i recently discovered genderfluid steve harrington fics and im obsessed so i made a playlist of songs i think steve would listen/relate to if they were a genderfluid teen in 2023

day 8: favourite non-canon ship nancy/jonathan/steve in stranger things 1

for @stevesnailbat's 30-day prompts

Nancy and Steve give it another go. They’re older, wiser, and Nancy doesn’t mind the idea of trying again with this new, older and more mature Steve.

Except Steve has a habit. At first, it didn’t irk her. But eventually, the bottle bursts. He casually brings up Katie Anderson from his freshman year, a junior girl he didn’t date but slept with, who he was tutored by until he adequately distracted her, and Nancy shoves his head up and out of her lap before she stands.

“Stop talking about them, Steve!” Steve looks at her, bewildered and confused.

“I— I’m sorry?” His brows furrowed into a soft pinch and Nancy feels like she’s vibrating with her own anger.

“Stop talking about your exes like you’re still in love with them.” It’s firm and quiet near the end, Nancy’s jaw clenched shut.

Steve looks dumbfounded, pinching at the lint of his sweatpants. They had just been talking about highschool, academics, Steve thought it was a funny story, and yeah when he remembered Katie he remembered good times. She had been funny, and sweet, a touch sardonic with a slightly crooked smile. She had been his first, actually, with gentle nails scraping through his hair as he fumbled to please her. He had barely been King Steve yet.

Maybe he had kind of been in love with her. Just a bit. Not at much as he loved Nancy, but he had definitely been attached to Katie until she dropped him for an older boy.

“I…I’m not though?” Steve didn’t want to make it seem like a question, but this conversation felt perplexing to begin with.

“But you talk about them like you are.” There’s a slight whine to her words, but before anything he can pick up the hurt, the anger. He had never liked making her upset, never liked having loved ones angry at him. He quickly stood to take her hands but she pulled them back and crossed them across her chest, hands hidden in the crooked of her arms like she didn’t even want him to think about holding them.

“Nancy, I love you.” And he did. He had for years, had loved her fiercely and loved her softly, had ached with it and soared with it. He had loved her even when she wasn’t his, had been certain of that fact every time he thought of her, even when the thoughts became less frequent, like they were going dormant only to resurface and spark brighter when he spoke to her again. “You don’t need to worry about my exes.”

“I don’t think you’d cheat on me, Steve,” And Nancy meant it, Steve loved with his entire being, devoted to her, he never once strayed, not even when they were fighting or she ignored him to dwell in her anger. He only looked at her because Steve loved her, and she knew that was true, but… “But it hurts to hear you talk about people you used to love like you still love them. It’s like you can’t let go and move on.”

“I am moved on.” Steve furrowed his brows. “Nancy, I’m with you, I’m not— Yeah, I loved those people, and I can remember why, but I don’t…I’m not gonna leave you for them.”

“You do it with everyone, Steve.” Nancy huffed out of her nose, blue eyes looking up at him and bottom lip jutted just the tiniest bit. “I want you to only think of me like that. It doesn’t feel like you do. Even when you talk about Carol or Tommy, if you talk about them like you still love them.”

“In some ways I do!” Steve pursed his lips at the outburst. “I’m allowed to remember the good parts of people, Nance.”

“It’s not good parts though, Steve! You talk about them like you love them. Like how you talk about me. It’s frustrating to be on the same level as people you don’t even talk to anymore.”

“I don’t talk to them because you don’t like it!” Steve snapped and quickly withdrew, taking a step back. But the words had hit and Nancy looked shocked before quiet fury etched into the furrow of her brows.

“When did I ever stop you from talking to anyone? You can’t make your own decisions on who you talk to, Steve, is that it?”

“I could talk them.” Steve clenched his jaw. “I could find them in the phone book. But I didn’t because the one time I bumped into Jessica from sophomore year, you nearly chewed my head off.”

“You were smiling at her like she hung the fucking moon, Steve!” Nancy’s voice was rising and Steve’s own rose in his defence.

“Jess has a very nice personality and she helps her grandma still in the nursing home! Of course I was talking to her like I used to because she’s still a good person and I did love that about her! I still do!”

“Then maybe you should be with Jessica!”

“Jessica is married!”

“That’s your only excuse?” Nancy scoffed in disbelief. “You’re just like your fucking dad.”

That shut him up, his retort vanishing with a snap of his jaw. There wasn’t enough time to feel good about it, Steve’s brows pinched and brown eyes shiny and wide. Sad. Hazily, she wondered if this was the expression he made when she called him bullshit years ago at that party. She couldn’t remember.

