#notre dame is super sad :((((

[bestanimatedmovie]

Revenge of the Underrated, Round 2!

Round 1

The big players will start competing this round, so make sure to support your favorite unknown movie with propaganda and reblogs!

Also, this round we somehow ended up with more polls than round 1, so that will be fun 😅

Luca vs Ballerina

2. Mary and Max vs Tiger and Bunny: The Rising

3. The Bad Guys vs Miss Hokusai

4. Loving Vincent vs Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie Part 1

5. Pocahontas vs The Girl Without Hands

6. Hercules vs The Twelve Tasks of Asterix

7. Anomalisa vs Cats don't Dance

8. The Little Mermaid vs Felidae

9. It's Such a Beautiful Day vs An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

10. Paprika vs Pokemon Heroes

11. Sing 2 vs The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning

12. Wendell and Wild vs The Plague Dogs

13. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs vs Ice Age

14. The Hunchback of Notre Dame vs Strange Magic

15. Azur and Asmar: The Prince's Quest vs Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs

16. Mad God vs Rock and Rule

17. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm vs Titan A.E.

18. The Wind Rises vs The Adventures of Mark Twain

19. Sleeping Beauty vs Tarzan

20. Zootopia vs Robots

21. Monsters vs Aliens vs The Twelve Months

22. Robin Hood vs Phineas and Ferb: The Movie: Candace Against the Universe

23. The Case of Hana and Alice vs Revue Starlight: The Movie

24. Long Way North vs One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island

25. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On vs Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie

26. My Life as a Zucchini vs Lupin III: The First

27. The Fox and the Hound vs Minions: The Rise of Gru

28. The Three Caballeros vs Princes and Princesses

29. When Marnie was Here vs A Letter to Momo

30. Akira vs The Wild Thornberrys Movie

31. The Cat Returns vs The Boy who Wanted to be a Bear

32. Belladonna of Sadness vs The Swan Princess

33. Porco Rosso vs Patema Inverted

34. Rio vs Next Gen

35. The Lego Batman Movie vs Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods

36. The Aristocats vs Thumbelina

37. James and the Giant Peach vs Rainbow Magic: Return to Rainspell Island

38. Castle in the Sky vs Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie

39. Over the Hedge vs Charlotte's Web (1973)

40. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius vs The Princess and the Goblin

41. Redline vs Catnapped!

42. The Addams Family vs Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

43. Epic vs Padak

44. Vivo vs Bartok the Magnificent

45. Barbie: Princess Charm School vs Night on the Galactic Railroad

46. Waking Life vs The Rabbi's Cat

47. Barbie as Rapunzel vs Seven Days War

48. Cool World vs Pippi Longstocking

49. When the Wind Blows vs Ruben Brandt, Collector

50. Summer Wars vs Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom

51. The Black Cauldron vs Mars Needs Moms

52. The Red Turtle vs Underdogs

53. Ron's Gone Wrong vs Once Upon a Forest

54. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade vs Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer

55. Arthur Christmas vs Help! I'm a Fish

56. Barbie of Swan Lake vs Sea Prince and the Fire Child

57. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole vs Freddie as F.R.0.7

58. Pokemon: The Movie 2000 vs Rock-A-Doodle

59. Arthur and the Invisibles vs Unico in the Island of Magic

60. Barbie as the Island Princess vs Flatland: The Film

61. Mind Game vs Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge

62. Dragon Ball Super: Broly vs The Flight of Dragons

63. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero vs Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

64. Scooby-Doo! and the Cyber Chase vs Happily N'Ever After

65. On-Gaku: Our Sound vs Book Girl

66. Tiger and Bunny: The Rising vs Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us

67. The Pebble and the Penguin vs The Magic Riddle

68. A Troll in Central Park vs Ico, the Brave Horse

69. Robot Carnival vs Blinky Bill

70. The Snow Queen vs The Legend of Manxmouse

71. Early Man vs Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito

72. Nocturna vs Junk Head

[letmelickyoureyeballs]

whatever I still prefer henry cavill as geralt. Just cause the book version was ugly doesn't mean he always has to be.

Referencing this post. This is basically a long rant about hot actors in media, and adapting books to media. I love The Witcher in all forms, so please don't think I'm hating on the show.

Just want to start off by saying I absolutely loved Henry Cavill as Geralt and I'm super sad and disappointed that he left. He is a huge Witcher lover and played all the games and read all the books, so his performances were always spot on and he really put all his love in the role. Kudos to him and honestly I can't imagine a better actor to play Geralt.

Now for the main part of this ask. I know when a book or whatever gets adapted that it won't always be the same. I know there will be differences that either improve the story or not, and that some things work better in books vs movies and vice versa. The main gripe that I talked about in that post(that was just an observation; I'm not hating on the games or show) was that the games and show made Geralt hot when in the books he really isn't. Granted people keep wanting to fuck him in the books, so there must be some appeal, but generally, he isn't described as handsome and is ostracized a lot from society for his looks and who he is. He's a mutant. Plain and simple.

I do think the show was able to show this whenever he drank a potion with the black eyes and veins, and how pale he became, which was pretty spot on.

But what I was trying to get at is how every piece of media seems to have to have a hot/attractive protagonist or characters. The audience I guess needs someone that they are attracted to, to like the story and want to watch it. Would half the movies and TV shows out there be as popular as they are with ugly/unattractive actors? Not saying that ugly actors are bad and shouldn't be cast. Just that attractive actors seem to be the default, even when the story is based around the opposite of that.

Like I stated in that post, a big part of the books(besides the main plots) is how people treat Geralt for his mutations and looks, and how that view changes as they get to know him. Yes, he looks freakish and non-human and scary at times, but he isn't all of that. He is a nice, caring, and protective person who does the right thing, even when he doesn't have to. He goes against his looks and it's growth for him and the people around him. This in my opinion is not reflected in the games or show with a hot actor.

How is the message of "Don't judge a book by its cover" supposed to be seen with a hot actor who doesn't look "evil" or "ugly"? How is the audience or the people around Geralt supposed to grow in their understanding of him when the only "weird" looking things about him are his white hair and barely yellow cat eyes that you can't really see? Again I know that not everything from the books would be in the show, but I wish this was one thing they kept in, or at least made more of an effort to replicate.

Another thing that someone else mentioned that I'll link here, is the fact that Geralt would not be ripped like Cavill, and if he did have a six pack it would be from malnourishment. A big thing with Witchers is that they are pretty much dirt-poor. Therefore Geralt would not be able to buy enough food to replace the calories he was losing from traveling and fighting. Another thing that was kinda ignored when adapting the books, and instead getting an actor who is ripped.

To conclude this anon, no he doesn't always have to be ugly just cause the book version was, but I wish that he was, or at least was more freakish looking. Henry Cavill was a good pick, but was he the best one? Depends on what you want to watch I guess. Do you want a hot actor who can use a sword and kill things? Then he's perfect. Do you want more of a story realizing that looks don't matter(random examples: The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Deadpool) who also swordfight and kills monsters? Then maybe Henry Cavill isn't the best.

[roublardise]

tag game - 20 questions for fic writers

YAAAY thank you for the tag @dogearedheart i love talking about my own stuff 💕

i'm unlocking some secret fanfic facts about myself that only two people know about!!

