Old fics can still be fun, so to keep the fandom ecosystem alive, I’m promoting one of my own today. This week’s self-promote saturday fic is: The Queer Lives of the Party (112k)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Jonathan turns into a famous photographer, however he took more photos during the late 80s and early 90s. Photos of his family. These photos featured queerness at their center and could not be published.
Now, some years in the future these stories can be told, so he publishes them in a book with the writing of Nancy.
This series contains said book as well as modern day expansions of the universe after publishing it.
This is probably one of the works that I've written that I'm the most proud of. I especially love writing about queerness and this was kind of a love letter to queer people through the party. I tried to incorporate all sorts of hardships, but also the hope and the joy that was in the domestic moments. I love looking at pictures of queer people just living their lives both from now, but also from the past, so this is inspired by that.
It's an extended universe of non-traditional story fics. I've got the book, letters, interviews, YouTube videos, social media, and museum exhibits.
And it was just so fun to built these lives for all the characters, from the moment canon ends until the mid 90s, how each of them react to the aftermath of the Upside Down and move on and slowly move away from Hawkins, how they come to relate at to each other, the relationships they get into and the careers they work towards. Jonathan naturally goes into photography and Nancy into journalism, but having Eddie be a musician, Will an artist, Dustin a scientist, Max an activist, Erica into politics etc., was really enjoyable.
And then I left them up with hopes and aspirations, things they achieved, which I got to pick up in the late 2010s. See how they were dealing now that they shared that life they lived then with the world (even if they censored the Upside Down). How they've settled into middle age, have nice domestic lives. It's just so thoroughly enjoyable and joyous to have those futures.
I would certainly recommend you check it out, because it's truly a great work (if I may brag a little xp) <333
Jargancy getting a house together with too many bedrooms, like fanon steve level of bedroom having, even though they all pile into their king bed every night. they just love having guests.
Jonathan insisted there always be a room for will or for Joyce and Hop. Nancy wants mike and the other kids to be able to all stay over comfortably, so the girls can have a room and the boys can have a couple rooms. Argyle is just obsessed with house parties that go way too late so that everyone needs somewhere to crash cuz he loves cooking for everybody
I want the jargancy home to be the new harrington house as the catch all everyone hangs out here house
Jonathan returns to his YouTube channel for the last time to talk about the portraits at the end of the book.
On AO3.
Ships: jargancy, jopper, steddie, Robin x OC, byler, elumax, Dustin x Suzie
Warnings: homophobia mention, racism mention
~~~~
“Hi, I’m Jonathan Byers, the main photographer and editor of A Collection of Queer Photography and I apologize that it has been this long,” Jonathan starts out the video looking a little embarrassed and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Continuing he says: “I had a lot of plans for this – pages I wanted to discuss, guests I wanted to have – but I got swept up in other projects, so I have kind of lost steam for this project, but I wanted to have some semblance of an ending, so today we’re looking at the modern day portraits of everyone at the end of the book, which had always been my intention to end with.”
He grabs the book and starts flipping from the back as he explains: “The whole point of this book was to show the little snippets and snapshots, but these final few pages are showing us now and they’re portraits, which means they are more deliberate, which makes them interesting to explore in contrast to the other ones.”
Jonathan looks back up, having found the page, and says: “Not to discredit them, I’ve done a lot of portraits and being deliberate isn’t a bad thing, I just like casual photos more.”
“You might be asking yourself, but Jonathan, if you like those better, why didn’t you include a snapshot of everyone now at the end?” he goes on. “And that is because I wanted to end on that deliberate note. I wanted everyone to think about what they found important about themselves now and they people they grew up to be and allow them to highlight that.”
“And, of course, a lot of the snapshot include the kids, who were are not putting in a spotlight, because most of them are too young to comprehend what they’re agreeing to,” Jonathan adds.
Then he turns back to the book and says: “The first portrait is of my parents and is called Jim & Joyce Hopper-Byers. I put them first, because I kind of organized them on age and affiliation, if you want to call it that. Like we’re a family, but they are groups. Kind of. It just happens.”
On screen Jim & Joyce Hopper-Byers appears. It’s of an elderly Hopper and Joyce. Hopper is now entirely bald and Joyce’s hair is completely gray and thinning, wrinkles and sun spots cover both of them. The two are standing on the porch of their home, Hopper holding Joyce around her waist and Joyce leans against him. The two smiling contently and looking at peace.
“My parents really wanted theirs to be outside of their home,” Jonathan says. “And I am really happy that it looks as peaceful as going there is. Because that’s the most important thing about them I wanted to capture.”
“Neither of them had a great start – which I won’t go into that much – and they didn’t find each other until later in life,” Jonathan tells the camera. “Getting to photograph a peaceful retirement for them is really special to me.”
“I also like the homey feel of the place, since it has been such a haven for all of us and it still is for many local queer kids today. It’s not only an important aspect of this book, but of them and it fit with the themes.”
“On the page next to is is the portrait of me and my partners, which is taken by Jane, my sister,” Jonathan continues. “I’m glad it’s her, who got to take this photograph, since I was the one that taught her and it bonded us over the years. And because she is also in a polyam relationship, so I trust her the most with capturing us.”
“The titles are pretty simple, so it’s called: Argyle, Jonathan & Nancy Byers,” he adds.
The portrait in question appears. Argyle still has long hair, now with streaks of gray in it. He is wearing a long skirt as he sits on a chair in a sleek apartment, legs crossed. Behind him on the left is Jonathan smiling awkwardly and hunched over a little. He is also older, fully gray and slightly bald in his shirt, jeans and flannel. Nancy is on the right, a hand on Argyle’s shoulder. She looks a little severe as she has always done, hair pulled up in a tight bun, power suit on. She looks friendly, but is smiling only faintly.
“We collectively wanted it to be a more family-style photo in our own home, since we didn’t know if we were going to have that when we started dating and we wanted to show other people out there that you can,” Jonathan says. “Though, I suppose we all had a different take on the why.”
“Of course, dating multiple people isn’t a usual home thing, but for me it also came from growing up poor with a shitty father, so the idea of being able to a home filled with loved ones, seemed far away and out of reach,” Jonathan explains.
“I am also wearing work clothes in the photo, which might seem counter-intuitive, but it’s because I build this home with my work and the people in it with me,” Jonathan says. “My work clothes have always been my comfort clothes. And as the photographer, I wanted you to see the person behind the photos in the book.”
“For Argyle, he has lived in a more absent home, where no one cared about what he did as long as he didn’t step too far out of line,” Jonathan moves on to the next subject. “So, he’s wearing clothes that make him happy, because he is in a home where he can do that now and still be loved.”
“That sound right?” he asks, eyes focusing on something behind the camera.
“Yeah, baby boy, that sounds right,” Argyle’s affectionate voice comes from off screen. “I also wanted to be visibly genderqueer in a portrait, because it’s often not allowed and seen as ill-suited, but look how well it suits.”
“It suits perfectly. You’re very beautiful,” Jonathan smiles, a rare moment of sappiness.
“Ahww, you’re so cute,” Argyle squeals and now Jonathan does blush. “I’m gonna have to kiss you now.”
There is a cut after that, though Jonathan still looks a little flushed as he goes on: “Nancy is also dressed in her work clothes. That was important to her, because she loves her career and she takes it very seriously.”
“Nancy’s home life as a kid was very picture-perfect and American,” Jonathan says. “She was expected to become a housewife and she has always resented that. She never wanted to become like her parents and showing that she has that home, but isn’t the housewife was very important to her.”
“A lot of people have called her cold online, but you have to understand that there is much more to her than this, but she likes exuding this,” Jonathan says. “She’s not cold for cold-ness sake. We talked about it in the video about her career, how hard it is to be taken seriously. This professional persona is what she is proud of, not the only thing she is.”
