#makes me feel like they'd be close in a 70s au because of it. same idea with the disco dancer and the record producer because c'mon?

[meduseld]

Sidestepping into an AU and invoking Rule 63 (the genderflip option): Would Nick and Ziggy have had the same dynamic and same outcome if they’d been Nicole and Christian instead?

So I've been thinking about this all morning, because there's a lot potentially there.

So let's start with the issue here: Nicole theoretically could never exist within the constraints of this universe. The Pact specifically rests on the First Born Goode Son, and you could make the case that the Devil makes sure only boys are born to the line anyway. A girl being born would be a calamity, either a sure sign of being out of favor with Satan and having the clock running down on them or a gross inconvenience to be set aside in favor of her younger brother which her father would set about procuring. Which means if there was a Nicole, she would be vastly different from Nick. She would not have been the heir apparent, nor already be assume to be taking her father's place later. She would not have those pressures and isolation, though she'd likely have the same social aloofness, that Nick suffered as being the one in on and expected to carry on the demonic secret. And likely be resented and neglected by her father; I think the Goode family's brand of intrafamily misogyny is very bad and the insidious kind to boot.

Of course, that could give her an even bigger link with Ziggy in canon as sort of outsiders and her being pleased the Princess of Sunnyvale is also a Stephen King reading weirdo that feels lonely and out of touch with her family; in this she'd be just as shunted to the side as Ziggy was in canon, not put on a devastating pedestal like canon Nick. Both isolating and damaging but in very different ways; Nick and Ziggy connect through being oddly similar in canon, this would add to that. And we know Lesbians are a favorite theme of Fear Street's. In fact they'd parallel DeenaxSam a lot more closely, especially since the whole thing is that Sunnyvale's what would people say vibe makes it sooooo much harder to be gay even if people are not homophobic to your face but behind your back as it wouldn't be "polite" to shout slurs. Shadyside seems to be way more laidback about it because well: shit's doomed. Who gives a fuck. You might get some assholes who would shout shit but most people don't care.

If it was also Ziggy but his first name is Christian, they would also have some basis to bond, as the whole bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks and Uptown Girl is a trope in its own right. The kicker being, Nicole probably wouldn't have put Tommy's name on the wall and would not have been able to save Christian, if it happened at all. And because of that, the adult NickxZiggy dynamic would not be reflected or possible.

Now onto Ziggy but his name is Christian, as a character. I think he'd also diverge significantly from Ziggy and that's also due to gendered dynamics. For one, his relationship with Ziggy would likely have a maternal bent, as instead of sisters it would lean into Eldest Daughter Raises her Younger Brother. The hurt would be there, but different. More than Christine's "fuck this we're doomed and you're a poser might as well live it up and fight back" I think it would be "you turned away from me too, ashamed of me, rejecting me. If you, essentially my mom and sister, don't want me, fuck it might as well live it up and fight back". But Ziggy's issues are also very gendered; it's a witch hunt led by mean girls and the ways they hurt each other are also more girl style; insults, attacking their rooms or clothes (Ziggy's paint idea) and so forth. Christian likely wouldn't have that style of torment, it might be more physical because boys in the late 70s and even now, or he might just be socially ostracized/the weird kid instead. Or even go completely in the other direction, part of Ziggy's issues is that the only peers she has (other Shadyside girls close to her age) are her sister, Alice and Joan. Older and tied to her sister in a way that cuts her out. The other Shadyside campers appear far too young. Christian might have more friends or seem like the tough cool kid or be more able to make friends with other boys via age or connection. Tommy and Gary seem very nice dudes, and Arnie also seems easy going and would, unlike Alice, probably be friendlier. And idk, boy Ziggy is less compelling to me because of that I think. Maybe it's just the fact that I was a weird difficult teen girl. And there's more tolerance of strange boys vs strange girls.

But since we mentioned the lesbian version of Nick x Ziggy, let's consider the gay one. This one could also be compelling and closer to the original dynamic, and like above, give it new dimension. If Nick was experiencing same-sex attraction it would hit him really hard because of the whole weight of legacy and the expectations on him and Sunnyvale norms. If in canon admitting to Stephen King was treated like something he could never show to the world, imagine something as big as that. Feeling he was a fraud unworthy of the family for this too. And Christian living loud and unapologetic, and also feeling separate from his family and kind of amazed and flattered if wary, like in canon, that the High Prince of Sunnyvale really wants to connect with him and they do click. And in this case, Nick would still be behind what happens, like in canon, and would be able to save Christian, and it would make the dynamic of them as adults that much deeper. Nick wants to reach out to him but can't because he could literally never publically be with him. The weight of the note would be like tenfold. Maurice levels of longing and distance. And that mall scene? Because Christian probably wouldn't tell random kids he kissed SHERIFF GOODE, he just made it sound like friends, and Deena, who had her suspicions from how Ziggy told the story, sees the way they look at each other and goes. Oh you motherfucker, that's what this is about? You took it out on me because you're too cowardly to face up to it? Living a miserable lie? And broke his heart too? YOU'RE A DEAD MAN. YOU WERE ALREADY BUT THIS IS EXTRA PERSONAL NOW.

Either way, I don't see a happy ending anymore than in canon. Satanism ruins lives, and Nick's in particular.

#this got long because i have feelings on gender clearly #but yeah interesting af #nick x ziggy #in all its permutations #nick goode #ziggy berman #c berman #fear street #camp nightwing