#people often give this paranoia to jonathan and nancy

[thestobingirlie]

this isn’t a big thing, but i’ve noticed in a few fics that people seem to write steve as having very little paranoia about the lab. and it’s just… steve is one of the few characters that we see very obviously showing signs of paranoia on screen.

after nancy has her panic attack in the library (in s2), she barely mentions the events of the previous year and steve huddles her into a separate room, closing the blinds when he still doesn’t feel safe enough as if people are waiting around trying to read their lips. he literally says that the lab could “do anything they want” if nancy tries to tell barb’s parents what happened.

(this is a sidenote, but like, this is the reason why steve doesn’t entertain the idea of revealing the truth about barb’s death. he doesn’t not care, he’s scared of being taken out by the government)

anyway. i guess half the fun of steve’s character for me, especially in fics around s2, is getting to explore the paranoia that he experiences, and i think it kinda diminishes his character when people take it away and give it to other characters.

[lagaudiiere]

RE: NANCY THE SLUT WHEELER THINGS:

Can we talk about how paranoid Nancy was when she walked into school the day after her first time with Steve? ( Chapter Three: Holly Jolly ). Mind you it was a lot of things, like the fact that she had to have left before her & Steve had a chance to talk about it, but it’s a small town, people talk & you best be careful what it is they end up saying about you because that sticks with you until you leave ( if you leave. ) You see how jumpy she is, the way she almost withdraws into herself, shoulders slightly hunched, head down ( contrast this with how comfortably & casually she walked in with Barb an episode or two ago, & it really highlights the difference. She may not have been popular before her & Steve were a thing — arguably, she wasn’t even when they were, she was just in that crowd, but she was comfortable where she was & she was confident — she was smart, she was little miss perfect, at least in other people’s eyes. ) She literally jumps when Steve meets her at her locker, she’s practically braced for an onslaught of something, be it harsh words or something. Steve notices ( he always does seem to notice when something’s off with her, which is so important because Nancy Wheeler’s first & automatic instinct is to insist she’s okay, that everything’s fine, everything’s great & Nancy vc: it’s bullshit. 

But this has been her coping mechanism & the only way she knows how to deal — until someone calls her out, or notices. Steve notices — although this time it is quite obvious, people often see what they want to see but he still asks ) & he asks if everything’s okay. Instinctively, automatically, she responds. It’s like a gut reaction, ❛ Yeah, yeah totally. ❜ But then after a moment’s hesitation, she does tell him. ❛ I just — I feel like everyone’s … staring at me. ❜ & she looks around, as if to emphasize her point. What I find really interesting is that, Steve automatically knows. He doesn’t miss a beat. ❛ Oh I didn’t tell anyone. ❜ So apparently this staring & slut shaming thing is a common theme in Hawkins, or at least in their school. You even see bits of this when Nancy mentions the other girls Steve’s been linked to. It’s stupid, but it’s how things are, & they’re looked at differently because of their choices & what they have done with others. Either that or, once again, Steve knows exactly what’s wrong with her, or going on. I’d say it’s a mix of the two at the very least. She knows it wouldn’t have been him, her immediate response says as much but then she goes — but what about Tommy & Carol & them? 

Again, she’s uncomfortable, words a little hesitant, & he immediately dismisses it, says she’s being paranoid — but then, once again in Steve Harrington fashion, he realizes it isn’t enough & says exactly what she needed to hear in that moment tbh. She had been nervous & anxious, & shy, & she didn’t know where they stood anymore especially what with his previous relationships, & he eases all ( or at least most ) of that away with what she needs to hear & you can see her body language relax.

Phew. Still with me? Now let’s talk about Nancy the Slut Wheeler things.

We initially find out something is up when some stupid boys honk at her & talk about her movie. She’s immediately uncomfortable & it takes her a second but she’s smart & the town’s small. She’s running. On her way there, you see people glancing at her, the women quickly looking away, people standing at the theater pointing at the big crimson letters ( starring NANCY THE SLUT WHEELER. ) She’s literally staring there, openmouthed, unable to even imagine how this came about, & it’s probably all that paranoia from before, except it’s a million times worse because it’s real & it’s not just people at school that are going to be talking, it’s everyone. Friends, people at school, classmates, teachers, neighbors, her parents, Mike & his friends. Again, bear in mind, while she had done nothing, we have seen the mentality of the town, & it’s a small town. The moment the anger & shock wears off, you see tears gathering in her eyes & she’s looking around because she knows, this town talks, this town is small-minded & right there is her proof — a couple walking past, looking at her as if she’s some freak ( the wow the woman says doesn’t help ) & the guy pushes her to keep walking as if being near Nancy is bad. You can see her breathing heavily & my heart literally hurts. Let’s not forget what last night had actually been & what hell she’d already been put through. She’s trying so hard to be okay, & I find it worth noting that few things get real reactions out of her because she tries so hard to be fine & strong — this & the night before have both gotten real reactions.