.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

17 i can't believe it.... only 6 on my spn pseud which is my main one at this point

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

107 433 😳

3. what fandoms do you write for?

i only write for spn rn. the 11 other ao3 fics are from my vld era, and they keep getting kudos it means so much to me.... tho it's not my best works lmao i'm glad it still resonates with some people especially bc i wrote them for trans & autistic teenagers and like, you go ily

now, here's the secret facts: before ao3 and writing fics in english, i wrote many things in french. my main fandoms were Yuri!!! on Ice (i was in the french trenches!!) and Notre-Dame de Paris (the book & musical)

4. top five fics by kudos

i'm done taking the vld fics into account, so it's only spn stats:

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect

It's new - the shape of your body

The Way Home

amidst ashes and feathers

here come the fallen, here come the failed ones

5. do you respond to comments?

i can't really say i do 😔 i TRY to, and sometimes i DO!! i used to reply to some on ff.net and i loved discussing with readers & other writers, but it's very time consuming and i already don't get much writing time anymore

so i take a while especially to longer comments bc i wanna give it justice? idk. i already struggle a lot with responding to my besties' texts so yeh ao3 comments aren't my priority unfortunately. they do mean everything to me and i screenshot them and read them and reread them and read them again like 😭😭

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmmm i think it's my unfinished french Yuri!!! on Ice fic lmao. the ending is still in the drafts but it's very bittersweet bc the main relationship doesn't like, fall in love together and all. i play with that trope of "i'm not gonna fall in love!! *does anyway*" with an aro character and they will not, in fact, fall in love.

but the other character will with someone else and so it's this change of relationship that can get pretty heartbreaking still, bc something is still ending. well, more like evolving into smth else but a huge part of what they've shared is kinda lost and it's sad (<- fic written by a situationship survivor)

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

amidsts ashes and feathers TO ME!!! The Way Home's pretty happy as well but blablabla they kiss romance whatever, it's an easy answer.

now my Mary's fic is about finding community and she starts to collect every part of herself to be herself and she finally feels welcome somewhere 💕 pretty open ending and it's not much about reconnecting with dean & sam it's about taking steps yipeee

8. do you get hate on fics? i haven't gotten any so far!

not a big enough fanfic writer for this

9. do you write smut?

i've never done it in english.... YET 😏 if/when i drop my bela x meg you'll see. things happen!

i can't really say i've done it in french either tbh bc i never went super explicit but i did write many kinky scenes at this point so it's like. very sensual at least.

10. craziest crossover?

i don't do crossovers

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

not by someone else, but i've translated a few of my own things from french to english!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes!! i wrote a three-chapter thingy with @littlehaize that i think we deleted bc it was 10 years ago LMAO. it was very fun to do!

14. all-time favorite ship?

well...... no one will ever be destiel. however it's a fanfic ask and i do not write them much, so my fondness goes for sapphic ships and ships that are not canon. always been a rarepair girlie (gn)

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oh for sure my dean & sam portraits. i had actually started a kind of sequel to You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect, that was like, "From the same soil we've grown and yet he doesn't know"

GOOD stuff in there, but it was back in 2021. since then my spn takes have changed so even if i took it back up i'd have to rewrite it from scratch + i'm not super interested in it anymore. i started this at a specific time in my life, and now i'm onto new things, different issues, same themes but different takes!

16. what are your writing strengths?

poetic prose!! it's about creating emotions and imageries.... lots of my fics are character studies for a reason, i just like exploring ideas and that's what i've been doing for the longest time

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

worldbuiling LMAO. do NOT look too closely into my fics' timeline and chronology, i try my best but there's also a point where i stop trying. sometimes everything is vague bc it says smth with the story and/or bc it goes with the genre, but also bc it's vague in my own head

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

i did that!! i think sometimes it's a better choice depending what the story is saying, like slipping some foreign language than one character speak and not the other to say smth (show what a character is still too afraid to say / it's hot / etc). in The Way Home i tried to insert actual ASL in some dialogues, and it felt important both for the disabled rights and bc like, bilingual life sometimes you have the right word in one language and not the other (and again, it says smth)

sometimes it's not quite relevant to actually write it down in the language, just mentioning what it is is enough. different choices for different contexts and stories 🤷‍♂️

19. favorite fic you've written?

The Way Home 💖 i love amidst ashes and feathers so much i have to mention it as well. but ultimately i have a fondness for longer stories bc i have very few of them!! The Way Home is a first in that regard, longest finished work of mine. i spent 3 years with this story and it's gonna be forever with me just like the city i left behind when i posted the last chapter :) it means a lot on a personal level

20. tagging: @littlehaize 🫶

[thedemoninyourcloset]

So, I have finally returned to Finland! I was in Paris for 3 days, and this was really important to me, since I was obsessed with the Eiffel Tower and Paris when I was little.😭 I had multiple books, a clock, a poster and pictures, a suitcase etc. Now I was finally able to visit there, and here are some pictures I took!

The flight was so stressing, and something happened to my left ear during the landing. Hoping that won't happen again💀

Arc de Triomphe was close to our hotel, so I have multiple pictures of it. Here are 2 of my favs!!

Seeing Notre Dame was super cool too, but I was so sad we couldn't get close to it, or go inside :(

And finally, the Eiffel Tower! I waited for so long to see it, and it was definitely worth the wait

And because Tumblr hates me and I'm only allowed to post 10 pictures on one post, here are two pictures from the Eiffel Tower. The first one is from the second floor, and the second one is from the third floor. (it started raining and thundering when we were at the top, so I don't have any really good pictures 😔)

Also this was the best fuckin thing I bought💀💀

I feel like posting some more pictures later, but right now, I really need to get some sleep lmao

But that trip was super special to me, since the Eiffel Tower was my special interest for so many years when I was younger. My dear grandma kept her promise, paid for the trip and took me there. I'm forever thankful to her for that❤️

[ghostlyhamburger]

Husband Plays Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx

Recap: We started fighting Weredad, and learned the game actively breaks with multiplayer

We haven't even seen Notre Dame in the show yet, right? [I think we have?] Well I haven't.

Look at this game design. (A giant arrow on the wall) The point of game design is to -

The game doesn't wanna be played. The PS4 just turned off. I think the game just crashed my system.

The whole point of game design is to create a world and a methodology of showing the player where to go and not making it obvious, and then there's THAT. That's Bubsy 3D levels of things.

Also yeah the PS4 crashed. It doesn't want me to play this thing. Let's try this again.

you know what would be interesting? if the Sphinx makes them team up with Hawkmoth

Look at these books. They're so book-like.

You gotta stop moving to do the takedown, but also I don't need to do the takedown if I play as Chat Noir because he hits like a truck

Cannot power pole extend. Sad kitty is sad. Don't know why they gave him the power pole when that's a monkey thing and he's a cat.

Wait is that a macaron [yes but getting it will kill you] I don't care

(Macaron is at the bottom of a pit. he proceeds to jump into this pit multiple times. Clips through the impossible macaron a few times before giving up.)