He flips the page and snorts: “This one was difficult, because it just felt weird to not have Steve and Robin in the same picture, because they’re so closely intertwined. But we settled on having both portraits done in the same room to show their closeness, because otherwise it wouldn’t fit the format. But we did consider it.”
“Starting on page 226 we have Eddie & Steve Munson,” Jonathan reads.
The portrait in question appears. Eddie and Steve are in a cozy living room on a couch together. Eddie is sprawled against over the couch, arms thrown over the back. Eddie still has his long hair, now streaked with gray, his laugh lines are permanent and he smiles easily. His style is much the same, he has a cut off band shirt and black jeans with chains, his arms filled with bracelets. Steve is leaning against his side with a soft smile. Steve is wearing a big sweater and glasses, which had become necessary in his 30s. His hair is shorter now and he dyes it, highlights throughout.
“Eddie put a lot of thought into his outfit,” Jonathan says. “He’s been told his whole life that he’s too much and that he’ll grow out of it, so he really wanted to show that he was still there and still metal.”
“Steve likely put as much thought into it, because he very much likes dressing himself,” Jonathan adds. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but Steve got a lot of flack for how much he cared about his appearance. Caring about your hair or clothes would get slurs hurled at you for being effeminate, which is ridiculous but also the society we live in.”
“I personally like how Steve dresses. He’s always dressed softly, approachable. I think he really came into himself once he stopped trying to force himself to be a straight jock,” Jonathan comments idly.
“For them, they wanted their portrait to be casual. Closer to an evening on the couch than an official portrait,” Jonathan goes on.
“Steve has been forced into too many family portraits that were more for show and Eddie has always hated the portraits they had to do as Corroded Coffin, since he’d be checked over meticulously to see if nothing ‘too gay’ showed,” Jonathan explains. “So this casual style is more comfortable for them and it really suits them.”
“On the next page are Robin and Rose, of course called Robin & Rose Munson,” Jonathan continues.
Robin & Rose Munson appears. In it, Robin’s hair is green and she has an undercut. She grins brightly into the camera as she holds Rose close. Rose is still a fat lady in a beautiful floral dress. Her long red hair is up in a ponytail and she has an elaborate flower themed make up look on. Robin’s patterned button up matches Rose’s dress and is loosely tucked into light gray dress pants which are held up by suspenders.
“For them it was important to be old and very much lesbians,” Jonathan says fondly. “Neither of them had any role models and especially none above age forty, so they wanted to be that for all the baby lesbians and bisexuals.”
“They’re also very much a butch/femme couple and they dressed up for this to highlight those parts of themselves, because they’re very tied to how they identify themselves,” Jonathan says.
“Rose has been masculinized a lot due to her size and told she couldn’t be the princess in a story, so to say fuck you to that and show up anyway was important to her,” Jonathan explains. “She loves dress shopping, trying fun makeup and dressing loudly. She called it queer femininity when she was here and that’s what she’s there to represent. The femininity that’s done for yourself, outside of society’s expectations, and I think that’s really cool.”
“Robin, of course, is doing the same for butches out there,” Jonathan goes on. “She is just so much herself and it’s delightful. She doesn’t let the fact that she’s nearly fifty stop her from dying her hair a fun color and wearing loud patterns and masculine clothes. She’s still a weird girl in her heart and she never ‘grew out’ her tomboy phase and she’s still amazing and successful and in love.”
“Both of them are very aware of what they represent when they go out into the world. What little queer girls on the street see. They’re both pillars in their local community and they want to be that bit of hope for people.”
“And they just really like being loud and having fun with their style,” Jonathan says. “I don’t know if I know many people, who can just delight in eccentricity like they can.”
Jonathan flips the page again and says: “I first thought about putting Jane, Max and Lucas on the next page with Erica, since she and Lucas are blood siblings, but it just didn’t fit right as logic. The whole point is that blood relations are the end all, be all and Lucas and his partners have lived in the same city and Will and Mike for a very long time, while Erica is the god-mother to Dustin and Suzie’s children, so that’s how the order was created.”
“First up, Jane, Dr. Lucas & Max Mayfield-Sinclair,” Jonathan introduces.
The photo is of the three of them with their pets. Max is sitting on a chair a husky next to her that she pets his head, her crutches leaning against her on the other side. Lucas is leaning against the chair with a smile, holding a white fluffy cat in his arms. El is sitting on the arm of Max’s chair, she has a tabby cat in her lap and a bird on her shoulder. El’s long hair is in a bun and she looks a little like a hippy, a sharp contrast to Max’s professional wear, while Lucas is their middle ground with his respectable sweater and jeans. He now has glasses and looks like a typical dad, his afro now big and fluffy. All of them look happy, content. Age is starting to show and it fits them well.
“I first wanted to add their pets to the title as well, but they foster pets with an alarming regularity and Jane didn’t want any of them to feel excluded, so we decided on human members only,” he informs the audience fondly.
“However, including their pets was very important, since they’re a huge part of their lives with Jane and Lucas running a vet’s office together,” Jonathan says. “They love their pets very much and I loved including them, even if it made posing a little more difficult.”
“Max is in the middle, since she is dating both people in the picture, so it’s more fitting to have her there. Also, she had to be seated, so it made more sense composition wise,” Jonathan explains. “She is also the only one in work clothes, because she wanted to highlight both her disability and her career. As an activist and lawyer in the anti-ableist movement, it was important to her to be visible in that way, so I ensure that her crutches could be in the photo as well.”
“Jane on the other hand is fully dressed in her comfy clothes,” Jonathan smiles. “She’s had a really rough childhood, before mom and dad adopted her, so having her individuality means a lot to her. She wanted to highlight her own personality and not a professional idea of her – though their vet’s office allows for a lot of personal style. I think she did that marvelously.”
“Lucas dressed not fully comfy, but also not entirely professional. He usually has his hair up when working, for example. He is also aware of how he’s perceived, but for different reasons,” Jonathan goes on, getting more serious. “As a black man he’s very aware of how he’s perceived, so while he seems to just be a normal guy, I know he put a lot of thought into his outfit.”
“He has always been made to feel as an outsider, which means he gravitated towards more ‘normal’ styles when going out. He and Jane actually have a few overlaps in style, but he put on a more professional outfit for this, because he wanted to remind people that he is a veterinarian, who accomplished things and not a hoodlum or gangster,” Jonathan says with a small sigh. “It really sucks that he felt the need to do that, but a sad reality.”
“However, he doesn’t erase himself either,” Jonathan adds. “Those are his clothes and how he dresses, just more when people come to visit that aren’t family. And he did let his natural hair be, instead of styling it. So there are still pieces of him there, he just chose to give a more professional front, like some others have done as well. Maybe just for different and shittier reasons.”
The photo on screen gets replaced by the next one. It’s of Mike and Will in an art studio. Will is sitting on a stool Mike is behind him, resting his chin on Will’s shoulder. Both of them have short hair now and wrinkles are starting to show. Mike is in sensible work clothes that prioritize comfort, while Will’s clothes are a little eccentric and covered in paint. The two are smiling softly into the camera.
“The next one is Mike & Will Byers,” Jonathan introduces. “If you’ve read the book, you might have noticed that Mike loves clinging to Will’s back and that hasn’t stopped yet. I don’t think that posing like this was on purpose, it just is natural for them.”
“Their portrait is taken in the studio, because while it is Will’s work space, it is also a very personal space for them,” Jonathan says. “Mike often poses for Will’s work and they do a lot of craft projects with their daughters there.”
“Will is an artist to the bone and he has gotten so much more comfortable with himself throughout the years, something I’m really proud of. The two of them showed up for this portrait as themselves and that is pretty great for both of them and not at all what they would have done when they were still kids,” Jonathan says.
