#stonathan stancy jancy

[findafight]

i like stonathan and fics where they're friends but i also feel like the cheating goes from bad to worse in those fics. like if they become friends after it's not quite so bad but then i do feel like there's more of an argument for jonathan having a moral/good friend obligation to tell steve what actually happened. but in fics where they're friends pre s2 it's honestly kind of evil of jonathan to do that then just let nancy lie and never say anything himself. i've seen both cases in fics and it always really bothers me.

ya like. i sort of see it as, if they're friends/interact friendly, maybe Jonathan thinks Nancy told Steve? It's not the best start to a relationship, and maybe they just don't talk about it really (they seem to avoid their issues together) So I see Jonathan, if they were friends, being super awkward about it and avoiding Steve(who wants to be around their girlfriend's ex that she cheated on with you?), but not realizing Nancy hadn't told Steve what happened. so that's how it slips out, if Jon talks to Steve after to apologize? and it causes more issues between the three of them and probably causes issues between Jonathan and Nancy too.

but if they are friends/friendly and Jonathan knows Nancy didn't confess.... gross and nasty and bad and on the verge of unforgivable for Steve. It's Nancy's responsibility but you're right there's some kind of obligation/morality in either encouraging her to tell Steve or doing it for her. Because if they were to try to form platonic relationships with Steve, the betrayal would be that much worse if he found out later.

Stonathan AND Stancy either romantic or platonic both require Steve to know what happened. Idk I think it'd fuck Steve up if he were to become Jon's friend post S2 only to find out later Nancy cheated with him. There's be a lot of confusing emotions and betrayal.

At this point in canon no one has told him and no one seems to feel at all guilty about it (because canon doesn't believe Steve was cheated on, even though getting together with someone less than two days after breaking up with your almost year long partner is still pretty hurtful). Nancy and Jonathan seemingly sometimes make fun of Steve behind his back (something I've only really done with friends exes who we don't see anymore, not someone who you still see pretty regularly. Nancy still at the very least sees around town but possibly more with him giving Dustin/max rides?) that scene with them at hop's cabin where Nancy says Steve has grown up doesn't seem like it's 'someome we both know does stuff that annoys us but it is kinda funny' complaining and more 'lets laugh about your stupid ex we don't like' (which is fine to do, just. Maybe I wouldn't do it about a guy who saved my and my sibling's lives separately at least twice that I'd see because he's still friends with my sibling's friends...) It's not like STEVE was the one that broke NANCY'S heart.

At this point I don't think the monster hunting trio will be able to have a good friendship, just because it would be too lopsided with Nancy and Jon not respecting Steve, Steve and Nancy having too much history, and Steve and Jon not liking each other.

[miwiromantics]

Robin "Tweedledee" Buckley

"took me six months longer too walk than all the other babies"

Nancy "Nancy Drew" Wheeler

"i just look forward to you never doubting me again"

Jonathan "Little Screwup" Byers

"you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to"

Steven "The Hair" Harrington

"she sounds like a muppet. She sounds like muppet giving birth"

Edward "The Freak" Munson

"it's very metal, what you did. that's all i'm saying"

[steddieasitgoes]

CONFIRMED: Nancy and Jonathan ask Steve to be their third

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Headcanon that Jonathan doesn't like to be called Jon or Jonnie because it's too close to Lonnie. It's either Jonathan or nothing. . .he didn't realize there was another option until Steve called him Nate.

"Why?" Jonathan would blurt out.

"Yeah, it would be cute, don't you think? Nate and Nancy?" Steve said and smiled a crooked smile.

Steve stared at him with his wide, very expressive eyes, and Jonathan stared back for a moment. He turned on his heel and walked back to Nancy.

"Uh, yeah, you don't have to worry about choosing one of us, I think I'm in love with Steve, too," Jonathan said.

"What?!" Nancy asked.

"Also, I will accept Nate as a nickname," Jonathan said.