This game is made.

if Adrien was real he'd be on so many drugs because his dad wouldn't let him do anything else

"These orbs, what do they mean? Something bad is coming! Gee, thanks!" I am looking forward to Fu leaving.

This game has less features than Super Mario 64

This game came out in the same year as God of War Ragnarok

If this game came out on the PS2, people would have loved it. But this is on PS4. That's utterly inexcusable.

I never thought I would hear Marinette say how about a knuckle sandwich

This is a ticket? I don't know, it's so blurry I can't tell

This single spot here is just to show you Notre Dame. This is a nice image, but the quality put into Notre Dame does not match the quality of everything else so it sticks out like a sore thumb.

you can tell these people have only worked on mobile games before

I'm pretty sure the guy who owns Miraculous pointed at Batman Arkham and said do that, but said it to the wrong studio.

Why can Weredad make goons? Why isn't he something like The Accountant?

Why do I need to take out all the goons? Do they weaken Weredad so we can fight him?

What's that sound effect of running on paper?

I know this is a kid's game, but the guy knows that most of the people watching the show aren't actually children, right? He has to

Why is there a combo counter? there's no benefit to doing combos

okay so the counter just doesn't work now

I'm standing in this pile. not on it.

What's with this camera angle. why is he running. What's with this boss fight??

What the fuck. what the fuck

The camera should be locking onto him.

If I sneak up on him, I can attack, but if he sees me he gets a free QTE escape thing

and now I'm Chat Noir. well at least this'll go faster.

Well he glitched into me

what the fuck is that pose? (Chat Noir laying on a paper pile but it's very ... ass.)

They didn't even let him finish his sentence.

That's it that's the show

Why does Luka look worse here than in the show

Why is his hand on his chin like that

I can't believe how hard they pushed Luka to the point of making other characters' relationships around him weirder

Luka is the incel of the show

Why is there no guide to this game yet

I don't know! What if it doesn't actually matter what you select in these parts

(Looking at the photo album) These are new renders. These aren't from the show. [I think these are from the Instagram.]

[thehandwixard]

ok ddd is infinitely more bearable after getting through notre dame. not. the gameplay and world design is still dogshit and poorly designed but i actually have shit to chew on wrt themes. i wish i remembered more about twewy to have shit to talk about with them but they are not... super well integrated either way. regardless, hunchback of notre dame is a Hard choice for a kh world but at this point in the series it is a highly enlightened choice. it is directly in conversation with several themes the series is grappling with rn, such as the pursuit of freedom, the power of and deference to authority figures, especially ones related to your faith. the very concept of a master, and the prisons built in your heart and in your world.

ddd is also a deeply insecure game because i think they just revived axel with no explanation and they've given us optional recaps of 3 games so far between cutscenes. its a very impatient game. me and the bestie talked about mormonism a lot because of this game's stylistic choice to age sora and riku down, which is giving us no choice but to have some scary reads on the situation

also one of these game recaps takes the deliberate stance of "eraqus was mmmmmaybe in the wrong for trying to kill his 16 year old charge that he would never let leave home at any cost for fear of something bad happening but he had no choice! feel sad feel sad feel sad" which is Fascinating especially literally right after seeing scenes of frollo and quasimodo firsthand

[passanima]

2017 notre dame de paris musical (compared to 1999)

the best: gingoire. i really like his voice! very smooth, it surprised me + genuinely fit the character

the worst: esmeralda. not the voice but her acting, very reminiscent of the italian production which is. not good. in both of these versions they tried to make it clear how naive she is but over did it. girlie is acting 10 y/o instead of 16, it's super awkward

the same: frollo. literally the same singer, it made me laugh! his costume is really good this time!

in general

some lines were added which confused me as they were pretty much unnecessary. all i can imagine as to why was to make the story more clear but... i watched the original when i was young and understood the story without problem then, so it's strange

some lines were the same but given to a different character which i simply do not understand! very jarring

for some reason they changed the tempo of some singing lines which is jarring as well as i was mumbling along. also for most of these, the original tempo was better, so why?

this quasimodo isn't bad but i still prefer the 1999 singer. he gave quasi such a believable innocence both in singing and acting. maybe it's a question of tastes but since the first time i watched it as a kid he was endearing to me and it always seemed like a crucial part of the story. you're supposed to care for him + it makes way more sense for quasi to be this naive with the way he was raised instead of putting it all on esme

re acting some WEIRD choices were made, usually happens with esme (still with her acting too much like a child) but there's also "hmm?" moments where characters are laughing... when they really shouldn't be. ex: a scene where clopin was originally very upset now he's having a good time and it makes no sense with what's happening. odd!

i hoped the stage directions would be different from 1999, specially fot the background dancers who are badly utilized. alas, it's the same as before, which means the weakest point of the musical

ouh, liked the way fleur de lys was directed in phoebus "pls baby take me back" song where she just stare at him unamused and when he's done, holding her hands, she pushed them away as she stands up, clearly upset. that was a way better choice than the original where she just gives herself to him in a kinda strange way at the end (bending)

at the same time the original way she acted in this song was also interesting, not facing him until he said what she wanted to hear

hmm, but the one right after that, where she sings alone, in this version they chose to keep phoebus around for her to act toward which makes sense as she singing about their relationship, but... prefer the original that focus all our attention on her

she doesn't even get on the ground at the "rolling in the mud" line, boring! this version has her acting way too seductive in her anger which is a strange choice to me. yes the lyrics are sexual but it isn't a love song. her ego was hurt alongside her trust. she's not crying about her fiancé cheating on her, she's enraged that she wasn't enough for him. she gave him everything without question and he threw it all away. this is a song about her innocence shattering. so why have her act cutesy at times or roll her hips here? she's not trying to get him back, he came begging by himself!

this ver sure struggle with the girls and i don't get why cause both singers gave really good performances that made sense for the characters in 1999, so... what happened here?

sad cause 1999 fleur de lys is so good it's wild! she's still one of my favorite performance

for some reason 2017 esme didn't scream when she was being tortured, but moaned very soflty, which was very strange and made the events coming from this nonsensical, but... in another song at the line "i bite like a dog" she barked the "bite" and it was so good! but then again, if the singer isn't afraid of screaming, why didn't she do it the scene where it was required of her? then! at the end of that song she has a tired and terrified scream, begging frollo to leave, and here too she put a lot of emotion into it, so clearly she's capable! so why... didn't she scream... when tortured...

when they save her, the first thing she does is hug her brother, that was very sweet! don't remember if that happens in 1999

2017 gave esme a line that is both written and acted childishly. the singer even made her voice more like a little girl which she does not do for the rest of the musical. if you made me listen to this line without visual i'd assume the character is 6 y/o it's BAD. genuinely think who gave her directions to act this way do not understand esme as a character

in the end it was... meh. some interesting choices, but too many baffling

[paperback-writer0807]

I saw a tweet the other day praising the use of liturgical text in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

As a huge fan of the movie and this aspect specifically, I was delighted to find a super cut of all those moments.

It really does add so much.

They cut out part of the Confiteor, though, and that makes me sad.

[kawamagi-crow]

November 30th, 2022 (7:39 AM) entry 14

a lot happened yesterday!! first, i had two exams in one day (and i have another exam today TwT), I think i did well tho.

