, but that’s another topic for another day). Men tend to prefer life & communication to be clear & concise, whereas woman tend to be far more “colorful” in our approach. We don’t spare any details when talking w our girlfriends about the latest gossip as if it’s our life’s duty, where men can sit in silence, playing video games & be perfectly content. In fact, I learned in sociology, that men can actually have ZERO brain activity happening at times (besides the automatic stuff, like breathing lol). Meaning— men can actually sit & think about nothing. Women, not so much, we are constantly stimulated, thinking & planning ahead. Because of this cosmically cerebral mis-match, the way men & woman tend to view each other can be a point of contention. Woman tend to over complicate men & men tend to over simplify woman. Thus giving us the ongoing battle of real complex female characters VS. the over simplified version of them through the Male Gaze. Do men think woman just sit around playing in make-up & fashion, bursting out into random tears & having pillow fights all day? If you ask Hollywood— probably. In this post, we will be specifically looking at how men over simplify woman using Movie/TV tropes & comparing them to the display of our rising sign, &/or if you know it, your rising Nakshatra.

You should know, that before I got into tarot & astrology, I graduated from the film school at New York University. So I am WELL AWARE of the film/tv writing process & thought this would be a cool way to combine my education of films & my love for astrology to teach & critique how woman tend to be represented in Cinema & Television— and in return, real life. (Art meets Life, amiright?)

There has been a discourse in the film & tv world about how woman are represented through the male gaze. I’m sure you’ve heard of the “manic pixie dream girl” trope over saturating the market right now. (Don’t worry, we will get into this later). Woman feel as if these are shallow representations of the feminine experience. While I agree with this statement, usually we don’t see very fleshed out, complex & interesting woman from male writers. (*cough cough* Euphoria Season 2.) I’m arguing here that until we form deep & intimate connections with men, they tend to see us, woman, as these movie tropes, IRL (in real life). If you don’t understand what I’m saying, hang in there w me.

Because men tend to be simple & take things at face value, they can miss out on the nuances of the woman they are with. How many times have we seen in movies a wife gets a haircut & the husband doesn’t notice? See, no eye for detail, or subtlety. Those small details that make us unique from other woman tends to go over their heads from time to time. And in a day in age where woman are generalized more on a mass scale through social media, it’s easy for men to get carried away thinking woman are all the same or simply, just not that complicated. This isn’t a bad thing, per say, this is just the default until we are able to build a lasting, deep connection between masculine & feminine energy.

In this post, we are going to be breaking down this “conundrum” by RISING SIGNS/1H/Nakshatras. Why? Because the rising sign is how you are seen in the world. The first house rules the body, & what people project on to you as well as what you project onto other people. (The beauty of the 1H/7H axis…more about this later) As a sidereal astrology girly, I think the first house/Rising Sign Nakshatra rules the personality more so than the sun & moon sign. After all, it is called “person”-ality, & the 1H is the house of person, whereas the 7H is the house of partner.

✨Why Does this Matter?

Well first off, it matters how much you want it to matter. This post is for inspiring self expression. By seeing how you effortlessly come across through the male gaze, you may be able to craft your own unique persona or perfect one of these tropes. I am not writing this post because you have to see yourself the way men see you or over simplify yourself while getting to know someone, I’m writing this to give you some indication of HOW men see you so you can put on a SHOW! I’m hoping this gives you the encouragement to take your narrative into your own hands & present your femininity in a way that’s true & authentic to you. I am an absolute FAN of these female tropes. Movies & tv shows have helped me curate the kind of woman I want to come across as. Nothing like seeing a great character on TV that you want to emulate. We all have the ability to play pretend. Look at using the male gaze as a game of dress-up. You can ALWAYS play the part in the ever going Hollywood Film— Your Life.

✨What is the First House?

The first house is the house of first impressions— the cover of the book men are judging.

Because your first house is home to your rising sign, to put it simply, the first house is how you come off to others at first glance. Even though I’m sure you’re a beautiful, complex & intriguing creature, for the sake of this article, we are looking at the first house through a “shallow” perspective. You may feel as if these descriptions don’t fit you at all, in fact, you may feel like this is the total opposite of who you actually are! (Blame the contradiction of 1H/7H axis for this one) However it’s not about how you feel, it’s about how you come across…

Read this article as if you are your crush meeting you for the first time. (Read that again, very meta, I know). The Male Gaze in movies/tv has been argued to be lazy & uninspired writing. I personally think that’s just the male gaze in general. I kid, I kid. Lol. But seriously…they are very simple minded, so we can use this to our advantage to give some of the best performances of our lives!

***If you are reading for your Sidereal Vedic Rising (which is HIGHLY suggest), please look up the degree, so you can read for the specific Nakshatra)

(If you are a man reading this, I don’t mean to drag you. We all know the childhood fact, Men are from Mars & Woman are from Venus. Lol.)

Through the Male Gaze, we will be breaking down how you come off through your rising sign & placements as Classic Movie & TV Character Tropes.

How to Read:

✨IF YOU KNOW YOUR SIDEREAL VEDIC RISING NAKSHATRA: Read that first! That will be the most specific to the trope. (I didn’t double dip, each nakshatra is only used ONCE)

______________

✨If you DON’T know your Sidereal Rising Nakshatra & your reading as a Western/Tropical Girlie———>

✨You can read for the sign in your first house (your rising sign) &/or planets placed in your FIRST OR SEVENTH HOUSE!

✨7H placements cast a direct aspect on your 1H, so if your rising sign doesn’t resonate, check your 7H placements! They have a major influence as well!

✨If you have multiple planets in your 1H &/or 7H, the planet with the LOWEST degree is the dominant planet. Ex: If you have Saturn at 26 degrees and Venus at 2 degrees, you would read the Venus tropes.

✨Unlike men, I’m giving you some flexibility (Lol) Your placements may overlap. For example, if you’re a Pisces Rising— read the blurbs for Manic Pixie Dream Girl & Girl Next Door. One description will probably fit better than the others, but you got options! If you know your sidereal chart for your rising Nakshatra, you’ll get

***There is NO direct correlation between the signs & Naks picked, this is a matter of opinion, so I put what I felt worked!***

Please please please keep in mind, movies & tv characters are larger than life, so please have fun with this post!!! This is over the top!! If you can imagine that you were an old Hollywood glamour queen or a modern cinema starlit, this would be your starring role!!!

⚠️ I do not want to offend ANYONE by using traditional gender pronouns. I am a cis-gender heterosexual female, so I am writing from the perspective I know best. I am NOT trying to say this is the only perspective that matters. I have included cis-woman, trans women & lesbians as examples in this post. Please feel free to share any insights you have, no matter the gender, non-gender or perspective! I’m truly open & supportive. This is not an exclusionary post.

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!!!! I am using Movies & Television shows as examples, so be prepared!

⚠️ Of course, special shout-out to my little sister! Without her, none of this would be possible!!

On with the Show! 🌹

💋 Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Nakshatras: Ardra, Punarvasu, Swati, Vishika, Mula

Zodiac: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces (All Mutable Rising Signs) & Aquarius

Planets: Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter (1st or 7th House, lowest degree)

Tarot Card: Princess of Cups (Earth & Water)

✨Definition

“[The Manic Pixie Dream Girl] exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures… [The MPDG] seems to exist only to provide spiritual or mystical help to the protagonist. The MPDG has no discernible inner life. Instead, her central purpose is to provide the protagonist with important life lessons. “

-Wikipedia (Manic Pixie Dream Girl was coined by Nathan Rabin)

✨The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is arguably THEE female movie trope of the last 40 years in pop culture. As movies moved away from the Bombshell aesthetic of the 1950’s, most notably, Marilyn Monroe; Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s introduced a new kind of woman. (Even her last name, go-lighly is a play on her attitude towards the world) A woman who throws caution to the wind & isn’t afraid to take risk. In fact, this woman LIVES to take risk! She flutters in & flutters out of the Male gaze, usually chasing some wild dream of being a fashion designer, writer, actress ect, OR is a notch above (or under, depending on how you look at it) an aimless sexy hobo. Regardless of her career ambitions, she’s always as creative as she is elusive— yet somehow, is always able to drop into the male’s life right in the knick of time, whisking the male away on some fever-dream like adventures. Encountering the Manic Pixie Dream Girl almost ALWAYS accompanies a spiritual Awakening for our male protagonist. Upon meeting this woman, usually in some weird, “only happens once in a life-time” way, his world gets thrown into a chaotic flurry. Everything he thought he knew he now knows he never knew anything about it at all. He questions life, he questions reason, he question society, capitalism, the “American Dream”, etc. This is BEST demonstrated by Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) in Fight Club, directed by David Fincher. (If you haven’t seen this movie, you MUST (18+), Brad Pitt is at PEAK sexiness…s/o to the Female Gaze lol) Fight Club is a wicked tale of a man fighting himself, society & his own psyche after meeting a woman who mirrored him so closely, it triggered a masculinity awakening. This is the function of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She is so free, so unbound, so fluid, & feminine, she helps to bring to life the masculine side of a man by reflecting his own inner chaos back to him.

As a Ardra, Punarvasu, Swati, Vishika, Mula Rising or Mutable Rising Sign: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces, this could be one of the ways you appear through the male gaze. Because your temperament & view of life can be so changeable, you can come across as a free-spirit, a loss soul, or a wonderer. Perhaps you are, & perhaps you aren’t, but as quickly as you change a hairstyle, you change your goals in life. The male feels as if he needs to tame you, give you structure, security or direction OR he feels like he wants to join you! Break away from the daily grind of life, break societies expectations of him & rendezvous w you, eating cereal, painting & watching cartoons all day. You can represent a child-like wonder and be the embodiment of the “wild-side” of life! As the mutable rising signs of the Zodiac, you tend to be moody & unpredictable. Through the Male Gaze, men may find it hard to connect with you because you always seem “elsewhere”. You always seem a little dazed, perhaps a little confused, but certainly “pixie” like in your approach to life. To the right male, you are fascinating, like a Jackson Pollock painting (the splatter paint dude) in the works— each stroke improvised, never knowing where the paint is going to land, but intrigued more by your process than the final product.