[thebylertheory]

I hate that the Stranger Things fandom makes people feel like they can only like canon ships. People get ANGRY if you ship something that is not canon, and that is so baffling to me. Sometimes people ship two characters together simply because they think they'd be a cute couple in theory, not because they think they're going to end up together on the show. And that is okay. I need people to realize just how okay that is.

I have a lot of ships that I like. Some are ones that I know will never be canon. And others are ships that I think actually stand a chance of being canon. But guess what, whether or not any of my ships become canon will not stop me from shipping them. I'm going to ship whatever I think is cute and nobody is going to try and make me feel bad for that. I shouldn't have to give you a 50 page document on why I think my ship is going to be canon in order for me to like it.

[stonathandreamer]

Regarding the Duffers' "hate" of Jonathan...

(Warnings: this post is an absolute maelstrom of emotions. It contains mild "anti Stancy," "anti Jancy," and "anti Nancy." Keep in mind that these are my personal opinions on the matter. Don't bother trying to make me change my mind, you'll just be losing your time. Haters will be blocked. Also, it's super long, like, Avengers: Edgame movie length long.)

I don’t think they hate him. How can you hate a character YOU created? Nah, it's ridiculous, even for their own ridiculous standards.

If they truly hated Jonathan, the Dumbers would have gotten rid of him in Season 3 or Season 2, giving some lame excuse like, "Oh, he graduated early and went to college," or they would have just killed him off. Jonathan's not a popular character, so the majority of people wouldn't care if he just disappeared.

No, they don't hate him. It's something else. Namely, fan service and bad writing.

I think fame went to their heads after Season 1 (remember, people didn't have faith that Stranger Things would be a hit back in 2016. David Harbour even said he thought the show would flop horribly), so I believe the Dumbers are trying really hard to appease the fans and keep their show popular. Now more than ever, considering they apparently want to create a Stranger Things Cinematic Universe with God knows how many spin-offs.

Looking back, some events from the series do seem like fan service, with the Dumbers wanting to appease the louder groups of the fandom. Billy's "redemption arc" seemed like an attempt to satisfy his fans—remember, the character of Billy was what Steve was supposed to be: a violent, abusive, and irredeemable jock who would be killed by the Monster. Irredeemable. And yet, they tried to redeem him. Steve's feelings for Nancy apparently returning in S4 also seem to be fan service to me, given that the fandom loves him over Jonathan, and Stancy shippers are more vocal than Jancy shippers.

Another contributing factor is bad writing. The Dumbers aren't great writers. They really aren't.

No one is perfect, I know, and we all have different opinions about everything, BUT they did Jonathan wrong ever since S1. That scene—yep, that one you're thinking about—permanently ruined his reputation in the fandom. It's the one thing his haters always bring up, and it's all the Dumbers' fault. How do you make the series protagonist, the supposed hero, do such a shitty thing?! It's bad writing, and it's something the Jonathan haters, the extremist Stancy defenders, and extremist Steve defenders always use against him. Funny, because they apparently forgave the "Nancy the Slut Wheeler" graffiti thing so quickly... 🤔 (or forgot? Or just act like it never happened?). Like, yeah, the girl's boyfriend and his friends called a teenage girl a slut, painted it on a wall for the whole town to see, but hey, everyone makes mistakes, right?

Two wrongs don't make a right, but Steve's actions fit his then-S1 persona, a.k.a. the season's teenage antagonist. Jonathan's actions don’t fit his role as the protagonist, the good guy, the supposed hero. The Dumbers just needed to move the plot, and the only thing they could come up with was to make Jonathan take those pictures. They made the protagonist (Jonathan) look bad and the antagonist (Steve) look good.

By doing so, Jonathan's popularity was doomed to decline, and when Steve became the good guy in Season 2, the fandom found their "Big Brother character," the kind, caring, and protective guy who always takes care of the kids—something the Dumbers seem to have taken a liking to, given how often they provide "Babysitter Steve" content to the fandom. While Jonathan, the actual kind, caring, and protective big brother, gets sidelined constantly. Painfully and criminally sidelined.

(Keep in mind that Jonathan has known those kids for years! He has known Mike, Lucas, and Dustin for years because they are his little brother's friends. Steve has known them for what? Two years?)