After school finished, i went to the house of one of my friends to make the group project we had for today. we baked a cake!! and made the project out of pasta americana (idk the english name), I'm gonna post the pics of the cake here later <3

Anyway. after that, we watched The hunchback of notre dame while we ate pizza >:3

it was pretty fun!! there was a moment were my friends smaller sister, turned to us and said "Look what i do to (friend's name)" and slapped him so goddamn hard (not in the face, in the belly lol) it made a loud sound. AND IT LEFT A MARK LMAO

like, you could OUTLINE her hand!! and she's a kid! like a little kid. You could see the fingers in the mark and it was super red lol. it was pretty funny tho (and he later said that she never slapped him this hard)

Also, after we got of the subway (when we were going to my friends house), A sweet woman called me over, to whisper to me "Oh your pants are dirty", bc i got my period and didn't notice because i was so distracted. I swear to God she's an angel. she made sure i knew about it without calling too much attention to it. My other two friends helped me hide it.

Funny enough, Both friends that helped are AFAB, one is a trans dude, and other is nonbinary. they INSTANTLY knew what to do once we noticed, my nb friend offered their hoodie so i could hide it (another angel lmao)

the two other friends that were with us were both dudes (AMAB) and they got so goddamn confused lmao. like they're going "wait is everything okay? whats happening?" and we all went "nothing is happening. its okay."

if there's an AFAB Bro code, its this.

(TW BELOW: DEATH,CANCER, IT GETS PRETTY SAD)

AND THERE'S MORE! when i was going back home, i was informed my parents's friend died :(. he had cancer, and his cancer was so fast in killing him, i was kinda surprised. like we knew he was dying but not THIS fast...

bc of covid, my parents weren't able to say goodbye to him (they both have covid), so this sucks extra hard for them.

for those who don't know, my dad also has cancer(on both kidneys), but we're lucky he got in a GREAT treatment program (that's still being tested, but so far his cancer is being cured!) that's covered by our insurance. My dad tried to get his friend into the program too but wasn't able to.

My dad's friend wasn't so lucky, and he went with SUS (our public health system), outside of the waiting, he did beat the cancer once but it came back a second time. Since he was already weak because of the previous treatment i guess that was worse...

Once the doctors realized there's nothing they could do, they tried so hard to get him out of the hospital (which was kinda weird, but i get it. you need to open up beds for those who CAN get treated), in the end before he died, they gave him a lot of morphin (is that the drug that sedates you?... like he wasn't feeling any pain) so he could pass on without any pain.

I'm more sad for my parents, who lost a friend they made in college (back when they were around 20-25, and they're 57 and 60 now), and weren't able to say goodbye one last time (i know that pain tho. lost my grandpa and didn't get to say goodbye either...)

I didn't know my parent's friend well. and I'm also pretty weird with grief so I'm not feeling like, rlly rlly rlly sad. I'm just sorry for my parents who have to see their friend go without saying goodbye.

(TW ENDS HERE)

Well. yesterday was rlly messy huh. hope today is more calm.

Outside of all of... that. and the sad part. i think in total my day was good. messy and busy. but good.

[missabnormal]

It’s pretty devastating watching the Notre Dame fire, especially after the spire fell. I know the cathedral has a history of previous ransacking and destruction, but this seems to be breaking the foundations and structure. 

[mcnerda]

I am so sad about what has happened to the Notre Dame. It hurts my heart. I can't possibly imagine how all of you in France feel. America doesn't have these huge important parts of our history like you do because we are young so we can't really relate.

My heart hurts with this news and my heart is out to you all in France

[catangels]

hi hello cant believe im discoursing about a fucking church but anyways why are white people so adamant about wanting us to feel sadness over one church? why do they want brown people to mourn over them when we're too busy mourning other things?

[boydivisiongf]

go to sleep! but also mood notre dame makes me sad

caaaaat i can’t i have too much to do !! i have less than a month before exams start and i have to learn everything i haven’t paid attention to :’)

[ronancebible]

darling, are you ready for more? {ronance}

Summary: Robin cannot be crushing on Nancy Wheeler. She should be focused on more important things, like the crazy string of supernatural murders, or her impending makeover to look more "academic." And it really doesn't help when Nancy straddles her to apply her makeup. 4.8k words.

A/N: When Nancy gave Robin a makeover for the asylum, all I could think about was this image, and as a lesbian who had her gay awakening getting her makeup done in between the legs of a pretty girl, I literally could not resist.

Warnings: Super, super brief internalized homophobia

ao3 link here

-

Robin gripped the folder between her fingers with enough force to leave sweaty dimples in the papers. She swallowed down bile and looked around at the rest of the group in the basement. She couldn’t believe how calm they all looked, how reassured they were that everything would work out. Sure, it was still a life-threatening monster they were facing, and everyone was on a certain edge about Max’s fate, but as she scanned the faces of everyone with her, she saw a relative air of confidence. A feeling that she was not sharing at the moment.

She didn’t know if it was because they’d done this before, more times than she had, or if some of them still had a naivete of youth, but one thing was for sure; Robin was about one more stupid comment away from losing it.

Rose Weaver. She needed to channel this new identity, this incredibly smart and overachieving Notre Dame student that would obviously have no problem staring down the face of chaos and death. A girl who would have no problem swallowing down feelings she didn’t need to have.

Robin spared a glance at the girl next to her, the girl who had begrudgingly taken her under her wing. Maybe all she needed to do was channel Nancy Wheeler, who was obviously bold and fearless. She remembers hearing the stories of Nancy last summer, who bravely defied her chauvinist pig bosses for a chance to prove herself. 

This was scarcely different, Robin mused silently, thinking of the determined look on Nancy’s face as she jumped through endless layers of male voices on the phone in order to make an appointment with the director of the asylum. Her voice had been saccharine sweet, dripping in honey as she artfully played the part, but in real life, when Robin watched her (in awe) her eyes had been hard, her jaw set.

Robin was staring, she realized distantly. She turned away, clearing her voice.

“Thanks to Nancy’s newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame,” Robin said. 

“I’m now Ruth,” Nancy added.

“And I’m Rose,” Robin finished.

Ruth & Rose has a nice ring to it, Robin thought absentmindedly, watching Nancy explain their afternoon full of scheming. What the fuck? Stop that. 

Nancy finished explaining their plan with a sad finality, glancing over at Max, who was sitting at the table, shoulders tense and unwelcoming.

A new surge of panic threatened to overwhelm Robin at the sight. Max was so young, and had so much life to live. The threat almost didn’t feel real, but when she saw the thinly veiled despair in Max’s body language, she had to take a deep breath to ground herself. When Robin was that age, she had only just come to terms with liking girls. She remembers, so clearly, two weeks after her fifteenth birthday, when Tammy Thompson had brushed against her shoulder in the hallway between classes. That was the very first time Robin had felt that telltale flutter in her stomach and not run to cry in the bathroom. Instead, she smiled softly, attempting to stifle the blush that crept up her cheeks, and continued walking to class.

Max was barely that age. Robin decided, with whatever flimsy commitment she could promise, that whatever woes or parts of herself that Max still had to come to terms with, she would get the chance. Just like Robin did. If anything, Robin could at least try to promise her that.