“Like I’m quite serious, they had kind of forgotten this was happening, so Mike had just come home when I got there and Will was still painting,” Jonathan laughs at the memory. “The back of the canvas you see on the side there is a painting that will be first shown at the opening of the exhibition Will is doing at Tate Modern this year.”
Jonathan looks at the photo again and smiles once more. He adds: “Both of them struggled a lot with internalized homophobia in their teen years, so for it to be a casual domestic photo, a little intimate look into them, is amazing to see.”
He lingers on the page for a second longer, before he clears his throat and flips to the final two pages of the book.
“Okay, on the left we have Dr. Dustin & Dr. Suzie Henderson,” Jonathan moves on.
On screen it appears. In it, the two are standing hand in hand in a modern house. Suzie is wearing functional yet professional clothes, some tools hanging from her belt, while Dustin is a sweater vest and khaki pants, gray at his temples. The years has made the two of them softer, putting fat on their bones and laugh lines on their faces.
“They have also chosen to pose in their work clothes, but it was a little more deliberate than Mike and Will,” Jonathan says. “They have a really big passion for their work and bring that into their personal lives by going to all sorts of museums and organizing field trips and experiments at home for their own kids and other interested kids in the neighborhood.”
“Suzie really wanted to wear her tool belt, even though at NASA she works more in design than actually making the prototypes, because she is a tinkerer first and she wanted to highlight that, since she works in a male-dominated field,” Jonathan explains.
“Dustin is just dressed in his professor clothes. He loves lecturing and from what I’ve heard, he’s pretty popular under students,” Jonathan says. “It’s strange sometimes, to picture the kid with graphic tees that always argued and knew better, now being an adult with a lot of patience. He’s really grown as a person and this outfit truly does show that, if you knew him back then.”
Then Jonathan turns to the final page and says: “Of course we’re ending the book with Erica, the baby of the family. Though she isn’t a baby anymore. If Senator Erica Sinclair is familiar to you, this is not a coincidence, because she did also use this photo for her reelection campaign.”
Senator Erica Sinclair appears, which is a portrait of Erica. She is in front of the Capitol building, smiling into the camera with a sharp grin that has a ruthless edge to it. Her curly hair is up in a bun and she is in a power suit, the little American flag pinned to the lapel. Age has seemingly not yet hit her, she looks powerful and on top of the world. In her prime as an adult.
“Erica is a very important person in our lives and it is sad that she couldn’t be more present in the book – we touched upon it before, I think. Definitely in interviews. But since she is a senator, we did have to be careful about her public image,” Jonathan explains.
“But we did get a few good candid shots of her in the book and I think it’s delightful to see her as an ambitious smart young girl and then as a successful woman,” Jonathan says. “It’s not unknown that she is a huge inspiration for many black girls and girls in general out there and her success is something that both of us really wanted to highlight.”
“She put a lot of work and effort into getting where she is and she has given her whole life to politics. And with that, to bettering our world for all sorts of people, such as queer people, which is central to the book,” Jonathan says.
“I wanted to end with her, not just because she is the youngest and we kind of went based of age, but also because she is the future,” Jonathan goes on. “She is trying to systematically change things for everyone and she is succeeding. That is very hopeful for me and I wanted it to end hopeful.”
“Anyway, that was the behind the scenes of the modern day portraits. Hope you enjoyed it and that it was interesting. Thank you so much for sticking it with me throughout this series,” Jonathan signs off for the last time this series. “Bye!”
~~
A/N:
*Removing my hand from Jonathan’s body to stop puppeting him*: Okay, so I did have many plans for this that I am no longer doing (I know very sad), because I got swept up in other things and by that I mean that I re-binged Leverage, wrote fics for that, decided to write I Found Myself a Cheerleader (AKA a 174K cheerleader!steve steddie au), re-binged FMAB and wrote fics for that, before starting an archaeologists stobin au that I will start posting soon.
So, this will be the last chapter, though I am not saying that I’ll never add anything to this verse, just likely nothing big and not with any regularity. I do hope you enjoyed this last addition and I really want to thank everyone, who has read this and left nice comments, rereading them inspired me enough to add this final chapter and give it a proper end.
A Behind the Scenes of: Steve and Robin's Wedding Party
Jonathan gives an insight into the lavender marriage between Steve and Robin of 1989.
On AO3.
Ships: jargancy, steddie, platonic stobin
Warnings: AIDS crisis mention, homophobia mention.
~~~~~~~~~
“Hi, I’m Jonathan Byers, the main photographer and editor of A Collection of Queer Photography,” he starts out the video. “A lot of people liked the video we did about Pride of 1990, so we’re making a few more of these.”
He is already seated at the side, so photograph can appear on screen next to him and he grabs the book from the side, which is already open, as he says: “Uhm, right now we’re going to look at page 50 and pages 52 and 53, starting with Brad and Janet Got Married.”
The photograph in question appears on screen. It is taken on a street late at night, two figures are illuminated beneath a street light. It is Steve and Robin. Steve is giving Robin a piggy back ride and both are laughing like lunatics, they look a little unsteady and tipsy. They just went to a screening of Rocky Horror and Robin is dressed as Brad, Steve as Janet. They both have a red V painted on their foreheads.
“This are Steve and Robin, they got married in 1989 so they could make medical decisions for each other and have job benefits, since neither of them have contact with their blood relatives,” Jonathan explains. “They had a small courthouse wedding and we went out a Rocky Horror screening to celebrate afterwards. Hence the title.”
“I was pretty drunk when I took this picture, so it is a little blurry around the edges as you can see,” he points out. “But I remember fumbling for my camera since the composition in relation to the street light spoke to me so much.”
He goes on: “I saw it and I knew I had to take a picture. You have this dark street and then this point of light and that is where they are, momentarily visible, like in a spotlight. They look so happy in that moment, despite the fact that they’re getting married to avoid homophobic family members having power over them and despite the fact that Steve can’t get married to Eddie. They’re having fun, celebrating their friendship, a moment of happiness, despite all the dark shit. That story aspect is very evocative.”
“I also liked the contrast between their costumes and pose,” Jonathan says. “At the time they chose to dress as Brad and Janet, because they’re engaged in the movie and Robin is of the strong opinion that it is a beard relationship, so it fit them. She really hates wearing skirts and Steve decided it would be fun to try, so it worked out.”
“But in this photo it adds a layer of contrast, which works nicely. Steve is a strong guy and that is a lovely opposition to the delicate dress. Robin is also very strong, but she doesn’t look it. She has always had a more thin look to her, which offsets how she presents herself. Her butch look has always suited her, so for her the outfit doesn’t serve as contrast, but the piggy back does. They’re reversing roles, taking something heterosexual and traditional and twisting it for their own amusement and joy.”
Dammit Janet appears on screen as Jonathan flips the page. It’s of the same night and Eddie is dressed as Dr. Frank-N-Further, grinning cockily into the camera, one hand hitching up Steve’s dress as it disappears under it, holding his thigh. Steve is plastered to his side, grinning into the camera with a dopey grin, Eddie’s lipstick is smeared on both faces.
“This photo is of later in the evening,” Jonathan tells the camera. “I thought calling it Dammit Janet is kind of funny, since in the movie it’s a line from the opening song that Brad says to Janet and later on Janet sleeps with Frank-N-Further, so this makes it seem like Brad, Robin in this case, is saying it to Steve as Janet, because he is sleeping with Eddie, Frank-N-Further, on their wedding night. But Eddie is, of course, his husband, then boyfriend. So, it’s a reference.”
“What I like about this picture is how it creates a little window into Steve and Eddie as a couple, like how they are together. Especially at this point in time. They’re very affectionate and clingy, it’s cute and a little gross, which is clearly illustrated with how Steve is hanging onto Eddie and how Eddie is possessively gripping Steve back,” Jonathan says.
