ALWAYSTHEQUIETONES

my favorite way to unwind is to make gifs and get silly over fictional characters and ships.

[clarkegriffins]

for vicky ♡

[greenistheboy]

The jump from s4 Nancy at the bottom of Steve's pool while it fills with blood and Vecna taunts her with "when I kill someone, I never forget" to s5 Nancy gunning down soldiers without flinching and then being all smiley afterwards low-key makes me sick.

[alwaysthequietones]

“I SHiP NaNCy wiTh GuNs.” How about you all go fuck yourselves. 😃

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

#They're Holding Hands This Is Not A Drill

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

#She's The One 😭😭😭

[slashergirlnancy]

stancy + Roadtrip AU for @bloop-bloop-boop 🫶

[alwaysthequietones]

Ik besta 16 jaar op Tumblr 🥳

16 years……..

[likelyheart]

how it feels to scroll through pre-finale stancy analysis posts again

[alwaysthequietones]

Me looking at 2022-2025 me:

[snowkatze]

Tadaa my first youtube video! It's a video essay about the last season of Stranger Things. The last episode felt soooo off to me so I went back to analyze the whole love triangle from the beginning.

Please somebody watch it it took me 5 months to make this 🥹

[alwaysthequietones]

Saw a screenshot of baseball coach Steve that Joe Keery for some reason acted out like it was a snl skit and got triggered, remembering how absolute dogshit season 5 was.

Looked like shit. Story was shit. Script was shit. Acting (for most part) was shit. Ending was shit.

[crackers4jenn]

thinking and weeping about the lost potential and fuckery of:

"tell me you love me" never getting paralleled with Nancy actually telling Steve she loves him

Steve's look of yearning after dropping Dustin off at the Snowball dance and catching a glimpse of Nancy through the window never having a full circle moment of him picking Nancy up, on the way to some date or weekend adventure in the RV

"the rekindling of some old flames that frankly never should've been snuffed out" amounting to...... snuffed out flames part II

"I still have hope" turning into "it was never in the cards"

Steve's interrupted confession in the UD just never, ever getting addressed

"as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen" becoming "it was never like that with him"

[alwaysthequietones]

And this is why I can’t even interact with anything to do with ST anymore. Can’t even enjoy earlier seasons bc of the utter incompetence that was season 5.

[bloop-bloop-boop]

Stancy Week - Day Seven - Free

Getting out there, trying the real world.

[yenvengerberg]

ELOISE BRIDGERTON Bridgerton, 'Time Transfixed'

[solarismoons]

I refuse to believe the Stranger Things writers actually believe they gave Steve and Nancy a good ending

Okay, let’s start with Steve.

From the beginning of the show Steve is the kinda guy who gets what he wants. He gets the girl, gets the popularity, gets the crown. He doesn’t really deserve all this, though. Not until later seasons.

It makes him selfish, uncaring. But he learns. Nancy Wheeler gives him the biggest thump of his life and he changes for the better.

He knows humility. Knows the pain of rejection. He fills in as a father figure to all the kids, showing that his goals have changed and evolved.

Then we are given s3. Steve’s crown has tipped. He’s a loser now, the show says as much. The characters want you to believe Steve peaked in highschool, but the narrative says otherwise. This isn’t like Steve, right?

He’s still caring, funny. He’s still the character we know and love.

Then we have s4. And Steve is lonely. So lonely. He talks to Robin about how he wants to find connection, the type of love he had with Nancy Wheeler. So he dates. And he dates. He has meaningless sex, meaningless conversations. He doesn’t want any of this. He says it himself.

And then a light shines at the end of the dark, dark tunnel. Nancy Wheeler, the girl he’s been pining for since season fucking 2. The girl he has a connection with that he doesn’t share with any one else. And she feels the same.

We see it through her body language. Through her lingering looks. Through the way she also gets flustered around him. Through the way she defends him to her boyfriend after no prompting.

Finally, Steve is getting what he has proved to deserve: Love. And no, Nancy isn’t his ‘prize.’ But does someone who has changed their ways, learned from their mistakes, became a better person not deserve love because of their past actions?

Then we get to season 5. Season 4 set up a reunion that could be so perfect, so beautiful. They built Steve’s entire character up to this moment, this wonderful epilogue where he finally gets what he’s been longing for for years.

But, oh, wait no.

There’s no closure.

There’s no conversation.

Steve is rejected. Again. (Through Nancy’s ex boyfriend, mind you.)