“I can’t help that I love people, Nance.” Steve spoke softly, words strained as he blinked and looked away, eyes wet. “I love you. I have for years. But I also loved other people before you, and after you. But I have always been loyal to you when we’re together. Even when I thought some days that you hated me, or regretted being with me, and not someone else.”

“Steve…” Guilt gnawed at her insides as she stepped closer, reaching out for him, but he shied away even as her hands rested upon his arms.

“I never move on, not really. I can’t seem to, Nance. Because I think about how good it felt to be with someone I loved.” His breath hitched and she wondered if he’d actually cry. Steve had never cried much, not in front of others, even her. That was something she had to get used to after dating Jonathan, who seemed to catch other peoples tears like a contagious yawn.

“I just— I want to hold on to the feeling of loving someone. And being loved back.” Steve’s voice was wobbly but after a deep breath in, it managed to smooth it out just a bit. “I will always love my exes, my old friends. Not loved, but love. And it hurts sometimes, but I remember the good parts of them and it’s like being with you, Nance. I get butterflies and my heart races and I just feel so elated.” He licked his lips and fumbled even as a small smile made its way onto his lips at just the memories of those loves, fleeting but intense and still lingering in his very being because that’s all he seemed to be made up of. Every atom, every cell, was simply brimming with love and the need to be loved.

“But I’d never take them back. Something went wrong, whether it was me or them, but we wouldn’t work. Even if I wanted it to. And I love you so much, Nance. I couldn’t fathom cheating on you. So, no,” His voice grew firmer. “I’m not like my dad, and you don’t get to say that just because you wanna hurt me back.”

Nancy looked down, unable to form the apology in her throat into words. All she could think about was the way he described it. She couldn’t understand. How could he love them all still, actively love them every time he thought of them, when he hadn’t spoken to most of them in years. Nancy had had past crushes and boyfriend and she could care less about them now. She cared for Jonathan, but that was different. Deep and more profound. They were bonded by trauma and understood each others hearts. When she ended things with him, it had been sad but mutual (she tried not to think about how Jonathan liked to lie, especially about his feelings, to make others feel better). She had been certain she loved Steve.

She still did, she thinks. Maybe that’s why her next words hurt so much.

“I can’t be with you if you don’t only love me, Steve.” She’s always been independent at heart, and she never let herself have less than what she thought she deserved. She wanted Steve to only love her, but if that wasn’t possible, maybe she needed to find that with someone else so she wouldn’t constantly be burning with jealousy inside every time she saw him talk to someone with that same smile he gave her.

It felt like emotional infidelity, if anything.

“I—“ It’s that look again, like she’s taken his heart out and stomped on it with her designer heeled boots. “I do love you, Nance. I always have.”

“But it’s not just me, Steve.” Nancy’s lips thinned, eyes burning. “I deserve to be loved without feeling like your love is so easily shared. I— I want to be the only one who has your heart.”

“You do.” He insisted, reaching for her this time, but she stepped back with a hand out like a mother withholding a hug from her weeping, recently scolded child. It was an scenario Steve was too familiar with. “Nance.” His voice broke around her name, but still, tears did not fall.

“I think— I think I should go.” Nancy said softly, stepping around him as he stood there, unable to figure out how a funny story about Katie Anderson had led to this. “And I think…We should stop seeing each other, Steve. For both our sakes.” She picked up her coat from the rack and Steve turned to look at her, eyes wide and hurt.

“Nancy…Nance, please don’t go.” He made his way towards her, his pleading voice soft, only heard because of how silent the room was. Nancy pursed her lips and closed her eyes as she turned away from him, wiping her tears quickly as he crowded her side. He took her elbow and curled himself around her like he could protect her from her own hurt. Steve was always like that. Looking out for other people. He had a big heart.

Nancy’s heart was so much smaller, and it had fit in that space, as large as his parents home but so much warmer. She thought a part of her heart may forever nestle in one of the valves, that every breath Steve took might rattle it and keep him loving her too, and it was selfish.

Because really, she was taking her whole heart with her and planning on giving it to someone else. Leaving that space she had filled cold and empty. Like a childhood bedroom that had been cleared out, ready to move out and on.

She wondered if Steve would ever fill the space in his chest entirely, or if he would be continue to fill it with smaller hearts, fragments and tears of what used to be homed there. Like peeling paint from posters that had once been taped to the walls but were striped away, leaving the space bare but imprinted with the knowledge that something had been there once. Maybe, he never let them leave. Locked them up in that giant space in an attempt to fill it, to keep them beating with every thud of his own heart.