“I’m not going to go into too much detail about it, since it’s not my relationship, but I asked them if I could say a little to explain the photo a little. They said I could,” Jonathan gives as a disclaimer, for what he is about to get into.
“The two of them are part of the BDSM scene, at the time Eddie was big into the leather scene, I don’t know for sure if he still is, but that shines through in many of his outfits in the book,” Jonathan explains. “In this photograph, you can see some elements of their dynamic. It’s pretty subtle, because it’s a drunken snap shot of them, so this is how they subconsciously gravitate to one another when around relaxed with company.”
He moves on to the next photograph. Sidewalk Stop is of Nancy, who is dressed as Magenta and sitting tiredly on a curb. It is taken from the side, the street as background. Behind her, you can make out Robin, still dressed as Brad, talking with Argyle, who is wearing nothing but a golden speedo and a jacket against the night air.
“This is Sidewalk Stop and Nancy is the subject here, even though Robin and Argyle are in it as well,” Jonathan says. “Nancy kind of gives a lonely, contemplative vibe and I wanted to contrast that with Argyle and Robin chatting.”
“As I mentioned earlier, Steve and Robin got married to be able to make medical decisions for each other,” Jonathan repeats. “It was a very scary time to be queer because of the AIDS crisis and that was big topic for us too of course. Nancy had just broken contact with her family and Argyle- Well, Argyle’s family seemed okay, but also just let him walk away. None of us knew what they would do when push came to shove.”
Jonathan continues: “I got very lucky with my mom and dad – Jim, not my actual dad – so I knew I would be okay, they didn’t have that. We hadn’t really thought about marriage yet for ourselves. Me and Nancy both never thought we would get married, since we didn’t want to turn out like our parents, but seeing Steve and Rob got us thinking that we didn’t have to marry to fit that standard, but also to keep ourselves safe.”
“In this photo you can see that contemplation, which is only added by the fact that it is Robin in the background with Argyle. The person that got her thinking and the person she is going to marry,” he says. “She and Argyle are still married, but we consider ourselves partners, not spouses. It’s not something we want for us, but useful on paper. It doesn’t have to be that serious.”
He gives the camera a small smile, implying that clearly it doesn’t have to be serious that is the point of these pages about marriage.
“Then on the page next to it, there is the morning after so to say,” Jonathan moves on after a slight pause. “In a row these pages are the story of the first celebration, going to late in the night and then the sleeping in. First we have Dr. Frank-N-Snoozer.”
The photo appears on screen. In it is Eddie, face down on the couch. He has stripped out the lingerie top, however, he is still in the stockings and panties. His right leg hangs half off the couch, the strap holding up the stocking has snapped open, so it is sagging down. He is fast asleep and his hair is a mess.
“Eddie, Steve and Robin crashed at our place. I don’t know why Eddie ended up on the couch, but I had to take this photo when I saw him in the morning,” Jonathan laughs. “It’s this classical, morning after, don’t know how I got here, I look a mess photo. However, it’s slightly subverted, because it’s usually a girl and this is Eddie, making it very queer, as he often does.”
“I love that in many of these photos, the queering of classical tropes. It might seem silly now, but living domestically and having fun is such a power move when the government doesn’t want you to live at all.”
“Of course, we also had to put the photo of Steve and Robin in here too. They did share a bed on their wedding night, but in the least sexual way,” Jonathan says and Newlyweds replaces Dr. Frank-N-Snoozer on screen.
Newlyweds is of Steve and Robin on a bed. The V’s that were on their foreheads are now just one red blur and they are stripped to their boxers. Robin is on her back, head lolled towards the camera, mouth slightly open, drool escaping. Steve is on his stomach, one leg thrown over Robin’s thighs, head resting on her boob. They are both clinging to each other.
Jonathan goes on: “I like this photo, because it shows how comfortable they are with each other and how much they love each other. These two are on another level of friendship that many can’t ever achieve.”
“Non-sexual intimacy and nudity is something that is so special to get on photo,” Jonathan explains. “Someone has to be comfortable with the camera there and the person they’re with. Steve and Robin are very comfortable together and I am very honored that they let me take photographs such as this one of them.”
“I also think it’s very funny that they’re both wearing boxers,” Jonathan says. “You can’t see it clearly in the picture, but it’s the exact same pair, just different color. We always joke they became the same person over time and it’s details like that, which make photos like this. It’s not obvious, but if it was different, it would be noticeable.”
The video cuts and Jonathan is in the middle again. He gives an awkward wave to the camera and signs off: “Thank you for watching, hopefully this was interesting. Till next time I suppose, since this is a thing now. Uhm, bye!”
“Hi, I’m Jonathan Byers, the main photographer and editor of A Collection of Queer Photography,” he starts out the video. “Today I’m giving you a behind the scene look of A Collection of Kisses from 80s, which takes up page 60 and 61.”
“This is a collection, of course. I just said that, sorry,” Jonathan stumbles awkwardly for a second, before he picks himself up. “They don’t have individual titles, so I’ll just go through them and hope I remember which one it was when putting them on screen. Bear with me.”
“To try and keep it organized I’ll first do page 60 like reading a book, okay,” Jonathan nods to himself. “First the one of mom and dad.”
The photo that appears is of Joyce and Hopper, taken shortly after their return from Russia, behind them Hawkins still in tatters.
“Dad hadn’t been home in a year, undercover work. It was pure luck he was done right when Hawkins crumbled. I love the juxtaposition between their soft kiss and the ruins in the background, very dramatic,” Jonathan comments.
“Then the next one is of Dustin, Eddie and Steve,” he says.
It is of Eddie and Steve, both smacking one on Dustin’s cheeks, the boy grinning broadly into the camera.
“Dustin got his driver’s license that day. Steve and Eddie both gave him lessons, he’s like their little brother. It’s quite funny how they met Dustin separately. He’s the one that introduced them to one another,” Jonathan tells the camera. “Anyway, they were very proud of him and I think it’s a sweet photo.”
“Next up was taken in Boston already,” Jonathan introduces. “It’s of Steve and Robin with the couch.”
In the photo Robin is asleep on the couch. Her head is already shaven and she is hugging a pillow to her chest. Steve is laying a blanket over her and softly kissing her head.
“All of us have nightmares from time to time, so when one of us falls asleep somewhere, we try not to wake them,” Jonathan explains. “I love the caring nature of this photo. It’s a soft moment and I’m glad I captured it.”
“Then the next one is of Jane, Max and Lucas all cuddled up,” Jonathan smiles fondly.
The photo that appears on screen is of Max sitting on a couch, El next to her with her legs slung over Max’s, arms wrapped around her neck. Lucas is giving Max a kiss on the cheek.
“This is my mom’s couch, since they were hanging out there. This photo was taken right before they got together,” Jonathan says. “I love seeing how close they were already orbiting before that happened. We all kind of saw it coming with how often Jane tagged along on their dates or she hung out with both of them or Max all the time. It’s sweet.”
“Both Jane and Lucas love Max a whole lot. She got seriously hurt during the earthquake and was in a coma for weeks. Jane and Lucas grew very close then, sitting by her bedside. They had to be bribed to go home to shower and sleep,” Jonathan remembers with pain in his voice. No matter how much time has passed, thinking of that time never gets any easier.
“The next one is- it’s- it’s a little older than the other ones,” Jonathan says, pausing as emotions overtake him. This period also never gets easier to talk about. “It was a rough time.”
It is of Joyce and Will. Will is laying on a hospital bed, recovering from when he went missing. Joyce is holding one of his hands in both of hers, pressing a kiss to it. Tears are flowing down her face.
“This one was taken in ‘83. Will- uhm, he- he went missing that year,” Jonathan’s voice gets thick, but he talks through it. “He was out in the woods for a week. They found another body. We thought- we thought it was him. It was the worst week of my life. He was so weak when they found him, took him weeks to fully recover.”
