#Jonathan and Nancy from stranger things

[kennahjune]

Having thoughts of The Party being touchy as all fuck after everything.

Like you cannot enter nor leave any kind of hang out without a hug, high-five, pat, or anything from everyone you were hanging out with.

And then, suddenly, you aren’t able to leave without a kiss or hug of some kind from Steve.

It started after the bullshit that was the Starcourt Mall. The kids were leaving Steve’s house from a DnD session maybe 2 months before the Byers left for Cali.

Dustin was taking forever to pull his shoes on and get out the house to his moms car and everyone was complaining. It was one of those rare times where Steve wasn’t the one carting them all around— they all had their own rides.

Dustin got his shoes on and Steve handed him his bag and— without thinking— pressed a kiss to the top of his hat before waving him out the door.

The rest of the kids are silent until Mike speaks up bitchily “what about us, asshole?”

Steve has no idea what they mean until El points to her head with a grin. Steve deals out head and forehead kisses for everyone and waves them off to their respective rides.

And then it just— sticks. At first it’s with just the kids whenever he sees them. He’ll usually greet them with a hug or an exasperated sigh and then say goodbye with a kiss to their foreheads.

Not even Mike complains. This is the kind of shit he never got while growing up— might as well make the best of it.

And then it migrates to Robin as well, and the Nancy is joining in on the hugs (they’re still too awkward for the kisses but the hugs are enough for now).

And Steve never holds back, not even in public. Again, no one complains.

And that’s how Hellfire finds out about the kissing arrangement (that might be the title of this if I make it an actual fic). They watch as Steve presses a forehead kiss to Mike, Lucas, and Dustin before waving them off and then presses a kiss to Max’s head and giving her a tight hug.

The guys try to make fun of the kids for it but none of them are embarrassed.

“It’s Steve, dude. He’s like a mom.”

“The kisses are actually really comforting.”

“It’s a Party thing.”

And then the fuckery of 1986 and Vecna happens and suddenly Eddie’s in on the hugs and pats and high-fives.

And then.

And then.

He’s in on the kisses.

Steve doles out the kisses like usual one night after Hellfire and gives one to everyone— including Eddie.

And Eddie panics and gives Steve one right back.

And then the kids are going feral about wanting to give Steve a kiss too.

And Eddie leaves during the chaos.

And then they don’t talk about it.

Until Steve and Eddie do it again.

And the kids accept is as the new normal; you have to give Steve a kiss back.

And then Steve and Eddie have an excuse to kiss each other on the foreheads and cheeks and noses.

One night they’re hanging out, just the two of them at the trailer after Wayne left for work.

Steve had greeted Eddie with a tight hug the moment he’d gotten in the trailer. Eddie had squeezed back just as tight if not tighter.

Steve was getting ready to leave, and on instinct leant in to kiss Eddie, but Eddie was also leaning in to kiss Steve. So they meet in the middle and accidentally kiss on the lips.

And then the new normal for Steve and Eddie is kissing on the lips goodbye.

Idk, just Steve being a very touchy feely person makes me so happy

[plistommy]

[strange-anni]

Vickie is straight

... and she has a crush on Steve

I know how controversial it is to state such an opinion given how Vickie seems to be one of the few characters in the show who actually seem queer. Yet if we are being honest she has never expressed any direct or indirect signs of actually being in love with Robin. It's Robin who is incredibly biased as she has a crush on Vickie and Steve who is trying to be supportive of Robin who gave us this assumption.

This whole thing is not as bad as it seems though. I can promise you this. So if you still care let me explain to you why I think Vickie is straight and has a crush on Steve.

Part 1: The Muppet joke

While still in the car with Steve in early S4 Robin gets reminded of her own advise: Just be true to yourself and stop pretending to be someone you're not. We need to keep this in mind as she is soon shown to not follow said advise.

When Steve reminds Robin at the basketball game that Tammy Thompson does sound like a Muppet she agrees with him. Vickie overhears this and in turn agrees with Robin.

The joke however doesn't originate from Robin. She just repeated what Steve told her before. Therefore the joke that made Vickie laugh comes from Steve. Or in other words: It was Steve who made Vickie laugh and not Robin.

We even get conformation of this a bit later in episode 2 when Steve admits and agrees out loud that it was his joke that made Vickie laugh.

Robin wasn't entirely herself.

While everyone is looking straight ahead it's Vickie who makes a point not to look in Robins direction after Robin is embarrassed of herself. There is distance between them.