✨Music:

Female Gaze: Like a Bird- Nelly Furtado

Male Gaze: Sex And Candy- Marcy Playground

✨Examples

Holly Golightly- Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Jules- Euphoria

Summer- 500 Days of summer

Robyn Brooks- High Fidelity

Helena- Fight Club

Cat- Victorious

Issa- Insecure

Raven- That’s So Raven

Bubbles- Powerpuff Girls

Emily- Emily in Paris

Sally Bowles- Cabaret

💋Ice Queen

Nakshatras: Jyestha, Dhanishta, Uttara Bhadrapada

Zodiacs: Aquarius, Libra, Cancer, Scorpio

Planets: Saturn, Uranus, Moon, Venus

Tarot Card: Queen of Swords (Water & Air)

✨Defintion:

“…Cool, reserved, and giving nothing away. She may want love as ardently as anyone, but she masks her soft heart behind a wall of ice. It is up to someone else, typically her Love Interest, to soften her cold demeanor and win her love.

The Ice Queen is considered dangerous to love because she will not (or cannot) love back. She's not much for friendship either, preferring to be alone.” tvtropes .org

✨The Ice Queen is cold & unforgiving. She IS the resting bitch face personified, unimpressed & unfazed by those around her. Seemingly aloof, the male in the story is always trying to breakthrough her tough and unbothered exterior. Her coldness posses a real challenge to anyone who is interested in her romantically. She’s just a bitch. And a bad one at that! The Ice Queen is stern in her appearance & her approach to life. Usually divorced, or widowed, but doesn’t have to be, she walks as if she carries the weight on the world of her shoulder. She’s been abandoned by happiness in life, but she’s so regal, no one knows how deep her scars cut. She can resemble the Boss Bitch/Diva trope, because she normally holds a lot of power, but she carries a certain detachedness that is unique to this trope. She is NOTHING nice. The Ice Queen is hard to please & has no issues letting people know she’s unsatisfied. The Male wants to “warm her up”, breakthrough her cold exterior & get to know why she is so damn mean! In some cases he succeeds, in others he realized she’s just a mean & shallow as he originally thought. Elvira Hancock in Scarface is the prototype for this feminine character trope. Not only is her nose typically buried nose deep in snow (if you get it, you get it), she’s. a. straight. cold-hearted. biotch. She’s unbelievably gorgeous & unapproachable, & this is exactly what draws the male protagonist in to her. But even after the male “wins her over”, she was never satisfied. An Ice Queen to her CORE, she was never one to be defrosted. Defamed? Maybe…Defrosted…never.

It’s worth noting that the Ice Queen is usually HIGHLY fashionable. Not the cheap stuff either— the Ice Queen is a Queen none the less. She’s not the T-shirt & jeans girl next door, or the purple hairdo manic pixie…she’s class & sophistication. First rule, you gotta be hot to be so cold.

If you are a Jyestha, Dhanishta, Uttara Bhadrapada Rising or an Aquarius, Libra or Cancer Rising, or have Saturn, Uranus, the Moon, or Venus aspecting your first house, you may find that you come across as the Ice Queen through the male gaze. You carry a certain reserved & detached aura upon first meeting someone. Rarely would you put all your cards on the table. There is also a certain maturity that you carry with you when you walk into a room. Men will assume “oh, this girl, she’s been through some stuff”. You may find that you are somewhat withdrawn in social situations, although people may be very drawn to you. You don’t necessarily care about being liked, but you certainly care about being respected. You come off as if you don’t tolerate any kind of messiness. Men may think you play hard to get or that you just think you’re better than the average. Whatever! You don’t care what they think. You’re too busy reading or being an intellectual (whatever that means lol…this is the male gaze we are talking about). Again, to the right egotistical man who believes he can “warm you up”, you are a welcomed and ongoing challenge. The Ice Queen is the female trope of male dissatisfaction. When a Male encounters the Ice Queen in cinema, she tend to represent a part of the male that will NEVER be pleased, content or accepted. Normally the man after this cold woman’s stone-cold heart is trying to prove his worth to the world around him, & the Ice Queen serves as the perfect trophy. If he can impress her/have her, he can impress anyone & have the World! The Ice Queen is the ultimate prize for the male protagonist w ego/self-esteem issues. Nothing humbles a man quite like a cold-hearted bitch. You may find in your dating life, Male’s feel the need to impress you for no good reason..or maybe you enjoy watching men walk on their heads for a date w you! Either way, as the Ice Queen female trope you carry a certain air about you that commands attention & respect. You carry authority over yourself & those around you. The male gaze says although your intimidating, your worth a try to shut down all the haters, even if you’re hater number 1!

✨Music:

Female Gaze: Needed Me- Rihanna

Male Gaze: Roses- OutKast, Cooler than Me- Mike Posner

✨Examples

Elvira Hancock-Scarface

Camille- The Sapranos

Lady Mae Greenleaf- Greenleaf

Elsa- Frozen

Jade- Victorious

Elekta Evangelista- Pose

Claire- House of Cards

Molly- Insecure

Lucille- Arrested Development

Betty Draper- Mad Men

Mother Shannon, House of Balenciaga- Legendary

Cersei Lannister- Game of Thrones

Dominique La Rue- Harlem Nights

Gru’s Mom- Despicable Me

💋Femme Fatale

Nakshatras: Ashwini, Bharani, Ashlesha, Purva Bhadrapada, Shatabisha

Zodiacs: Aries, Scorpio, Cancer

Planets: Mars, Pluto

Tarot Card: Queen of Wands (Fire & Water)

✨Definition

“A femme fatale,sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of literature and art. Her ability to enchant, entice and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as verging on supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, witch, having power over men. Femmes fatales are typically villainous, or at least morally ambiguous, and always associated with a sense of mystification, and unease.”

-Wikipedia

✨The Femme Fatale is arguably the most ICONIC of the female movie tropes. A popular trope of Film Noir “movement” in the late 1940s, early 1950s, the Femme Fatale is a sexual seductress with a naughty side. Enchanting as she is dangerous, the male gaze ogles her, even though it may cost him his life— or at least his job & social standing. Medusa is one of the best representations of this trope. If a man locks eyes w her, he’s as good as dead— yet, time & time again, men tried to defeat her, only to meet a tragic end. As time progressed, the story of the woman who turns men to stone (definitely a sexual innuendo if you ask me) found new life in television & film. The Femme Fatale is a beautiful disaster just waiting to happen. She’s wild, like the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but she has a certain knack for danger and crime. She lures the male in & traps him like a spider in her web. The male is usually a little weary of the woman, but is overcome w her grace & charm, or he’s truly an unsuspecting victim who gets completely taken advantage of an entangled in whatever mess she’s made for herself. One way or the other, the male often ends up in a position of life & death after lusting after this dark & intriguing beauty. The film, Carmen Jones, starring Dorthy Dandridge, is a classic tale of a woman w loose morals who ends up (spoiler alert) dead. Unlike most of the other female tropes, the femme fatale almost always suffers consequences for her actions. She either ends up in jail, or dead, or kills her lover, or he ends up in jail, or her lover ends up dead. Tragic, I know. Again, think of Medusa…she killed everything she laid her eye on, & then ultimately had to be killed. (RIP Medusa, you were a baddie). No one gets out scotch free when dealing w this character. The femme fatale is mysterious, almost like a mythical creature or an enchantress, & the male is instantly drawn into her, whether they exchange words in a bar, or she simply flicks her cigarette & he rushes to relight it. One thing is for sure, she lives by her own rules & is bound by nothing…not the law or death itself. She’s usually a criminal minded free-spirit, manipulating her way through life to survive.

If you are an Ashwini, Bharani, Ashlesha, Purva Bhadrapada Rising Or an Aries, Scorpio, or Cancer Rising, or you have Pluto or Mars aspecting your 1H, you may come off as the femme fatale through the male gaze. Your dark, broody & secretive nature is fascinating to them, and they want to join you on a passionate journey through time & space or save you from whatever sticky situation you may have put yourself in. They want to play detective & you are the perfect case to crack. When the femme fatale enters the male’s life, she instantly posses a threat to his usually naive understanding of the world. She’s not your typical housewife— far from it. She challenges the traditional social construct of beauty & submission. Normally from a troubled/difficult past past, the femme fatale will only submit to law & death, she’s been forced to learn the ugly sides of life & uses them to her advantage. You may find that male’s tend to want to dominate you or control your direction in life in relationships, but you are REPULSED by this notion. This trope teaches men (and woman sadly), that freedom comes w a cost. Hopefully it’s not your life, but if it is, you sure make a sexy corpse!

✨Music:

Female Gaze: Wild side- Normani

Male Gaze: Dirty Diana -Michael Jackson

✨Examples

Filomena (Sophia Lauren)- Marriage Italian Style

Cat Woman- Batman

Carmen- Carmen Jones

Dr. Frank-N-Furter (played by the wonderful Lavern Cox)- The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Jennifer- Jennifer’s Body

Gilda (Rita Hayworth)- Gilda

Amy Dunne- Gone Girl

Laura Biel- 365 Days

Alex Vause- Orange Is the New Black

💋Queen Bee/Mean Girl

Nakshatras: Krittika, Purva Phalguni, Chitra, Purva Ashadha

Zodiacs: Libra, Capricorn, Aries, Leo, Taurus & Gemini

Planets: Venus, Mars, Sun, Mercury

Tarot Card: Princess of Swords (Earth & Fire)

“The Mean Girl trope had us all believe that the dark side to womanhood is catty, conniving competitiveness.”

The swaddle.com

“Mean girls are often overly concerned with appearance. They may place a high priority on their clothing, their make-up, and even their weight. Likewise, they may zero in on these things in others, pointing out everything from acne and weight gain to clothing choices and hairstyles.”

-theteenmagazine.com

✨Somewhere between The Ice Queen and The Diva, there lies a sweet sour sweet CLASSIC female trope that always leaves the girls GAGGING in disbelief, like “did she just say that?!!” The Queen Bee/Mean Girl trope has her fair share of representation in film & TV, particularly in teen dramas, but she is NOT limited to high school. The Queen Bee is in charge, she knows what she wants, she knows how she likes it & she has ZERO problem letting her loyal subject know. Sometimes, she is portrayed w a deep deep deep DEEP down heart of hold, but most of the time, she’s just a straight biotch from beginning to end. You DON’T want to cross her, or you just might end-up on her ever growing hit-list. If there is one thing Ms. Mean Girl can do..it’s hold a grudge. As stated above, the Queen Bee/Mean girl trope serves the stereotype of the cattiness & competitiveness of femininity. And it is a fact that in the wild, the female animals are usually far more aggressive than their male counterparts. (Think Lion, or a Mama Bear). Boys may have their sports, but lady’s have their looks & they will secure that W come hell or high water all the way to Prom Queen.

