#lesbian band geek robin????

[hilarychuff]

fear street 1994 in my stranger things au graphic series 

When Robin hears about the so-called poolside slayings, she’s frankly not that surprised. It’s terrible, obviously. Horrific, really. But for Shadyside? Yeah, it’s not surprising. It seems like everything that can go wrong will in this town, and they can never go more than a few years without a serial killer or mass murderer or fucking fairytale freak like the Humpty Dumpty Killer reminding them that everything in Shadyside will always turn to shit. So when Billy Hargrove pulls on a pair of giant swim goggles and goes on a killing spree that ends with him shot dead with his knife still buried in Heather Holloway’s chest, well, it’s honestly sort of par for the course. At least the pool was about to close for the season with the school year starting anyway.

Still, everyone’s talking about it at school when Robin shows up the next day, both decorating Heather’s locker with pictures and notes and also dragging slashed CPR dummies through the hallways while cackling like a witch. Because yeah, apparently all those murders are the witch’s work. At least that’s what Steve says Dustin is saying when she meets up with him and Nancy at lunch. Things have been weird between the two of them since their breakup last year, but Steve’s new job as the assistant gym teacher after he graduated last year has them brokering a tentative peace, and when it comes to this, they’re on the same page: The witch did it.

Or, not really. They’re just joking. They don’t really buy into the whole we’re-all-fucking-doomed thing the same exact way Robin does, the same way Dustin fiercely believes that the witch is real. They’re just coping the same way everyone in this town seems to: by making it all one big joke. But at least they care. Deep down. The Sunnyvalers — the Sunnyvalers don’t even see any of them as real people. And they make that perfectly clear at the vigil for the victims Mayor Kline hosts before the big Shadyside-Sunnyvale game.

Robin doesn’t see any of that, though. She doesn’t hear the Sunnyvalers talking shit, doesn’t catch who threw the punch. No, Robin’s not on the field at all. Instead, she’s over by the bathrooms, lurking in the dark, waiting for Chrissy to show up so Robin can give her all of her stupid stuff back. She hadn’t been mad earlier, before the game, but when she’d seen Chrissy — when she’d seen Chrissy standing with her new boyfriend, the stupid football player’s hands all over Chrissy’s ass — her vision had gone red, and it had stayed that way, and it continues to stay that way as the sheriff breaks up the fighting, as Steve shepherds the Shadysiders back onto their bus, as Nancy whips everyone on the bus into a vengeful frenzy.

The haze only clears when the water cooler slips out of Robin’s hands and bounces off the windshield of Jason Carver’s car, sending him and his friends careening off the road and into the woods. Because Chrissy was in that car. And Robin had known that, had seen her sitting in the front passenger seat, and that had been part of what drove her anger hot enough to grab the water in the first place. She’d only wanted to piss Carver off, maybe get him to stop fucking following their bus all the way home. She’d meant to throw its contents, not the cooler itself, but when she loses her grip it’s almost like being doused in ice water herself, the burning rage from a moment ago extinguished in one panicked flash.

When Robin stumbles into the woods, it only takes a moment to follow the tracks and find the wreck, the car smashed against a rock with Carver and the other jocks still inside. It takes another moment, a longer moment to spot Chrissy, but then Robin sees her, in the dirt on her hands and knees, face pale and eyes far away, blood dripping from her nose and a gash on her temple.

After that, Robin thinks nothing in the world could tear her away from Chrissy. It doesn’t matter that they’ve broken up, that Chrissy is closeted, that she has a new boyfriend and a new life in Sunnyvale. Forget their fight, that Robin is a doomed Shadysider and Chrissy has literally moved out and moved on to better things. With Chrissy in the hospital, Robin is determined to make things right. Make this work. But it turns out, there is one thing that can stop her in her tracks: the stern voice of Laura Cunningham demanding that Robin stop calling, accusing her of ruining Chrissy’s life completely.

So Robin gives up, goes back to her life, accepts that it’s over. For real. At least until Carver shows up outside of her house wearing giant swim goggles and holding a knife. When he actually breaks into Steve’s house and starts cutting up his clothes, that means war, and before she knows it, Nancy and Steve and Dustin are waiting down the hall at the hospital while Robin goes to tell Chrissy to call her boyfriend off. Only when Carver shows up — when a knife suddenly juts out of his chest, blood dribbling out of his mouth — it becomes clear he really isn’t the one in the costume. Someone else is wearing it, someone else who wants them dead. Someone who looks suspiciously like Billy, the bullet hole still centered between his brows.