Robin was snapped out of her thoughts by Nancy standing up and walking up the basement stairs quickly, Steve following her, loudly objecting to not being included in their plans. She glanced around the room, seeing Dustin roll his eyes and Lucas let out a huff. She smiled tightly, feeling a little lost around them without Steve or Nancy to bridge the gap.

“Robin, come back me up!” Steve’s voice called down the stairs. Robin stood up quickly, relieved to be given an excuse to trail after them like a lost puppy. She had no intention of taking Steve’s side over Nancy’s—Nancy seemed like the wrong person to oppose— but she walked up the stairs to meet them anyway.

Once on the ground floor, Robin was pretty much completely lost. The Wheeler house was a mansion compared to hers, and she couldn’t see where Steve and Nancy had gone.

“Upstairs,” a small voice said, nearly scaring the shit out of Robin.

A small blonde girl was sitting in the living room, exasperation clear on her face as she pointed Robin in the direction of the stairs. Sure enough, Steve’s loud complaining could be heard from that direction.

Robin muttered a quick, “Thanks,” to the girl—another Wheeler kid?—before making her way upstairs, running to catch up with Steve and Nancy. She walked into what looked like Nancy’s bedroom, following Steve’s dulcet tones.

“I know, but why does it always have to be me? It’s like—”

Robin didn’t hear another word Steve said because as soon as she walked in, she saw a Tom Cruise poster taped up on Nancy’s wall. Right next to her bed. Her heart clenched uncomfortably.

“Oh my god, you have a Tom Cruise poster! …You have a Tom Cruise poster,” she blurted with a grin, the repetition a little bit more suggestive than she meant to convey.

Nancy visibly cringed. “That’s… old.”

Robin just laughed, kneeling down in front of the poster and the nightstand in front of it with a sort of reverence. 

I’m in Nancy’s bedroom, Robin thought, heart speeding up just slightly. Oh, what a treasure trove. 

Robin started rifling through the tapes on the nightstand (Tears for Fears?), spurred on by an insatiable urge to know Nancy Wheeler. To see her, really see her, by what she listened to, what kept on her nightstand, what she displayed on her dresser… she was surrounded by so much Nancy it was almost paralyzing.

Get a grip, Buckley. With thoughts like that, she was heading into dangerous territory. Crush territory. Hanging out with Nancy was already risky enough, given that she was one of the prettiest girls Robin had ever seen. The more and more Robin learned about her, how fucking astonishing she was, the more she felt herself slipping—as if she hadn’t already, which she was pointedly trying to ignore.

Her phone was blue with a keypad, and Robin was fascinated because she was expecting purple for some reason. She had The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley on her nightstand, and that alone caused a record scratch sound to reverberate in her head, because Nancy seemed so much more like a Judy Blume girl. Robin didn’t touch the scrawled-on scraps of paper on her nightstand, because even she wasn’t that nosey.

Instead, she opened the nightstand’s drawer, and, oh my god, there was a Polaroid of Nancy as a kid. She was adorable, with a grin that could rival Robin’s own. She stifled a vocal aw, knowing that Nancy might maim her for it, and quickly shut the drawer, sufficing for a wide grin. She stood, making her way to the dresser, which had so much more stuff on display.

Robin immediately went for a red box, opening it to find different baubles—hair ties, rings, bracelets, hair clips. She smiled at the thought of Nancy meticulously sorting through this box in the mornings before school, trying to find jewelry or a hair accessory that went with her outfit.

The jewelry tray next to the red box was full of basically everything except jewelry. There were a couple of earrings at the bottom, but other than those, there was a belt, endless scraps of paper with notes addressed to her, and a poetry anthology right on top. Jesus Christ, she felt her heart leap. Why was something as simple as learning about someone so enthralling?

Robin shook her head, as if manually trying to erase those thoughts. She turned her attention to the pink jewelry box, opening it. A small gasp escaped her lips when she saw a little ballerina figurine spinning along to music playing from the box. Nancy owned this, and it felt like opening up a little piece of her heart. 

Stop it! She shook her head again.

She turned to Steve conspiratorially and whispered, “Holy shit, there’s a little ballerina in here.” 

Immediately, she remembered that there were more serious things going on, like Nancy and Robin’s impending appointment with the director of the asylum. Nancy turned to look at her, impatience and exasperation written all over her face, and Steve raised his eyebrows like he was proving a point.

“Academic scholar? She’s giving you an academic scholar vibe?” Steve said, gesturing out toward Robin. She rolled her eyes, giving him a snarky glare as she closed the music box and set it back down on Nancy’s dresser.

“No, but…” Robin heard Nancy say. She whipped around to look at her and she was holding an absolute monstrosity of a blouse. It was pink, baby pink, with violent ruffles all the way up the middle along the pearl-like buttons. The shoulders looked poofy and cinched at the seam, making the arms slightly ruffled, too. Worst of all, the ruffles that ran up the shirt extended into a tight collar, which Robin was sure was going to make her look like Shakespeare.

“She will,” Nancy finished. Oh, hell, she was really going to have to wear it.

“Oh, please tell me that you’re joking,” Robin said, displeasure written into every syllable.

“This I have to see,” Steve interjected. 

Nancy just sighed, exasperated as she said, “Yes, Robin. We’re supposed to be honor students, and we have to look the part if we want any chance at seeing Creel.”

Robin groaned quietly, nodding out, “Fine.”

“Okay, great. Let’s start with the clothes. Steve, out,” Nancy said, swatting him on the arm with the shirt as he begrudgingly moved out of the room.

“Okay, but I wanna see the final result!” He called as Nancy shut the door on him.

Robin smiled at that, rolling her eyes fondly.

“Are you two seriously not dating?” Nancy asked, gaze averted. Robin’s gaze lifted.

“No, we are seriously not dating,” she stressed, trying to be reassuring.

Nancy chewed her lip. “Why? I mean, the chemistry’s all there, right?”

Robin sighed wearily, stomach roiling. Questions like these always made her uneasy, on edge. Having to quietly hide herself when she answered did too.

“He’s not my type. At all,” she skirted.

Nancy cleared her throat. “What is your type?”

Robin blanked, eyes trailing Nancy as she walked back to dig through her closet more. She had no idea what she could say to her that wouldn’t sound forced. So, she opted for honesty, face red.

“Curlier hair, probably. Shorter, for sure… I don’t know, maybe more assertive?” She listed, voice wavering slightly.

Nancy made a noncommittal hum from her closet. “Like Thomas Crowley from physics?”

A shudder ran through Robin as she imagined herself having a crush on that misogynist jerk. She snorted. “Definitely not.”

Nancy laughed lightly in return, emerging from her closet with two skirt options, holding them up for Robin to choose from. One was solid blue, with a ruffle around the hemline, and looked like it would go down all the way to the floor; the other, which already made Robin less nervous than the first, was off white and not quite as long, decorated with small splotches of pastels.

“That one, I think,” Robin said, pointing.

“I thought so, too. You have nice legs, they’re not worth covering. Oh, but, I’ll have to give you some tights,” Nancy said offhandedly, diving back into the closet as if she hadn’t caused Robin to short-circuit.