If you are a Krittika, Purva Phalguni, Chitra, Purva Ashadha Rising or Libra, Taurus, Aries, Leo or Gemini Rising, OR if you have Venus, Mars or the Sun aspecting your 1H/7H, you may come off as the typical Mean Girl Trope through the Male Gaze. You’re aloof, yet decisive about the things you truly care about— like— “Wednesdays, we wear pink”. You keep people on the tip of their toes with witty banter & effortless conversation. If they don’t know the latest trends, the current celebrity gossip or who dumped whom…well, you’re just not interested in what they have to say, so why bother? You can play the villain easily & have no problem being unliked as long as you are respected. You are a social butterfly, a socialite, if you will. You know how to make the streets talk with admiration & envy. People may be afraid that they can’t meet your standards, but good, they probably can’t. NO UGLY FRIENDS is the motto— people may think you actually hold try-outs for who is allowed to sit with you at the table. Through it all, you know how to take control & lead— this energy oozes from you as people seem to just step aside as you sashay down the halls. Always up on the latest fashion, you always come w your A-game and your enemies will NEVER catch you slipping. There is a beautiful confidence that you exude because you know you are the one and only. People may be extremely intimidated by you, but the real ones will bow at your feet.

The shadow side of this trope is the shadiness. Queen Bees/Mean girls are known for being just that—MEAN. People may assume that you are quite backstabby & mischievous. YOU, of all the movie tropes, don’t mind playing

d-i-r-t-y! People perceive you as never wanting to let go of that crown & you’ll do whatever it takes to keep the social order in tact. Think “Status-Quo” High School Musical w Sharpay, the ULTIMATE representation of this trope, screaming from the top of the cafeteria! (THIS IS NOT WHAT SHE WANTS! THIS IS NOT WHAT SHE PLANNED!!!!!) She didn’t care who she had to cut, scheme, lie, trick, plot & sabotage to make SURE Ms. Gabriella did not get the spotlight w her man, Troy. Think of the lengths you’ll go to to get what you want. You come off as spicy, cunt-y (in the best way), & beautiful. You are a glamour girl & never afraid to throw some shade here & there, making you the ultimate reigning Queen Bee!

✨Music

Female Gaze: Feeling Myself- Nicki Minaj

Male Gaze: Mad at myself- Issues

✨Examples

Maddie- Euphoria

Regina George- Mean Girls

CoCo- Dear White People

Lulu- Pose

Toni- Girlfriends

Emma Roberts in Coven & Scream Queens

Blair- Gossip Girl

Cheryl Blossom- Riverdale

Santana- Glee (Rest in Peace)

Buttercup- Powerpuff Girls

Alison DiLaurentis- Pretty Little Liars

Sharpay- High School Musical

The Heathers

Penelope- My Dog (LOVE HER, but she’s such a Bitch—a bad one though lol)

💋Ingenue/Damsel in Distress

Nakshatras: Mrigashirsa, Rohini, Hasta, Revati

Zodiacs: Cancer, Capricorn, Libra, Aries (All Cardinal Rising Signs) & Pisces, Taurus

Planets: Moon, Venus, Saturn

Tarot Card: Queen of Cups (Water) Libra, Aries

“The ingénue usually has the fawn-eyed innocence of a child but subtle sexual appeal as well.”

“The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device (or trope) in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motivation or compulsion to initiate the narrative. The female character herself may be competent, but still finds herself in this type of situation.”

Wikipedia

✨The Ingenue/Damsel in Distress is one of the most recognizable female movie tropes to date. From the tales of The Greeks, to King-Kong, to Broomhilda from Djengo— there is always some damsel…somewhere…that is…in fact…in…distress. The Ingenue is a naive babe, just learning the ins & outs of life. She’s pretty, she’s unassuming & adorably doe-eyed, full of wonder for the life ahead of her— just waiting for a strong man to show her the way! The ingenue is common, but in the best way. She’s not an ice-cold bitch like the Ice Queen or the Queen Bee, but she sits more in her femininity that the Tomboy or the Diva. She’s divine & subtle and a man is always lurking around the corner, waiting to whisk her away from all the evils in the world. If this sounds like a Disney Princess, it’s because it is. Most Disney Princesses would fit into the Ingenue/Damsel in Distress character trope, but just like most of the Princesses, no matter how young & impressionable, the Ingenue is usually the one who makes a way for herself in the end.

If you are a Mrigashirsa, Rohini, Hasta, Revati Rising or a Cardinal rising (Aries, Cancer, Libra Capricorn) or Pisces, the male gaze may perceive you as the Ingenue/Damsel in Distress trope. Your beauty & grace exceed you, & your youth is ever-present. When the male sees you, they just want to protect you & hold you dear. You spark masculinity in those who are attracted to you because you come across so soft & gentle. But don’t get it twisted, you can be a little spicy! You certainly have a little sass to you, but you try not to wear it on your sleeve. You are a true darling to those who are deserving. You serve ultimate demure womanliness & you seem to glide through any room you’re in. Although your impulsiveness & naiveté may land you in some sticky situations, there’s always a lovely leading man just beyond the pines to lead you out of the darkness and into their arms (Awwwwwwwwwww). You may be the type to need help opening the pickle jar, or clumsily fall into some big strong arms— you don’t mind being on the receiving end of affection & people just swoon over you. Unlike the Door Next Door, there can still be an “unapproachability” factor to you. You’re not the girl from down the street, you’re the new girl in town; a little lost, a little curious, but always cute! You may find that men tend to underestimate you & you’re constantly trying to prove yourself. OR you can find yourself in situations where your voice tends to be over powered as you get lost in a sea of toxic masculinity! Either way, you know how to leave a room in awe. You carry just enough mystique & intrigue that male’s fight to know more about you, but yet they just feel as if you’re a naturally good person. You’re coy, but not too coy. You’re shy, but not too shy. You are the perfect “woman”. You may have a past, but your future is always bright! A hero waits around the corner for the perfect time to catch you when you fall or introduce you to a world you didn’t know existed.

As the Ingenue/Damsel in Distress, your energy is POWERFUL, almost as if you’re sexily yelling “Fire! Fire! Save me! Help me!” when you walk into the room. You know how to keep the male gaze & they will break their necks to see you eloquently walk by. Before the reign of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, you were the trope on top— the beautiful default representation of hyper-femininty in the 20s/30s/40s. You set the standards for the early starlets, they were nothing if they weren’t the lovely ingenue!

✨Music

Female Gaze: Bring Me to Life- Evanessance, Pretty When I Cry- Lana Del Ray

Male Gaze: Let Me Love You- Mario

✨Examples

Betty Draper- Mad Men

Celie- The Color Purple

Neytiri- Avatar

Autumn- P-Valley

Daisy- The Great Gatsby

Persephone- The [Abduction] of Persephone

Irene- Drive

Angel Evangelista- Pose

Disney Princesses

Broomhilda- Django Unchained

Piper Chapman- Orange Is the New Black

Mississippi- P-Valley

Penelope- The Odyssey

Satine- Mulan Rouge

💋Girl Next Door/Tomboy

Nakshatras: Anuradha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana

Planets:Jupiter, Venus, Neptune

Zodiacs: Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces, Taurus, Libra

Tarot Card: Princess of Pentacles (Earth)

“The girl next door is usually from a small town or an un-flashy neighborhood. Her personality tends to be down-to-earth, supportive, and approachable. For both her main boy and her culture at large, the girl next door embodies an idealized, wholesome femininity.”

-the-take.com

✨The Girl Next Door/Tomboy Trope is by far the most realistic & relatable female trope of all. She’s not flashy. She’s not mean. She’s kind & sometimes even “one of the guys”. She gives off an innocence that makes her irresistible to the male gaze because she’s just so darn cool. She’s “not like the other girls”. Although she may prefer a comfy t-shirt & jeans, she’s comfortable in her femininity. She doesn’t try to compete with other woman— even though other woman my try & compete with her. Why? Because she’s usually the girl surrounded by all the guys— not because she flaunts her beauty, but rather because she’s not stuck on herself. She challenges the status quo demonstrating that sexy can be fun, sexy can be sweet & sexy can be “normal”. Zendaya is arguably the IT girl of a generation & she usually plays this type of character. She comes across as someone you can sip cool-aid with after she beats you in a round of basketball! For some, that’s sexier than Marilyn Monroe herself! This is the All-American (no matter the race) beauty that only lives a few doors down. This trope is most likely to be in the “friend-zone”, until one day the male realizes…”OH MY GOSH! SHE HAS BOOBS!”

If you are an Anuradha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana Rising OR a Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces, Taurus, Libra Rising, you could come off as the Girl Next Door/Tomboy female trope. You’re approachable & not stuck on yourself & that makes you highly desirable through the male gaze. You’re simple & non-demanding like some of your other female counterparts and this makes you a breath of fresh air in a Kardashian fueled instagram dystopia. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you know how to clean up nicely! When it’s times for you to put on a skirt & heels, you knock ‘em dead. You’re stunning! But you’d much rather lead with personality than looks. You have an effortlessness about you that can’t be obtained by just anyone. At times you may feel a bit awkward about your sexuality, but again, through the right male’s gaze, this is SUCH a turn on. This is an extremely powerful trope because you are realistic. You may have big dreams, but you feel like you come from humble beginnings. You’re authentic to yourself, not to Chanel & Gucci. Sometimes, you may feel overlooked & one-up’d by the “popular girl”, but there is ALWAYS someone who thinks you are the most beautiful girl in the room because you light up the room like no body else & don’t get me started on the way you flip your hair & how it gets the boys overwhelmed. You don’t know you’re beautiful…and that’s….that’s what makes you so beautiful. How lovely!

If you are the Girl Next Door Trope, you don’t have to worry about putting on a show to impress the boysies around you. Just continue to be you’re cool & down to Earth self. Even though it seems like we live in Shallow Land, where everything is based on superficial looks & flawless instagram selfies, you’re super special because you don’t give in. Don’t conform & don’t rush to be the “it” girl. You don’t need the BBL & the thick lashes. (NOTHING IS WRONG W THIS!!! NOTHING~~~) Your natural beauty is more than enough through the Male Gaze!

