Line #21 Literature/LostGirls


1	->''"What is it you want? What is it you truly want? Because you'd better be careful what you ask for. In Neverland wishes are granted in very strange ways."''
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3	[[quoteright:174:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lostgirls_7549.jpg]]
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5	A YoungAdult novella-length feminist spin on ''Literature/PeterPan'', featured in the short story anthology ''Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast''. It deconstructs the gender roles present in the original ''Peter Pan'' with a heavy dose of [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic metaphor]].
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7	Darla is a girl who is upset at the chauvinistic undertones of the original ''Peter Pan''. She [[OrWasItADream dreams]] that Peter Pan spirits her away to Neverland and discovers that the hierarchy of the Lost Boys and Lost Girls is based upon oppression. With forces from both sides opposing her, she does her best to change the way that things have always been done.
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9	Written by Creator/JaneYolen and winner of the 1998 UsefulNotes/NebulaAward.
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11	If you are looking for the television series, see ''Series/LostGirl''. It should also not be confused with the graphic novel of the same title by Creator/AlanMoore and Melinda Gebbie, which also features Wendy Darling and is also a deconstruction of its source material but is very definitely not intended for a young adult audience.
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13	!!This work contains examples of:
14	* AbusiveParents: Darla has perfectly normal parents, but many of the Lost Girls had fathers that beat them or mothers that left them.
15	* ActionGirl: [=JoAnne=], who when threatened with the idea of facing murderous pirates, gleefully picks up a knife and rushes off towards them. She gives Smee a good stab and is the only girl who actually gets a hit in on a pirate.
16	* AdaptationalWimp: Wendy goes from a SilkHidingSteel ParentalSubstitute to a stern matron that believes serving Peter is the best thing, and that the girls don't need to go on adventures. Wendy also did participate in some adventures in the original Peter Pan, just not a lot of them.
17	* AKindOfOne: Invoked by the Lost Boys. Girls (who used to be completely absent from Neverland) are referred to as "Wendys" because the very first girl in Neverland is named Wendy and none of them can be bothered to remember the actual names of all the other girls.
18	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:[[invoked]] The entire novella is a AlternativeCharacterInterpretation {{Deconstruction}} of the characters from ''Peter Pan''.
19	** Peter Pan is a creepily FauxAffablyEvil (Yolen completely takes the Hero out of [[SociopathicHero Sociopathic Hero]]) [[TheBully bully]] who kidnaps little girls partly out of a [[OlderThanTheyLook sort of]] [[MayflyDecemberRomance pedophilic lust]], and partly to [[StayInTheKitchen do the housework]].
20	** Wendy, an AlphaBitch who enforces the early 20th century notions of women [[StayInTheKitchen doing all the cooking and cleaning while having none of the adventure]].
21	** Captain Hook is [[spoiler: portrayed sympathetically, living partially in the normal timestream and rescuing any children that want to escape from Peter.]]
22	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor:
23	** The story starts because Darla complains about how Peter and the Lost Boys get to have the fun while Wendy has to StayInTheKitchen. In this story, she goes to Neverland and chases the gender rules by getting all the "Wendy" girls to run away with the pirates.
24	** Peter cautions Darla against this when she tries to win equal rights for the Lost Girls.
25	--->"What is it you want? What is it you truly want? Because you'd better be careful what you ask for. In Neverland wishes are granted in very strange ways."
26	* {{Deconstruction}}: Of ''Peter Pan'', of course.
27	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Hoo boy...
28	** Peter is the head of the Lost Boys who wants to use the Lost Girls as a workforce for the most undesirable tasks. However he does not want to acknowledge them as individuals or to give them equal status and a fair share of the reward. On top of that he does not care for their welfare, viewing them as easily replaceable.
29	** Wendy is "original" Lost Girl who believes that women have it good as it is and that any changes are self-destructive and for the worse.
30	** The striking "Wendys" have a sign that reads, "EQUAL P'''L'''AY FOR EQUAL WORK".
31	* FauxAffablyEvil: Peter. To elaborate:
32	-->Darla wiped her eyes, and spoke right to Peter. "My name is not Wendy," she said clearly. "It's Darla."\
33	Peter looked at her, and there was nothing nice or laughing or young about his eyes. They were dark and cold and very very old.\
34	Darla shivered.\
35	"Here you're a Wendy," he said.
36	* NeverGrewUp: Considering that ''Lost Girls'' is essentially fanfiction of the TropeNamer, this is naturally a trope present in the work.
37	* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: [[spoiler: Captain Hook and the pirates]].
38	* OlderThanTheyLook: All of the Lost Girls other than Darla (a recent arrival to Neverland).
39	* OrWasItADream: The bulk of the adventure happens after Darla goes to sleep, but several times she points out things that normally don't happen in dreams. [[spoiler: At the end she wakes up with one of the Lost Girls sleeping in her room, conclusively proving that it wasn't a dream after all]].
40	* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Captain Hook and his gang, much like in the original.
41	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The Lost Girls and Lost Boys tread a thin line between being ReallySevenHundredYearsOld and OlderThanTheyLook. [[NeverGrewUp No one grows up]] or ages in Neverland, but the majority of the children were taken from the real world within the last century. Technically everyone is immortal as long as they don't ''leave'' Neverland. Peter is at least a century old and creepily, seems very aware of it.
42	* RealMenHateSugar: {{Inverted}}; Darla ''hates'' all the greasy sugary foods that Peter insists they eat.
43	* RecycledInSpace: ''Peter Pan'', Recycled With FEMINISM!
44	* SelfInsert: In-universe with Darla entering the world of ''Peter Pan'' after objecting to the implicit message of the story.
45	* SociopathicHero: The original portrayal of Peter as kind of a SociopathicHero is subverted. In ''Lost Girls'' he's more of a VillainWithGoodPublicity, manipulating all the sheeplike Lost Boys and Lost Girls into doing what he wants them to with a casual disregard for their happiness, individuality or safety.

Context Literature / LostGirls