It doesn’t take long to realize that Chrissy is the one he’s after. That he’s not the only crazed killer after her. They’re all back, all of those claimed by the witch, and the curse is real, and the killers are determined to see Chrissy dead. Well, Robin’s not going to let that happen, and with Steve and Nancy and Dustin on their side, they’re all determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, to break the curse, to put the witch’s bones to rest. First, though — first, they’ll need to live long enough to do it.

ft. robin buckley as deena, chrissy cunningham as sam, jason carver as peter, nancy wheeler as kate, steve harrington as simon, dustin henderson as josh, heather holloway as heather, billy hargrove as ryan, eddie as martin, mayor kline as mayor goode

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

What happens at band camp, doesn't always stay at band camp.

[byler4l1fer]

Nancy: *laughing* Is there anything you can't do?

Robin: Gather up my wits and ask you out.

Nancy: What?

Robin: What? *blushing*

[fastcardotmp3]

as much as I adore the widely accepted meta analysis that Robin is Like That in season 4 because she's flustered by Nancy because so true girlie Nancy Wheeler is awe inspiring, sometimes I think about it based on what we're actually given in text and get. so mad.

Robin's introduction in season 3 was as a cool-headed, cutting, self-possessed, polyglot genius who was queen of the deadpanned snark and genuinely cool no matter what various characters may have said about her being geeky. On screen she was highly intelligent and knew it.

But then the Duffers let Maya Hawke convince them to make her a lesbian (oh hell yeah! her coming out scene is one of the best on the whole damn show!!) but you know what that means? When season 4 rolls around they are no longer writing her as Cool Love Interest For Steve, they are writing her as Quirky Best Friend Comedy Hour.

Are there still scenes where we get to see her be smart or snarky? Yeah, sure, of course, but there's this clear delineation between seasons 3 and 4 Robin that makes me crazy because she has so clearly been relegated to filling the role of Awkward And Rambling And Easily Distracted; she has been given the blandest love interest of all time in a character we know nothing about, who exists offscreen and almost exclusively through word of mouth to the point where Robin spends more time entrenched in Steve's love life than her own; and she has lost that "just because everyone else thinks I'm an uncool band geek doesn't mean that I do" edge that made her so interesting in season 3.

We can (and will!) come up with whatever fun meta we want to explain the changes to her character in season 4 but. like.

It just sucks that the minute they decided to let Robin be a lesbian out loud on screen, they stopped being able to write her as anything other than the useless in love, kind of airheaded but still funny, bff.

give my girl her edge back, that's all I'm saying.

[worth-the-chaos]

Ok but like rewatching stranger things, I just have to reiterate how boss of a platonic duo Steve and Robin are. Like you’ve got Steve, who is like a reformed player douchebag…and you pair him with a lesbian band geek? Perfect. They can talk about the babes together. They get each other. I also just love when Robin comes out to him, he’s like so super casual about it. Like he has a crush on her, finds out she’s completely unavailable to him, and his response is not like “woah that’s surprising,” instead it’s like “your taste? In women? Is sub par. Tammy Thompson is a freaking dud.” Like he straight up screamed “I’m an ally” after being drugged and beat by the Russians in the most comforting and baller way possible

[pinkeoni]

hit me, baby (one more time) 🔥

I’m not really a fan of either Maya or Robin (which is ironic given that I am a lesbian with an st fan account who gave myself the pseudonym Robin, but it’s actually based on something else)

I don’t like outright hate either of them. Maya’s acting isn’t that good and in most roles I’ve seen her in it’s pretty much the same character, and her style of music isn’t something that I’m into. I know she’s very pretty but I’m not personally attracted to her.

I disliked Robin’s introduction in s3 because the show already had so many characters that were being neglected that season (ie Lucas and Will) but then they decided to introduce MORE characters such as Robin. Robin is supposed to be a nerdy band-geek loser who would never get along with Steve and she’s played by… Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman’s tall gorgeous daughter…

Of course getting more LGBT rep is a good thing I just wish that the seasons were less condensed to be able to fully enjoy all of these characters. 45 minute 13 episode seasons come to me…

[greenlikethesea]

the argument against robin/vickie that’s like “they made vickie a carbon copy of robin! it makes no sense!” is very weird to me because like...have you ever met any long term lesbian couples? the butch/femme, opposites attract dynamic isn’t the only one that exists. butches date butches, femmes date femmes, people who don’t squarely fit into either of those categories date. it’s honestly more realistic to me that robin would go for someone like vickie, who’s a band geek and doesn’t really fit in and gives kind of queer vibes. it just makes sense to me!