✨Music

Female Gaze: All You Wanted- Michelle branch

Male Gaze: Hey There Delilah- The Plain White Tees

*sorry I couldn’t link it! Ran out of space!

✨Examples

MJ (Zendaya)- Spider-Man

Zoe- Grownish

Victoria-Victorious

Monica- Love & Basketball

Bella- Twilight

Justice-Poetic Justice

Peggy- Mad Men

Moeisha- Moeisha

Betty Cooper- Riverdale

Blanca Rodriguez- Pose

Apollonia- Purple Reign

Danielle- The Girl Next Door

💋Diva/Boss Bitch

Nakshatras: Pushya, Magha, Uttara Phalguni

Planets: Sun, Saturn, Mars

Zodiacs: Leo, Scorpio, Taurus, Aquarius (All Fixed Rising Signs) & Sagittarius, Capricorn

Tarot Card: Queen of Pentacles (Earth & Water)

“The strong, dark, beautiful woman. She's often a go-getter, chasing stardom, wealth, or just recognition for her talents. If she becomes an Idol, she's not constrained by the pressures of always appearing youthful, innocent, and approachable.

Part of her allure is instead her maturity, either in personality or in sexuality. When she walks in the room she not only turns heads, but she demands respect and won't hesitate to set you straight if she doesn't get it.”

-tvtropes.org

✨The Diva/Boss Bitch Female trope is THEE BADDEST BITCH. She’s worked hard to get where she is & she isn’t going to let some MAN come along and knock her off her thrown. This female trope demands a certain level of respect when she walks into the room— all heads turn because they know she’s the boss, just waiting to give quick & sharp directions. Usually fashionable, because she can AFFORD it (hello!), she knows how to command in any setting while looks good. A trend setter! She may be one of the most intimidating of the female tropes through the Male Gaze, on par with the Ice Queen, because the Diva carries a certain masculine energy. She usually is running things & bossing men around herself. She doesn’t let her sex get in the way of her ambition & talent. This character trope is not afraid to speak her mind because she knows she has just as much right to a seat at the table as anyone. She’s hard to impress & won’t settle for anything less than perfect. Mediocrity will NOT FLY with the Diva. She expects & she will have the best.

If you are a Pushya, Magha, Uttara Phalguni Rising or a Leo, Scorpio, Taurus, Aquarius, Sagittarius, or Capricorn Rising, you may come off as the Diva/Boss Bitch female character trope. You seem to prioritize work, success & your ambition over friendships & relationships. You force the males who gaze upon you to reevaluate their own status & merit in the world. They know you can’t be easily swayed & have to step to you with their best foot forward. Usually depicted as an insatiable boss, men may feel you’re an insatiable lover— demanding & hard to please…whatever, this doesn’t stop you! You know what you want & if they don’t get it for you, you’ll get it your damn self. You come off as self-assured & somewhat egotistical. You’re proud of your work & you expect to be treated like the BOSS that you are. If someone has a problem with that, well then, they can just get in line! Olivia Pope in Scandal is a great example of this trope in action. First, she has a J.O.B. & she’s DAMN good at it. The best, even. Her sex appeal through the male gaze is due to her wits & her competence. Like you, as soon as she walks into the room, people know it’s business time.

If you are the Diva/Boss Bitch Trope, don’t let ANYONE discredit your hustle—not another woman, not a man…NO ONE! You’ve worked hard to get where you are, and it shows because of the way you carry yourself. You can be one of the classiest tropes of all & that’s more impressive than you could ever know. Your beauty lies in the fact that you are sophistication personified. Your intrigue lies in the fact of your rarity! Not every woman is as ambitious or as capable as you are. You make men shiver when they lay eyes on you because you have an aura that screams “STEP YOUR GAME UP OR GET TO STEPPING!” Never try to dim who you are. You’re bossy & you’re the bitch they all LOVE to hate! Let them! You’d probably hate you too if you weren’t you because you are just too fly to handle! Confidence oozes from your pores because you know your stuff. Although it’s lonely at the top, you enjoy the view of downtown from your corner office! It’s hard to compete where others don’t compare Ms. Diva! Own it!

✨Music

Female Gaze: Flawless- Beyoncé

Male Gaze: Ms. Independent- Ne-yo

*sorry I couldn’t link it! Ran out of space!

✨Examples

Olivia Pope- Scandal

Blossom- Powerpuff Girls

Miranda Priestly— Devil Wears

Annalise Keeting- How To Get Away With Murder

Sylvie- Emily in Paris

Jaqueline- Boomerang

Shug Avery- The Color Purple

Cookie- Empire

Mercedes- P-Valley

Matron “Mama” Morton- Chicago

#astrology #vedic astrology #astro notes #astrology observations #sidereal astrology #astrology notes #astro observations #music #rising sign #movie tropes #Spotify

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lillazyboithings · 8 months

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Introduction to the artist

I am @lillazyboithings, or you may call me noodle, or any silly nickname that’s not mean

I am an artist for both traditional and digital mediums

I primarily use She/They pronouns but any pronouns are okay with me

If you have any art requests for me, feel free to send me an ask!

I primarily post Hatchetfield and occasional RTC art here but if you do see art from any other fandom then that was just me having a new hyperfixation to juggle with the others

More information below:

I only have Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest as platforms i also post art in (rarely) so if you are planning to repost my art on other platforms (i.e. Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest too, etc.) please ASK for my permission and credit me if you do plan on using them.

I am not particularly interested in conflict so i will mostly avoid it

Stuff i am interested in so far:

Ride the cyclone

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared

Analog horror

Asian horror

Over The Garden Wall

Hatchetfield series

My Hobbies include:

Drawing

Reading (sometimes)

Gaming (only 2 rpg games so far and the rest are stuff to cure my boredom)

Writing (before anyone asks, i only write the stuff that comes to my head, i am not an actual writer, these are only for AUs i have-)

singing

Some extra information:

I am also a STEM student so if I disappear too long or act like i’m barely keeping it together, don’t worry about it, it’s just because of school work and activities related to them

Time zones are sometimes an issue for me since i am not American (specifically Filipino) so most of the time I am ahead of most people i know, timezone is GMT+8

I have a discord account but I am only found in like, 1 rtc related server and 2 public starkid servers (Because I literally don't know how to find more), so if you eventually find where I am in other places, uhhh, surprise-

I love listening to music but I mostly listen to rock or anything that vibes with me so if you have any song recommendations i might listen to them

I already made an Ao3 account just to read shit over there and comment

My brain now switches between Gary Goldstein, Nischa, Lautski, Michie, Paulkins, and Perfectdolls.

I swear a bunch but i try to limit it

You’re free to also send me random asks that are not requests, I’m gonna answer them

If you send me an ask game/tag me on a tag game, if I don’t answer that doesn’t mean i hate you, it just means I literally have no idea what to do/got really busy

I don’t know how to do a DNI but basically don’t be an asshole or a porn bot

I will occasionally post art of AUs that belong to mutuals of mine

Possible general tags I may use:

Art tag: my art (i am uncreative, sue me)

Asks tag: noodleanswers

Text posts: noodles brain oodles

Reblog tag: none

Mutuals tag: moot time/moot appreciation

This is basically it, I guess? Will add more information if necessary, thank you for reading!

#noodle's introduction #introduction #blog intro #I literally only did this just to seem more organized #Im supposed to do a reading assignment but nooooo i decided to do this instead #procrastination is indeed a strong thing #gosh im gonna be so fucked when tuesday comes around-#this is why I regret being in STEM sometimes-#homework sucks y'all #dont follow my procrastinating ass by being lazy on your assignments y'all!

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jestershark · 3 months

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if you say "i like everything except country and hip-hop"

there was a post going around a while ago which had people justifying why they don't listen to black music and rap and it pissed me off so i made a baby's first rap playlist.

some personalized recommendations below the cut

Being An Ally (tm) means complaining about racism and also Pushing The People You Are In Community With To Do Better. so I've compiled a list of excuses I've heard people make and some songs to counteract those excuses.

so i went through the post and then some reddit/quora responses for "why don't you like black artists" and "why don't you like rap"-- the general answer for lots of these is "you have uninterrogated racism and bias and you aren't working on fixing that"

so while i don't think a lot of these excuses are like, good excuses, I'm going to go down a list of excuses and recommend some starter songs

i think a lot of White Kids have this response of "i like everything except rap and country", but black musicians make every kind of music! rap itself has a ton of variation-- it's not just mumble rap and gangsta rap, there's tons of artists with different voices, different styles, and different results. (honestly a lot of you would like backpack rap and nerd rap. i see you)

here's my list

"I like music with good lyrics"

try out doechii

youtube

By the time you hear this I'll have taken on another form The way I been snappin ya'll gon end up my children of the corn I think I've adapted to all of the cannibal savages I feel a Possession in this session I need a catholic to Assess it Come and bless it Then undress it

mf DOOM is a favourite for a fucking reason:

youtube

There's four sides to every story If these walls could talk, they'd probably still ignore me Contemplate war over a cup of warm coffee It's really getting gory, tell your problem to Maury

Don't bore V with the "Glory, hallelu-ey" Crews be like, foo-ey he's just a buncha hoo-ey I knew he had new G, who he? Viktor Vaughn He had a new sicker song, I think he call it "Lickupon"

like 90% of hiphop is just incredible lyricism and puns. what's not to like.

"rappers just write about drugs and violence"

writing about violence well is art! this song is art:

youtube

this song talks about violence, does that make it bad? unrelatable? why does it do that?

youtube

also if you like music that has INSANE lyrical flexibility, please listen to this:

youtube

"i only like music if i can somehow tie it to my ocs"

everything is going wrong in my oc's life and they're barely keeping it together:

youtube

"i like strings and traditional instruments"

this baseline + godzilla sampling is so good-- listen to how they pass the verses back and forth!

youtube

this whole album is a master class in good sampling and i really recommend it!

youtube

"i like kpop"

here's a rap song with miku in it

youtube

"i like gay music only"

there are SO MANY gay rappers and hip hop artists, so many. do you deny the internet? this song by ilovemakonnen is extremely Gay Love. here's a song about being a huge lesbian.

here's a huge playlist: find SOMETHING. here's a bunch more.

