#nick nelson you absolute sweetheart

[my-stars-shine-bright]

Nick Nelson claiming he didn't have enough time to buy Charlie a birthday gift but spending god knows how much time getting a photo printed, finding a frame, spending time picking stickers out, probably questioning his placement of said stickers and wrapping his homemade present is the most adorable thing ever!

[flying-elliska]

Why Nick Nelson in Heartstopper is groundbreaking bisexual representation :

I'm sure most of this has been said by now but I was in the mood for fluff so I did a re-watch and like, bi rep is A BIG THING i want to talk about on this blog so I felt I had to lift this draft out of my graveyard of unfinished meta essays and finally finish it :

Very basic but a male bi character who explicitly calls himself bi and not as a stepping stone to another label ? Still unfortunately too rare

It's an old cliché but for a very long time, bisexual characters were presented as manipulative, mentally unstable, unreliable, two faced, flaky, cagey, hiding something, etc ; often con-artists, addicts, liars, cheaters, if not outright psychopaths. Even the positive characters tend to have a ton of secrets, chameleon abilities, hidden pasts, etc. Nick Nelson, meanwhile, is a human golden retriever. Yes he's a bit confused and he makes mistakes, but it's never not obvious that he's a sweetheart who means well and is trying his best to be a good person. He's so protective and gentle towards Charlie, and you can tell that once he figures his shit out he's going to be a dream boyfriend. Also he's kind of basic and a bit of a dumbass at times ? In the most positive, endearing way possible. He's honest and straightforward and reliable, he's not crafty or tricky or slick, and that's just great.

At it's core it's a story about the butterflies in your stomach feeling of first love, a cute and endearing romance - not a genre you often see bi characters in, who used to be confined to stories about raunchy sexual experimentation, threesomes, etc (As a bi teen it's all I got and honestly it contributed to me not taking my own sexuality seriously for so long) Here there's none of that shock/scandal factor - Nick gets to be a little romantic hero that stands in the rain getting drenched because he is so overcome with feelings, like he's replaying Pride and Prejudice. It's adorable and it's humanizing, like good romance is, flaws seen with empathy, characters allowed to be vulnerable and complex and not some spicy episode of the week.

It's not prudish either like the chemistry between the actors is super believable and also - it's so obvious that they are absolutely delighted to be in each other's presence !!! And honestly more romances, queer or straight, should be like this. Like it should be obvious that the characters are just this absolutely giddy at seeing each other and being close - and that's too rare.

Linked to this, having a bi character in a story aimed at younger teen audiences, that is sweet and non explicit - ofc we still need portrayals of queer sexuality, but unfortunately that's all bi people used to get for the longest time, as something considered intrinsically 'more adult' - and that's bullshit ! there are bi kids who need stories like this !!!! And being bi is about love just as much !!! I'm so glad this show exists !!!! Showing that it's okay to take your time with these things and that even holding hands can be a big deal and that's wonderful !

Also related to this - a lot of the more positive bi representation tends to also sort of become this cliché where they're all these flirty, confident, seductive super badasses, often adventurers or superheroes. (Ok I like those characters and the idea that being bi automatically makes you cool tbh). But it's a lot of pressure. Normal regular boring bis also need representation. Nick's not boring, he's a little star athlete, he's probably the coolest character in the show lmao but he's still a regular kid and that's nice.

Which little baby bi hasn't had those feelings about Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom in PotC, huh ? Most relatable moment of the show for me lmfao brilliant - that sense of overwhelming 'oh no they're all hot' is bi culture!!!!! yes!!!