[lilyswh0re]

it’s nice to have a (girl)friend - robin buckley

date: june 16, 2022

summary: robin’s a good “friend”

note: y/n is a fem bc robin is a lesbian but race and appearance isn’t mentioned. y/n uses she/her. this takes place the school year before season 3 and during season 3

warnings: nothing but fluff bc wlw/sapphics deserve media that isn’t centered around suffering and homophobia 🫶

a/n: ITS PRIDE MONTH AND I SHOULD HAVE A GF RN. also i think the gif is vvvv cute

tags: @we-stan-evie-frye @ghostofscarley @loverssfevers @limerenze

the air was crisp against your skin. you had dropped your gloves somewhere along the way to the bus stop in the morning and the indiana winter wasn’t very forgiving. “want mine?” robin asks.

“no, robin, it’s cold.”

she slips off one of hers and slips it onto your own hand, “compromise.” she smiles, lingering on your wrist. subtle touches like those warmed your heart. robin tugs on your coat sleeve, covering your exposed wrist.

“wanna hang out?” you ask, “i have my place to myself today.”

“yea, sounds like fun.” you lead her to your bus.

it’s stuffy in there with everyone’s coats and slippery boots.

“i forgot how much i hate your bus,” robin laughed lowly. hers happens to be more empty and have less band geeks with their bulky cases.

“it’s only fair, we always go to your house. i got a nintendo with a bunch of games. you can use it first.”

you were rambling about your plans once you arrived. only stopping when you feel robin’s hand in your pocket. she withdrew it with a downturnt smile.

uncrumpling the paper was a drawing of a flower inside a heart vase; written in it was: you look very pretty.

“i meant to give that to you in english.”

the butterflies were overwhelming. robin was your first almost girlfriend (almost because she hadn’t asked you out yet, and you were to nervous to ask her).

•••

school finally let out, the humidity was agonizing and the sun left anything that absorbed heat, sizzling. unfortunately, robin’s roof was black, which burned the back of your thighs. the temperature only started going down as the sun set, leaving a trail of pinks in her wake.

“is harrington going to replace me?”

robin tensed up at the mention of his name. you were only joking though. “harrington is such a doofus. no brain cells, all hair. i think all the hairspray killed them.” she sent you into a fit of laughter, almost causing you to roll off the roof.

she grinned as she gripped your hand to keep you stable. the sweatiness of her palms hushed your laugh in an instant. gasping for air, you lay closer to her.

the sun was done sinking at this point.

“do we have to get off any time soon?” your head rolled towards her, only to see that she was already looking at you.

“nah, no curfew. but i do have work tomorrow.” you nodded, “you should come in with me.”

“sure.” the apples of your cheeks hurt from smiling.

•••

some couple had gotten married as you were cruising through downtown hawkin. you weren’t around the church to see them as the bells rang, announcing their life long union. you only saw the aftermath of the rice on the corner.

“in some cultures that means bad luck,” robin stated, “we shouldn’t throw rice, you know?”

“well babe, i guess we won’t throw rice.” robin’s cheeks were blazing red.

“yea…babe.”

“let’s go home.”

robin kicks off on her bike, leading you home.

—————————————————————————————————————————

after reading note: yes i feminized the sun, suck it up 🫶 the sun and moon are sapphics, it’s a lesbian relationship. also i didn’t know how to write the final verse 💔

[thoroughlychance]

Ok so maybe I invented a gravity falls au.

Long story short, my brain said “Dipple and Maber” instead of the niblings and, while I’m not going to name them that because that’s stupid, I started wondering what would happen if I shuffled things around. Also, I don’t know what to do with Fiddleford so if anyone has ideas, let me hear them please.

This is swap!gravity falls. Including my art, which is mid (except dipper that’s a good dipper)

TLDR main swaps are Dipper/Mabel, Ford/Stan, and Wendy/Soos

M’sorry if the formatting is weird I did this in my notes app~

Dipper = sweater vests, braces, fashion, confidence, unicorns

Mabel = collared jacket, hat, nerves, brains, science

Soos = lesbian badass with a motorcycle and lots of knives. She’s just here cause it’s a decent job, and she only steps in when needed, but she is very protective of the kids.

Wendell = Dedicated & loyal teen who always does his best but he’s a little stupid. Also he has daddy issues. Crush-crazy bi dipper falls in love with Wendell. Wendell’s teen group is the outcasts, but in a very nerdy losery way. This includes Robin the band geek, Timmy the programmer, Kate and Bee the chess players, and Tabitha who could probably be cool and popular if she wanted.

Candy & Grenda = swapped, so little skinny candy does martial arts and big loud Grenda is a gaming streamer with glasses.