In this fandom, Steve's fans are more vocal, since they outnumber Jonathan's fans, and the Dumbers know that. They know how loved Steve is, which is why Steve's screen time increased in each season (S1: 23 minutes, S2: 33 minutes, S3: 45 minutes, S4: 78 minutes), while Jonathan's screen time DECREASED SEVERELY (S1: 57 minutes, S2: 32 minutes, S3: 27 minutes, S4: 59 minutes), and is doomed to continue that way in S5, apparently.

Fanon!Steve is Canon!Jonathan - or what Canon!Jonathan used to be.

Seeing Jonathan's popularity decrease, the Dumbers decided it wouldn't be worth focusing on him anymore since the majority of the fandom doesn't care about him. They decided to focus on other characters instead, which contributed even more to Jonathan's downfall.

Season 3 did him dirty. I don't like how he was treated there, how they made him seem to be in the wrong in his argument with his girlfriend, despite having valid points, how he was reduced into being Nancy's sidekick, having to put up with her shit while his own concerns (his need for money to help his family pay the bills) were invalidated. But Season 4 was his all-time low. Pretty much everything that defines Jonathan as a character vanished completely—his passion for photography, his love for music, his protectiveness of his family, his childhood dream of going to NYU, and even his car. Everything, gone. Yes, he and Will have a nice heart-to-heart talk that maybe made me sob, but keep in mind Jonathan still ignored Will for a while, something his past self would never do.

(Remember, every time something happened to Will, Jonathan always blamed himself for "not being there for him.")

Jonathan had everything to be a fan favorite: the kind heart and soul, the care for others, the love for his family, the selflessness, but he had the misfortune of having the Duffer Brothers as writers, who threw him under the bus and never bothered to call 911 after that.

They erased him almost entirely from the show, reducing him, a main character who's been around since Season 1, to a side character.

People say Jonathan's not interesting, that his plot line is boring, that he's not important, some even go as far as to offend his appearence, with offenses ranging from "he's ugly af" to "he looks like a crack addict". There's a human behind that character, and his name is Charles Ross Heaton. When you call Jonathan those things, you're not offending Jonathan Byers, the Stranger Things character, you're offending Charlie Heaton, the actor of Stranger Things behind the character of Jonathan Byers.

You have every right in the universe to find someone attractive or not—everyone has their preferences. I personally think Charlie is a handsome and good-looking fella (if only he quit the 🚬. Sorry, but I am concerned parent sometimes and I also have a natural aversion to that, because my respiratory system is super sensible to strong smells, especially of smoke, and even seeing one makes me uneasy). You don't find Jonathan (actually, Charlie) good-looking? It's your opinion and you're entitled to it 👍🏻. You don't find Jonathan (actually, Charlie) good-looking and called him a "crack looking addict," "a druggie," "someone who's clearly high on something all the time," or "an Elon Musk lookalike"? There's a line, buddy, and you just crossed it. You're being offensive, disrespectful, a jerk, and, above all, a motherfucking piece of shit and a waste of precious oxygen 🖕🏻.

Jonathan had so much potential.

He and Steve could have been friends (yes, I am making this about Stonathan; deal with it), since it was Jonathan who gave Steve the "wake-up call" (when Steve bad-mouthed his mom and brother, and Jonathan gave him a beating). It was Steve who bought him his new camera. And yet, these things are never properly acknowledged by the characters. Jonathan could have been such a good big brother to El when they were living in Cali, but the Dumbers thought "nah, weed is better for him." Their time in Cali could have strengthened the Byers siblings relationship, since now they're all going to the same school and are all teens. They could open up to each other, let out their frustrations, and ask for advice. Imagine a scene where Jonathan, Will, and El are all sitting in his room and are just talking about life, school, the future, goofing off like siblings. but nooooooooooo. Let's throw Jonathan into a dark corner and leave him there!