Part 2: Vickie and Robin (and Steve) meet at the Weapon Store

It's Robin who notices Vickie first in the weapon store which is followed by Steve looking at her as he knows she has a crush on Vickie which is then followed by both of them looking sad as Vickies boyfriend enters the scene.

Robin is obviously sad because her crush has a boyfriend while Steve is just sad for his friend.

This shot is often brought up to proof that Robin is standing between Vickie and Dan as it's believed that her crush on Vickie is reciprocated but I don't think this is what it means exactly. It's Robins POV and she believes her feelings to Vickie are reciprocated so she sees herself as standing in between them.

But is it true? Let's look at what Vickie sees next.

Vickie notices the both of them and while Robin is just staring at her Steve is licking his lips. Then Robin turns around and leaves while Steve is still looking at Vickie and Dan and then smiles awkwardly at them.

So Steve is licking his lips and then smiles at Vickie and Dan. What message would Vickie receive here? My guess would be 1) Steve and Robin are close and 2) Steve might like Vickie as well.

This however is the last look we get of Steve in this scene. It's his back while he is still looking after Robin. So whatever made him lick his lips and smile is no longer of interest to him the moment Robin leaves. I think this means that he is Robins friend first and foremost. He is not romantically interested in Vickie and doesn't reciprocate her feelings at all.

Robin is gone and Steve has turned his back on Vickie but her gaze still lingers. Maybe her feelings towards her own boyfriend aren't as sincere as it seems and everything considered I think it's fair to ask who this is truly about? Robin or Steve? Is she saying the truth when she makes it about Robin who she did meet in band or is she using Robin as a shield as she doesn't want to admit to her boyfriend that she has a crush on another man aka Steve?

In the end she looks back towards her boyfriend and then again to the place where Robin and Steve just were. Is he perhaps still standing there?

Then we get a scene transition to Nancy holding a very long gun. It's not subtle at all.

Part 3: Providing Food for the Suffering

There is light behind Robin which can indicate that she is the one who is most sincere in this scene. This makes sense as it is true that Robin has a crush on Vickie.

It's Vickie who gives her the information that Dan is no longer her boyfriend but from the scene in the weapon store she also knows that Robin and Steve are close. So everything she says to Robin is likely to reach Steve as well which means that Robin could be the one to tell Steve that Vickie is single again and therefore available to him.

First notice how Vickie wears spiral earrings. This is very interesting to me as it's triangle imagery that is used to indicate queerness in the show. So here we have the supposed love interest of one of the only confirmed queer characters in the show not wearing triangle imagery when it really matters. Why? Because she is straight.

Vickie also mentions how she rambles about her boyfriend when there are people out there suffering at which point in time she looks up and slightly to her right. Later when the scene transitions from Robin and Vickie to Steve we also get him at a alight angle which to me indicates that Vickie was looking at him as she was lifting her head.

It's Steve who Vickie perceives as the one suffering and who she wants to provide with food. Or to put it a bit differently: It's Steve she has a crush on and who she wants to be with and support.

Steve on the other hand is also smiling and looking at Robin and Vickie. He is happy for the both of them as everything seems to be working out for Robin and Vickie which could not be further from the truth. He's also shaking his head just slightly. Most likely because he thinks a certain assumption he's made just an episode earlier turned out to be wrong.

That assumption about Vickie pausing Fast Times at 53:05 however might be true after all. Steve is just misreading the signs Robin and Vickie are giving off at the gym.

Tbc in a reblog because I almost hit image limit. Look here.

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Sorry, but I just had a thought and I’m exhausted and don’t know if I’m going to write anymore tonight.

Just Steve holding a slight grudge against Nancy after she pretty much calls his love bullshit in the bathroom. He feels lead on, he’s slightly bitter but he knows how to be discreetly passive if he needs to be. But thing is he doesn’t have the energy in him to be passive. If this had been before the monsters, and someone who he thought was the love of his life did what Nancy did and proceeded to end up dating the guy who she said not to worry about within days after getting into a fight, he would have probably done something stupid. Probably would have ruined her locker with mean words or something like that.

He wasn’t sure what he would do, he was exhausted and couldn’t think of what used to come easy to him. Or maybe he’s grown to realize how immature that was, how it didn’t even seem all that fun to do to someone. Just thinking back to spray painting slut on the theater makes his gut twist uncomfortably. Once, he used to be the one to climb up there and spray something even worst. Now the thought made him want to throw up.