Ford got kicked out of home for being a freak, Stan dropped out of college, Ford fought his way through college with loans and scholarships and has a couple PHDs. Ford came to Stan’s tourist trap 30 years ago (which Bill helped build) to talk to him, Stan let him set up a lab in the basement, went down there after being manipulated by Bill and freaked at how big it was, fight, Stan turned on the portal and ended up falling in, now Ford has to run the shack and try to stabilize the portal so it can open a double-sided gateway for Stan to come back, also he convinced everyone that wym ‘Stanley’ it was always ‘Stanford’ and actually now he’d rather go by his full name or just ‘Ford’ thanks.

Ford = Grunkle 1, loves them kids, enthusiastic, uses mystery shack for money, curious, bullheaded, feels super fuckin bad about what happened, tries not to cuss in front of the kids but isn’t a very aware guy

Stan = Grunkle 2, immediately falls in love with the kids, very creative, fighter, a bit scared of being emasculated tbh, nemesis with Bill, total sailor’s mouth

Bill = what if Bill’s the same except he’s a fucking square? You fucking square.

Waddles is a cute lil round goat that Dipper fell in love with and stole, and there’s also a big silly pig named Gompers around

The kids have a lot more fun toys from the start because Grunkle Ford isn’t gonna tell them about the portal, but if his kids want magnet guns, they’re gonna get magnet guns.

Stanley wrote the journals, they’re just accounts of the weird shit he’s run into over time in Gravity Falls. Ford is using #3 to try to derive scientific information about the anomalous nature of the place, but Stan is so Not A Scientist ™ that it’s hard. Mabel finds journal #1 and it’s full of hastily drawn pictures and warnings like, instead of a scientific name and approximate diagrams, it’s “what the fuck is this??” and “fuckin huge!” And Mabel is adding more scientific/helpful labels, Like the gnomes (all girls) are in there as “annoying little shits” “punt them” “if there’s too many to punt, hide.” To which Mabel adds “LEAF BLOWER - VERY EFFECTIVE” and “CAN STACK TO BECOME LARGE CREATURE”

Ford is too chaotic for a journal so he just has stacks of binders full of BS. And again, he doesn’t tell the kids about the lab downstairs or the portal or anything, but he’s 100% willing to give them stuff, and he’s become a chronic liar over time in order to run the mystery shack, signing legal papers and taxes as Stanley but having people call him Stanford.

Anyways, the portal incident happens as normal, and when Stan comes out of the portal he absolutely punches his brother, but the response is “Okay, I might deserve that, but so do you” “Fair enough.” And a reciprocal punch. “So does anyone else know about your secret lab situation?” “Oh, just… the entire US government?” “WHAT?!” And suddenly Stan is the doer and Ford takes a backseat like they did as kids, when Stan would make all the friends for them and beat up the bullies and Ford would do his homework.

The “Billpocalypse,” as Stan so aptly named it, occurs when Mabel starts getting a lot of attention from both Grunkles for being smart and creative and Dipper gets upset and runs off, then gets tricked on promise of being “smarter.” Stan, as always, stands up to Bill and has problems for it, and when the bubble around the town gets discovered, claims that he knows what’s causing it and how to destroy it, not wanting real-scientist Ford to get captured or anything. Dipland is full of candy and unicorns and everyone is equally smart, and Mabel breaks him out by explaining that her intelligence would be useless without his creativity, confidence, and enthusiasm, and the world needs him to save it. The Bill solution is the same, Stan has a metal plate implanted in his head and can’t let Bill in cause he’d discover that Stan was lying, so they swap and Ford gets his mind erased… for like a week, then he’s fine. Show ends with the grunkles going on the road trip of their dreams together in an RV they tricked out.

Thoughts? Feelings? Opinions? Fiddleford ideas? And ofc I welcome anyone else to draw/write for this, I’d love to see more.

[pclyglct]

(  MAYA HAWKE  |  CIS WOMAN  |  SHE/HER  |  24 )  — — —  it's  just  been  another  long  week  in  boring  -  ass  hawkins.  isn't  that  right,  ROBIN BUCKLEY  ?  shit,  i  guess  they  can't  hear  me  over  PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER  by  PATTI SMITH  playing  through  the  headphones  of  their  walkman.  it  looks  like  they're  gonna  be  late  for  WORK  as  a/at  LIBRARY ASSISTANT AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.  did  you  know  ROBIN  has  been  in  hawkins  for  THEIR WHOLE LIFE  ?  yeah,  their  family  and  friends  describe  them  as  INQUISITIVE,  but  i've  seen  them  be  HYPER  too  !  i  would  also  say  they  remind  me  of  disorganized bookshelf cluttered with knick knacks, chipped black nail polish, daydreaming about faraway places while language tapes blast through headphones around her neck, the unsettling feeling of sticking out despite every effort to blend in, beaten up red converse covered in doodles, but  is  that  weird  ?  i  guess  nothing's  too  weird  for  this  little  town,  huh  ? 