Nancy, who’s been trying all her life to maintain this persona of perfection, of being okay, has everything literally just crashing before her eyes.

& she hears laughter. She sees Steve. The boy she’d finally trusted & let in, the boy she was telling Jonathan earlier in the woods how great he was ( again, a huge contrast to the start of the show when she was insisting they were just make out buddies — see, Nancy isn’t someone who says to your face how she feels, the actions & the little things show it. )

I don’t want to even talk about that moment because it’s all kinds of awful, but I find it incredible how she literally walks away. She could have yelled at him, explained something, but she literally just turns on her heel to leave. Again fast forward bc we all know, which btw, she doesn’t even get two seconds to deal or be to herself because of the fight.

Still with me? If so you’re really the real MVPs guys.

The aftermath. She’s able to forget about it temporarily or at least push it aside, ignore what happened for the time being because she’s got far bigger things to worry about. Forget school, forget that stupid chemistry test she’s got, forget the stupid gossip, she’s seen the monster & she needs to find Barb ( let’s not even talk about when she finds out Barb is gone, we’re at novel length already. ) But what about after? When she goes back to school, or walks the streets? How many more times will she have walk the streets, shoulders hunched, this time not because she’s being paranoid. How much worse is that? How many more boys will honk at her way, catcall, follow her around, bother her at school? This looks even worse because for the time being, she’s not with Steve either, however long that is, so she does start to look like that Becky, & whoever else she’d said she wasn’t like in that night they studied together. How many women & couples will whisper things as they walk hurriedly, how many parents will speed up just a bit with their children when they see Nancy? By the way, she doesn’t drive or have a car, & now that Steve isn’t picking her up, how does she get to school, what about that? What does she say to her parents? We’ve seen Nancy & how she deals, she doesn’t. 

She doesn’t say anything to her parents, the same way she doesn’t tell anyone about her trip to the upside down, the same way she hadn’t told anyone about her family’s situation before Jonathan. But she’ll be more quiet at the dinner table, be more removed, & she’s already dealt with so much, she really doesn’t need this on top of everything else? What does she say to Mike? Because again, he’s probably at the very least heard, & idk about you but when something awful happens that my younger brother knows, I want to tell him but at the same time, I can’t because, even if I’m not at fault, it’s embarrassing? She’s ashamed, & it angers her because she knows she shouldn’t be? And plus, she’s supposed to be the older sibling, she’s supposed to be the stronger one & help him, not vice versa. & again, they’ve both been through hell, so she doesn’t want to add that. More uncomfortable silence, more hunched shoulders, more pouring it all into herself, more being not okay & insisting she was.

tl;dr Nancy Wheeler went through hell & god dammit she deserves the world & people don’t give her nearly the amount of credit she deserves.

[lagaudiiere-archive]

RE: NANCY THE SLUT WHEELER THINGS:

Can we talk about how paranoid Nancy was when she walked into school the day after her first time with Steve? ( Chapter Three: Holly Jolly ). Mind you it was a lot of things, like the fact that she had to have left before her & Steve had a chance to talk about it, but it’s a small town, people talk & you best be careful what it is they end up saying about you because that sticks with you until you leave ( if you leave. ) You see how jumpy she is, the way she almost withdraws into herself, shoulders slightlyhunched, head down ( contrast this with how comfortably & casually she walked in with Barb an episode or two ago, & it really highlights the difference. She may not have been popular before her & Steve were a thing — arguably, she wasn’t even whenthey were, she was just in that crowd, but she was comfortable where she was & she was confident — she was smart, she was little miss perfect, at least in other people’s eyes. ) She literally jumps when Steve meets her at her locker, she’s practicallybraced for an onslaught of something, be it harsh words or something. Steve notices ( he always does seem to notice when something’s off with her, which is so important because Nancy Wheeler’s first & automatic instinct is to insist she’s okay, that everything’s fine, everything’s great & Nancy vc: it’s bullshit.

But this has been her coping mechanism & the only way she knows how to deal — until someone calls her out, or notices. Steve notices — although this time it is quite obvious, people often see what they want to see but he still asks ) & he asks if everything’s okay. Instinctively, automatically, she responds. It’s like a gut reaction, ❛ Yeah, yeah totally. ❜ But then after a moment’s hesitation, she does tell him. ❛ I just — I feel like everyone’s … staring at me. ❜ & she looks around, as if to emphasize her point. What I find really interesting is that, Steve automatically knows. He doesn’t miss a beat. ❛ Oh I didn’t tell anyone. ❜ So apparently this staring & slut shaming thing is a common theme in Hawkins, or at least in their school. You even see bits of this when Nancy mentions the other girls Steve’s been linked to. It’s stupid, but it’s how things are, & they’re looked at differently because of their choices & what they have done with others. Either that or, once again, Steve knows exactly what’s wrong with her, or going on. I’d say it’s a mix of the two at the very least. She knows it wouldn’t have been him, her immediate response says as much but then she goes — but what about Tommy & Carol & them?

