#lucas on the line

[mimymomo]

In ‘Lucas on the Line,’ Lucas Sinclair experienced countless bouts of racism and micro aggressions including but not limited to:

Had children run away from him and refuse to touch him because they thought his Black skin color would rub off on them. This happened IN THE THIRD GRADE! And he never told his parents about it!

Calmed his anxiety about being the only Black kid in his homeroom class by coming to the realization that since there was no other Black kids that meant he most likely wouldn’t be bombed

Had to install a camera in his locker because his property got defaced by a glitter bomb

Lost his first and only black friend/mentor who supported him thanks to an ACTUAL MAKESHIFT BOMB being installed in his locker that caused a janitor to go to the hospital for 1st/2nd degree burns (and the white boy who did it barely got punished)

Got teased that the only reason he got on the basketball team was because he was Black

Comes to the realization that he might’ve actually only gotten in the team because the coach has a history of recruiting Black boys for the team regardless of their skill level

Gets called an Oreo (for uneducated: white on the inside, black on the outside) by racist bullies. Erica (who apparently has also been called this) sticks up for him and is the only one who understands what the insult means which means Mike and Dustin don’t know/understand the lengths of how deep the racism Lucas experiences in Hawkins on a daily bases

And these aren’t even all of them! These are just examples I had from the top of my head!

And despite all this happening in the book, “fans” have STILL FOUND A WAY to turn this book about Lucas and his struggles as a Black boy in a mostly white suburban town and his deteriorating relationship with Max and make it about Byler!

The fact that Lucas, one of the only characters of color on this show, can’t have ANYTHING to himself without people using him to push their ships is so aggravating!

He and Erica constantly get shit talked and miss characterized by fans, get excluded/cut out of group shots, and barely get any fanart/fics about them and their struggles compared to the white characters (I could make a whole new post about the terrible way this fandom treats Erica but I won’t do that here). Hell don’t forget that the fandom constantly tries to dispute the racism Lucas received in S2 from Billy was either not really racism, just a moment that Duffer Bros. put in to “ruin” Billy’s character and ultimately can be tossed out and ignored.

The only time I ever see Lucas get any large amount of attention is either due to 1) Lumax (but let’s be honest: 90% of the lumax tag on here isn’t even about them and has now become Elumax 2.0 and most post are people praising ElMax and then being like “oh Lucas/lumax is cute too” in the tags and that’s it). 2) people creating “parallels” of Lumax to their ship of choice (mostly Byler and Mileven) as a way to say that their ship is gonna be canon or 3) to say that he’s bisexual.

And all that is fine and whatever, ship and headcanon things to your hearts content, but if you only care about Lucas if he’s helping push you ship narrative or because you think he’s gay (to the point where some people actually read snippets of the book that talked about Lucas coming to the realization that Black boys like him can be considered attractive and only acknowledge the “queer” reading of the text and completely ignored the big race element that was the main focus), I’m sorry but, that’s not cool. The fact that 95% of the Lucas Sinclair tag isn’t about Lucas himself but white characters like Steve, Eddie, Byler says everything about how the fandom treats him.

I’m just so tired.

Lucas Sinclair deserves the same respect that the white characters get!

I leave you one of my favorite sections of the entire book: Lucas learning to become unabashedly himself:

Rant over.

Edit: in my blind rage I realized I forgot to edit out the Twitter handle. That’s completely my fault. Please don’t hate that Twitter user. I’m just coming back to fix that.

[linseymorris]

— Lucas on the Line by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

[daybreaklynx]

i just wanted to draw something from lucas on the line book, and i chose one of my favorite snippets. be yourself lucas sinclair✅

I hope more people will read this amazing book

art style is inspired by my amazing friend fira

this is a screenshot from the book taken from @mimymomo

EDIT: thank you all for the love for this piece I wasn't expecting it aaa🥹🥹❤️I wish I could responds to all the reblogs... they mean everything!!

I'm gonna selflessly promo saying that I turned it into a little print hehe

EDIT N2: I've drawn other pages from the book, if anyone wanna be sad.

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about "I will sit with her in silence. Right until the very end"

And how he did. He practiced silence for her. And then she said "Hi" :)

He practiced silence for her but she wanted to talk to him <3

[lucascsinclairs]

Lumax Quotes in “Lucas on the Line” by Suyi Davies

“I didn’t push, though. She asked for space, and I’ve got to respect that. But I would be lying if I said a huge part of me didn’t want to go right back and try again and again until she’d talk to me. The truth is: I miss her. But I promised myself that I’d give her the time to work through all the stuff happening in her life, and when she was ready she’d come to me. Not like that would stop me from thinking about her, though.”