happy to be here! I'll be sticking to canon, but also using the rebel robin podcast to form the bulk of robin's backstory, drive, and character prior to show antics. tl;dr: closeted disaster lesbian who only recently started feeling comfortable in her own skin. loves her friends but desperately wants out of hawkins. just returned from a 3-month trip backpacking across Europe & has started a new job as a library assistant. 

name: robin buckley

age: 24

gender: cis woman (she/her)

hometown: hawkins, indiana

current residence: hawkins, indiana

education level: high school graduate

sexuality: lesbian (has only come out to a handful of people)

positives: inquisitive, authentic, intelligent, kind, easygoing, open-minded

negatives: skeptical, hyper, anxious, sarcastic, avoidant, aimless

house: ravenclaw

alignment: chaotic neutral

pre-canon (rebel robin)

robin's wiki!

born to domesticated hippies Richard and Melissa Buckley. their former lifestyle and permissive parenting meant robin had experimental, open-minded parents who often didn't give her the attention they should have. the disappearance of will byers changed things for a bit, but they struggled to maintain anything that resembled a firm grip or a nuclear household for long, and that was perfectly fine for robin.

domesticated hippies also = poor af. savings were nonexistent when they spent their youth backpacking and staying in hostels or couch surfing. melissa's pregnancy forced the couple to settle, and they used the scraps of money they had to buy a tiny, shitty house not all that unlike or far away from the byers residence.

growing up, robin has always recognized that there was something... different about her. something off. but she was never certain on what exactly it was. when the quirks of her personality brought on some early childhood bullying, she quickly learned that whatever it was, she had to do everything she could to keep it hidden and to stay out of sight.

as she went through school, she mastered the art of social camouflage, fitting herself easily into certain social categories and being just social enough and just distinct enough to be utterly uninteresting to the regular hawkinite. the movie ticket girl. the band geek. during that time, she saw the loss of multiple different friendships for a variety of reason: her childhood friend barbra holland "dropping" her for nancy in middle school, her fellow odd squad members kate and milton dropping her because of shitty boyfriends or new girlfriends. while she later reconciled the latter relationships, the sting of rejection did nothing to help robin's growing sense of unease and the belief that something was wrong with her, that she was the broken one causing everyone to leave her.

she found solace in the adventures her parents talked about experiencing in their youth: the different people they met, the risks they took, the communities they were apart of, the annual christmas party with old hippie friends from all walks of life, impossibly pouring into hawkins and their tiny house, a colorful oasis in the middle of monstrous town. it all sparked an interest in knowing more about the world around her.

her need for camouflage kept her from exploring her curiosity in school and excelling (less she lose her average B student status by being an overachieving teacher's pet), so she instead funneled that need into exploring literature and learning languages. the books exposed her to interesting philosophical and moral dilemmas, points of views, and (later much-needed) representations of life not found in hawkins. the languages made the possibility of exploring those parts of life feel more like a possibility.

operation croissant bloomed from there: a dream to spend a summer backpacking across europe, venturing on a life like her parents did when they were younger, meeting people who are maybe like her. at her core, robin longs for acceptance and community. she wants to exist as herself, fully as herself, with people who know every aspect of her and love her for it. more than that, she wants to be around people like her, to not be the odd one out. she wants to be surrounded by a community who sees people who are different and their first reaction isn't to judge. as her feelings for tammy were realized for the crush that it was (in large part due to the insights gained from her friendship with mr. hauser) and she began to recognize why she was different, her dreams adapted to include wanting to be a pillar for change, to fight back against the Hawkins monster and to somehow make things a little bit better for the people like her who come after her.

her teenage years never saw operation croissant come to fruition, but she somehow stumbled upon a tiny community with reformed douchebags and prisses and a gaggle of children and she's never been happier (or more traumatized, but alas, a worthy trade off to her).

post-canon

following the defeat of vecna, robin continued to work at family video.

she came out to her parents not long after - their reaction was probably the best she could have hoped for from them: they accepted it in their eccentric way of theirs, regaling her with stories of other lgbtqia+ friends they've met in passing (along with uncomfortable tmi stories of their own sexual explorations from their youth). the whole thing has brought the buckley family a bit closer together, as her parents have made more of an effort to be present and invested in her life in a long-term way.

she's chosen to stay at home partially for this reason, but also because she's too broke to get her own place, and partially still resistant to the idea of investing money in roots in hawkins.

with the money she saved, advice from her parents, and a full year of planning, she finally made operation croissant a reality. she spent the first three months of this year in europe, and it was a lot. amazing and overstimulating and eye-opening and terrifying and beautiful and ugly and bustling and lonely and affirming and a lot. she was relieved to return to the warmth of her loved ones when her trip concluded, but also both comforted and left-wanting in a way she'd never experienced before.