"Most all rappers sound the same", "the beats nearly all the same", "Not a whole lot of melodic value to rap" , "Most modern rap is crap with no actual musicianship or storytelling", "Because rap is hedonistic, narcissistic, misogynistic and worst of all violent."

ok go through and listen to what I've linked above. do those all sound the same to you? think about why. think about what you like about other music, and what it might be about this music in particular that you don't like.

if you listen to a song by tupac, or snoop dog, or any other 90s rapper, their music is the cornerstone of all of modern music. including country. including kpop. including stuff that's far away from any other music. without hiphop and rap you don't have like. half the other genres that currently exist, and the other half have no reason to evolve or change.

"I just don't like their vocal timber"

you're racist. find jesus.

A final word:

listen to critics who say this stuff better than i can-- and i guarantee these are fun youtube videos to watch by creators who Are Good At Their Jobs

the rap critic

fd signifier

foreign man in a foreign land

khadija mbowe

princess weekes

bonus some of you should watch this video and this video

#not staying in my lane #i understand i'm extremely White Girl Who Likes Rap Music. but like.#it's really good #Youtube

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silphwave · 2 years

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Hi! That other anon that asked you if you've taken classes about pixel art made me wonder what other experience you have with art. Are you self taught? What kinds of art have you practiced before pixel art? I'm curious because your style of pixel art and use of color is so unique and striking.

Hey, I appreciate the interest. I studied Fine Art at university, although I learned zero knowledge about any traditional techniques such as colour theory, composition etc. The art school was sadly obsessed with conceptual art. They didn't care if you could draw, paint, sculpt or craft with skill and beauty; only the message mattered. In hindsight I should have expected this, I didn't really have a message, just a mood.

I still remember one of the senior lecturers looking at the work hanging up in my art studio and he sighed "Hmmmm, it's just a bit too nice isn't it?". Then he sat me down and began asking "What do you hate? You should make some art about that..." He then proceeded to try and get me to make social and political art, which has never been in my nature. Art is a relaxing hobby for me, a form of escapism, a happy place away from the world. So I continued what I was doing regardless, making surrealist collages from vintage magazines and old books and scraped a bare minimum pass.

I went under the online alias of "Dharma_Collage" from about 2014-18. Maybe there's still some remnants of work online (I'll see if I can find any to add to this post). It slowly transitioned into the work I'm doing now as I used the old collaging techniques to make my first Pokémon art. I don't think I learned anything practical from art school that's helped with the art I make now, it's just been purely led by following my own interests and making what excites and motivates me. The Internet has endless help and resources for anyone willing to learn on their own.

As for pixel art, I seen some pixel art online and just instantly thought to myself "Wow, I want to make that!". So I briefly studied and researched and then jumped head first into it and just kept putting in the hours. Started small, using pixel apps on my phone etc and gradually upped the scale and complexity. I had another page called "Pixelad" for about 6 months before Silphwave, I'll add a few of those earlier images here too for comparison.

When something doesn't look right, whether it be colours, composition, texture, font etc it really offends my brain. There's some kind of OCD factor that compels me to fix what I'm looking at. Most of my art is rearranging and recolouring things until it no longer annoys me. Almost like some feng shui process, especially for the cluttered album cover type designs I make.

I always liked drawing things as a kid, we didn't have much money for toys, game consoles or Pokémon cards etc; so I'd make my own. I filled a notebook with my own Pokémon gameboy experience, I drew locations on every page and made teams for dozens of trainers and gym leaders I'd fight along the way and had extensive stat tallies for all my Pokémon that were constantly getting erased and updated. It was basically a one man D&D adventure 😅 I'd make my own Harry Potter wands and Witches and Wizard cards or LotR weapons and maps. This kind of lore expanding, creating fan art was pretty much ingrained in me from an early age. Maybe that's why the nostalgic theme is ever present through my art as that's essentially what I'm doing, reliving and continuing my childhood.

(Sorry for the long convoluted answer, I found it helpful for organising my thoughts. You've prompted me to think of some things I hadn't considered before, thank you)

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hammity-hammer · 1 year

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Happy Holi-gays!

Here’s my spicy six holiday writing! (two months late (((:)

Thank you so much to @thefreakandthehair for the prompt, please go make sure to read everything that everyone else has been posting!

(i also made art that's on ao3 with the story- but im a sleeby boy and that shit's difficult to add in so-- go check it out on there! & my dividers were made by someone...... i cannot recall their user and i feel like a bag of dicks but if any of y'all can figure it out pls tag them for me so i know<3)

(second also-- ty to lou, ej, & cat for beta-ing for me<33 i love you guys so much!)

to read on ao3:

if you wanna read it here then here ya go!

10 days before Christmas - 1987

Eddie slams his fist on the door to apartment 2B, rattling the door on its hinges. He’s got his bottom lip bit between his teeth while he pops his knuckles, waiting anxiously for someone to let him in. After what feels like five minutes (which realistically was about thirty seconds, but when you’re nervous time seems to move exceedingly slowly, give the man a break), a very festive looking Argyle opens the door. Bells ring as he lazily waves a hello to Eddie, nods his head and takes a step back to let him inside.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, my herbaceous buddy?” He asks with a dopey grin on his face. Argyle closes the door while Eddie looks around, taking in the colorful lights and heavily decorated tree by the television.

“Well, okay, so here’s the deal. It’s our first Christmas, like, together, you know? Like, with everybody being in their little couples and no weird upside down related shit, and we’re real adults now, right? And we’re gonna have our little Christmas party together, but I was just thinking, everyone has like little traditions that they do for holidays, right?” Eddie rambles, his hands moving wildly around him while he meanders around his point. Argyle nods at him, hanging off of every word to encourage him to go on.

“What if, we all— you, me, Stevie, Jonny, Nance, and Robbie come up with our own traditions? Like, maybe we all bring one tradition that our family does or something, and we make it like a thing?” He starts again, a hopeful look on his face while he explains, “‘Cause me and Wayne have always gone and visited some of my family and like we spend a day making tamales and flautas together, and I was just thinking that I would really, really enjoy seeing everybody try and cook that shit. I like, barely have gotten the hang of it, and I’ve been helping with them and not hanging at the kiddie table for like, four years or something now.”

Argyle thinks for a second, nodding his head softly, while Eddie wrings his hands together and grins at him. Thinking about the few cousins he has on Wayne’s side always makes him happy, but when he thinks about spending holidays with them, his happiness expands tenfold. They don’t see each other often, but every time they reconnect, it’s like there was never any time in between their meetings.

“Okay brochacho, I totally am picking up what you’re putting down, and I think we totally could convince our funky little friends to do that! Just thinking about Big Byers covered in maza has me fucking excited,” Argyle laughs. He grins so wide his eyes basically close at the thought, but suddenly they shoot open, “Wait bro, where are we gonna do all this at? Jonny boy and I definitely don’t have a big enough kitchen, and I don’t think you and Nance would be able to hold all six of us, would you?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, dearest Argyle, for we’ve got the Harrington Manor at our disposal for the foreseeable future,” Eddie grins wickedly, throwing his arms out in front of him as if he’s displaying something in the air. “Speaking of Harrington, I do need to go see my lovely boy, so I’ll smell ya later, dude. Is it cool if I call you later to confirm the time and everything once Jonny’s home?” He asks as he spins around to leave, opening the door and taking one step outside, so he can still hear Argyle’s response.

“Sure dude, we’re spending a night in for once, so we’ll be here,” He affirms, as if he and Jonathan ever leave their apartment for anything besides work and picking up their “supply” from Eddie.

Eddie basically skips to his van, throwing the door open and hopping in. He puts in his favorite tape that Steve made him, that has a perfect cursive “You suck, Eds” written on the front. He remembers when Steve gave it to him, acting all shy and trying to use his Harrington Charm to make Eddie swoon.

He’d batted his pretty round eyes at Eddie, hiding his arms behind his back while he asked questions about metal that he already knew the answer to. Eddie’d rolled his eyes and thrown a crooked smile his way, saying, “Now, now pretty boy, I’m pretty sure we’ve already gone over this. Do you just like hearing me explain things to you a million times?” He brought his hand up to push hair out of Steve’s face, basking in the deep blush that slowly spread from his cheeks to his neck.

“I- I um… I was just wondering because… Um- I made you this? And you know, I just wanted to make sure I had, like, remembered things correctly and everything,” Steve started rambling, his hands bringing the perfectly wrapped tape in front of him, a shy smile on his face. Eddie stared shell shocked at the gift in front of him, his hand still softly brushed up against Steve’s temple. Steve nudged the tape into Eddie’s chest, blinking his eyes very obviously at him.

Eddie took the present that was given to him, and held it carefully. With the utmost caution, he peeled the black wrapping paper back, his eyes growing even bigger when he realized it was actually a mixtape that Steve made. No one had ever made Eddie a mixtape before, and especially not a mixtape covered in goofy looking hearts and two stick figures holding hands on the bottom.

He glanced up at Steve, who was biting his bottom lip anxiously, as he did a little jazz hand, “Tada! I’ve been working on this for like… A few months, honestly. I just wanted it to be perfect for you? Because you’re perfect to me?” An awkward grin graced his face while he scratched his neck with the non-jazz hand.

“Steve Harrington… I know you didn’t actually make the little ole town freak a mixtape now, did you?” Eddie whispered, a teasing grin beginning to form on his lips.

Steve’s blush deepened even further while he looked to the floor, shrugging his shoulders.“I just wanted you to have a little piece of me with you everywhere you go? You know, like, you get to hear these songs and then think of…Steve,” He mumbled and rocked back and forth on his heels. Steve blew air out of his mouth and gave Eddie a goofy grin.

“Stevie, you… You are so unbelievable,” Eddie breathed and put the tape in his front pocket. He cupped Steve’s face with his hands and gently pressed their lips together. Steve immediately kissed him back, moving his hands to Eddie’s hips and stepping closer to him. They stayed like that, kissing in Steve’s bedroom and losing track of time. Eventually, Eddie pulled back.

“No one’s ever done anything this nice for me before,” He breathed, his face barely inches from Steve’s. “You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever met, inside and out, and I really, really don’t understand why you’d spend any time doing something so sweet for me.”

“Can’t you tell why I’d do this? I feel like I’ve been so obvious!” Steve laughed, moving one hand from Eddie’s hip to cup his cheek, “I like you so much, Eds. I know that it says you suck, but that’s actually a lie. You make me so, so happy, and you’re practically all I talk about. I’m pretty sure Robin was going to murder me if I didn’t figure out some way to tell you that I have feelings for you.” He grinned and poked Eddie’s cheek, “Plus, I was getting real sick and tired of not being able to do this.” Steve kissed him softly and pulled away before Eddie could kiss back.