He’s just a desperate loser who was searching for love anywhere he can find it, and his victim in s4 was Nancy.

She never loved him. How could a badass woman like her ever be brought down to Steve Harringtons level? A boring one-time jock with a cushy job saving for a house in a cul-de-sac.

So, Steve has given up on the girl he’s loved since he was 16. He knows love is not in the cards for him. After all, he’s just a glorified babysitter who’s perfectly content dealing with snot nosed, sticky fingered kids for the rest of his life.

Despite longing for it over the length of the entire show, he doesn’t find that connection with anyone else.

When I first heard him say “I don’t know, I think Kristen’s the one.” The Stancy side of me booed, but the Steve side of me cheered.

Finally, something Steve has been craving, after all the humility, after all the rejection is given to him.

But, no. Kristen’s just his third girlfriend of the year. He’s throwing himself into meaningless relationships and meaningless sex, hoping one sticks. The thing he was doing in the beginning of season 4.

Steve Harrington, the character who deserves the most, is given the least. He’s given regression and rejection. He truly is just a new Ted Wheeler, with his beige suit that doesn’t fit and his hair that looks like a lego piece.

What a great ending for good ol’ Steve Harrington.

And then we have Nancy Wheeler.

From the very beginning of Stranger Things, Nancy Wheeler is a beautifully written female protagonist with complex emotions and aspirations. She is curious when others dismiss danger, driven when others hesitate, and ambitious in a town that quietly expects her to shrink herself.

Nancy grows from a rule-following suburban teenager into a fearless investigator with academic and professional aspirations beyond Hawkins. But she’s not just a cold writer just trying to chase a story.

It’s proven with Mrs. Driscoll. She develops a sort of bond with the woman, wanting to help her, to prove that she’s not crazy. Then we see it again with Mr. Munson. Nancy isn’t only hungry for a what a hit piece a pile of broken bones and stolen eyes is. She cares deeply, wanting to help Mr. Munson prove to the world Eddie isn’t some crazed psychopath.

We Stancies have said time and time again, Nancy isn’t just some gun slinging, leather jacket wearing hard ass. She’s empathetic, emotional, feminine.

And Steve sees that. He sees her empathy, how she digs deeper when no one else would. She’s not miserable like the rest of Hawkins, because she actually cares. He sees it and Jonathan doesn’t. It’s said to us multiple times in season 4. Thrown in our faces.

Season 4 sets up the idea that Nancy has strong career ambitions. She wants to go to college, become a big time writer. But she’s still craves connection and love. She wants Jonathan to come with her, to support her on her journey.

But he doesn’t.

The narrative has set up Steve being this support system and connection she craves. He would follow her to the ends of the earth, he’s proven as much in earlier seasons.

Season 4 tells us that Nancy can go to college, she can have a career, while also having love. Having connection with a partner.

But season 5 flushes that all down the toilet.

She can’t have love, can’t have connection. She’s Nancy Walk Em’ Down Wheeler, not an icky feminine woman who just like every other human wants love.

I mean seriously, strong women can’t have love. You’re stupid for thinking otherwise.

Oh, also, Nancy has given up. Shes dropped out of her dream college with barely any explanation whatsoever. She’s lost, floating and wandering through life hoping she’ll find what she’s been searching for.

You cannot convince me that Steve or Nancy are happy.

You cannot convince me Nancy is seriously ONLY just a strong badass who shoots at things.

You cannot convince me Steve Harrington WANTS to stay in Hawkins. That he doesn’t want to follow his best friend Robin in her travels. That he wants to stay in the town that tormented him for years.

The Duffers have ruined two of their best characters, regressed them into a ball of mush and for what?

So they can say they’re feminists and women don’t need men?

[alwaysthequietones]

Every post makes me so angry and sad. This is not the way I wanted to leave these characters behind. I’ll move on eventually (it’s a television show.gif) but for now I gotta stew in the utter disappointment for a hot sec. Never wanted it to join the ranks of GoT and HIMYM but here we are.

[baneismydragon]

Ok no, I do need to rant more

Stranger Things Spoilers ahead you have been warned.

How did you take such interesting, well rounded, dynamic characters and squash them into sad little 2-D cut outs in the span of two hours????

I could literally talk about every single character and have an essay's worth of content- seriously at this point the only consistent characters are Dr. Clark (thank God you at least were spared my friend) and Ted Wheeler who is blessedly still in his induced coma. Kinda jealous of Ted.

But for the sake of everyone's sanity I will stick to my precious Stancy babies.