and thus, her dilemma.

she loves her community, can't even imagine a life without her friends, or picture how she can find anyone who'd understand her the way her people do in hawkins. but the idea of being stuck in hawkins and becoming a Hawkinslifer itches at her skin in a way she can't help, can't soothe, can't stop.

she doesn't actually know what to do to solve this problem, so she doesn't really voice it (a rarity), especially now that weird shit is maybe staring up again so leaving is not even an option to consider. but in the back of her mind, operation new york has started sprouting just the tiniest of bit.

anyways, she's always been kind of aimless, unsure of what she wants to do with life since she can't picture an actual future in hawkins. but, after returning from europe at the start of april, she decided a good first step would be to do something that actually interested her for work, so she left family video to take on a job as a library assistant at the public library.

misc/headcanons

prior to working at scoops ahoy, robin worked at the hawkins theater (season 1 timeline). she was fired when she accidently melted a movie.

has maintained a good relationship with her former english teacher mr. hauser since graduation. he was the first person she came out to, and she has always valued his caring presence in her life as an older gay. his gift of a russian-version of anna karenina is the most worn book on her bookshelf (frankenstein remains her favorite though).

she's picked up a few more languages since her high school years. she's fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, Pig Latin, Russian, Portuguese, and Dutch. She's currently trying to learn ASL, but her hand coordination is fucked so it's a slow go.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Hi! I just wanted to say I love reading your posts about Byler. They’re always so well explained.

I do have thing that is making me a bit skeptical about Byler becoming canon and it’s about how many people will find out that Will and Mike are dating. When Robin came out to Steve, it was clear that she wasn’t sure how he would react and she got worried when he wasn’t responding for a good few seconds. I’m just wondering how the Duffers would deal with so many of Will and Mike’s close friends and family finding out about their relationship especially when it’s clear that we don’t really know how everyone would react to them being queer.

Joyce and Johnathan I feel would be clearly okay, but how about the rest of the gang? How do you think the show will handle it?

These are friends who are not only life-long, but fire-forged.

There's now an entire message of "forced conformity" being a detriment, perhaps the real curse that plagues Hawkins. Most, if not all, of the main characters have stepped off the main road onto a path that would be seen as different in some way. Jonathan is a loner. Will is gay. Dustin embraces being a freak and nerd. Max is something of a tomboy. Joyce is a single mother and "crazy" lady. Robin is a band geek and a lesbian. The list goes on.

These people accept each other, though, even if they don't always understand everything about each other. Steve accepted Robin not just because he came to see her as a friend, though that likely helped. He accepted her because he realizes how flawed his social schemas were. He didn't even consider Robin until Dustin knocked some sense into him. He didn't have to force himself to like Robin, though. He just started to see the things that made her different as positives. Now that he knows they can't work out romantically, they instead become things he admires in her as a friend. I also think that everything Steve has gone through has led to him reconsidering what he sees as normal or right.

I really think the series title will come into play here. The various characters will honestly see there as having been stranger things they've seen than whatever "nonconformity" each other embrace. It might catch some people off guard, though maybe not as much as we might think, but, at the end of the day, these people have been through hell together. After everything, do you really think they'd abandon Mike and Will just because they started to date?

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

How could anyone not like these two?

[noretreatnancy]

i’ve been reading through your nancy posts, and i absolutely love your characterization of her. i had this sort of half-baked idea floating around in my head so i’m going to try my best to articulate it here. do you think some part of nancy saw robin as steve’s barb? at least, initially? the parallels are there, even if nancy didn’t know them herself. band geeks, outcasts, lesbians, could easily be typecast as the “best friend”. not that nancy was aware of any of that. but i feel like nancy could have easily watched robin and steve grow closer while she drifted socially, using the newspaper as her anchor and allowing people to talk to her, but never get close. i’m ignoring the first time nancy and robin met, as i think the circumstances well excused nancy’s otherwise rude tone of voice. but when they met again, i wonder if a part of nancy felt worse knowing that steve and robin weren’t a couple. in nancy’s mind, steve had found himself a barb. only this barb was a hell of a lot more talkative, and also alive. privy to the upside down and on good terms with all of mike’s friends.

