Okay, so I've reeled over Nancy's relationship with Steve and Jonathan in my head for so long that I just want to put it out there rn.
As mentioned before, by Murray, Steve is Nancy's safety net. Nancy fooled herself into thinking she was in love with Steve simply because of how afraid she was to be alone, especially after Barb's death. With Jonathan being busy with Will at the time, Nancy couldn't go to him and lean on him. She couldn't just break it off with Steve because without Jonathan she would have no one else. Steve, to her, was better than nothing. She thought that being with Steve would be less scary than having to deal with all her thoughts (guilt, dread, nightmares, fear, etc.) alone. So she fooled herself into thinking she was in love with Steve to stay with him and so she wouldn't lose her only "boulder", simply put, without Steve, Nancy wouldn't have had anybody to fill up the hole in her heart.
I won't say that Nancy "lying" to Steve about her being in love with him was okay, because it wasn't, but I'm not gonna hold it against her. I can empathize with her. I do think that with everything that she went through, she is at least allowed sympathy. She was 16, she wanted to rebel, she wanted to break from the shackles of her upbringing.
(I won't delve into my thoughts on her being a repressed queer, but I do think she is heavily queer coded, purposely or not.)
And now onto why I think Steve and Nancy getting back together this season seems completely and totally off. It has been clear from the beginning that the Duffers were going for Nancy and Jonathan to be a thing, and they wouldn't just build those two up just to have a Nancy fall back into Steve just because (especially after the jancy s3 scene at the end. Why have them all mushy and sweet together just to pull this crap in s4). I do think that because Nancy can tell that Jonathan breaking up with her is imminent, she is starting to feel that fear and dread being riled up inside her again, just like in season two where she convinced herself that she was in love with Steve etc. She can feel that she is going to be alone again so she is searching for the next best person, which, to her, is Steve.
Now with her being Vecna'd, him showing her the guilt she's endured these past years of her life, she's going to have a "wake up call" and realize that she is retrogressing (i.e. going back to her safety net [Steve] and that she is fooling herself into loving him/liking him again.)
Although I don't want Nancy's Vena scene to revolve around her love triangle with Steve and Jonathan (I want it to revolve around her character and her internal struggles alone, please), I do want there to be a moment where Nancy realizes that she doesn't need to be in a romantic relationship with either Steve or Jonathan or anyone else to be okay. She can depend on her friends (Robin could come in at this point because yeah), and for her to know that she is not alone.
The immense amount of joy I would feel if after Vecna, Nancy felt like she was able to understand herself more, is insurmountable.
But, anyway, in short, I want Nancy freed from this prison of a love triangle the Duffers have put her in.
And has this all been talked about before? Maybe, maybe not. Idk. But these are my two cents.
And atp, the only romance I would accept for Nancy is between her and Robin. Either leave Nancy alone OR give her Robin. That's that. (Have my girls hold hands and kiss, please.)