“Now, if I said I wanted to be your boyfriend… would that be okay?” He asked shyly, moving his hands to hold Eddie’s. Steve chewed his lip while Eddie processed, spinning the rings on Eddie’s fingers.

“I would be over the moon if I got to call you mine, pretty boy.” Eddie nodded, his reserved smile turning into a giant grin.

Eddie uses his key to unlock the front door to the “Harrington Manor”, kicking his shoes off when he gets in and putting his keys in the bowl. He wanders to his boyfriend’s room, humming a little ‘Mr. Crowley’ while he swings open the door, finding a napping Steve on the bed. He’s got his glasses falling off his nose, and Eddie’s very loved copy of The Two Towers resting open on his chest.

“Stevie, baby… Good morning,” he whispers, lightly brushing hair from Steve’s forehead. Steve huffs and shakes his head, rolling over as he presses his face into his pillow.

“C’mon, I’ve gotta talk to you about some holiday plans,” Eddie laughs, plucking the book from his boyfriend and trying to roll him back over. “You aren’t even supposed to be sleeping right now, you’re gonna mess up your sleep schedule!”

“Eds… I gotta sleeeeep, get in the bed with me, please?” Steve mumbles into the pillow, not letting Eddie roll him. He reaches out his hands and grabs at Eddie, trying to pull him on top. “So sleepy… Waited so long.”

“Baby, it’s been barely an hour, I literally haven't been gone long enough for you to be asleep.” Eddie complains as he crawls over Steve, cradling his head, so he doesn’t accidentally hurt him.

“Tell me about it,” Steve huffs, opening one eye to look at Eddie as he cracks a sleepy smile. Eddie grins back, “Stevie, can we talk now? I have a question that’s kind of important.”

Steve yawns, “Go for it.” He rests a hand gently on Eddie’s head and starts playing with his hair.

“So… You know how we don’t really have any plans for Christmas? Because Rob and Nance are doing their Hanukkah thing, and the Hopper-Byers clan has decided to vacation to Cali, excluding Jonny, so we were just going to… do nothing?” Eddie continues, “I talked to Argyle, and we want to try and do like a holiday cooking party type thing. Here. Just the six of us, no kids, and we can make our own holiday traditions.”

Steve’s eyes shoot open, “You mean like… like a family? You wanna do family things with me, Eds? And, when would we do them? Christmas is in like… a week, and I think Robs told me that Hanukkah starts soon, right?” He moves his hand down to hold Eddie’s cheek.

“Stevie, of course I wanna do family things with you, I love you. I love you so, so much. You are my family, you and Wayne, but I want to celebrate with you. I want to celebrate every single holiday we can together. And we can have the party this Saturday? I’m pretty sure everyone’s got it off, and I have Friday off, too, so I can go and get supplies. Does that sound okay?” Eddie leans into Steve’s hand, giving it a soft kiss and smiling.

“That sounds perfect, love. I’ll go call Robs and check if that works for them. Do you wanna come with me, or do you wanna stay here and rest a little?” Steve asks, pulling Eddie close to plant a soft kiss to his lips. Eddie smiles and kisses him back.

“I’ll go wherever you go, pretty boy.”

---

“Buckley residence, this is Nancy speaking,” Nancy answers the phone, sticking her tongue out at Robin who wasn’t able to get there quick enough.

“Oh, Steve! To what do we owe the pleasure of your call?” She leans away from Robin, who grabs for her and the phone, “Nance! That’s my best friend, I wanna talk to him!”

“Oh wow, you guys are inviting us to your house for a… holiday cooking party…? Do you mean like Christmas, because you know Robbie doesn’t celebrate that, and if you’re inviting us to a Christmas party I will be offended on her behalf, considering you’re supposed to be her best friend.” Nancy scolds, squealing when Robin grabs her by the waist. Robin plants a kiss on the side of her head, giggling when Nancy blushes.

“Okay… So you want us to come over Saturday? We’ll just have to be home in time to light the menorah and everything, so you can’t keep us too late,” Nancy questions, looking over to Robin.

She puts her hand over the receiver, “Does Saturday at 3pm sound okay to make food with the boys?” Robin nods, resting her chin on Nancy’s shoulder. Uncovering the receiver, Nancy lets Steve know that they’ll be there before hanging up.

“Not even letting me speak to my best friend in the whole world? The love of my life? Nancy, what are you doing! Are you jealous of little ole Stevie?” Robin jokes, placing dramatic, slobbery kisses to her girlfriend’s shoulder. Nancy giggles and rolls her eyes, “Darling. You see him every single day at work, and I just wanted to get him off the phone so I could spend some time with my favorite woman on the whole planet.”

Nancy turns around, wrapping her arms around Robin’s neck as she plants a soft kiss to her cheek. Robin snorts and her face starts to turn a bright red as she wraps her arms tighter around Nancy’s waist.

“I’m your favorite woman on the whole planet, Nance?” Robin whispers, a cheeky smile on her face. Nancy nods, kissing her other cheek, “Robin Buckley, you may be my most favorite person on the whole planet, not just my favorite woman.” Robin kisses her softly, knowing that Nancy’s telling the truth, if the letter she’d received 6 months ago was anything to go by.

“Robbie,

I don’t think I have ever met someone who makes me feel the way that you do. I thought that maybe I was making things up, or that I was misreading our interactions, but I know that the way I feel about you isn’t anything that could be misread or made up. I think about you more than is probably sane, considering that we barely get to see each other as of late. I love listening to you ramble when you’re nervous, or when you’re really excited about something, or someone brings up a topic that you love. I love when you make snarky comments under your breath that you think no one can hear. I love when you protect your friends without thought, not caring what happens to you as long as they’re safe. I love when you smile, when you laugh, when you accidentally make noises because you’re so excited you have no other way to express it. I love that you love things so passionately, not caring what people have to say. I love you, Robin. I think that this may be the easiest thing I’ve ever done, although I guess I am copping out a bit, sending a letter and all. I hope that you get this soon, and I hope that I’m not wrong about your feelings.

Estaré aquí cuando me quieras, por siempre si es lo que quieres.

Para siempre,

Nancy Wheeler”

As soon as Robin finished reading the letter, she called Steve. She waited for about three rings until he picked up, “Harrington residence, this is Steve speaking.”

“Steve! Get over here, like asap! I really, really need to get to Nancy’s, like now, please,” Robin urged. She kept the phone between her shoulder and ear as she slipped her converse on.

“Nancy’s? Why do you need to go there now? It’s like… 2pm, what are you going to do at 2pm on a weekday?” Steve asked. Robin could hear him picking up his keys, though, which had her grinning.

“I think your ex-girlfriend is also in love with me? She sent me a letter? I really, really hope this isn’t some kind of sick joke, Steve. No one would do that, right? I-I mean… No one even knows, about me, I mean, so they wouldn’t know to confess to me as Nancy… Right?” Robin started rambling, almost dropping the phone while she tied her shoes.

“Robs. Calm down, dude. I don’t think anyone knows, and it’s definitely very like Nance to send you a letter like we don’t have cars and phones,” Steve laughed, “I’m leaving now, love you, see you soon.”

“I love you too, hurry your ass up before I spiral even further, please!” Robin rushed out, putting the phone back into the cradle.

It took him 20 minutes, but Steve finally pulled up to Robin’s house. He honked his horn obnoxiously, and Robin ran outside so fast she almost fell down the steps to her house.

“Dear lord, could you have taken any longer? How am I supposed to go profess my love to your ex if you take 20 minutes to get here?” She started speaking as soon as she opened the car door, throwing her bag in by her feet before throwing herself in.

“I’m sorry that I have to obey traffic laws? Would you rather I died on the way to get you to the love of your life?” He asked rhetorically, easing his foot off of the brake and heading for Nancy’s house.

“I dunno, dude, I think maybe that would not be so great, but I can’t think about anything right now besides the fact that your ex-girlfriend, one of the most literally smartest people in all of Hawkins,” Robin started, pulling down the passenger side visor and checking her hair. “Confessed her love for your current best friend and platonic soulmate, one of the most awkward and anxious people in all of Hawkins.” She continued, rubbing under her eyes and slapping her cheeks.

“You may be awkward and anxious, but you’re still a catch! Do you know how many languages you know? And, you have like the cutest freckles, and you get her weird nerd jokes! You guys are like, perfect for eachother!” Steve exclaimed, taking his eyes off the road to look incredulously at his best friend.

“I guess… you might be right. And, she wrote in Spanish! Do you know how many people have learned phrases in other languages for me? None, Steve, the answer is none. She went out and learned how to say something, just because she knows that I know the language.” Robin rambled, her hands moving wildly as Steve pulled in front of Nancy’s house.

“She totally is in love with you, please, please go get your girl, and keep me posted!” He yelled the last part as Robin got out of the car, waving her hand at him and flipping him off.

Nancy walked to her front door when she heard the bell ring, opening it to a red faced Robin.

“I love you, Nancy,” Robin started, glancing at Nancy’s face and then immediately looking at the ground. “I am so, so in love with you. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone tell me they love me, especially not the way you did, and I especially didn’t expect you to pull out Spanish on me. No one’s ever learned Spanish for me, Nance. I- I don’t think anyone’s ever really even written me a—” Nancy cut her off, kissing her quickly and softly, barely giving Robin time to react.

“You are so incredibly cute when you’re nervous,” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Robin’s face turned an even darker shade of red and her eyes widened comically.

“I-I’m sorry, I just really, really didn’t know that you felt the same way I did, and I just got the letter and I wanted to see you as soon as I could, so Steve drove me over here and now I’m here and you’re here and I just love you.” Robin laughed nervously.

“Can we- can we do that again? Please?” She whispered, ghosting her fingers along her bottom lip when she realized that Nancy had in fact kissed her. Nancy reached her hand out to Robin’s face, touching her cheek softly.

“You mean kiss?” She asked, taking a small step closer to Robin. Robin nodded, so Nancy leaned in to press their lips together again. Robin let out a small breath, kissing Nancy eagerly.

They stayed like that for what simultaneously felt like five minutes and five hours, before breaking apart to smile at each other.

“It’s just you and me now, okay?” Nancy asked as she broke the kiss, cradling Robin’s head in her hands.