and i think the thing about nancy only ever having barb as a, well, barb, in her life made things more complicated. she’s bound to see any friend that gets close to her as a parallel to barb, and it stops her from ever getting that close to friends. steve found a best friend, a someone to have his back no matter what. and maybe a part of nancy is jealous because that’s not her, but mostly it’s because she lost that. she’s been chasing that closeness and relationship ever since she lost barb, and to watch steve have that probably hurts. not that steve doesn’t deserve a relationship like that ofc, but nancy definitely didn’t deserve to lose hers. i feel like the point has definitely gotten away from me, but. nancy has been yearning for a barb for years, while simultaneously ripping any hope that she could have that to shreds. she let herself have boyfriends, and maybe a part of her thought that having a boyfriend was different from having a best friend. maybe there was some fear of betraying barb by replacing her? idek. but nancy sees steve moving on, sees him growing and being able to have emotionally stable and intimate relationships with people who aren’t his girlfriend. and nancy wants that kind of growth, that ability to move on and act like she’s okay again. because really, when it comes down to it, nancy hasn’t been properly okay since barb died, and it’s so easy to see that in the way that she distances herself from everyone

that is kinda a lot of words and half nonsense! i hope it makes some semblance of sense. i can’t dream of having such clear and concise characterization like you do, but i do love thinking about nancy and coming up with all of these what if/maybe/i think tangents

I think you’re absolutely spot on! I agree with everything you’re saying, especially about Nancy longing for that friendship. I’d even take it a step further with her seeing Robin as a “Barb” (this is about to be some total speculation/head cannon stuff that I can’t really back up except to say it makes sense to me lol). I think the reason Nancy is so wary of Robin in he beginning is because she DOES see her as similar to Barb, kind of awkward nerd pulled into their crazy world on accident. I think Nancy resented Steve for bringing someone else into it, and risking someone else’s life. 100% i believe that Nancy blames herself for Steve’s involvement in everything, and so indirectly she is now responsible for ANOTHER life being in danger. I think the difference between Nancy and Steve is that Steve never really considered the consequences of involving Robin in everything the way I think Nancy would have. The reason Nancy doesn’t have close friends outside of those in the know (Jonathan) is because shes very much aware of the danger she would place someone in if they learned about/got involved in the things she does. So to her, Robin was just one more person on the line that she had to feel responsible for. BUT in season 4, she actually gets to know Robin, and see that’s she much more capable that she maybe gave her credit for, and Nancy comes to understand what an asset Robin is to the group. I think Robin is just the first person other than Jonathan (and Steve but they don’t really spend much time together it seems) that Nancy can kind of relax and let go around and trust with her secrets/plans/rely on to help take some of the burden off her shoulders

[mytragedyperson]

I feel like most of the characters in stranger things are badass losers and smart dumbasses. Like they're all smart or intelligent in their own ways and bring different perspectives. They're also all badasses. However they can be so dumb and oblivious at times. And they're all losers on their own ways. And I love them for it. Like the party are kids and there's a certain dumbness that all kids have, regardless of how intelligent they are. And obviously they're all nerdy or outcasts in some way, and yet they don't back down or hide away from danger and they always seem ready to throw hands at any given moment.

Then you get the teens. You have Nancy, the badass good girl. She only really seemed to have Barb as a friend at school and was somewhat of a goody two shoes (this isn't a criticism, none of what I say in this post is meant negatively). You have Steve, the former King of the school and bully who is actually really awkward and a loser in hos own right. You have Jonathan, the bullied outcast from a family with a single mother who is also a stoner in S4. You have Robin, a lesbian in a time when homophobia was worse than it is now, and a band geek. Eddie Munson, basically the town's scapegoat for when bad things happen, basically the town's biggest outcast. His entire personality and style and hobbies seems to go against everything the town stands for and yet he's actually a really good guy and sweet in his own way. And there's argyle, the stoner and the guy that's now new to Hawkins, an outsider of the town. All of them have their own things that make them an outcast but again, they all go along with the chaos. And the thing is all of them were somewhat dragged into this whole mess. None of them necessarily wanted to get wrapped up in it. Sure, Nancy and Jonathan wanted to save their loved ones but they had no clues of what was actually going on and everyone else got dragged along too. And yes they are all intelligent in their own ways, they all notice different details and have different knowledge and, it's only when all these things are brought together that they can do anything. And yet, they all suck at communication. Their inability to communicate their feelings is actually the source of most of their problems. Like the upside down is a physical and mental threat, but their lack of communication and inability to communicate their feelings also provide obstacles. I also think it's interesting that the one time they lost to Vecna, lost to the upside down, was the one time they were all physically separate, with some of them in Hawkins, some in the upside down, some coming from Cali to Hawkins, and some of them in Russia. They also weren't able to communicate as effectively to make a plan. Sure the Hawkins people could come up with a plan, but that was about it. They couldn't communicate with the Cali crew or the Russia crew and once they were in the upside down and separated there, everything went wrong. In this season there was no big moment where all the characters come together to make a plan or share the information or are all in the same physical location to fight the big bad together. That, to me, a huge part of why they lost. But now they are all in Hawkins. Now they can share their information, go over everything they know, come up with some sort of plan. It takes all their knowledge, all their individual skills, all their individual abilities, for them to defeat Vecna, to win against the upside down. They can all fight together. That's how they win. It's not just El or just Will or just one character that's going to defeat Vecna. It's going to be a team effort from all of them that allows them to win, or at the very least gives them a fighting chance. And it's going to be friendship, not romantic love or one singular person, that allows them to win. Because they have something that Vecna doesn't. Vecna may be strong, and powerful, and smart in his own right, but there's no one who truly loves him enough to help him and, eventually, no matter how powerful, or strong, or smart you are, if youre outnumbered you'll fall. He may have the hive mind but if they take out Vecna, the hive mind dies too. Also yes I would argue Hopper, and Murray, and Joyce apply to this badass loser and intelligent dumbass thing too.

