#all of this depends on whether they choose to let jonathan just uh... do shit though

[dyaz-stories]

spoilers for season 4 of stranger things; some thoughts i have on stancy, jancy, and steve, nancy and jonathan’s characters in general

okay so i think stancy obviously weren’t right for each other in season 1 and season 2. in season 2 specifically, nancy was clearly growing and changing as a person, and staying with steve meant doing the ‘safe’ thing, but also stifling her growth. steve was adamant about staying the same, wanted to hold on to his status, and his ‘act like you don’t care’ attitude, which is essentially what he wanted nancy to do about barb, lost both him and dustin the girl.

meanwhile, jonathan and nancy are this obvious ‘power couple’, like robin mentions. they’re obviously right for each other, or at least, they were in season 2. tbh a large part of the issue jancy is facing for the viewers is that we’ve never seen them be even a semi functional couple, unlike stancy, but that’s another problem. it’s only hinted at in s4, but they seem to have investigated together for the school’s newspaper. the journalist and the photograph. it writes itself.

but.

but everyone’s changed.

nancy’s had the biggest part of her character growth by s3. not that she’s been stagnating since, but she’s already had a big part of her arc, is what i mean. steve has also grown immensely by then, and in s4, robin mentions the fact that she’s advised him to ‘just be himself’, and he’s been ‘getting girls’ ever since. and that advice would definitely work on nancy, since since s1, she saw through steve’s bullshit — even before the Upside Down happened.

jonathan is... well. i have complicated feelings about him. i loved him in s1, still really liked him in s2 and s3 but... let’s be honest. he definitely didn’t get his time to shine in either of those, and so far, it’s been even worst in s4. it’s not like i don’t understand how he’s feeling here, but him lying to nancy just can’t work. i’m... not even necessarily mad about what happened to his character. look, could the character have had a different growth? yeah, 100%. jonathan had so much potential, i really believe that. but he’s clearly crushed under the responsibility he feels he has towards his family, something that i don’t think joyce has done a good job shielding him from. and sometimes, that kind of responsibilities completely stifles you. it’s a sad result for his character, and i wish the writers had chosen differently, but it’s a choice i can respect.

either way, if jonathan’s the one who’s stuck now (and correct me if i’m wrong, but i don’t think his character’s changed a ton since s1?), like steve was in s2, they might very well be preparing us for another break-up.

now, here’s the thing: i’m not sure what future steve and nancy have together.

a large part of nancy’s character is that she has ambition. she doesn’t want to end up like her mother, like her parents, and it’s clear that she has the potential to do great things. that’s one of the reasons why her and jonathan made so much sense, because they had a clear trajectory they could take together. at first glance, her and steve getting together seems likely to mean that they’ll end up stuck in hawkins, getting a house at the end of the cul-de-sac.

it doesn’t have to be like that, though. if steve’s willing to... i’m not sure, but nancy and steve could be a cool ‘detective duo’ together. not that different from joyce and hopper tbh? steve’s generally chiller than hopper, and nancy more methodic than joyce, but they’re not that different. what’s for certain is that they aren’t the steve and nancy from season 1, and the issues they have then don’t apply anymore. steve isn’t the steve from season 2. they could make it work.

then, if jonathan ‘unstucks’ himself, and the writers choose to give him the opportunity to 1) lose his shit, as he really deserves to do and 2) finally get some time to be heroic, well... we might have an actual love triangle on our hands, guys.

and i don’t think i’ve cared about a single love triangle since high school, but i just might be here for that one.