would love hear more about what you find most compelling about stancy
Because by rewriting Steve's character in season 1 to be more nuanced and giving him a last-minute moment of redemption, it also recontextualizes Steve and Nancy's initial relationship in a way I don't think the writers were fully intending, and it adds more layers to the consequent implosion of their relationship in a way I find both fascinating and tragic.
Before Steve was rewritten, it's very clear the archetype he was likely going to fulfill: The asshole jock that didn't really like Nancy but was just stringing her along to get in her pants and once his true colors were revealed to her, he would then get his rightful comeuppance a la demogorgon. The original role of Steve's character was solely to be a roadblock of tension between Nancy and Jonathan, to exist as the "wrong" choice for Nancy, and to stand in contrast of Jonathan. The popular athlete (who's actually cruel) vs the poor misunderstood loner (who's actually the real nice guy).
But once you change Steve's character to be more genuine. To someone who's charismatic and funny with a clear capacity for kindness and growth, it completely upheaves that narrative. - Steve didn't pursue Nancy because he was a sleaze, but because he sincerely liked her. When Jonathon makes snarky comments about Steve, it's no longer evidence of Jonathon's supposed insight, but now reads like Jonathan doesn't have a good handle on who Steve (and Nancy) are. When Steve becomes a permeant fixture of the story beyond the first season and is entrenched in the world of monsters alongside the rest of the main characters, he's no longer a sound metaphor of the mundane loveless future that Nancy fears.
In short, the genesis of stancy is genuine affection. They were with each other because they liked each other, as simple and straightforward as that. And from that view, I then think that makes the following implosion of it legitimately sad on a level. They were two teenagers in a blossoming romance that were suddenly eaten up and spat out by a horror sci-fi plot. And to be clear, I'm not saying that Steve was a saint in season 1, but since we've been shown that when push comes to shove, Steve does choose to be a better person, there's an argument to be made that if monsters didn't exist and Barb had never died/disappeared, then Steve and Nancy very well could have stayed together.
But Barb does die. And when Nancy is desperate for answers and support and understanding, and Steve doesn't give her that because he's still the type of person to cling to normalcy when things get hard, she finds it in someone else.
And it's sad. And it's messy. And I'm sort of obsessed with the moment when Nancy drunkenly tells Steve that they killed Barb because damn, what a fun piece of character exploration. What if you intrinsically linked your very relationship to the death of your best friend? What does it say that she initially stayed with Steve when she's clearly been carrying this guilt for so long? Was it complacency? Was it a perverse form self-punishment? Could she have or did she sincerely love Steve but Barb's death ruined any chance of her letting herself feel that for him without mountains of guilt and self-loathing? (they just wanted to create season 2 angst for Nancy and Jonathon lol)
And the thing is that Nancy shouldn't blame herself or Steve, because dear god, who could have predicted that trying to include your friend in on a night of fun was going to lead to her death via an alternate dimension monster, and I've been itching for the show to explore this and resolve it but lol rip.
Anyways, I thought the season 2 breakup was essentially going to be the final death wail of stancy but then but then, you have Season 4 and when shit hits the fan, who's suddenly there to support Nancy? Who's there to help and search for answers? Steve. Because he's become that exact person to do so. Now, he's someone who can understand her and who wants to. And then you have the lingering looks. Moments of realization, recognition of change, and again, yeah I know we're probably just doing this dance for unneeded Nancy and Jonathan tension, but damn if I'm not eating it up.
Because tldr: stancy is about growth, it's about change, it's about second chances. What if you're right for each other then wrong then right again? It's yearning and loss. It's about forgiving yourself for something that you couldn't have stopped, known, or predicted. It's reconciliation.
annaxmalina
turnnoffyourmind
baratheonpilled
yousharknotpass
