#the way we address mike’s flaws and acknowedge that they hurt people even though there’s a reason? that’s what i like doing with

[wibble-wobbegong]

okay here’s my thing with nancy. when i criticize her, i’m not doing it because i don’t like her. i actually really like that there are things to criticize because she escapes a mild version of the mary sue trope. she’s headstrong, she’s leader, everybody likes her and is willing to follow her lead because she’s cunning and a quick thinker and bold and she cares about the people around her a lot. she’s a badass with a gun! she deserves to be liked for a lot of reasons!! but, she often tends to take it too far and get lost in her own head, sometimes hurting the people around her (namely jonathan and mike). it makes her way more interesting to show that even being someone like nancy, someone who is full of very admirable traits, can be flawed in ways that aren’t just insecurity

far too often characters like nancy fall into this spot where their only flaws are internal conflict and self hatred, but they never hurt other people and they’re just made to be even more likable and sympathetic. nancy struggles with a lot of conflict aimed towards herself, but at the same time she can bulldoze over other people when she gets focused on her goals.

her relationship with mike, especially, is made interesting this way because nancy doesn’t view him as a priority and thus neglects him, but she does this because mike is so similar to her in the sense that he takes charge when he needs to and is very independent. mike is highly prone to self-isolation when he struggles so nobody has to see him that way, and so nancy doesn’t see it either.

there are reasons why her relationship with mike has devolved so much, but it doesn’t change that she doesn’t prioritize mike or show the same care to him as he shows her, but it does mean it deserves to be explored and resolved. nancy has flaws, and those flaws should be part of her development

nancy is a great character because she’s flawed and multifaceted and not a perfect person. giving her these aspects and opportunities to grow and change make her so much more compelling than when people try to excuse her flaws. she IS a little bit of an asshole, and it makes her a better character