Nice legs? She hadn’t really considered that she had nice legs. And why had Nancy been paying attention to her legs? She was the one with nice legs. And arms, and neck, and practically everything else.

Nancy emerged from her closet again, clutching tights and a cardigan.

“Okay, here’s your full outfit.” She turned to Robin, giving her a thorough once-over. A shiver ran down Robin’s back at the burning look.

“What color bra are you wearing?” Nancy asked, squinting at Robin’s chest and turning back toward the hideous shirt they picked out.

Robin was going to have a heart attack, she just knew it. Trying to avoid a crush on Nancy Wheeler was as fruitless of an effort as they came. If Robin was honest with herself, she had slipped into crush territory a while ago.

Fuck, Robin thought as her face heated up under Nancy’s gaze. Fuck, this isn’t good.

———

Nancy wasn’t sure exactly why Robin grated on her nerves so much. It was like she was an ever present entity in her head, occupying space and distracting her from more important matters. Even now, when Nancy was just trying to dress her right, Robin standing on the other side of her room just… took too much of her mental energy.

Robin looked into her shirt, probably to see what color her bra was.

“Um, it’s black. Tiny bit of lace on the edges,” Robin muttered, attempting inconspicuous.

Nancy’s movements as she fussed with the clothes laid out on the bed stuttered and her brain ground to a halt, face reddening. What?

She cleared her throat, doing her best to sound as normal as possible when she said, “That won’t work. I’ll lend you one of mine. A white one.”

“Nance, I don’t mean this in a bad way, but my boobs are, like, a lot bigger than yours. I will never be able to fit into one of your bras,” Robin said, embarrassment written over her features.

Nancy rolled her eyes, trying to tamp down any unwanted expression at the continued mention of Robin’s boobs. She walked over to the dresser behind Robin and pulled open a drawer to find a more suitable bra. She rifled through the contents of the drawer quickly, trying to save herself the embarrassment of Robin seeing all her undergarments. She grabbed the biggest white one she could find.

“Here,” Nancy said, turning to Robin. “This should work. It might be tight, but it’s just for a little while.”

Robin tentatively reached out and took the bra from Nancy’s hand. “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just… go ahead and get changed and then we can do your makeup and hair.”

Robin sighed, mouth tight. “Makeup, too?”

“Yes, Robin. Don’t worry, I’ll do it for you.”

Nancy turned around, giving Robin a chance to change. She didn’t appreciate the way her heart rate picked up when she imagined Robin changing her clothes, bra and all, in the other corner of her room. She certainly didn’t like how the thought of doing Robin’s makeup—faces hovering close, skin touching skin—made her stomach do backflips. 

Nancy wasn’t stupid. Far from it, really. The last time she had felt like this, giddy and full of light in the face of certain danger, had been with Jonathan her junior year. It felt like a crush. 

The thing was, though, that Nancy didn’t like girls. She really had loved Jonathan, before the distance made them end things, and being with Steve was fun. It had felt right. Sure, she could appreciate a pretty face, a soft body with no hard edges like boys’, a gorgeous smile that lit up the room—but that didn’t mean she liked girls. Right? 

Robin’s presence burning into Nancy’s consciousness even from across the room begged to differ. Nancy just wanted to be closer… whatever that meant. 

Nancy shook her head clear, taking much longer than necessary to pick out all the makeup and jewelry she was going to use on Robin. She kept her head down, not wanting to add any more fuel to the fire that was her Robin problem. 

“Nance? This bra really does not fit,” Robin said softly from the other side of the room. “Is it noticeable?”

Nancy took a steadying breath before looking over at Robin. She tried not to let any emotion show on her face as she gave her a once-over, pausing to examine how her chest spilled out of the bra Nancy had given her. Her heart skipped a beat. 

Nancy was sure she was blushing, but she maintained her steely demeanor. 

“Robin, no one’s going to see you with your shirt off. Try the shirt on and then I can tell you if it’s noticeable.”

Robin grumbled as she pulled her arms through the shirt that Nancy handed her, beginning the painstaking process of buttoning it up. Once she reached the collar, she gasped as if she had been hit. 

“Nance, this is too tight, it’s gonna choke me,” she exclaimed.

Nancy, growing fonder of Robin using her nickname, rolled her eyes, barely suppressing a smile.

“You can leave it undone until we get there. And it’s not gonna choke you, Robin,” Nancy said. She quickly scanned Robin’s chest, trying to avoid an obvious blush “And the bra looks good. Fine.”

Good? What was that?, Nancy thought.

Robin grumbled a thanks and scrambled to put on the rest of Nancy’s clothes. She pulled on the skirt, tucking the shirt into the waist expertly before pulling on the cardigan and stepping clumsily in the tights. 

“Ta da,” Robin announced once she was all dressed.

Nancy looked her up and down. There was no denying that the clothes weren’t Robin’s style. Nancy typically envied the confidence Robin carried herself with—the way she wore what she liked and didn’t take any shit for it—but now, Robin fidgeted in her clothes, clearly uncomfortable. 

Nancy walked over to her, holding out the shoes that went with the outfit. They were white with a low heel and pink ribbon accents. Robin gave them a look of disdain, clearly hating them, just like Nancy knew she would. She reached out and took them anyway, but not without a slightly sour look. 

“I know it’s not your style… but for what it’s worth… you look pretty nice,” Nancy said haltingly. 

Robin immediately fumbled the shoes. 

“Sorry. Thank you, Nance,” she said, ducking down to pick up the shoes, face red. 

Nancy smiled slightly, padding over to grab the makeup she had picked out. She turned back to Robin, who was once again looking at the shoes with a scowl. 

“Hey, for the makeup, can you come sit on the edge of my bed? It’s just… you’re a lot taller than me and I think that’s the only way I’ll be able to do it,” Nancy said. 

In the back of her head, she knew Robin was perfectly capable of doing her own makeup if Nancy instructed her. But Nancy could totally do it better. And that’s why she was doing it herself. That’s why. 

Robin took a seat on Nancy’s comforter without a word, staring up at her.

Nancy tried to get her heartbeat under control as she took Robin’s chin gently with her hand, starting with small swipes of concealer under her eyes. Robin seemed to be holding her breath. 

The angle wasn’t good, either. Nancy was now too much taller than Robin, and was having a hard time getting her wrist at a good angle to apply the rest of the makeup. 

Nancy huffed, exasperated, as she adjusted her hand several times to try to get a better angle. 

“What is it?” Robin nearly whispered, lips barely moving against Nancy’s hand. 

“I can’t get a good angle. This isn’t working,” Nancy said, giving up with a sigh. She got an idea that turned her cheeks red (and at this point, it felt like she was perpetually blushed around Robin today).

“Here, let’s try something,” Nancy said, walking up to the top of her bed to arrange the pillows. “Lay back up here.”

Robin glanced at her, puzzled and hesitating. Nancy just rolled her eyes again (the vitriol behind her eye rolls lessened as they progressed, she noticed).

“Just trust me, Buckley,” she said, as if the thought didn’t terrify her. 

Robin frowned, nodding before obeying and crawling up to the front of Nancy’s bed, laying back against the pillows. 

