#because god knows there’s st*ddie fics that villainize Nancy and even Jonathan

[heavencasteel420]

(Petty venting ahead.)

I totally see why other people ship R*nance; their S4 team-up is fun (when Robin isn’t trying to push Sta*cy) and they have good chemistry. I’m also not such an exclusively Jancy shipper that I can’t enjoy fic/art for other Nancy (or Jonathan) ships and, although I want them to stay together in canon, there are ways that they could do a R*nance ending (overt or stealth) that I would be on board with. (In contrast, there is one Sta*cy ending that they could do that would make me go “I still hate this but it kind of works.”) Still, it is so hard to find R*nance fic that fits the following criteria:

Nancy is either bi/pan OR it’s an AU where she’s been a lesbian the whole time and it impacts the narrative accordingly (i.e., the author isn’t positing that Nancy, in canon, has never actually been attracted to Jonathan or Steve—I appreciate that other people find this interpretation meaningful, but I simply do not vibe with it);

If it’s an AU, it has enough connection to the source material that I don’t feel like I’m reading original fic where everyone has the names of ST characters for some reason (just a general preference);

Nancy is not a popular mean girl who needs to be humbled (presented with backhanded sympathy for her internalized homophobia or no);

The fic doesn’t go too far the other way and make Nancy a 100% well-adjusted and endlessly supportive Mom Friend (honestly, I’m pretty flexible on this one, because it’s much less common and doesn’t give me bad-adaptation-of-Emma vibes);

Similarly, the fic finds a happy medium between making Robin an uwu baby useless lesbian (and kind of infantilized due to implied autism) and an overly wise and together lesbian mentor (not terribly interesting story-wise, plus if she’s still eighteen, how together can she be?);

Unless it’s an AU where Jancy never happened or happened a lot differently, Nancy’s bond with Jonathan is acknowledged as important (even if they parted on bad terms and could no longer be friends, it’s bizarre to act like they had a casual, run-of-the-mill high school relationship) and definitely not dismissed as trivial next to her relationships with Steve or frickin’ Eddie;

The author genuinely likes Jonathan (“I don’t hate him but [long list of ways Jonathan annoys the author]” doesn’t count), lets him be upset about the break-up without villainizing him (or sets things up so that it’s plausible he’s relatively unbothered), and shows a decent level of awareness of who he is as a character (i.e., not reducing him to just being stoned all the time or getting basic details wrong) OR just leaves him out of it;

Maybe takes it easy on the amount of page-time dedicated to Steve/St*ddie;

Doesn’t have Joyce cheerily tell Nancy that she seems happier with Robin than she ever did with Jonathan (Jonathan could be way shittier as a boyfriend and a son, and that would still be an incredibly cruel thing to do, but the specific circumstances take it into Sharp Objects territory) (if Nancy is a lesbian in the story and Joyce knows it and she means that Nancy seems happier because she can be herself, that’s different);

Decent spelling/grammar/style/formatting (not a specific problem with this ship, just fic in general).

Nobody’s obligated to do anything of these things for what’s ultimately a fun hobby, and most of my pet peeves run the gamut from “totally inoffensive” to “slightly mean-spirited but not bigoted” to “unfortunate implications but I think the author means well.” I understand the utility, too, of downplaying ships you don’t favor or using an ex character as the bad guy to create the kind of narrative you want. It’s just slim pickings for someone who thinks they’re cute together but isn’t into all that shit.