They did you SO SO SO dirty. Not just as a ship but as people... Seriously WTF was this??

I wish we could have said- oh, sadly we didn't get any time for heart to heart conversations because there was too much important action... except it all played like a bad video game where you had 5 minutes of 'action' then we have to sit and wait while dialogue happens that you are like... ok can I skip over this? Will this be relevant to the plot at all? No? Ok cool. Then more action that isn't actually all that meaning full just looks of unearned moments that we are supposed to feel impressed by. It was emotional manipulation cheatcoded in the worst possible way and it just got boring.

The Steve fakeout death? Stupid. It was just stupid and unnecessary because the only purpose it served was to magically fix the Steve Jonathan friendship that maybe 5 Stonathan shippers were actually concerned about. (The rest of them were perfectly content with their slow burn enemies to lovers thank you very much)

You know what else would have fixed that relationship? Jonathan actually having to have some actual F***ing character growth and them having real conversations like adults. Not- Hey I saved your life to prove to everyone that I am not just a stoned out sweater thief who has let my crippling depression bring out the worst in me. See how I am now a fully actualized person. Apparently the only issue I have was solved by my breakup which I am going to tell you about now Steve because that seems like an appropriate thing to talk about right at this moment.

But it's ok, because apparently while Steve himself was rescued his entire personality fell off that tower. Jonathan is now his other best friend because I guess they are trauma bonded now? (Is Steve Jonathan's rebound??? He was awfully pushy about seeing if he would move.) Also he totally got over Nancy like... ages ago. Which... in that case why the hell were you flirting with her LITERALLY YESTERDAY???? Dustin had to have a breakdown about his fear that you were going to get yourself killed for this girl LESS THAN 24 HOURS AGO. But nah man it's cool. She needs to be a girlboss and I have decided that my life is in Hawkins with Derek... a character I have not interacted with at all this entire season but he is a fan favorite so HE is my child now.

Also despite the fact that even in quarantine Hawkins middle/high school (which as far as we know is the only school in this town) was fully operational and therefore fully staffed I will somehow be a fully tenured teacher with no degree in less than 10 months with enough money to buy a house that I dont need in a town that I am completely committed to out of nowhere but also maybe not because I could also just move... I am not really clear on that one. Also this job absolutely gives me the flexibility to commit to our new Poly group hangs in Philly once a month because why remember that airplanes exist when we can crash at Robin's uncles place.

And Nancy. Poor, poor Nancy. Do they hate you? Did someone named Nancy steal the Duffers puppy and drop it down a well???

They actually did reduce you down to just a love triangle... and then didn't even give you anything for it. You came in with a bang and went out like a whimper. But you know you still got to shoot things so clearly you had good character development right? Right? Oh wait sorry you can't talk anymore. LOL. Let me sit here and mourn the loss of the rest of your wardrobe along with your pink sweater. I assume Jonathan came back and stole the rest of it which explains why you are wearing Ted's jacket. And you couldn't stop him because you no longer have any agency left in you. But you know, you had a 2 second flash about Barb while Joyce Chopped of Vecna's head so clearly no trauma left whatsoever.

That definitely isn't the haircut of a girl who is day drinking.

On the bright side, at least you don't need as much therapy as your brother.

[asimplejar]

Maya was throwing shade that Steve and Nancy get 0 resolution in this interview.

Thanks to @unspokenwaves for finding the timestamp!

@stancyworld here it is

[avengers-rule103]

so what i’m hearing is that nancy went to emerson college and graduated, top of her class of course, and now has an amazing high profile investigative journalism job that lets her travel the world. which is perfect, because steve was able to follow her, picking up odd jobs wherever he can find them on their travels. they set up a big map on one of the walls of the rv, so they can put a pin in every place they get to explore. it only takes a few years to go through many a packet of pins, but it’s worth it for the boxes of journals and scrapbooks they have with pictures and trinkets and memories. nancy takes her job seriously, she takes caring about people seriously like she always has, and sometimes it can get dark. but in the time that she has off steve finds local places he knows she loves, and always knows how to make her smile and laugh and bring back the light. because that’s what steve has always been good at, being a light to everyone around him.

it’s a parallel to the winnebego scene in season 4, they’re both sitting at the front of this little place they call home right after nancy got a call saying she’s needed somewhere else, they hopped in the van side by side like they’ve done a million times before, talking about distant memories from hawkins and when they plan to go back to visit everyone, as steve kicks the van into gear and they ride off into the sunset, listening to music, laughing, and holding hands. wondering where this investigation will take them next.