He takes a shuddering breath, before he manages to go on: “I took this photo to prove to myself he was actually there. I put it on my bedside table to look at and assure myself when he was still at the hospital. God, I was so scared.”
A guilty look comes over him as he confesses: “I was supposed to be home the night he went missing, but I thought he’d be fine and I could work some extra hours. Fuck, I felt so stupid-”
“Hey!” Argyle cuts him off, sounding more stern than he ever has before. “Don’t blame yourself, baby boy. You know you couldn’t have prevented it by being home. Will even has said that. No beating yourself up.”
“Sorry,” Jonathan says, looking a bit like a kicked puppy.
“Wanna cuddle for a sec?”Argyle asks. Jonathan nods and then there’s a cut.
When he returns his eyes are a little red rimmed, but he looks a lot more settled than before. He smiles: “I’m back. I wanted to add that this photo shows that silent relief that can only out itself in crying, because you’re so glad they’re okay, but you’ve just been through hell. Just needing to feel that they’re alive. It’s a very impactful photo in my opinion.”
“Then the last one on this page is less heavy, just Eddie and Steve making out,” Jonathan laughs as he moves on.
Indeed in the photo, Eddie and Steve are photographed mid-make out session. It’s on the couch in the Byers apartment in Boston and the two had been high. They all had been. Steve is straddling Eddie’s lap, his hands buried in Eddie’s mane. Eddie is letting himself get pushed into the couch by the force of the kiss, hands resting on Steve’s ass. The side profile of the moment is captured.
“This is again when we were high. They don’t have an issue making out any other time, but these were the moments it’s easiest to capture them. It’s harder in the club and I wasn’t living in their house. I have a lot more photos of Argyle and Nancy making out,” Jonathan admits.
“Hell yeah,” Argyle comments, sounding as zen as always.
“I love the subtle push and pull of this photo,” Jonathan says. “Steve is pushing Eddie into the couch pretty forcefully, but then you have Eddie’s hands on his ass, that subtle sense of control and ownership. It isn’t overt, but it adds such a layer to the photo that I really appreciate.”
“Okay, next page I’m going to move along them in the same way to keep track of them, starting with the one of Robin and Nance,” Jonathan informs the camera, though it’s more for himself.
The photo that comes on screen is one of Robin kissing Nancy’s nose. Nancy looks surprised, her eyes wide and a little cross eyed to follow the kiss. Robin is quite clearly laughing.
“I took this one back when they were dating. It’s such an adorable, joyous moment and I’m so glad I managed to catch it,” Jonathan says.
“Some people ask me if it’s weird that Robin and Nancy used to date, but it really isn’t. She dated Steve before we got together, then we broke up, I started dating Argyle, she Robin and then after they broke up, the three of us got together. It’s been a whole thing and I’ve gotten used to it by now, you know? Plus, it’s been years since that. Decades even,” Jonathan shrugs. “I just care that they were happy then and that they worked it out.”
“Now the next one is of Erica and Lucas and it’s such a sibling photo,” Jonathan laughs.
On screen a photo of the Sinclair siblings appears. Erica is kissing Lucas’ cheek, while he makes a disgusted face, seemingly trying to fight her of.
“I think siblings are just hardwired to be little assholes to each other,” Jonathan says. “They were discussing DnD strategies, I think, right before I took this one. Erica spotted me with my camera and immediately did this just to be a dick. I love that about her. Truly little teen sibling behavior, same goes for Lucas.”
“Now the next one is a little bit more serious again. We wanted it to be a mix of all sorts of kisses – it is a collection – and the variety in them. We have romantic kisses, platonic kisses, familial kisses. We have silly kisses and serious kisses. Just all sorts of them and that was the message of this collection,” Jonathan explains.
The photo that comes on screen is taken of Hopper and El. It’s taken late at night on the couch, the two still in their pajamas. El is huddling under Hopper’s arm, which is slung around her. Hopper is placing a kiss on her head. Her hair is still buzzed, the picture is from the spring of ‘86.
“So, this one is of Jane and dad. It was a little after it all went down that spring. We were all still dealing with the direct aftermath. Sleep- well, as I said, it never does come easy. It’s such a private moment and I triple checked if they were okay with me publishing it and I’m glad they said yes, because it’s such a visual. I mean, you can learn so much about them from just this photo and that is what I love about photography. Sad what had to happen for this moment to be created, but glad I caught it,” Jonathan says.
“Then there is the one with Mike and Will that’s more lighthearted to offset the vibes,” Jonathan moves on.
It’s indeed of Mike and Will. Mike is hugging Will from behind, using his height to his advantage to lean over and press a kiss onto Will’s cheek. Will is laughing, eyes closed and smile bright.
“I took this one on a barbecue during the summer. We all got together and I was taking photos. I noticed Will kind of getting into his head, but before I could get there to cheer him up Mike was already doing this,” Jonathan tells the audience.
He adds: “I appreciate that about Mike, you know. I give him a lot of shit, but he can make Will smile in seconds and that offsets all the little shit-ness he’s had since he was like eleven.”
“Now the last two are kind of a set together. They’re of Argyle and Nancy,” Jonathan introduces.
On screen two photos appear. The first one is of Argyle and Nancy, they’re on the bed, both sleep mused and blowing a kiss to the camera. The one next to it is of them making out.
“Technically, I took the one of them making out, before the one of them blowing a kiss to the camera, but I just loved the idea of them blowing a kiss to me before making out, so I put them the other way around. Purely for my own amusement,” Jonathan says.
“We can make out in front of you more, buttercup,” Argyle offers a little teasingly, yet also completely seriously.
Jonathan blushes bright red, before he mumbles: “I- I mean, I would… not be opposed to that.”
The people watching can’t see Argyle’s satisfied smirks, which he gives as reply, but Jonathan does and mutters: “Oh shut up.”
“Alright,” Argyle smiles, though he technically didn’t say anything.
Bravely, Jonathan moves on, ignoring how his cheeks still burn as he says: “These don’t really have a deep meaning, I just think my partners are beautiful in the morning and hot when they make out.”
“So, yeah, that was a behind the scenes of A Collection of Kisses from 80s. I hope that was interesting and I see you next time,” Jonathan signs off. “Bye!”
Years after she last saw her brother and sister, Holly sees the book A Collection of Queer Photography in the stores. It gives her the courage to reach out to them again. This is her letter.
On AO3.
Ships: byler & jargancy, Holly has a husband
Warnings: mentions of past homophobia (vaguely)
~~~~~~~~
Dear Nancy and Mike,
I have started this letter a hundred times already now, because I have so much to tell you and yet I don’t know what to say to you at all. It feels odd to introduce myself, but I almost feel like I have to, since I haven’t seen either of you since I was 9 years old. So, hi, I’m Holly, your little sister. My last name is Richardson now and I am married with two kids.
I am writing you both after reading your book. I try to keep an eye out for such things ever since my eldest, Lisa, came out to me, and I hope you can imagine the shock of seeing your faces after so many years. There, right on the cover, were the two of you, just like I remember from my childhood. Thinking back, I must have stood in that book shop for 30 minutes just staring, before a sales associate asked me if I needed any help. Of course I bought the book.
When I came home, I read it completely and I cried. Truly, I did. It is a weird feeling and I hope I can explain it right. It is weird, because you two left and never turned back and I hated you for a long time over it and now I had answers. Suddenly I knew why you left. And it makes so much sense that you would go and while I am angry and sad at how you left, I am so so glad that you two are happy now. That you found a better family.
Mom and dad divorced in in 1991. They tried to keep it together for my sake, but my mom blamed him for you two leaving and dad- well, dad was just dad. It didn’t work out. I lived with mom and barely talk to dad anymore. It seemed like life fell apart when you two left.
