#metal billy upsetting the fandom b/c he likes the ‘wrong’ metal

[stranger-rants]

Anyway… gender non-conforming teenage Billy discovering metal for the first time, seeing men in makeup with long hair and feminine clothes. Metal being a “safe(r)” way for him to express himself than outright saying he doesn’t want “to be a man” 100% of the time. He can deal with Neil thinking he’s a degenerate brat, but he won’t survive if Neil knows for a fact that he’s queer. So, he dresses himself up like his heroes and plays the part well. Girls flock to him because he breaks the mold and Billy likes girls in the way that he wants to be like them. Pretty. Dolled up with perfume. He envies video vixens and fantasizes about bassists. Metal allows him to walk the line between the safe and expected (masculinity) and unexpected and dangerous (femininity) he would love to embrace more.