And maybe the grudge he is holding against Nancy isn’t really a grudge. Maybe he has matured to realized that the grudge he held was within himself for how fast he had fallen. For how stupid he was for thinking the girl would ever end up with him. He should have seen the signs. How she defended Jonathan even after he took non consensual photos of him and her about to have sex. Which he still felt disgusted by, his skin still crawled uncomfortably around the little creep whenever he was close by.

Though when the time comes, he realizes he was holding a grudge against Nancy. When he falls harder for someone new he realizes within minutes that something was different about this one. Instead of smacking him in the shoulder and scolding him for staring to long, Eddie would pull his hair in front of his face with bright eyes. Would do something dramatic to snap Steve out of the trance he was in. Like lick his face instead of kissing him.

That was the other thing Steve discovered. In the moments where it was just the two of them, it seemed like every other minute time would stop and Eddie would be in the same bubble as him. Lost in the same spell that Steve had tumbled into, needing to kiss the other just as much as they needed oxygen to breathe.

Nancy rarely had those moments with Steve, and they had stopped right around the time she started hanging out with Jonathan.

And Steve does hold a grudge, for how she stayed with him longer than what she had to.

Eddie made him feel in love and loved. Whenever Steve watched the other man he could barely keep his hands to himself and the best part was Eddie didn’t care. Steve could bite off Eddie’s remaining nipple and the man would still let Steve do whatever he wanted to him. Nancy never trusted Steve and never earned Steve’s trust the way Eddie did within one week of knowing each other.

Eddie was the moon and Nancy had been the sun for Steve. The sun burnt his skin and left him blistered while the moon wrapped his arms around him and rocked him to sleep every night. While Steve worried about when the sun would explode, he never had to worry about the moon disappearing for to long. It always came back, no matter what happened. Even if Steve had been an asshole.

God was Steve in love. This was it for him. And maybe at one point he had loved Nancy just as much as he did Eddie.

But now, as each day passes he only finds himself falling more in love with Eddie Munson.

He slowly comes to the conclusion that his love was and will never be bullshit.

And when he finally sits down to talk to Nancy about it, he finally gets it off his chest. What had been bugging him for almost years before falling for Eddie.

“Nancy, we were bullshit. But my love, it was all real. Maybe not as strong as it is for Ed’s but I know that if … everything wasn’t such bullshit I could have gotten there.” Steve says softly to Nancy. Shortly after she confessed she still had feelings for him. He seen this conversation coming from a mile away, especially with how many one sided sparks happened between the two of them while running for their life’s on spring break.

And as he stands up, leaving her in her own shock. Letting her process that he was with Eddie, a man. He can’t help but feel proud of himself.

He didn’t intentionally hold this grudge, but he felt as if he got back at her the healthiest way he could. By maturing and moving on. And looking down at Nancy, he could tell that she needed time to do the same. Not to be with another man or date in general, but to just grow as a person. But that was no longer his problem. His problem was currently running up the steps of the trailer with what seemed to be a moving snake.

“Hey Stevie! Look what I found.”

Steve was in love, and it wasn’t bullshit.

[jonathanbyersphd]

Jonathan to Nancy: I'll tell you everything I promise

Jonathan, hours later: And then Will says that Mike makes "El" feel like she's not a mistake like she's better for being different and your brother says yea in the softest voice I've ever heard him use.

Nancy: Baby it's been five hours go to sleep

Jonathan: We're only on like day 3

[greeninspired]

I’ve been really into crocheting lately and got that Stranger Things crochet kit.

I love the patterns in there but they sure aren’t easy! I just made El so far (the kit only comes with materials for El and the Demogorgon).

I totally did buy more materials to make more though (maybe I’ll make all of them).

I’m definitely excited to make Will though… he looks so cute!

[stevemania]

stranger things s5 behind the scenes ⋆. 📷 ˚

[soniclion92]

One part from season 2 that KILLS me every time is when they're all together and discussing the mindflayer and when Dustin says "It believes it's the master race" Steve goes "Oh, like the Germans." and then it cuts to Jancy looking like THIS

Like ahfdjgdhs they look like disappointed parents I'M--

He was 100% plotting Steven's demise right there in real time, he was so done 😭'

[spookystarfishzombie]

[mimi-saurio]

Inspired by THAT S2 promo shoot and this pic specifically <3

[dna-repo]

froot loops

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Steve: We need more candy!

Robin: What?! There's only been like four kids.

Steve: Yeah, I know, but one of them just told me they loved me, so I gave them everything.

Robin: Jesus, no wonder you're pregnant.

Steve: I am NOT pregnant.

Robin: Nancy, you haven't gotten him pregnant yet?

Jonathan: *scoffs* Believe me, we're trying.

