˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ now playing: "total eclipse of the heart" - bonnie tyler
"𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺, 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳."
this is probably one of the best renditions they couldve done for a prequel of robins character — it is so rich with so many references and depth from the actual show, as well as relevant parallels to the later seasons, such as how she feels about will byers, interactions with joyce, feelings about barb, nancy, and steve, etc. not to mention how it jabs at your heart using foreshadowing from a past perspective. the book begins a few months before the start of season one, meaning it covers a lot of season one’s action from an outsider’s perspective, and i love that. especially since robin ends up being part of the crew in later seasons. her character arc in this book is so true to who she is in the series — i was reading her dialogue and thoughts in her voice and it was so exciting to me because it felt like unlocking extra scenes with one of my favorite characters.
→ 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 .ᐟ.ᐟ
i also think this is so relatable to the lesbian experience. robin has always been one of my favorite characters since she was introduced, long before i fully understood my sexuality. and to explore robin’s identity through this story where she has a strong connection to a girl in her fantasy (loved reading about tammy btw - a.r. capetta makes her such a likable and well-rounded character), while she gets close with her best guy friend and gets that “oh-shit” feeling that he might have a crush on her, is such a feeling i know all too well. i’ve been through these motions before, and even the fact that robin didn’t know what flirting with a guy looked like in the first place (shocked she might have been playing into it without even knowing) was so relatable, too! i have always felt more comfortable letting my real personality loose around guys faster than girls because it didn’t matter as much to me if they liked me or not. whereas with girls, it always felt harder to fit in and be liked, which is what i saw in robin. i loved that aspect of her identity.
robin’s whole plan to run away to europe plotline makes so much sense if you think about how she knows four additional languages and dreamed of something more than hawkins. if you think back to season three, it always seemed like she was better than the town, a little too seasoned and uncharacteristic for it. even if she is a nerd, she thinks and appreciates in ways that other people don't, like mr. hauser, the english teacher. it's actually so ironic that max feels this same way in runaway max. it almost makes me wonder if we got a story about will, would he also feel this way where he needs to run away from hawkins in order for his life to begin? i would adore a will novel written this well. this story gave a cool insight into the outer part of hawkins high - i always like to see little glimpses of what life looks like for the surrounding characters. it pays nice homage to season one, too.
the side characters, milton, dash, and kate, were all portrayed as realistic townspeople in hawkins. i don’t have any criticisms of them because the story doesn’t center them. i liked robin bonding with sheena, the other weird girl, after she decided to put her walls down. it goes to show that when you're hiding yourself away, people won't recognize you like if you finally show yourself.
also to mention her implied neurodivergence - which is also hinted at and deepened by this book, with her feelings of alienation compared to other people, feeling as though she has to rehearse or memorize a predetermined set of words and rules in order to interact with people, and who she sees as a comfortable crowd. that moment where she meets joyce at the melvald's general store and she doesn't put up a front with her because she feels instantly comfortable around her was so cute and a nice moment to look back on after season five. (and funny how joyce also interacts with max in runaway max!) i think the story ended with a satisfying transition into series robin - she never got too close with anyone, always yearning for deeper connections until her appearance in season three. and the fact that it leaves us off with "there is no universe where you and i are friends, steve" is so funny and perfect for her.