I fear for Jonathan's life in S5? Yes. Will he actually die? Hardly (IMO). A character's death is meant to impact both the other characters and the fandom, and while Jonathan's death would destroy the Byers completely, the fandom wouldn't care (some would even cheer and say "yay, now Steve can go back to his ex-girlfriend who was terrible to him and he was terrible to her and they can revive their terrible relationship and live terribly ever after!").

Jonathan is a character I relate to a lot; the loner freak with no friends who has to help his family stay afloat. I see Jonathan struggling with life and I think, "Fuck, this sounds familiar... Oh, wait." I see Jonathan being bashed and bullied by the fandom and I think how much these people would actually bully him IRL.

Stranger Things is a story where the freaks, the nerds, the geeks, and the losers win, and yet Jonathan doesn't seem to be having many wins for himself (and yes, I'm writing these final paragraphs while some tears threaten to spill). He's constantly sidelined and forgotten. Forgotten by the writers, by other characters, by Netflix, and even by the fandom.

Jonathan is my comfort character. I see a lot of myself in him and I wish the writers would have treated him better so that I could have looked at him and thought, "Fuck... We actually won." But alas, I fear this won't happen.

I fear Jonathan's story will continue to be the way it is and end with him being a sidelined guy people will quickly forget once the show ends. But I won't.

I will never forget Jonathan Byers.

I wish I could be alive for when Stranger Things fall into public domain, so that I could correct the mistakes they made to Jonathan and give the Dumber Brothers a big "FUCK YOU!"

Jonathan Byers deserves better. And so does Charlie Heaton, who also falls victim to constant sidelining.

JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN BYERS ✊🏻!

JUSTICE FOR CHARLIE HEATON ✊🏻!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go cry in the shower for a day or two.

[spookystarfishzombie]

[strawberrybyers]

jancy in steve’s bmw 😭 we’re getting jonathan, nancy, steve, and robin all hanging out together!! they did this specifically for ME

[envythemouse]

Can you imagine Nancy asking Jonathan when he realized he loved her and he just tells her it's when she gave him the new camera, because it was really well thought out (maybe it's a very specific type of camera Jonathan has always wanted and is hard to find and he didn't think anyone ever listened to him and his photography talk).

And then Nancy gets kind of upset and Jonathan doesn't know why, because he doesn't know Steve was actually the one who chose, bought and wrapped it.

If you guys come across any fics where Jonathan finds out the camera was from Steve and not Nancy, do drop it in the comments/repost. I love seeing that in fics even if it's just a small detail.

[friendsdontlieokay]

"Steve, do you hear me?" Just doesn't click right for some reason. I mean they're fighting there together why would the person yelling ask Steve if he could hear them or not? Was Steve partially unconscious? Or was he on another dimension at the same place? There's gotta be more to this specific phrase rather than just random choices of words during times of terror, thoughts?

[stoncybangs]

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[twin-scars]

There has been so much debate over who Jonathan's camera gift is from, Nancy or Steve or both.

Glancing through my Topps ST card collection, I discovered the answer:

Card #99 -- Making It Right

"Jonathan picks up Will from an evening at the Wheeler house. Nancy gives Jonathan a quick kiss on the cheek, and a Christmas gift as he is leaving with his brother. The present is actually a camera from Steve, who is trying to make it right by replacing the one he so cruelly smashed to the ground." [emphasis mine]

[miwiromantics]

[elevenenthusiast]

This trio would have been too powerful that’s why they were separated for the rest of the show until the final season.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Jonathan: It's so ridiculous, Nancy, Steve is not that hot.

Nancy: You say that now, but you haven't seen him with his glasses.

Jonathan: It's not going to make me realize that he's -

Steve walked in, wearing his glasses. Jonathan stared at him.

Nancy: *smirking* What were you about to say, babe?

Jonathan: I'm leaving you for your ex-boyfriend.

Nancy: Or, and hear me out, there's another solution.

Jonathan: Hmmm?

Jonathan's ass was no longer listening.

[stmarchmm]

We’re less than two weeks away from the start of March Mating Madness!!!! Which prompts have you already mentally put a star next to for safekeeping?⭐️