Robin: *blinks*. . . I'm sorry. . .what?

Jonathan: Oh, right, we're not telling people we're trying yet.

Nancy: That's not what she's what-ing you about. Jonathan, did you smoke with Argyle?

Jonathan: Definitely.

Robin: All three of you?

Steve: We were literally about to tell you.

[jonathanbyersphd]

Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down

[her-shawty]

Nancy and Mike have so much potential that no one talks about.

Lucas and Erica having a sibling dynamic that is played for laughs, from their very first scene together (Halloween pictures). Which is great, I don’t have anything against it. I actually find them quite enjoyable.

Jonathan and Will have a diehard sibling relationship, they’re very close (“you’re my best friend”), and they lean on each other frequently. We often see Jonathan helping pick Will back up after a negative experience (e.g. music, Zombie Boy, his relationship with Mike).

But Nancy and Mike are just kinda…there. There are glimpses of genuine care between them, but they’re so brief it’s almost blink and you miss it, or it’s played off as unserious (“I’m not prostituting my sister!”)

In season one, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with their dynamic. It’s implied that Nancy used to hang out with Mike and his friends (dressed as a fairy for a campaign), but she’s in the midst of her Teenage Girl Experience™️ and any girl with a brother (especially a younger one) knows about the distance that grows between you during that.

But near the end of season one and all the seasons after is where the wasted potential starts really cropping up.

Nancy finds out Mike is involved in all this crazy monster business, and we can see her worry for him. She hugs him when Hopper brings the party to the Byer’s. This is the first real fracture for me. Not only does Mike not hug her back, despite being a twelve-year-old boy who has had a very trying week, but they both move on immediately. I feel like they would’ve benefited from even a two minute aside where they catch up and truly make sure the other is okay (e.g. injury check).

There is, of course, also one of the only conversations we see between just the two of them, where they establish not lying anymore and then both immediately lie (I’ll come back to this point later).

Mike is also worried when she disappears as they’re waiting at the school, not even a word from her on where she’s going. But they never talk about it. He never confronts her about leaving him alone, about leaving a bunch of middle schoolers by themselves while they were being hunted by the government. She left without a word. I think a confrontation over that would’ve elevated their relationship, or been the stepping stone for deepening their bond.

If the hug was my fracture, than season two just shatters the whole thing.

Nancy and Mike both lost friends one after the other. Yes, Mike got Will back and Barbara is dead, but at the time Mike thought El was dead too, despite all his hopes as he tried to contact her. You can see it on his face when she makes her Apperance™️; it’s the face of a man who didn’t let himself hope and was just given the greatest gift. And he did briefly think Will was dead, after the Quarry. He felt very real grief, even if it was temporary. That has an effect.

Mike and Nancy should’ve bonded over this shared trauma. Yes, Nancy was a sophomore in ‘83 and Mike was a seventh grader (?). But they’re so similar that I don’t think the age gap matters all that much.

But season two starts and they haven’t changed at all. Their first interaction is Mike stealing her money. If they had grown closer, she probably would’ve given him some willingly, understanding the importance of hanging out with one’s friends while you still could.

I very much think we could’ve also gotten a diehard sibling dynamic between Nancy and Mike if they had bonded over the events of season one. They would’ve learned to lean on each other, to tell the other when something was wrong. To just sit together and talk about the little things they remember about Barb and El. Discussions of nightmares about the Upside Down, nightmares about the Demogorgon, nightmares about Mike actually losing Will, nightmares about what Barb might have suffered (Nancy does have a visual, since she’s been there).

If they had this developed dynamic, I think Nancy might’ve talked to Mike about exposing the government and getting Barb some justice, and I think Mike would’ve supported her on it, which would really benefit Nancy. I love Jonathan, I do, but Nancy needs more people to rely on and she has a brother right there that she could use. Maybe Nancy and Steve’s relationship wouldn’t have fallen apart in the way it did if Nancy had an ear like Mike’s to talk to. Nancy’s best friend is dead and she doesn’t make any more friends after losing Barb. Where is her support? In my opinion, the support should come from Mike now. And healing from Barb’s death with Mike’s help would totally lead to her making more friends!!

And Mike, as we know, was not handling his grief with El. He wasn’t talking to his friends, who didn’t understand fully what he was dealing with since, at that point, neither Dustin or Lucas had lost someone that they viewed in a romantic light. They had never even dated someone before. Nancy, as the more experienced older sister, would definitely be able to give Mike advice, and even if it wasn’t the greatest (she may be more experienced but not by much at that point), it would still be a step up from the zero advice Mike gets in canon. Mike was in that fort in the basement every day trying to contact El in vain, barely believing it would work but desperate for anything at all. Nancy knows that feeling. Barb may have been a friend and not a romantic interest, but she sees Barb everywhere, in everything. They used to do everything together. She could be there with Mike, sitting with him, knowing she can’t stop him from trying, but being there to hug him when it doesn’t work again.

