Let Me Know How You Feel About This Prompt - Tumblr Posts
So I have a question. One that links back to the scene in Season 4 during the conversation between Nancy and Steve in the Upside down during the last episode and why I'm not really a fan of how the aftermath of it is handled in some fics I've read, but this is solely based off my own opinion.
For the sake of fanon over canon (canon doesn't exist. I dont know her) Let's say theres a scenario where all of the party are together, Eddie and Max are recovering and they're all at Steve's or something like that. But if we're gonna go down more of a canon route in S5 with Nancy, Jonathan and Steve, I honestly dont think either of them will end up together. (Mainly because I have a bad feeling at least two of these three arent gonna make it out alive) but back to fanon, let's say Jonathan and Nancy have broken up but they're still learning how to be around eachother as friends just like Steve and Nancy are doing. Again, I feel like this would've been a way better way to go for their character development if Stancy were spending their time together just learning how to be around eachother again. It would've made for a much better dynamic in season 5 between the three.
Anyhow, I'm getting sidetracked. Goes without saying that Steve is easily my favourite stranger things character. However I've always had some mixed feelings when it came to Nancy, noticing on more than one occasion that while she is genuinely a good person and a complete badass who knows how to get shit done, she seems to have some problems feeling empathy for others, especially if the situation doesnt apply to her, though you could argue that Mike has the same issue when it comes to El and Will, in which he tries to understand but when he knows he cant he instead becomes frustrated and more often than not takes it out on them. Nancy definitely has this issue with Steve in season 2. During the first part of season 2 and to an extent season 1, Steve tries to offer her a distraction to her problems with guilt rather than a solution. And to an extent I believe that was how Nancy came to view Steve during season 2. A distraction instead of a solution, eventually realising this distraction was no longer helping her and taking out her frustrations on the distraction before finding a solution by going with Jonathan to find Murray for answers and realising that Jonathan was the one she wanted.
However during season 3 they seem to have a hard time understanding eachother and on top of that the two barely interact with Steve at all. Yet in season 4 Steve and Nancy are left to reconnect while Jonathan is in California, not to mention the underlying subplot that her and Jonathan are realising that much like her and Steve, they each have very different ambitions.
Nancy is very career driven and wants to make a difference in the world. Jonathan just wants to take care of his family and stay close to them following everything that has happened and is unsure if what he really wants is to spend his life following Nancy rather than being by her side. Steve on the other hand has developed a somewhat paternal bond with the party following what is implied to have been a very fundamentally lonely life. It's for this reason that it makes sense he would he happy with a simple quiet life, travelling the world with a family of his own. I'm not sure if the Duffers did this on purpose to mislead us or whether they've just forgotten what each of these characters have been through in each season but when you put all that in perspective, none of these ambitions align in the slightest. If anyone thought that the whole winnebago talk would actually become a reality in season 5, maybe in an epilogue or something like that, then people seem to not realise that Nancy wanted anything but to end up like her parents and displays little interest in anything other than protecting those she has and focusing on her career. A simple life would not be satisfying for her.
Long story short, trying to put Stancy back together romantically would not work for either characters arc, at least in my opinion. If they were able to form a strong platonic friendship by the end of season 5 then that would be the most satisfying outcome to me.
On a slightly different note I started this with a question. I see it alot in fics where people tease Steve for expressing what he wants out of life, i.e, the whole six little nuggets conversation. Honestly I found that while scene really sweet and the characters in fics rarely bring this up as a way to be mean. But I've seen in some that Nancy actually brings up what Steve told her in the upside down as a way to tease him in front of their friends. Again, it's hardly ever written with any malicious intent other than to embarrass him but even so I really dont see that being something she would ever tell anyone, even their closest friends. While I stated previously that Nancy struggles with empathy, I fully believe that she sees that moment herself as Steve being truly genuine and heartfelt with her. Point being that as much as the idea may not appeal to her, she can see would not use something like that as an excuse to bring up in conversation as a way to tease him or embarrass him by stating out loud for everyone to hear that he once dreamed they would start a family. I dont believe that Steve would repeat it to anybody else either, even Robin. That is something personal to the two of them whether Steve really knows what he wants or not and it's clear that there are alot of unspoken things regarding the past between them that I can see bringing up some tension in season 5.
Though I can't deny that I've had some angsty ideas following these thoughts. Imagine another scene like the bullshit scene in s2, only its after she finds out that Jonathan lied to her about college and maybe she gets drunk again, possibly for the first time since season 2 and when Steve tries to comfort her (maybe he found her first or she seeks him out, idk) but she reflects back on how it felt reconnecting with him in 4 and the conversation they had and drunkenly makes a move on him and is left even more confused when he rejects her and throws back in his face everything he said to her. Maybe Robin or Eddie or Jonathan overhear and jump in to seperate them before it turns into a fight. Steve feels guilty while Nancy is just even more confused about her feelings for Steve and Jonathan. Maybe it ends with them finally talking things through, Steve confesses he has feelings for someone else (I wonder who) and with a clearer head they realise it makes more sense for them to just learn to get to know eachother as friends again.
Anyhow sorry for the ramble, that's all for now :)