Before now, I never put work into finding either of you. The lack of the internet made it harder, but it was more that I thought you wouldn’t want me there. Like mom, I blamed myself for you leaving, I didn’t understand. Now I do.
I showed mom the book too, she never gave it back, so I bought another copy for myself. I think she has spend days already flipping through the pages and lingering on your faces. I can’t say I blame her, me and my eldest have gone through it together and I told her about her aunt and uncle. All the little things I can still remember from when you still came home. We laughed and we cried and she hugged me. It was a thankful hug and I don’t think I can ever forget it again.
It is probably odd how much I feel like I still relate to you after 28 years, but I do. One of my earliest memories is sitting on the couch with Steve when he was still together with Nancy. I remember the games Mike and the others played in the basement. I remember the fight when you wanted to spend Christmas with the Byers. Little flashes of you, before you were just ghosts haunting family albums and strained conversations with mom or dad.
But it is more than that for me. I never realized how much I am still intertwined with you, even throughout these years without contact. Like, I never realized that the Will Byers, who made my favorite paintings, is the same Will Byers that my older brother was friends with. And I never realized that the article that got mom better pay in 1993 was written by you, Nancy. As a college student I ate at Argyle’s diner with friends after getting drunk. I still braid my hair like Steve taught me. I voted for Erica without making the connection. I also work in education. My husband loves Corroded Coffin. All these little things have bound me to the family you made and that makes me feel connected to you in ways I haven’t in years.
In your book you said you hoped I was okay and that I grew up kind. I hope I am too. I know I grew up okay, I am happy where I am. And I try to be kind, I try to do better. I don’t know if that is enough, but I’m trying. I would love to meet you and your partners. I’d love to catch up with you and hear about everything, even the small things that didn’t make it into the book. And I’d love to tell you about myself and my family too.
Of course, I can understand if you would not want to see me, or if you would, but you’d like not to talk to mom again. I can stand here and tell you how she has changed, how she accepts her granddaughter and treasures the two of you more than her old bigotry, but I don’t think that is my decision to make. So, I’ll leave that to you.
I do hope that you want to see me, that we can catch up and I can get to know your partners more personally, as well as relearn who you two are now. And I hope I can tell you about my husband, Marvin, who is a lawyer, and our two beautiful kids. I’ve already mentioned Lisa, my eldest. She is fifteen now and so smart. She is part of the debate team at her high school and helps run the GSA. Her favorite subject is Math and I’m glad, because I never know how to help Ellie, my youngest, with her Math homework, so her older sister helps her. Ellie is eleven now, already getting way too big for my comfort haha. She’s a little ball of sunshine, always full of energy and smiles. She loves drawing and is so creative. The two are adorable together.
We live in a suburb in a small town near Indiana. I myself work as a preschool teacher nearby, but I only work part time and spend most time looking after the kids while Marvin is at work. We’ve been married for sixteen years now and still going strong. It was so nice to see you also still together with your partners and happy.
I must admit how odd it was to see you grown up. In my mind you two are still the people from ‘89, a young woman and a kid, who just reached into adulthood. Now both of you are fully fledged professionals with families and a career. Just like me.
I know you haven’t been frozen in time, but it felts like it for so long. It is weird to think that you have lived whole lives, had so many experiences, grown so much, and I wasn’t there to see it. Logically, I know the same must be true for you in regards to me, but I can’t help but let it boggle my mind. But I’m glad I got my mind boggled by you looking so happy.
I honestly don’t know if anything in this letter is making sense. No matter how much time has passed since I first picked up your book, my thoughts can’t seem to order themselves. At least not coherently on a piece of paper. However, I do want to reach out and I hope that I’ll get a reply and it will make it easier to place it all.
I also hope that this letter doesn’t come off as accusatory. I admit that I have been bitter in the past, but I have put that behind me. And I completely understand why you did what you did. I think this book has given me the closure I needed to pack away that last inkling that came from not knowing why. Even if this letter gets lost or I never hear back from you, I want to thank you for that.
Rationally, I know I have a thousand more things to tell you, but I’ve also completely blanked on what to say further. So, I’m just going to wrap it up and send it, before I can think about too much and scrap the whole thing again, like I’ve already done so many times.
Jonathan gives insight into the younger members of the party moving out of town and to college.
On AO3.
Ships: jargancy, steddie, byler, elumax
Warnings: minor homophobia mention
~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan starts out the video like usual, however he still looks a little pale as he says: “Hi, I’m Jonathan Byers, the main photographer and editor of A Collection of Queer Photography. Today I’m giving you a behind the scene look of the kids moving to college.”
“Thanks to everyone wishing me the best, but I assure you I’m better now. Argyle has finally cleared me from bed rest,” Jonathan thanks the audience a little awkwardly yet genuine.
“But nothing to strenuous yet,” Argyle speaks up from behind the camera, like always. “I’m keeping an eye on you, baby boy.”
“I know, I’ll take it easy,” Jonathan promises with a soft smile. Then he flips open the book and says: “These are all from ‘89, just after the kids – minus Erica – graduated and most of them moved out of Hawkins as well and most went off to college.”
“We set aside 4 pages for this,” Jonathan explains. “Page 46 is of Eddie, Robin and Steve moving to Boston, while they drove Dustin to Pennsylvania. Then page 47 is of me, Argyle and Nancy road tripping with Mike and Will to Cali to drop them off at college. While is for Jane who stayed behind and page 49 is for Lucas and Max, who stayed close to her. We kind of sectioned it of to create story bubbles that are still connected.”
“So, let’s start with page 47, which has three photos on it. We first have the two that are packing up, then underneath the driving away. Starting with Bound for Boston,” Jonathan introduces.
The first photo that appears on screen is of Eddie, Robin and Steve, who are carrying boxes into the back of the van and Steve’s BMW. It’s clearly summer with the bright sky and their short clothes. Eddie has his hair tied up under his bandanna and Steve has ditched the shirt. Robin just put a box in the van and is wiping the sweat of her brow.
“We were all packing up and helping each other out. I love how casual this photo is. They’re so comfortable around each other and that oozes off this photo. It’s also very much a teenage dirtbag, youngsters getting out of town photo, which is exactly what this was for them,” Jonathan says.
He goes on to explain: “Out of the three of them, only Robs went to college. For Eddie and Steve, Boston was an escape. Eddie was never wanted by the people in Hawkins, always an outsider. He wanted to leave since he got there. Steve was more disowned by the town, reputation slowly disintegrating until there was nothing holding him there and only things pulling him away. Robin also wanted to go for a long time. Lesbian in a small town, never a good combo. I feel like part of that energy is captured in this photo. That refusal to bend to acceptance and just be comfortable together as they pack up to go.”
“I probably read too much into these things,” Jonathan chuckles, a bit embarrassed. “But for me photography is storytelling, these are the stories I see.”
“Anyway,” Jonathan clears his throat. “The one next to it is Leaving Home of Dustin saying goodbye to his mom. He belonged with Steve and Eddie on a page, the two are like his brothers and Robin also took a shine to him.”
The photo is indeed of Dustin hugging his mom, by his feet is his last bag. In the background you can see Eddie, Robin and Steve leaning against the BMW, the van next to it. They all look a little wistful at the goodbye.
“Dustin’s mom can be a little overbearing, though she does it with love,” Jonathan informs the audience. “However, the real story in this photo is how wistful the three in the background look. Of course, Eddie has Wayne and mom and dad also play a big role in their lives. But none of their mothers are there to hug them goodbye and fuss over their well being now that they’re leaving home.”
“It’s a sad moment, but a happy moment,” Jonathan comments. “I love capturing those emotions alongside each other in a photo, it translates really nicely.”
“Then underneath it is the actual going away: Driving East,” Jonathan says.