Again, she’s uncomfortable, words a little hesitant, & he immediately dismisses it, says she’s being paranoid — but then, once again in Steve Harrington fashion, he realizes it isn’t enough & says exactly what she needed to hear in that moment tbh. She had been nervous & anxious, & shy, & she didn’t know where they stood anymore especially what with his previous relationships, & he eases all ( or at least most ) of that away with what she needs to hear & you can see her body language relax.

Phew. Still with me? Now let’s talk about Nancy the Slut Wheeler things.

We initially find out something is up when some stupid boys honk at her & talk about her movie. She’s immediately uncomfortable & it takes her a second but she’s smart & the town’s small. She’s running. On her way there, you see people glancing at her, the women quickly looking away, people standing at the theater pointing at the big crimson letters ( starring NANCY THE SLUT WHEELER. ) She’s literally staring there, openmouthed, unable to even imagine how this came about, & it’s probably all that paranoia from before, except it’s a million times worse because it’s real & it’s not just people at school that are going to be talking, it’s everyone. Friends, people at school, classmates, teachers, neighbors, her parents, Mike & his friends. Again, bear in mind, while she had done nothing, we have seen the mentality of the town, & it’s a small town. The moment the anger & shock wears off, you see tears gathering in her eyes & she’s looking around because she knows, this town talks, this town is small-minded &right there is her proof — a couple walking past, looking at her as if she’s some freak ( the wow the woman says doesn’t help ) & the guy pushes her to keep walking as if being near Nancy is bad. You can see her breathing heavily & my heart literally hurts. Let’s not forget what last night had actually been & what hell she’d already been put through. She’s trying so hard to be okay, & I find it worth noting that few things get real reactions out of her because she tries so hard to be fine & strong — this & the night before have both gotten real reactions.

Nancy, who’s been trying all her life to maintain this persona of perfection, of being okay, has everything literally just crashing before her eyes.

& she hears laughter. She sees Steve. The boy she’d finally trusted & let in, the boy she was telling Jonathan earlier in the woods how great he was ( again, a huge contrast to the start of the show when she was insisting they were just make out buddies — see, Nancy isn’t someone who says to your face how she feels, the actions & the little things show it. )

I don’t want to even talk about that moment because it’s all kinds of awful, but I find it incredible how she literally walks away. She could have yelled at him, explained something, but she literally just turns on her heel to leave. Again fast forward bc we all know, which btw, she doesn’t even get two seconds to deal or be to herself because of the fight.

Still with me? If so you’re really the real MVPs guys.

The aftermath. She’s able to forget about it temporarily or at least push it aside, ignore what happened for the time being because she’s got far bigger things to worry about. Forget school, forget that stupid chemistry test she’s got, forget the stupid gossip, she’s seen the monster & she needs to find Barb ( let’s not even talk about when she finds out Barb is gone, we’re at novel length already. ) But what about after? When she goes back to school, or walks the streets? How many more times will she have walk the streets, shoulders hunched, this time not because she’s being paranoid. How much worse is that? How many more boys will honk at her way, catcall, follow her around, bother her at school? This looks even worse because for the time being, she’s not with Steve either, however long that is, so she does start to look like that Becky, & whoever else she’d said she wasn’t like in that night they studied together. How many women & couples will whisper things as they walk hurriedly, how manyparents will speed up just a bit with their children when they see Nancy? By the way, she doesn’t drive or have a car, & now that Steve isn’t picking her up, how does she get to school, what about that? What does she say to her parents? We’ve seen Nancy& how she deals, she doesn’t.

She doesn’t say anything to her parents, the same way she doesn’t tell anyone about her trip to the upside down, the same way she hadn’t told anyone about her family’s situation before Jonathan. But she’ll be more quiet at the dinner table, be moreremoved, & she’s already dealt with so much, she really doesn’t need this on top of everything else? What does she say to Mike? Because again, he’s probably at the very least heard, & idk about you but when something awful happens that my younger brother knows, I want to tell him but at the same time, I can’t because, even if I’m not at fault, it’s embarrassing? She’s ashamed, & it angers her because she knows she shouldn’t be? And plus, she’s supposed to be the older sibling, she’s supposed to be the stronger one & help him, not vice versa. & again, they’ve both been through hell, so she doesn’t want to add that. More uncomfortable silence, more hunched shoulders, more pouring it all into herself, more being not okay & insisting she was.

tl;dr Nancy Wheeler went through hell & god dammit she deserves the world & people don’t give her nearly the amount of credit she deserves.