Nancy followed her, heart racing. She threw a leg over Robin, straddling her. 

Robin’s eyes were the size of dinner plates. She looked—and felt—tense, hands fidgeting at her sides. Nancy felt pretty much the same way. 

“This should be easier,” Nancy said lowly with a small smile. 

“Okay,” Robin squeaked. 

Nancy grabbed the concealer again, leaning down to resume her motions against Robin’s skin. She dabbed at the product with her finger, blending it in, taking much longer than necessary to keep her fingers against Robin’s soft face. 

She reached over for her eyeshadow pallet, choosing the most neutral colors to work with and leaning down close to dust it over Robin’s eyelids. 

She was incredibly aware of Robin under her, their faces close together, breaths mingling. Sitting on Robin’s hips was surprisingly comfortable, as nerve wracking as it was. She could see herself doing this often. 

Jesus Christ. There was practically no denying it now. Nancy Wheeler had it bad for Robin Buckley. 

————

Robin’s mind was racing as she laid out on Nancy’s pillows on her bed. She was scared to even move a muscle, to even breathe, because Nancy Wheeler was straddling her, approximately 6 inches from her face, applying her makeup. 

The places where their bodies met—Nancy’s fingers against Robin’s face, Nancy’s arm braced against Robin’s collarbone, Nancy sitting on Robin’s hips—all felt electric, charged like a live wire. 

Nancy mumbled something lowly as she leaned further in to dab at the eyeshadow she had just applied. Robin’s breath hitched as she realized she hadn’t been paying attention. 

“What?” she answered, voice cracking. 

“If you’re not dating Steve, which I don’t really understand, then who are you dating?” Nancy repeated. “Close your eyes.”

Robin chuckled humorlessly, letting her eyes slip shut (which wasn’t all that hard to do with Nancy’s touch against her face). “No one. Absolutely no one,” she replied. 

Nancy’s movements stuttered for a second. “What about a crush?”

Robin was sure her face was already burning under Nancy’s touch, but in that moment, she imagined it getting as red as it possibly could. 

“Nope,” she lied, barely a whisper. She eased her eyes open and found herself staring into Nancy’s eyes. Fuck. 

She was making the same squinty, critical eyes that she had made at Robin back in the library basement, the look that had originally made Robin’s stomach a mosh pit of butterflies. Needless to say, Robin was currently about to lose her mind. 

“Bullshit,” Nancy said, still with the same face that made Robin’s insides turn to goo. 

Robin could only stare, could only continue the eye contact that she had initiated. 

“Hmm. But Steve’s ‘not your type.’ Got it,” Nancy said, leaning back down with blush to dab at her cheeks. 

“It’s not Steve, Nance. It’s never been Steve, and it never will be Steve,” Robin said, seemingly with enough sincerity this time that Nancy pursed her lips slightly, nodding. 

“I guess I don’t get it. How you can spend so much time with him and not get a crush.”

Robin’s heart raced. The thing about coming out to people is that you rarely know when it’s going to happen. Sometimes, the stars align and you find yourself saying it before you can even stop yourself. 

“Because I don’t like guys. I like girls,” Robin blurted, scarcely believing she let herself say that. 

The air in the room stilled. Nancy’s movements faltered only a second before she resumed as though nothing had happened. 

“Oh. Well… I suppose that’s a pretty good reason,” she said lightly. 

A few seconds’ pause. “How did you know?”

Robin’s eyes found Nancy’s again. “How did I know I didn’t like guys?”

It looked like Nancy was trying to seem nonchalant—she was doing that thing where she raised her eyebrows expressively, jaw tight. “No. How did you know you liked girls?”

Robin’s mind went blank and her heart went faster still. Did Nancy know the implications of that question? Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she found the words, haltingly still. 

“I think what helped me realize that I liked girls was that I didn’t like boys. For a while, I just thought I was… broken. That I couldn’t like anyone. But then, one of my friends told me about a crush she had… how her heart would speed up, how she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach, how she would have a hard time not looking at him, how she was constantly aware of his presence when he was around… and I realized girls made me feel that way.

“I met a girl who liked both, once. Both boys and girls. At that summer camp. Apparently, it’s called bisexual. She said it took her a while to realize that she liked girls because she liked boys, too. She didn’t realize it wasn’t… normal to want to be so close to your best friend. To want to hold her hand all the time. I think it’s just something hard to realize and come to terms with.”

Nancy’s movements slowed. “You can like both?”

Robin smiled lightly. “Totally. She did, anyway. And she was from New York.”

Nancy resumed her motions with the blush, a little rougher this time. Her voice sounded a little harder when she said, “Did you two ever…”

Robin understood. “Just for the summer.”

Nancy hummed. “So you’ve kissed a girl.” It wasn’t a question. 

Robin turned beet red again, chuckling awkwardly and acutely aware that Nancy was literally sitting on her. 

“Um. Yeah,” she said. 

“What’s it like?” Nancy said, not even bothering with the makeup anymore. 

Robin’s eyes went wide. She didn’t know much, but this wasn’t a particularly… straight line of questioning. She hoped she wasn’t going crazy. 

“It’s really nice. For me, at least. Soft, attentive. Tastes like her chapstick, if she wears it.”

Nancy looked deep in thought, chewing on her lip anxiously. 

“What flavor chapstick do you wear, Robin?”

Robin’s breath hitched, heartbeat surely reaching a fever pitch. Nancy’s gaze was intense, making her feel warm all over. This couldn’t be real. 

Then Nancy’s eyes dropped to her lips. 

“Do you really wanna know, Nance?” Robin breathed. 

Nancy nodded slowly, eyes lifting back up to Robin’s own. Her voice cracked when she said, “Yeah.”

Robin reached up tentatively, tucking Nancy’s hair behind her ear, hand settling on her neck. Nancy leaned in slowly, so slow Robin could hardly tell if she was moving. She pulled on her neck oh-so-softly, just encouraging her. 

Robin tilted her chin up as Nancy got closer. Their lips brushed, just barely, and Nancy let out a small sigh, pushing in closer. 

Holy shit, I’m kissing Nancy Wheeler, was all Robin could think, until Nancy’s lips moved against hers, and she lost thought entirely. 

It was soft and slow and perfect and Robin didn’t think any other moment in her life would come close to this one. Nancy’s lips were soft and moving relentlessly against hers and Robin was in paradise. 

It could have been seconds, minutes, hours that they lay there, lazily kissing. At some point, Nancy’s arms dropped, and they lay practically on top of each other. Robin giggled, pulling Nancy in as close as possible, and she felt Nancy smile against her lips.

There was a loud knock at the door, startling both of them away from each other. 

“Nance! Robin! It’s 2:30, we’ve gotta go!” Steve’s voice carried through the door. 

“We’ll be out in a second!” called Robin, voice wrecked. 

She looked over at Nancy, who was staring at her with wide eyes. 

“Nance?” she asked, the question clear in her voice. 

Nancy tried to suppress a smile. “I think I’m like your summer camp girlfriend.”

Robin laughed her boisterous laugh and leaned into Nancy again, placing a sweet kiss on her lips. 

“Anything else?” she asked teasingly. 

“And I definitely have a crush on you,” Nancy said, embarrassed, hiding her face in her hands. 