Driving East is of the BMW, van behind it, both ready to drive off. Everyone is there to wave at the two. Robin is behind the wheel of the BMW, Steve is hanging out of the window waving. In the van Eddie is driving with Dustin doing the same as Steve.
Jonathan laughs: “Eddie was so offended Steve was riding with Robin instead of him. He totally knew it was coming, but he pouted about it anyway. Don’t get me wrong, he loves spending time with Dustin, both of them do. I think he just had daydreams of driving off into the sunset with Steve by his side.”
“What I love about this photo is that it feel like a victory lap,” Jonathan says. “Sure, they’re just driving off, but there is this excitement to all of them. Like they’re finally breaking free. Like something has finally let them go.”
Then he is quiet for a second, just looking at the photo. Privately, Jonathan knows that what he has just said is exactly what happened. Eddie and Robin both stayed behind for Steve and Steve could not go until he had gotten the kids out of there safely. This was quite literally a victory march, they made it out of Hawkins alive. All of them. That is something to be celebrated.
He shakes the thoughts off and smiles at the camera again as he introduces: “On the next page it’s our road trip, starting with Roadside Sleepiness.”
The photo is of Mike and Will, both asleep curled into one another in the back of a car. There are boxes to be seen behind them.
“I love the movie feel of this photo. It’s such a classic coming of age moment, but then made queer and if you’ve watched other videos, you know I love making things queer in my photography,” Jonathan smiles.
“Filling the Tank is the next one and I took that moments after Roadside Sleepiness. You can still see the two in the background sleeping,” Jonathan points out.
The photo is of Argyle filling the tank, he is smiling as he pumps gas, looking very casual. Nancy is checking a map next to him and Mike and Will are vaguely made out through the window.
“I love watching Argyle and Nancy organizing stuff and being adults,” Jonathan confesses, blushing lightly. “I’ve kind of had to be responsible for a lot since I was young, so getting to sit back and watch them is really nice.”
“You’ll never have to organize anything else again, if we have anything to say about it, buttercup,” Argyle promises from behind the camera, making Jonathan’s blush deepen as he ducks his head, small smile playing on his lips.
“Thanks, Argyle,” he softly replies.
There’s a quiet beat, before Jonathan goes back to talking like nothing happened. One plus side to being an awkward person, is that you get really good at going on after an awkward moment has occurred.
“I struggled a lot with putting in photos of us,” Jonathan confesses. “I documented a lot of our private life. They’re my most photographed subjects, but I’d look at the photos and be scared they’d be perceived as straight, which is ridiculous, I know. But still, a lot of the photos of Argyle and Nancy will have one of them looking at the camera. An extra touch of queer.”
It is a conversation, he’d had with Argyle and Nancy many times over, so Argyle doesn’t comment on it. Those conversations are private.
Jonathan lightens the mood: “Luckily, my partners love me very much and like looking my way, so I have plenty of photos of them looking at me.”
Then he flips the page and continues on: “Now Jane stayed behind in Hawkins with mom, dad and Erica, who was still in high school. She has never been a school kid and college was about as unappealing as anything. She loves working with her hands. She’s been the secretary at their vet’s office for decades now, but they have all these houseplants she cares for. She also knits, crochets, carves wood and makes jewelry. Very hands on person. Her love for all that started with that time in Hawkins when she worked all sorts of jobs. I feel like I captured that in Lawn of Town Hall.”
Lawn of Town Hall is of El, she is in a pair of overalls and a soft looking shirt as she mows the lawn in front of an important looking building. She doesn’t seem very affected by the hard work, smiling as she pushes the machine.
“Jane is such a sweetheart and she can be such a lesbian in her dress sense,” Jonathan smiles fondly. “I really love this photo of her.”
“Now page 49 is Max and Lucas moving away, like I said before, they didn’t want to move too far away from Jane or Erica,” Jonathan says. “It was very sweet of them and I’m very grateful they didn’t leave her behind like that. So, they went to Indiana University.”
“Like page 46 it has three photos. Two of them each packing up and then one of them saying goodbye to Hawkins. It creates a story and I love a good story,” Jonathan explains. “The first one is Getting Older.”
The photo that appears on screen is of Lucas, packing a box. Erica is sitting next to him on the bed, holding an action figure dejectedly. The camera has captured the moment, Lucas reaches out to place a hand on her knee, a reassuring smile starting to form on his face.
“I love this moment, because it is a moment. Erica and Lucas can be antagonistic and squabble all the time, but they love each other and when Lucas had to move out, both missed each other fiercely,” Jonathan says.
“That action figure is the one Erica used to steal to marry her barbie,” Jonathan points out. “Lucas loved that action figure, but he gave it to her instead of packing it up like he was planning to. If you’ve seen her office promotional videos, the action figure is in the background.”
“The next one is Packing Up when we helped Max pack for college,” Jonathan introduces.
It is of Max taping a box shut, El is seen in the background folding shirts to put in another box, which isn’t closed yet. The two girls aren’t looking at each other, but seem to be working in companionable silence.
“I love the domesticity of this photo. They’re not even interacting and yet you can see how well they work together – literally – and how comfortable they are in each other’s presence,” Jonathan says. “Sometimes the moments where people just exist together say the most.”
“Then the last one is A Kiss Goodbye, from when Max and Lucas left. We left last, but we wanted to have Jane on the same pages as Max and Lucas, so we switched our departures around in the book. We all left in the same four days, so it’s not too warped,” Jonathan explains.
A Kiss Goodbye is taken of the front of a car not yet seen before. Lucas is behind the wheel, smiling softly towards the passenger seat where Max is seated. Max is kissing El, who is leaning through the window.
“That’s Lucas’s car,” Jonathan says. “He bought it with help from his parents as a graduation gift with money he saved up from doing odd jobs in town. He was Jane’s reference into most of her jobs that first summer. Max isn’t allowed to drive and Jane was scared to – she got her diver’s license when she was 31 – so Lucas has been their chauffeur for most their life. He loved that car.”
“I really love the relationship dynamic in this photo,” Jonathan tells the camera. “Lucas has always been very fond of Jane too and the biggest supporter of the relationship between her and Max. That is so important in polyam relationships and I love capturing it.”
“Anyway, that was the behind the scenes of the kids moving to college. Hope you enjoyed it and that it was interesting,” Jonathan signs off. “Bye!”
Jonathan gives insight into a few of the more domestic photos that have been taken in 1993 with the help of Argyle.
On AO3.
Ships: jargancy, steddie, robin x ofc
Warnings: recreational weed and mention of assholes on twitter
~~~~~~~~~
“Hi, I’m Jonathan Byers, the main photographer and editor of A Collection of Queer Photography. Today I’m giving you a behind the scene look of the photos on 148 and 149, which are more domestic photos from ‘93,” Jonathan starts out the video, still awkward, despite having done it multiple times before.
“A big point of the book was showing that we lived normal lives,” Jonathan says. “We of course wanted to show the big things that happened, but most of the time it was just us living our lives and we wanted to show that the most.”
“So, I picked a page of domestic photos to talk about here,” Jonathan says. “Lets start on page 148 which has Sitting Together on the upper left side.”
The photo that appears is of Eddie on a big plush chair in his apartment with Steve. He is sprawled over it like it is a throne, smirking lazily down at Steve, who is sitting on the ground in front of him, head resting against Eddie’s thigh as Eddie plays with his hair.
“This was taken right after they moved to their new apartment,” Jonathan says. “Robin had won the couch in the rock paper scissors, but then it broke in the move and neither of them had a couch yet, only chairs.”
“Eddie is sitting on his throne,” Jonathan continues. “He has a flair for the dramatics and this was his DM chair. It came in the mail and they invited us over to come look at it. God, he was so fucking proud. He had it custom made, I’ll ask who did it and if they’re still in business I’ll put a link in the description. Is it description?”
