#Please take the mild jon and steve criticisms in this as being through nancy's pov love both the boys

[allyricas]

I am now home and fuck, I have so many thoughts about why this song feels like a Nancy anthem!

The who's who of "Who's that?" is poised for the attack But my bare hands paved their paths You don't get to tell me about "sad" If you wanted me dead, you should've just said Nothing makes me feel more alive

There were so many people that were out for blood. From the high school bully level to the goddamn government, Nancy has her enemies. This is apparent right away, but no one gives Nancy more grief than herself. She has so much guilt for Barb, that I believe she will always hold. When Barb goes missing and is presumed dead, everyone besides Jonathan expects her to move on. To keep going like her best friend is not gone- and that had she not walked inside with Steve, Barb may have very well survived. No one else can tell Nancy Wheeler about sad. She is intimately acquainted with grief and pain and sadness.

But...in the midst of all of this, she finds herself. she finds her strength and she turns her sadness into rage. Even when Jon isn't as understanding anymore, she fights her own battles and for what she believes is right. Nothing makes her feel more alive than to fight back.

"Who's afraid of little old me?" You should be The scandal was contained The bullet had just grazed At all costs, keep your good name You don't get to tell me you feel bad Is it a wonder I broke? Let's hear one more joke

And

You caged me and then you called me crazy I am what I am 'cause you trained me

That first time she screams who's afraid of little old me, she is genuinely asking. But that first you should be is a realization of her own power. They should be afraid of her. She is realizing just what she is capable of. Nancy Wheeler fights monsters and wields guns, is willing to do whatever it takes to avenge Barb, to do what is right.

Steve wanted to go back to normal, to pretend like everything was fine because he was scared of his parents reaction. He cares so much about whatever thinks. (at all costs keep your good name, you don't get to tell me you feel bad) He comes through in the end, but nancy felt betrayed by his insistence to carry on. To go to parties and play act like they were in love. Meanwhile, his friends are making fun of her and she knows it. Nancy is very aware of everything going on around her. She breaks. She chooses to right the wrong regardless of the cost to her or her relationships.

I was tame, I was gentle 'til the circus life made me mean "Don't you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth" I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me I'm always drunk on my own tears, isn't that what they all said? That I'll sue you if you step on my lawn That I'm fearsome and I'm wretched and I'm wrong

The soft, sweet even prim image that Nancy has in the beginning of the show quickly reveals that her truest nature is something much more fierce. She was the quiet bookworm. Hell, she was that person to an extent before trauma transformed her into a woman who is fearsome and wretched and wrong. We see her seek out something to make her world a little less tame and gentle only for her to realize that isn't who she truly is.

Nancy is willing to do whatever it takes avenge Barb, to take out Vecna, to do what she believes must be done. This is without apology and with no concern to what it costs. We see it in her relationships with Steve and Jon. We see it in the way she is the first to suggest going right back into the Upside Down. What is called mean is something else entirely because she is not mean. But she is absolutely fearsome.

I think she realizes how this makes her seem sometimes, but she is a woman on a mission. It is as much a flaw as it is one of her best qualities. The duality of her nature that makes her such an engaging character. She took on the government and won. She shot a monster in the face, dove into a lake knowing the monsters were waiting to just to save a boy who hurt her.

Nancy's is fierce and unrelenting in the face of adversity. She is also deeply caring and willing to fight for those she loves. She is undeniably the woman you want on your team when the world starts falling apart. I think it's unreal how often Nancy gets characterized as being cold or unfeeling. Isn't it clear just how truly the exact opposite she is? She feels and loves with everything. It's why she had such monumental grief and rage. It's also why she is such a good friend.

So, who's afraid of little old me? You should be. Fuck yeah, you should be and Nancy Wheeler unabashedly knows it and I love that for her.