His process of figuring out his sexuality is taken seriously !!!! Man this made me cry a little because - yeah, again, most bi characters nowadays, even when they're good rep, they generally have everything figured out because their sexuality is seen as them being more liberated and enlightened and honestly I think that's kind of problematic, even if well meaning ? It trivializes the particular struggles of being bi, like it's just 'gay-lite' and they end up being mentors of gay characters and side characters whose individual stories are easier, more simple/less interesting and honestly I feel like in reality that's anything but true. Nick gets an episode to confirm that yes, he's still into girls and his feelings for girls earlier are not erased by his attraction to Charlie. Bisexual identity doesn't change or disappear depending on who you are with.

that part with the youtuber explaining that bisexuality at first is often an experience of constantly second guessing yourself !! yeah !! that was so real ! I was in that phase for such a long time, and seeing Nick attain a stage of certainty rather quickly was so nice to see - important also to see that his mother has a sort of reflex to tell him he 'doesn't have to say he's into girls' because bisexuality is generally conceptualized as a stepping stone and he explicitly corrects her. It's a big deal ! And that's important because I feel a lot of bi people feel less valid than gay people and that they have to minimize their own experiences/not make a fuss so as not to appropriate/take attention away from 'real queerness' or something. And that has real consequences in terms of self-image and mental health and community support. So yeah, the narrative giving it weight and time is really groundbreaking. It's just treated with such nuance and respect. It's wonderful.

Honestly in general it's very common for bi people to figure out their sexuality at a later age than their gay peers, because having crushes on the opposite gender means you are less likely to question yourself. Nick needing time to figure things out isn't presented as a bad thing, it's Charlie's specific history of being hurt by this before that makes the situation difficult for him. And the fact that it ties into him also realizing he was just going with the flow not really being true to himself - questioning your sexuality can also have a ricochet effect on how you stand in the world and - yeah I just thought the whole thing was so realistic and true to lived experience.

The reason Nick agrees to go on a date with a girl is not because he's two-timing Charlie but simply because he cares too much about her feelings to let her down in front of everyone or because her dog died (and he brings his dog to console her when he goes to let her down !). His main character flaw is that, by virtue of being a popular, athletic jock, he's oblivious to the shittiness of his friends - you get the feeling that he's a sunny, happy guy used to breezing through life, who probably prefers to get along with everyone, and that might have insulated him from certain realities, but he's still a very caring person. And he tells the truth to Charlie and makes it right pretty quickly. It's a very good send off of the trope of the untrustworthy bisexual who was secretly dating a girl the whole time. Meanwhile Ben, one of the bad guys of the story, who was dating a girl and treating Charlie like shit because he hates himself, and could be a bad bi cliché, isn't given a label, which I think was a smart writing choice.

It's just great queer rep in general because it centers queer joy so powerfully, it's sweet without being saccharine - difficult topics are talked about with nuance, it doesn't hide or minimize real hurt and prejudice, but it gives more time and importance to its characters being happy and giddy and in love and having fun, which makes it feel so safe and soothing to watch. Elle's story is another example of this - her specific experiences as a trans girl who recently changed schools are central to her story, but she also gets to be a regular teen girl who has a complicated crush on her best friend and stresses out about making friends at her new school and gets milkshakes and arcade games with her squad. It's great.

And yeah this general celebration of queer friendship and mutual support is super important to a good bisexual representation too - Nick's amazement and relief at seeing Tara and Darcy kissing publicly - like !!! which closeted baby queer hasn't felt that exhilarating sense of possibility and belonging and yearning and awe at seeing other people being gay and in love in public ! That was so wholesome and beautiful - and him being so eager to talk to them afterwards, adorable. Because being openly yourself often has that sort of domino effect on others. Seeing other people doing it, makes it become real for you, too. I think this is also especially important for bi people, because they tend to be more alienated from the queer community as a whole.

So yeah so much love for this show - I've followed the comics for a long time and they are also wonderful, but the show added its own brand of charm and heart, and I'm so happy it exists. It makes me a bit sad too, nostalgic for an experience I never had, because my own experiences were so different, the reality I grew up in as a bi teen was so much meaner and more bigoted and violent and vulgar and lonely, but even if this show is probably not the reality for a lot of baby bis still, it gives me hope we are moving in the right direction. <3