[crazy-together-cambria]

It really does make me mad that every kid was nominated for that award except Caleb. I mean even Joesph? Like they all did an amazing job, but that includes Caleb. His performance made me feel the most and this is just horrible.

[lamestteenagegirlever]

“this part of lucas’s book where he talks about how he thinks this other guy on the team is attractive indicates hes bisexu-“ GUNSHOTS

is he bi? i think so, yes, BUT, hes talking about the first black kid he saw in high school and how he had a different idea of what attractive people looked like compared to his friends. he then literally says “especially for someone that looks like me.” its not him being bi in that snippet. its about seeing that people that look like him can be attractive, too. im not saying to stop making everyone queer, but what i AM saying is to stop only looking at lucas and other POC characters from the lense of a white queer.

sincerely, a queer latina<3

[sarhcameron]

lucas on the line is about lucas trying to find out who he is as a black kid and dealing with his relationship with max. it's not about byler or mileven or any other ship/character, so can you guys focus on him for once and stop making it about someone else?

[byclairs]

i feel violently ill

[cepheus3]

sure byler may be advancing with the new book, whatever, but please don’t forget to appreciate how it’s about Lucas, about his life, his journey, HIS experiences— and that should be the main focus because he deserves to be the center of his story. Lucas Sinclair deserves his story to be viewed as his.

[bodegacat-withboots]

It’s annoying that so much of Lucas Sinclair has to be tucked away in a book and not showed on the main show. Lucas on the line is heartbreaking from start to finish and the saddest part is that it’s true and has been a reality for so many people.

The insight on his character made him, to me, the best character on the party. To be met with such harsh circumstances, to live in fear and feeling alone and still have such a pure heart and bravery.

From looking for his missing friend with frustration from the reality that has been set upon himself— having to grow up before all his friends, seeing the cruelty of people. To seeing his girlfriend, the only person he felt found with flatline in front of him. Lucas deserves the world and he deserves to be praised and understood for every step he has taken along the way.

[queerxqueen]

Lucas on the Line is so excellent and delves into literally every problem I’ve had with the show’s treatment of Lucas. It’s so essential to his character that I’m actually livid it got sidelined to a tie-in novel most won’t read when it should have been in the show in the first place.

[iiruwu]

lumax nation how are we feeling............... i think imgonna throw up

[paladinsbrainrot]

"I also wonder if Max is doing okay- if her trailer home has thick enough insulation to withstand the growing cold. But it's less wonder and more just wishing she was here with me. I hum Kate Bush silently, thinking about the last time she let me hold her hand."

this is it. my favourite line from the book. AUGHHHH

[gayofthefae]

Lucas Sinclair was 14 years old when he said that he would follow Max to California. When he said that the day she planned to leave he wished she'd asked him to come but was happy to just walk her to the bus stop. When he told her offscreen in episode 4 as her eyes were rolled back that he would follow her to California if she wanted him to.

Lucas Sinclair was 14 when he said that he would leave his family behind and move across the country alone with her if she just asked him to instead of having her leave him behind.

She is his person. He is so in love. She is his guiding light, his North star. Her laugh sounds like the birds from Cinderella. He missed it. What the fuck.

[qprstobin]

I'm about a third of the way thru the Lucas book right now and !!! There's so many things I love about it already, here's some fun and/or things from what I've read so far:

Lucas, just <3 I just love Lucas a lot and it's so nice reading something focused on him it's so hard to find in even fandom sometimes

Steve helped Dustin with his hair for the first day of school

Dustin apparently can't keep his mouth shut and has said multiple times to Lucas what the hair care secrets were woejek

Lucas looovveess martial arts movies, which is so fitting imo

Lucas's Peer mentor telling him that it's okay to be a nerd and a jock the first day he met him, and that high school rules were all made up and stupid

(makes me pissier at eddie NGL but also Dustin and Mike don't help lol)

Robin as Lucas's confidante!

Steve apparently being aggressive on the basketball court

(this book does not paint Steve and Lucas as close at anyway at all which makes me sad but considering the tone of the book and the story the writer is penning... I get why he does not portray that relationship that way)

Lucas finds basketball genuinely fun! He compares the rush of practice to the same feeling he gets while playing DND!

Lucas was concerned about not only betraying his friends, but was hoping if he made varsity and got off the bench his status could help protect them from bullying just like him being friends with the basketball team before actually making it on the team protected him from an early point in the year

They serve food and you can play board games at the family video???? (It seems to be to fill a void that starcourt left but I'm still ??? This is so interesting to me)