“It is, baby boy,” Argyle answers from behind the camera.
Jonathan nods, then says: “I like this photo of Steve and Eddie, because it shows their dynamic, which I’m not going to get into, since it’s not my relationship. But it also shows how happy Eddie is with his chair and how stubborn Steve can be when he’s hosting. He refused to let one of us sit on the ground. But also how Eddie tries to make him comfortable anyway with the hair. Little details like that can really make or break a photo.”
“Next to it is Gossiping,” Jonathan says and the image appears on screen. It’s of Nancy, Robin and Steve on the couch in Robin and Rose’s apartment. Robin is in the middle, holding a magazine in her lap as both Nancy and Steve look along over her shoulder, the three of them giggling.
“We often hung out at each other places in that time and I remember Nancy giddily coming home with that magazine,” Jonathan laughs. “She tries to keep up with all news, even shitty news, to know the rumors floating about. She immediately called the others to go hang out. It was Eddie’s first front page scandal. Apparently, he was in a committed relationship with a girl he’d been spotted with.”
“What I think is funny about the photo is how delighted the three of them look about it. Not one second did anyone doubt that it was true and it was just a fun joke. Taking the piss out of the things that come with fame,” Jonathan says.
“The photo that we had to cut is of Eddie,” Jonathan tells the camera. “He was sitting in the corner and pouting about it. It was pretty funny. I like to think we kept him humble throughout this years and this photo is a small ode to making fun of friends together.”
“And on the bottom of page 148 is R&R, which is a pun, because it’s Robin and Rose as well as rest and relaxation,” Jonathan moves on.
The photo is of Robin and Rose, both of them are wearing a face mask. It has been taken during a spa night they organized at their apartment. They’re facing each other, both sitting crisscrossed on the floor. Robin is painting Rose’s nails, her tongue poking out in concentration.
“Robin and Rose still organize spa days when we all get together,” Jonathan says. “Rose almost became a beautician, before deciding on becoming a librarian and she took it upon herself to give Robin a skin care routine, which obviously meant Steve got dragged into it and Eddie and then it snowballed into all of us.”
“What I really love about this photo is how concentrated Robin is,” Jonathan says. “She’s one of the most clumsy people I’ve met and her own nail polish is always a mess, where Rose’s is always freakishly neat. And Robin is trying so hard to get it right and Rose loves her so much that she doesn’t even care as long as Robin is holding her hands. It’s very cute.”
“Page 148 are all taken at the Munson apartments, while page 149 was all our apartment, so the page form a little bit of a split,” Jonathan says. “Most of the time we ended up at their apartments, since they were bigger and since Eddie didn’t accidentally want to lead paparazzi to our place. It’s sweet, but also kind of shitty that that is the case.”
“I might be a photographer, but I like to have respect for the people on the other side of my lens. The pictures you get are uncomfortable otherwise. Sadly, I learned that through trial and error, something I’m not proud of, but I’m glad it taught me what it did,” Jonathan confesses.
“Now onto the first image, which is Night Off, which Eddie took” Jonathan continues on.
Night Off is of the couch in the new Byers apartment. On it are Argyle, Jonathan and Nancy. Nancy has her legs thrown over the back of the couch and her head hanging off it, her eyes are red and hooded. In her hand is a half-forgotten joint. Next to her Argyle and Jonathan are making out, their joints in the ashtray on the table in front of them.
Jonathan blushes a little as he says: “As you can see, we’re a little high.”
“And making out!” Argyle comments happily from behind the camera.
It serves to loosen Jonathan up about it as he laughs and agrees: “And making out. We should get you a mic as well, so you can keep commenting.”
“Hell yeah,” Argyle agrees.
“So, yeah, me and Argyle are making out,” Jonathan gets back on track. “It had been a busy week for everyone, so Eddie got everyone joints so we could have a fun night off.”
He looks back up from the photo and says: “We debated a lot if we should put photos where we were high in, because we wanted to be taken seriously and it was a crime at the time. But we decided to put it in. We wanted to be seen in our entirely, to show the parts other might not agree with and still force them to see us as human, so the ones where we’re high got in here.”
“Eddie took this while high and we found a few blurry ones of the same moment as he fumbles, which was kinda funny,” Jonathan says. “But I like how the smoke gives it a little more dingy vibe, as if we’re in a club, while the décor screams the opposite. It makes it a little odd, but in a good way.”
“This photo also very much shows that we are not all cheating on each other,” the comment sounds a little snippy and he lets out a sigh.
“You okay, baby boy?” Argyle asks.
“Yeah,” Jonathan sighs again. “Just need to stay of twitter for a little bit. Some of these people are really getting to me.”
“Want me to kiss it better?”
“Please.”
There is a shuffling noise and a little groan, before the video cuts. Jonathan looks a little flushed as he smiles into the camera as he mumbles: “Lets move onto the next one, which is Love Is a Battleship that Argyle took.”
The photo is of Jonathan and Nancy. They’re sitting at the table, a game of battleship in front of them. Neither of them are winning or loosing, both brows furrowed in concentration as they try to snuff the other out.
“Me and Nance like playing games together,” Jonathan says. “We’re both the oldest siblings, so our entire childhood has been filled with younger siblings getting extra turns and being exceptions, so they can win, which has made us a little competitive.”
“A little?” Argyle snorts.
“A lot,” Jonathan corrects. “We are sticklers for the rules. We try to be less knife on the table about it when we play with others, but it’s nice to sometimes be extremely competitive when we play.”
“And then the last one on these pages, Long Day taken by Nancy,” Jonathan says after a small break.
Long Day is a photograph of Argyle and Jonathan. Jonathan is sitting on the couch with Argyle, who is next to him, legs thrown over Jonathan’s lap as he buries his face into the crook of Jonathan’s neck. One of Jonathan’s hands is carding through Argyle’s hair, the other is rubbing soothing circles on his knee.
“This is a more vulnerable moments, but they’re very important,” Jonathan explains. “Of course there are big tragedies in here, but the everyday can be hard too sometimes. We have our fun nights, our daily moments of rest and our hard days.”
He turns to the spot next to the camera and asks: “Do you remember this day?”
The video cuts and Argyle is now next to Jonathan, he’s looking around as he says: “This shit is whack from this side, bro.”
“It’s our living room, love,” Jonathan smiles fondly as he points it out. “And you’ve been on this side already.”
“But I didn’t sit down then, buttercup,” Argyle argues. “It feels more official now.”
“Just be you,” Jonathan says encouragingly.
“That’s my line,” Argyle smiles back.
Jonathan rolls his eyes as he grabs the book again to show Argyle the photo and get the two of them back on track.
“Running a restaurant is fucking stressful,” Argyle says. “That day one of our serves fell away, so I had to step in there, while also assisting in the kitchen. It was just a nightmare all around. I think I spilled my drink a few minutes before this photo was taken.”
“Sometimes a small thing can be the thing that breaks you,” Jonathan agrees with a nod where he is listening to Argyle.
“Luckily, I have wonderful partners to cheer me up,” Argyle grins back, pecking Jonathan’s nose, which causes him to flush and melt.
Trying to hide it, Jonathan comments: “It’s always miraculous to me how you can look so small when you’re so tall.”
“Chef’s secrets,” Argyle winks.
Jonathan rolls his eyes fondly, then signs off: “So, yeah, that is a behind the scene of the photos on page 148 and 149. Hopefully that was interesting. Thank you Argyle for your cameo.”
“It was fun, baby boy,” Argyle grins, before waving: “Like and subscribe, brocachos. Bye.”
“Bye,” Jonathan echoes, sending Argyle a weird look. He obviously isn’t familiar enough with YouTube to know that way of ending a video
~~
A/N:
I fucking love Argyle so much, he’s just so fun to write <3