“I cannot believe Nancy Wheeler likes me back,” Robin mused, to no one in particular. She pulled Nancy’s hands away from her face and held on. 

Nancy looked at her, surprised. “Back?”

Robin laughed yet again. “Yes, Nance. I have been crushing on you embarrassingly hard.”

Robin was sure that if the energy from their smiles could be packaged and sold, they could power the world for years. They looked at each other, smiling, giddy, unable to do anything but admire one another. 

After a few seconds, Robin broke the silence. “I really do think we have to go, Nance.”

Nancy sighed, crawling her way off Robin and the bed. “Yeah, come on. Do your hair in the car and we can do more of this later.”

Robin’s eyebrows shot up. “More?”

Nancy gave her a playful look. “Yeah, more. What did you think, Buckley? You’re stuck with me.”

Robin beamed, taking Nancy’s hand as she offered it and hoisting herself off the bed. 

Their hands lingered as Robin slipped on the shoes and they walked downstairs.

[queerprayers]

Hello! Do you have any christian songs and artists to recommend?

Beloved! Yes I do! Thanks for asking! Here's a lot of music I love from lots of genres.

some of my Spotify playlists:

current season playlist: advent (I'm working on organizing my Christmas playlists and will share them soon. I don't listen to Christmas music before the 24th, though.)

my in-love-with-Jesus playlist: Yeshua my beloved

my super disorganized song dump: queer Christian vibes

my leftist mix: can I interest you in some Christian Socialism

a trauma/confusion-inspired mix: weird relationship with Christianity

Contemporary Artist Recommendations

Semler—the ultimate queer Christian music icon. They've topped Christian charts multiple times, and make music about being gay, loving their wife, and finding God.

Sufjan Stevens—a classic. the ultimate "is he singing about God or his boyfriend?". has entirely too many weird Christmas songs.

LGBT choruses (compilation)—there's a lovely tradition of queer choruses—most famously The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Not usually specifically Christian, but do hymns/Christian choral music.

Peter, Paul & Mary—a group I grew up with that inspired my love of folk and of justice.

Judee Sill—fun bisexual mystic folk-rock from the 70s

Trey Pearson—Christian pop artist who came out in 2016.

The Many—justice/love focused group with indie pop and gospel influences. (x)

All Sons & Daughters—more worship folk, purposefully unpolished.

Page CXVI—want to make hymns "accessible and known again." named after a page from The Magician's Nephew. (x)

Julien Baker—for my indie sad girls.

Vicky Beeching—a classic worship artist who came out in 2014

The Liturgists—part of the art collective of the same name. They also have a podcast.

Liturgical Folk—exactly what it sounds like. Absolutely lovely.

Poor Bishop Hooper—currently working on folk settings of all the Psalms. I also love their Advent/Christmas album.

Albums/Song Shoutouts

Seranade is a pop compilation by various queer artists, collected by the organization Beloved Arise.

The Mountain Goats is one of my favorite bands, and they've made a lot of work inspired/informed by Christianity. Check out their album The Life of the World to Come and their song "Cry for Judas."

The Oh Hellos' album Dear Wormwood has some great rennaissance-fair-vibes Christian bops. They did "Soldier, Poet, King," for the Tiktok-users out there.

"Maybe There's a Loving God" by Sarah Groves has gotten me through a lot of doubt-filled moments.

"Jesus! (A Communist Disco)" is exactly what it sounds like.

"She Keeps Me Warm" by Mary Lambert—which will be familiar to anyone who's heard that one gay Macklemore song—is absolutely beautiful. I don't cry on Sundays anymore. She and her wife are both Christian <3

I heard "VBS" by Lucy Dacus live, and it healed something in me. For the Vacation Bible School survivors.

Musicals/Soundtracks

I wasn't really a theater kid, but only because I was never good enough to audition... Here are some musicals and soundtracks that give me religious feelings.

Spring Awakening is a coming-of-age rock musical about teenagers discovering sex in a strict religious environment. (Warning for suicide, abortion, and sexual content.)

The Prince of Egypt is my favorite religious movie, and the soundtrack could wake me from a coma.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (soundtrack) (Broadway cast) is a great Disney movie, and has been made into a Broadway show. It's about a corrupt church and deals with sex/race/disability issues. Not perfect, but amazing for what it is, which is a kid's movie. I especially recommend the song "God Help the Outcasts." (Warning for normalized use of the word g*psy and for vague discussion of sexual violence.)

Bare is kind of a camp Catholic school musical? That's the best way I can describe it. Never went mainstream, and insanely long. Full of bops nonetheless. (Warning for drug use/overdose.)

Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway cast) (TV cast)—the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of Jesus' last week, told from the perspective of Judas. I've never enjoyed the movie, but the NBC event slapped. Widely criticized, heavily secular, and my Holy Saturday tradition. (Warnings (obviously) for suicide & torture/execution.)

Fiddler on the Roof is Jewish, not Christian, but is famous for a reason. The prayer songs feel so familiar even though I haven't really been around Jewish music—they just feel like home.

The Prom is centered around a lesbian couple trying to go to prom together. Recently made into a very cute Netflix movie. Deals with with Christian homophobia, especially "Love Thy Neighbor."

Liturgical/Classical/Choral/Hymns:

I grew up with the hymns in the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, and one of these days I'm gonna make a playlist of my favorites. (Here's the best one I've found.)

I also grew up around classical musicians, and there are a million pieces I could recommend, but here are my staples.

Lutheran Daily Prayer (Evening/Morning)—the daily liturgy that I'm familiar with. Simple and beautiful.

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles are an order of nuns who never fail to make me weep.

The National Lutheran Choir does so many beautiful hymns.

Choir of King's College, Cambridge—absolutely unparalleled Christmas albums.

Music of the Passion of Jesus Christ / The London Fox Players

high church hymns (playlist)

Bach's Passions

Rachmaninoff's Vespers

Vivaldi's Gloria

Pergolesi's Stabat Mater

de Monte's Mass Si Ambulavero & Motets

Mozart's Requiem (I think this is my favorite choral piece of all time)

Alright, that's what I got for you today! Happy listening! Everyone reading: drop your recommendations in the replies! No judgement, just vibes.

<3 Johanna

[pianostarinwonderland]

Fun fact book Frollo was super into alchemy to the point where people would say he’s a sorcerer

I just read about him in the Sparknotes summary of Hunchback of Notre Dame! He got into alchemy and astrology because he used it as copium basically from witnessing his younger brother and Quasimodo growing up to become failures in his eyes.

It's actually really sad to read about the original Claude Frollo. 🥲 He used to be really kind, and he adopted both his younger brother and Quasimodo because of the compassion of his heart. He was an excellent student as well. He could have been a great priest. But then he grew up and he got more and more disappointed about the people he adopted, and he grew to become more morose to the point that when he watched Quasimodo get tortured, he doesn't help him at all. Disney's Frollo had already depicted him in his twisted and evil self, but the book shows a bigger descent to madness.

With this in mind, I'm now really excited for how they develop Rollo in TWST. I hope they get the nuances that the book had for Frollo's character because it would really enrich him. 😭 Maybe Rollo might even have a younger brother.