Robin nodded and took one of Nancy’s hands off of her face to hold it, giving it a soft kiss.

“Cara mia, could you please come here?” Robin yells across the house to Nancy. She ties the last bow on the small gift box on the table as she waits. Nancy makes her way to the living room with a little gift bag in her hand.

“Did you finish your wrapping, lovely?” Nancy asks and sets her gift bag next to Robin’s box. She wraps an arm around Robin’s waist and plants a soft kiss on her cheek.

“I did indeed! Do you like the little bow?” She responds, twisting to kiss Nancy as she grabs the present box to hold up.

“Oh! That’s so cute! You just did that?” Nancy exclaims, gently taking the present to examine it. “This has to be the cutest thing I’ve ever gotten and I haven’t even opened it yet.”

“It’s no big deal, really! Just some ribbon and scissors and time and I got it all done!” Robin laughs awkwardly, a light blush on her cheeks. “Do you wanna open it and see if you like the gift…?” She suggests, biting her lip lightly when Nancy nods.

Nancy gently undoes the bow on top and takes her time removing the paper to reveal a small, black, hand-bound leather journal. Her mouth opens in a little ‘o’ as she opens it to find that the first page has already been written in.

“For Nancy, my beautifully brained pearl in a sea of fish-scale imitations. I adore you and you are going so, so many places.

Xx Robbie”

Nancy puffs her bottom lip out and looks up at Robin, “I’m the beautiful brain? Robs, this is so thoughtful. I love this and I’m going to write only the most special things in it. I love you.”

“I love you too! I tried really hard and had to make Steve take me to like four different bookstores to try and find the perfect journal, because they all had like boring journals with flowers and like, girly things, and you’re girly but you’re not girly, and you deserve something that’s professional but sleek, but also sturdy, which is why I went with a hand-bound one instead of just a regular old machine-bound one, and Steve thought it was sweet and so did Eddie, but nothing that they think matters because they’re not you, even though Steve did—” Robin gets interrupted in her rambling by a swift kiss from her girlfriend, pointedly shutting her up.

“It’s perfect. You’re perfect. Open your gift now, please,” She whispers, pulling the bag from the table and lightly shoving it in Robin’s hands.

Robin nods quickly and takes the tissue out of the bag, squealing when she pulls out a rubix cube. “Nancy! Are you for real right now?” She asks as she drops the bag and starts trying to solve the cube.

“One hundred percent, lovely. I know it’s not a lot but I figured it would make you happy and keep you entertained,” Nancy smiles as she watches Robin hop from one foot to the other while she fidgets.

“I absolutely love it, please, please can we light the menorah so we can cuddle on the couch and I can play with this?” Robin whisper yells and looks up at Nancy.

Nancy nods and takes the lighter from the table, “Do you wanna do this or do you want me to so you don’t have to put the cube down?”

“You, please. Thank you,” She responds, smiling softly while Nancy lights the Shamash. After Nancy lights the Shamash, Robin recites the blessings and gives Nancy the go ahead to light the first candle. She lights it and places it on the very far right side of the menorah, smiling proudly at Robin. Nancy places the Shabash back in the middle of the menorah and lets Robin begin singing ‘Maoz Tzur’, closing her eyes to take time to just listen.

When Robin finishes, Nancy holds her hand softly, “Thank you for letting me be a part of this with you, Robbie. I really appreciate it. This was very special and I’m sorry your parents couldn’t be here tonight to help.”

Robin smiles softly at her and plants a kiss to her cheek, “It’s okay, it really is. Their jobs wouldn’t let them off early enough and we’ve got a big next few days, so I’m glad I got to spend tonight with you.” She takes the hand holding Nancy’s and leads her into the living room, dropping her off at the couch.

“So, querida, do you wanna watch Rocky Horror or The Apartment?”

---

Jonathan hums as he licks the rolling paper and seals it closed, twisting the end and grinning to himself.

“Argyle, babe, are you ready to smoke the prettiest doobie ever made?” He asks and turns to his side, holding the joint up proudly. Argyle laughs and kisses his cheek, “I was born ready, Jonny baby. This bad boy’s about to be so good!”

Argyle lights the joint, inhaling smoothly and holding in for a second before lightly grabbing Jonathan’s chin to give him a light kiss and exhale smoke into his mouth. Jonathan inhales the smoke and breaks the kiss to exhale, chuckling at his boyfriend’s antics.

They continue smoking, keeping up the puff-puff-pass routine and occasionally sharing kisses and smoke, smiling at eachother. When they’ve finally cashed it, Argyle puts it out in their Garfield ashtray, a gift they’d received from Eddie and Uncle Wayne.

“What say you to a holiday dinner with the mystery gang? Eds and I talked about it earlier because he just, like, showed up here, and we thought it might be cool to have everyone together,” He asks, taking Jonathan’s hand to place light kisses on his knuckles.

“Oh yeah, when are we gonna do that? Also, where? I don’t think our apartment is big enough for all of us…” Jonathan looks around with glassy eyes, his lips slightly parted. He squints and turns his head back to Argyle, shrugging lightly when Argyle grins.

Argyle laughs, “We’re gonna do it on uh… Saturday? I think? And Eds volunteered Stevie’s house! But… I think he’s supposed to call soon… I can’t really remember…” He shrugs, leaning his head onto his boyfriend’s shoulder and yawning. Jonathan wraps an arm around him, pulling him in close and closes his eyes.

Suddenly, the phone rings, pulling them out of their little bubble. Argyle hops up, almost hitting their heads together before running to the phone attached to the wall. He picks it up excitedly, cheesing at his boyfriend on the couch,“Thank you for calling the Byers-Alvarez residence, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call, my righteous friend?”

Argyle nods, seemingly very into what the other person was saying. Having piqued Jonathan’s interest, he gets off the couch to see who’s called them. He walks up behind Argyle, snaking his arms around his waist before gently placing kisses onto his shoulder. Jonathan does his best to eavesdrop, and Eddie makes it especially easy as he talks loudly and excitedly on the other end.

“Stevie said we can use the Harrington Manor, so you guys can get here at like, 2:30 so we have time to get things finished before the ladies have to go back to Rob’s?”

“You got it, bud! Jonny and I will be there, should we bring anything?” Argyle responds, and finishes their conversation before hanging up the phone. He turns in Jonathan’s embrace and wraps his arms around his neck, planting a big, slobbery kiss on his lips. Jonathan returns the kiss, smiling widely at his dorky partner.

Argyle hums softly, moving one hand to hold Jonathan’s cheek, caressing it softly. He breaks the kiss after a moment, touching their foreheads together.

“I love you, sweet thing.” He whispers, rubbing his thumb up and down Jonathan’s cheek.

“I love you more, Arg.” His boyfriend responds, lightly rubbing their noses together and letting out a little laugh. He gives him one more peck before reaching up to take the hand that’s on his face into his own, swaying to an imaginary beat. Argyle joins him, lacing their fingers together. He hums softly, resting his cheek against Jonathan’s as they continue their dance together.

Argyle rang the doorbell to Jonathan’s house, taking a step back so he wasn’t right in front of the door when it opened. He looked down at the pizza box in his hands, grinning as he thought about its contents.

Jonathan opened the door, with bloodshot eyes and a goofy smile on his face. He pushed the door open a bit wider and gestured for Argyle to come in.

“Hey man, I wasn’t expecting you! Come on in, it’s just me tonight cause Will and El went out with my mom earlier,” He supplied as Argyle followed him inside and stepped out of his shoes.

“Oh, righteous! I was at work and they let me leave early, so I thought I’d come see my favorite Jonny Boy and bring him some ‘zza,” Argyle held out the box to his friend after Jonathan closed the door. He took the pizza box and walked it into the kitchen to place it on the table.

“Thanks, Arg, what kind is it?” Jonathan walked to a cabinet and pulled out two plates, setting them on the table where they’d be sitting. Argyle thanked him and opened the box with a shy smile on his face.

“It’s uh… Veggie and pineapple, just like you like it!” He turned the now opened box to Jonathan, watching him for his reaction. Argyle had placed the spinach on his pizza to look like a little marijuana leaf in the corner, and tomatoes in the center in the shape of a heart. Next to the heart was a pineapple question mark, and a little note was tucked underneath. Jonathan’s mouth opened in surprise, and he removed the note from underneath.

“Jonny,

You’re my best friend in the whole world, my sweet cheese, my ride or die. I love you with my whole heart, and I put it on a pizza just for you! (Don’t panic, no hearts were harmed in the making of this pizza) I don’t think I’d rather spend my time with anyone but you. Please look up at me now!”

Jonathan chuckled lightly and held onto the note, his eyes moving up to look at Argyle who had a soft blush on his cheeks.

“Do you wanna maybe… be mine, Jonny?” He asked softly, chewing on his bottom lip while he waited on a response.

“Like… Your boyfriend?”Jonathan clarified. Argyle nodded, his eyes wider than they had been before.

Jonathan stepped closer to him, reaching the hand without the note up to cup Argyle’s cheek. He nodded quickly before moving in to press their lips together. Argyle immediately kissed him back, wrapping his arms around Jonathan’s waist.

Breaking away, Jonathan smiled at his now-boyfriend, “Do you wanna eat this masterpiece and roll up with me, boyfriend?”

Argyle laughed and squeezed Jonathan where he held him, “That sounds rad, boyfriend.”

Jonathan presses a tender kiss to his boyfriend’s lips, taking one step back so he can extend one of the arms connected to Argyle and spin him in a circle. Argyle laughs while he spins, his long hair gliding in the air like an aerialist’s silks.

“Aren’t you glad you stayed here now?” He asks, landing gently back in Jonathan’s arms. Jonathan smiles sweetly up at him, “I’m always glad I get to see you, babe. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

As they continue their dance, Argyle hums a soft string of notes, not seeming to match any songs that Jonathan’s familiar with. He moves their noncommittal steps into a consistent 4/4 beat, starting a shuffle as he begins to sing in a soft voice,

“Amor, adiós

No se puede continuar

Ya la magia terminó

Ahora tengo que marchar

Será mejor

Seguir nuestra soledad

Si hoy el cielo se cubrió

Quizás mañana brille el sol,”

Jonathan closes his eyes and loses himself in Argyle’s voice, letting himself be dragged wherever his partner sees fit. When Argyle begins the chorus with a dip and a dramatic,

“No sufras (más)

(Quizás mañana nuestro llanto quede atrás)

Y si me dices que tu amor me esperará

Tendré la luz que mi sendero alumbrará

Y volveré

Como un ave que retorna a su nidal

Verás que pronto volveré y me quedaré

Con esa paz que siempre, siempre tú me das

Que tú me das,”

Jonathan chuckles and kisses his boyfriend, making sure not to get him in the middle of the lyrics. Argyle smiles brightly at him, pecking his lips back. He finishes their dance, not by completing his song, but by spinning Jonathan one last time and planting an overly dramatic kiss on his hand.