Not only that, but the shared guilt. Mike absolutely blames himself for El, however misplaced, and we all know how Nancy feels about Barb’s death. Her guilt is less misplaced, as her actions did directly lead to Barb’s death, but it’s of course not her fault. If Nancy could talk that guilt out with someone, especially someone who would understand on some level from personal experience, I think she’d be in a better place during season two. And Mike needs support too. El “died” in front of him and there was nothing he could do. Not to mention Will’s disappearance. Mike sent him home, Mike didn’t offer a sleepover, Mike didn’t bike with him to his house. I’m sure, as a twelve-year-old, these thoughts were running through his head. The combined misplaced guilt of Will and El was crushing Mike, and having Nancy there for him to lean on and commiserate with would’ve sent him leaps and bounds down the healing path.

I could keep going with this. There are many instances throughout seasons 2-4 that would be different from this change. It would probably change the whole dynamics of the show, maybe even some of the plot, like my example earlier of Nancy and Steve. And I don’t think it would’ve been for the worse. I really believe that a stronger relationship between the Wheeler siblings would’ve enhanced the story.

I said I would get back to the lying immediately after promising not to, and this is me getting back to it.

The Wheeler family. Two words: untapped potential.

Karen Wheeler knows how to pick locks. Why? What was her youth like? Why did she throw away that youth to shack up with an older man? Was it her own desire? Pressure from parents? Something else? She almost cheats on her husband but stays strong in her marriage for the sake of her kids. These facts and questions make her very interesting to me.

Ted Wheeler is unironically hilarious. Everything he says cracks me up.

Ted Wheeler sleeps on the La-Z-Boy. Why? What happened between him and Karen? Is he actually that oblivious about what’s happening?

Questions, questions.

So, we all know about the Wheeler’s inability to say “I love you.” CAPITALIZE ON IT.

I want conversations between Nancy and Mike about their fears over saying it. I want them to talk about the relationships they’ve ruined or almost ruined because of this fact. I want them bitching together about how their parents don’t love each other.

I want to know if Nancy was right about Karen never truly loving Ted. If so, did Ted ever love her? If not, then why did Ted marry her? Karen was gaining security, but if Ted didn’t love her, why not find someone else? He had a cushy job, it wouldn’t have been difficult during his time to find a wife. Did he just marry her because she was a pretty young woman, a woman viewed as a catch? Did he see something in her he didn’t see in others? The answers to these questions would help us understand Mike and Nancy more.

How often do the Wheeler siblings see their parents lie? They promised to not lie to each other, and immediately, immediately, they answer each other’s questions with lies. That has to have a foundation in something. What else except their parents? If their parents truly don’t love each other, do they not say “I love you”? Or do they say it but everyone knows it’s a lie? Nancy and Mike asked each other a question about a love interest, and they lied in response. Coincidence? Maybe.

Basically, the very long point I’m making is that Nancy and Mike should’ve been closer after everything that happened, and that the Wheeler family is actually very interesting and has a lot of unanswered questions that potentially have answers that would make the ST story that much better, that much more real.

TLDR: the Nancy and Mike dynamic deserved more focus 💔

[lorax-devito]

potential mike wheeler lines;a study-

“i’m gay”

“i fancy your brother,no not jonathan,will”

“please buzz your hair again it makes it so much easier to pretend to be straight”

“thanks for the painting” “what painting”

“i swear to fucking god vecnussy if you touch my boyfri- FRIEND WERE FRIENDS *cough cough* ever again i’ll get my SUPER AWESOME SUPERMA-WOMAN LIKE GIRLFRIEND TO BEAT YOUR ASS”

“why is jonathan looking at me like he wants to kill me” “he’s probably stoned” (said by will,he’s still salty about that)

“nancy i’m NOT gay.”

“STOP SAYING I LIKE WILL”

*gay pining*

“nancy i don’t like Will”

“I DONT”

“hopper is it normal to want to rip my almost decade long bff’s shirt off every time he does anything remotely hot and or sexy”

*lip stares*

“William Byers”

yes,i do have a lot of these,i will be probably be making more bc why not

[sapphicslut777]

Season 3 Chapter 7: The Bite