Also hope I don't have to clarify this but yes, the part of them all being intelligent does include Argyle, Steve and Eddie. They may not be as intelligent or knowledgeable of certain things as the others but they're all intelligent in their own ways and contribute to gaining more knowledge about their situation in their own ways. And yes I do still think Eddie and argyle are badasses. So they freak out a little. So did the other characters when they were first introduces to the upside down situation.

[pcrfectstorms]

okay so i was bored this morning and for funsies decided to do my hc’s for the ST kids for their gender, sexuality & ✨ struggles ✨ fyi - this was only for fun, no character hate intended, you don’t have to agree they’re just my silly hc’s but almost everyone’s a lil fruity and ND in my mind lmao

steve - bisexual / cis / he & him / adhd & ptsd bonus struggle: himbo & confused 99% of the time

jonathan - gay / nonbinary / he & they / ASD & depression/anxiety bonus struggle: emo kid

robin - lesbian / dgaf / any pronouns / ASD & ADHD bonus struggle: band geek & gay but can’t talk to women

nancy - bisexual / cis / she & her / a touch of the tism bonus struggle: emotionally constipated & a virgo

eddie - queer / dgaf kinda cis but gender nonconforming / he & him but doesn’t care / ADHD & ptsd & a touch of the tism bonus struggle: wanted for murder

billy - queer / cis / he & him / cptsd & anger management issues bonus struggle : steve harringtons existence & daddy issues

will - gay / cis / he & him / ASD & ptsd bonus struggle: bowl cut & emo

mike - pan / trans masc / he & him / ASD bonus struggle: emotionally constipated, Aries man (derogatory)

lucas - ally / cis / he & him / ptsd bonus struggle: wannabe jock & never getting his movie date wi max

dustin - ally / cis / he & him / ADHD bonus struggle: cringy couples karaoke & no bones

max - pan / nonbinary / she & they / ptsd & anxiety bonus struggle: stuck in vecna’s brain

jane - pan / cis / doesn’t care / ASD, cptsd & Stockholm syndrome with papa in early years bonus struggle: dating mike & addicted to eggos

[mousemarner]

Hey how do you feel about Robin's arc w not-Molly-Ringwald? I enjoy your takes & have seen literally 0 posts about what Robin actually did on the show this season

Not-Molly-Ringwald fjtnfkfkdk I have to assume you’re talking about Vickie. Incredible.

So basically I really love Robin she was one of my fave parts of s3 and is one of my favorite characters, and I did overall really enjoy her this season as well. That said, I feel like they wrote her character slightly to the side of who she was last season and it was a little frustrating. She felt a lot smarter and more competent last season, to me, and this season they made her a lot more babbley and bumbling and klutzy. I don’t really know Why they would do that other than just like, leaning into the “””useless lesbian””” thing which is sincerely my least favorite concept and we need to retire it already.

Anyway I think this characterization would have been totally fine and worked if we ONLY saw it when she was around Vickie! We’ve never seen Robin interacting with a girl she has a crush on, and I could totally see her being a bit more tongue tied and goofy in that setting. It’s just that it was like ALL of the time this season which didn’t feel authentic to who we saw last season. I would have liked her and Nancy to have had some snarkier moments! I would have liked for her to be the brains of the operation like last year! They really kind of dumbed her down to comic relief this season which I found a bit disappointing.

All of that said I did still really enjoy her friendship with Steve and her working with the kids, I wish we’d got even more Family Video content because those scenes were very fun and charming. And I liked her arc with Vickie I LOVED that her crush was another band geek and not like The Unattainable Popular Pretty Girl that always seems to be the love interest in lesbian media. I thought their last scene together in the finale was REALLY really sweet and I hope we see more of Vickie in season 5.