“I bet you didn’t know I had that up my sleeve, Sweet Thing,” He laughs while Jonathan gives him an exasperated smile.

“I figured you could sing but… I can say I’ve never had anyone make me dance with them while serenading me.”

“Well, since you had to stay back here for me, I figured I’d let you know that even if you think we might be better apart, I’ll always come back for you,” Argyle says earnestly, making sure to keep a firm grip on Jonathan’s hands while he maintained eye contact.

“I didn’t have to stay back for you, I chose to and you know it! You totally could’ve had a fun holiday here with everyone, it’s not your fault your family decided that they suck and would rather abandon their only son than accept him,” Jonathan replies sternly, frowning and tugging his boyfriend closer.

---

It’s a quarter past three when Argyle and Jonathan knock on Harrington's door, eyes as red-rimmed and glossy as ever. They hold each other's hands while they wait, barely registering that the door had even opened before Eddie pokes his head out.

“What’s the password?” He croaks out in an overly dramatic voice.

Argyle jumps back a bit, and Jonathan’s eyebrows raise slightly in surprise, “Is it… Mary?” he asks tentatively.

Eddie holds a hand over his mouth, trying to suppress his laughter while he opens the door for them. “You’re fucking blitzed, dude. Is that what took you guys so long?” They both nod and giggle, sharing a look with each other before entering the household.

Argyle and Jonathan make their way through the hall before realizing that one of the doorways has mistletoe hanging from the top. Jonathan turns to his partner with a grin, “Aww shucks, Arg. Looks like someone owes me a kiss.” He winks and pulls him slightly closer by the hand.

Raising an eyebrow, Argyle takes another step toward him, “Oh, do I now?”

Jonathan bites his lip and nods slowly, completely enamored by the man in front of him. Argyle rests his free hand softly on Jonathan’s cheek, just above his jaw, and closes the space between them with a gentle kiss. Jon smiles against his lips, sighing contentedly through his nose.

After a few moments pressed together, they separate and Argyle drags Jonathan to the kitchen.

The other three are busy at their own stations, Steve sitting on a stool at the island with a big bowl of some tan mush that makes Jonathan feel a bit queasy. Robin and Nancy are working on grating potatoes and onions by the sink, getting them ready to go into latkes.

“Woah Eddie, we’ve got the white boy working on tamales? You didn’t wait to put Jonny to work?” Argyle asks with a laugh while Jonathan looks between them confused.

“Tamales? That’s what he’s doing? Why’s he got a spoon?” He stares at Steve’s hands, covered in masa with some weird looking yellow thing that he’s spreading masa on.

Eddie laughs and nods, walking behind Steve to watch his technique. “He’s making tamales, yes, I just taught him while we were waiting for you two slow-pokes. Get over here and we’ll get you making them great in no time.”

Argyle shrugs when Jonathan looks at him, “Go on, baby, Eddie won’t hurt you.” Jonathan sits by Steve and takes a spoon, watching Eddie with wide eyes while he explains tamal basics.

Watching as the women grate their vegetables, Argyle decides to walk over and help. Robin hands over some potatoes and a cheese grater with a grin on her face, “Welcome to holidays at the Harrington’s! Glad you two finally showed up, my hands are tired from doing this shit.”

With a roll of her eyes Nancy hip checks Robin and laughs, “You’ve barely been doing any of the work, babe. Just standing there staring at me the whole time.”

Robin scoffs, a bright red flush beginning to rise from her neck, “That is- that’s so not true! I promise, I totally have been… working on the latkes!”

“Ladies, ladies, it’s okay. I am here in all of my gorgeous glory to learn and to teach, I don’t care who’s doing what so long as my hands keep moving on this sacred food,” Argyle soothes, starting to grate his potatoes onto a plate in front of him.

“Eddie, I genuinely don’t think this is supposed to look like this…” Steve murmurs while staring wide eyed at the corn husk covered fully in goopy maza. Eddie walks back over to him and has to turn his head to laugh into his elbow at the sight in front of him.

“Babe- how did you manage to get maza so far up your own arm? It just- goes on the husk?” He half-scolds, amazed at his ridiculous boyfriend.

Steve shrugs and doesn’t move his arms for fear of making even more of a mess. Jonathan giggles from his seat, quiet and high pitched when he realizes just what exactly his faux-competitor has done.

“Man… I don’t know if there’s any saving that one,” He snorts as he lays his newly finished husk in the pile. Steve sighs dejectedly and groans, a dramatic pout on his face when he sees Jonathan finish.

Eddie takes a spoon and starts to clean off the husk so it’s salvageable, trying not to laugh more at his poor boyfriend. He gently kisses his cheek and moves the husk to the pile before finishing his cleaning with Steve’s arm.

“Thank you, Eds,” Steve whispers, his cheeks a bright red. He gets up from his seat and runs to the bathroom to clean his arms off and try to stave off his embarrassment, worried it may turn bad quickly.

Eddie just watches as he leaves, chuckling to himself before sitting in his chair and watching Jonathan continue with his tamales.

“You caught on really quick, Jon, I’m surprised. Argyle over there was saying he was all excited to laugh at you,” He mentions, keeping a close eye on how thick Jonathan keeps the spread while he works.

“Argyle doesn’t know anything- I help my mom cook all the time and this is just like a weird swiss roll!” Jonathan huffs out before placing more husks into the bowl. This earns another laugh from Eddie who decides to get up and take the bowl of husks so he can start filling them with meat.

“Hey man, I know some things,” Argyle shouts indignantly from across the room- taken out of his zone with the latkes.

Jonathan rolls his eyes with a smile, continuing on his work while Argyle keeps his snarky jokes audible to Robin and Nancy only.

---

Steve finally comes back to see that everyone’s already started actually cooking- the latkes being fried on the stove while Eddie places the wrapped up tamales in a giant pot to boil on a different burner.

“I really missed the tamales getting finished?” He pouts and stands behind Eddie, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Yeah baby, that’s what happens when you run away for a while,” Eddie chides and puts the lid on the pot, turning around to press a soft kiss to his boyfriend’s forehead.

Robin pretends to gag, “Could you guys go be gay somewhere else, please?” Nancy giggles from next to Robin, knowing that they were absolutely standing almost exactly like that right before Steve came back.

“Hey Robs, can you do something for me?” Steve blinks his big eyes at her.

“Yeah, what’s up?” She sets the spatula she was using down and turns to him with furrowed brows.

“Fuck off!”

Eddie chokes on a laugh, completely caught off guard by his boyfriend’s hostility, “Babe- babe please, oh my god!”

Robin rolls her eyes and flips him off, grabbing her spatula again to keep cooking, “Literally suck my whole dick, Harrington.” Her girlfriend snorts at that and bites her lip to keep from laughing too hard.

“Wuh-oh! Lovers’ quarrel?” Argyle asks before he realizes that they were just kidding around with each other. Jonathan brings his hand to his lips and presses a kiss there, “You know they’re just being them, babe. It’s fine.” He soothes and Argyle laughs and nods.

---

By some holiday miracle, the food comes out unscathed and they’re finally able to sit down and just enjoy each other’s company. Steve and Eddie set the table, while Jonathan and Argyle start plating everything to be served. Robin and Nancy take a much deserved break before grabbing sodas and lemonade from Steve’s garage.

“All right, gays and gaydies, I present to you: our Wexi-ewish buffest,” Argyle finishes displaying the food on the table with a flourish.

“Did you really just…”

“Yeah, I think he did, Rob.”

Steve and Eddie giggle at their end of the table, having partaken in some purple palm tree delight before the food was set down. Jonathan beams at his ridiculous lover, excited to spend the holiday with his found family.

Argyle takes it upon himself to give everybody their tamales, latkes, and the various sides that they bought pre-made, before sitting himself between Robin and Jonathan. Everyone thanks him and digs in, exhausted after their long day of cooking.

“Okay, Eddie, where the fuck did you learn this recipe for the chicken? This shit’s schmackin’, I’m gonna need to kiss whichever abuela gave you this,” Argyle moans after his first bite of tamal. Eddie laughs so hard a bit of latke flies back onto his plate and he has to cover his mouth with a hand.

“I mean- if you really wanna call Wayne abuela, be my guest. I cannot control how that man reacts to you,” He responds before taking a drink of lemonade.

Jonathan giggles at his boyfriend before taking a bite. His eyes widen, “No man, I think Argyle might be onto something… this is really fucking good, man.”

Steve nods in agreement as he stuffs more tamal into his mouth, completely forgoing speaking for the time being. Robin and Nancy eat their food a bit more calmly, but still share the sentiment.

“This may just be the best tamal I’ve ever had. Not that I’ve had that many,” Robin smiles and takes another bite. Nancy wipes her mouth with a napkin, “It is really good, Eddie! Thank you for teaching the boys how to make them.”

Eddie blushes and ducks his head while he eats, “It’s just normal holiday shit- no need to thank me, guys…” Steve nudges his shoulder and shakes his head, “No sir, we are not doing that shit right now. You made our holiday special, with Argyle of course, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to properly thank you.” He maintains eye contact with his boyfriend and nods his head seriously.

“You’re right… I’m sorry- I just am not used to all this,” Eddie laughs, “You guys make the holidays really great, too, you know.”

They spend the rest of the evening eating their food, cleaning up, and generally just basking in their togetherness.

---

“Promise me we’ll be together every Christmas?” Steve whispers to Eddie while they’re tangled together on the couch— everyone left hours ago, leaving them to cuddle and rest peacefully.

“Whatever you want, love, I’m yours.” Eddie seals his promise with a kiss.

#lexswinterficchallenge #steddie #ronance #jargyle #spicy six #jonathan byers #eddie munson #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #ham writes !#an actual fic for once????#im late as always lmfao #argyle (no last name poor man)

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