i love mutual pining to lovers because it gives some of the vibes of a love triangle without the needless drama. alternatively itâs like a love triangle except the third person is just mutual stupidity.
A little ficlet about 80s gay culture for @strangerthingsfemslashweek, only slightly late!
Content note for a little bit of internalized homophobia/biphobia--nothing super explicit, more anxiety on both Robin and Nancy's part
The first time it happens, Robin bounds up the stairs onto Nancyâs floor and hears the unmistakable strains of Patti Smith. Itâs loud enough that she can hear the lyrics distinctlyâOh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine, Patti drawls. Well, Robin thinks, one of Nancyâs neighbors has good taste.
As she gets closer to the end of the hall, she realizes the music is coming from Nancyâs apartment. Only it canât be Nancy, because Nancyâs never expressed anything but the vaguest interest any of the, oh, roughly six million times Robinâs gushed about how cool Patti Smith is. And I got this crazy feeling, Patti croons, that Iâm gonna ah-ah make her mine.
When Robin knocks on the door, the music cuts off sharply, and she could swear she hears something crash over inside. A moment later, Nancy comes to the door looking flustered.
âYouâre early,â she says irritably.
Robin shrugs and pushes her way into Nancyâs apartment. âThey let me out for good behavior.â
On the kitchen table, she can see the cassette case for Horses, fresh out of its cellophane wrapping. Several more tapes are spilling out of a Rose Records bagâJoan Armatrading, Tracy Chapman . . . if her eyes donât deceive her, the Indigo Girls.
âThey got you doing music reviews now?â Robin asks, leaving aside the fact that none of these albums are recent enough to be news, at this point.
Nancyâs cheeks are a wild pink, and she wonât meet Robinâs eye. âJust . . . trying something different.â
It doesnât escape her notice that these are all albums Robin has talked Nancyâs ear off at one point or another in the past few years. Theyâre all albums she could have easily borrowed from Robin, if sheâd wanted to. But she didnât. So Robin props a grin on her face and says, âOK. Want to order a pizza?â
*
The second time it happens, Robin turns a corner in Women & Children First to find Nancy studying the back cover of Rubyfruit Jungle with such intensity that she doesnât even look up when Robin almost runs into her.
âHey, Nance,â Robin says softly, and Nancy jerks, dropping to book and then almost bashing her head on the shelf when she bends to pick it up.
âHi,â Nancy says, fingers flexing around the spine of the paperback. âRobin. Hello.â
Robin canât help grinning. âHowdy.â She gives Nancy a little wiggle of her fingers for good measure. âSorry I scared you.â
âItâs notâyou didnâtââ Nancy is blushing again. It looks good on her, Robin thinks hopelessly. âItâs fine.â
âI hereby offer you a free pass to scare the living daylights out of me at some undisclosed future moment.â She mimes handing over an invisible coupon, and Nancy, apparently too startled to resist her nonsense, pretends to take it, staring down at her empty hand with a bemused half smile.
Thereâs a knock on the window, and Robin sees her date standing on the sidewalk outside. âOh, shit, sorry,â she says. âIâm meetingâsomeone. Gotta go!â
As she dashes out of the shop, she doesnât think too hard about why she didnât tell Nancy she was going on a date. She just didnât want to make Nancy uncomfortable, thatâs all.
And later, after her date is long gone, she doesnât stay up into the early hours of the morning, wondering what it means that Nancy is checking out the lesbian fiction section of Robinâs favorite bookstore.
*
The third time it happens, theyâre in Robinâs living room, deciding what movie to watch. Nancy is leaning over the bookshelf where Steve and Robinâs video collection lives, pulling out tapes apparently at random.
âWhat about this?â Nancy asks, holding out the sky blue box for Desert Hearts.
âUh,â Robin says, and this time sheâs the one whoâs blushing, the heat rushing all the way down to her collar bones. âIâm not sure youâre ready for that one.â
âWhy not?â
The truth is, Robinâs half afraid Nancy would notice how worn the tapeâs gotten, that sheâd realize how many times Robinâs watched it over and over. Maybe sheâs a little afraid, too, of sharing something that has meant so much to her, only to find it doesnât mean the same things to Nancy.
âThatâs all right,â Nancy says, slipping the box back on the shelf. âIâve already seen it.â
âYouâwhat? Really?â
Nancy nods, her eyes back on the shelf, half turned away from Robin so that all Robin can see is her delicate profile behind a haze of curls.
âButâwhy?â Robin blurts out, before she can think better of it.
That gets Nancy to look at her. âMaybe I just wanted to try something different,â she says, and this time itâs not the self-conscious excuse it was in her kitchen. The words are almost defiant, almost a dare, and Robin really doesnât want to be reading too much into this, but she has to know.
âIs that all it is? Just . . . curiosity?â
âNot . . . just.â Nancy comes over and sits next to Robin on the couchânot at the other end of the couch, like she usually does, but right next to Robin, so that their knees bump when she settles down. âYou say that like itâs something trivial, to be curious.â
âFor some people it is,â Robin says carefully. âAnd itâs OK, if thatâs all it is, I just . . . donât think I can help you with that.â
Nancy puts a tentative hand on Robinâs, her eyes so clear and blue this close up. âAnd if itâs not?â
Robin realizes sheâs been holding her breath, and the remedy stings her lungs, almost makes her dizzy. âWell,â she says, âI guess we could find out together.â
the fact that jk rowling spends quite literally all of her time sitting on twitter concocting fantasies about evil trans women coming to burn her at the stake and actively supporting and promoting fascism. and still has so much public support and so much financial backing and so much cultural influence⊠we have 8 movies a shitty play like 500 video games merch theme parks and now weâre getting a âdecade longâ tv show⊠arenât you tired. iâm so tired. who cares about harry fucking potter itâs 2023 go read or watch or play literally anything else
the fact that when the game was coming out there were people who i know in real life, who i always considered to be sincere in their alliance to trans people and always were considerate of pronouns and shit, who were saying âlol fuck jk rowling but i wanna play the gameâ and not even considering for a second that that made them a bad ally. because of course they qualified it with âfuck jk rowlingâ which is all that matters. you can say fuck jk rowling all you like that means NOTHING. literally nothing. bro just stop vocally aligning yourself with trans people if youâre gonna behave like that. and you KNOW the same thing is gonna happen with this show, and probably on a larger scale, because tv is more accessible and more intergenerational than gaming.
love the barbie (2023) character descriptions coz it's like: this barbie is a doctor!! âšđ this barbie is a MERMAID đđ§ââïž that's just some dude... well anyways OMG THIS BARBIE HAS A NOBEL PRIZE??!!? đđ and yea this is *looks at smudged writing on my hand* Ben?
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