Nancy’s lip trembled.

“Goodbye, Steve.” She pulled away and didn’t look back as she opened the door.

“Nancy, please-!”

It shut behind her and Steve stifled a sob, biting his lip so hard it might bleed.

Steve did love her. Truly and entirely, but maybe she was right to some extent. He couldn’t love just one person, would always love more than his fair share.

Not that it mattered. Nobody stuck around to love him back anyway.

Alright here’s the last round of the ship polls

Here are the descriptions for the ships since I know poly ships aren’t very known:

Elumax: Lucas, El, and Max. Most people that ship this are fans of both lumax and elmax so they combined them together. Wether or not Lucas and El are dating depends on the shipper, but Max is always dating El and Lucas.

The sapphic senate: like the name suggests, this is a big sapphic polycule. It normally contains Robin, Nancy, Chrissy, and Vickie— but sometimes Barb and other female characters will be added to the mix. I’m pretty sure it was created as a combination of ronance, rockie, and buckingham, but many people that ship it make them all date each other.

The partycule: basically everyone in the party dating each other. Well not everyone, but it’s sort of a “this is my boyfriend Will, and his boyfriend Mike, and Mike’s girlfriend El-“ type of thing.

Teens: basically all of the older teens dating each other. I’ve only seen this ship like once but I’m sure there’s a decent amount of people who like it. It’s a combination of steddie, ronance, stancy, jancy, etc.

Stoncy: Jonathon, Nancy, and Steve. Why have a love triangle when you can just be poly right? A mix of jancy, stancy, and stonathon. There might be times where stonathon gets taken out, idk I haven’t seen a lot of this ship.

Willelmike: this one’s pretty self explanatory. I haven’t personally seen anyone ship this but I know that it exists. It’s for people that like both mileven and byler. Will and El aren’t dating though, or at least I hope they aren’t.

Bywheelclair: Will, Mike, and Lucas. Byler + byclair + wheelclair, basically.

How the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle will be resolved, imo:

1: it’ll be just the same plotline from season 1 - Nancy is dating one of them, but starts pining for the other during their adventures, and the relationship will break up next season(/volume?) and she’ll get together with the other one. the cynic/pessimist in me says this will happen, but I hope the show is smart enough to realize that that’s stupid and repetitive

2: Nancy breaks up with Jonathan but doesn’t get together with Steve and ends the show single. I’d be okay with this and am kinda leaning toward it being the most likely. (Even if Jonathan had the best intentions in not wanting Nancy to give up her dreams/ambitions to be with him, he did. y’know. lie to her and that’s not cool)

3: they work it out and just fucking get together because goddamnit. goddamnit i just want a healthy polyamorous relationship to be presented as like. an actual option. just once. and they’re really good dorks together okay

anyway expect me to reblog stoncy stuff in the hopefully near future okay

reintroducing myself my current biggest media pink flag (other than being caught up with stranger things and thinking about it in my free time periodically) is that I think there’s a chance that stoncy can still win.

I would say it’s between 3-6% likely and here’s why. if I remember correctly and even if I don’t, I think nancy and jonathans relationship is relevant in the show at this point mostly because charlie heaton and natalia dyer are dating irl. it’s honestly no longer plot-relevant in the slightest, and that’s why steve reentering the love triangle kept being brought up in season 4. I don’t THINK the duffers would bother breaking up charlie and natalia (onscreen) because the show is the reason they’re dating, but steve spending all of s4 third wheeling was arguably more important than nancy and jonathans relationship, so it would make sense narratively (as if the duffers have ever composed a conclusive narrative…) to resolve either one or the other. I just think creating a polyamorous couple in a piece of “teen” media (I really don’t know who’s still watching except tiktokers in their mid-20s) would be sooo crazy of the duffer brothers and it would ultimately also be more fun than killing off steve. which is probably what’s gonna happen and nancy will swear off dating forever after. I’m just saying that it would be such a goofy way to resolve the love triangle and they could play west end girls by the pet shop boys over it

》》 @swimrule whispered: 😘💕💘

😘 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙼𝚈 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝚂𝙴𝚇 𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙴? → it ..... really depends tbh. he usually doesn't since he prefers to develop a romantic and sexual attraction to someone before having sex with them, which ofc usually takes time. a scenario in which jonathan would probably have sex on the first date, however, is if it's with someone he's known casually for some time, like a friend, and casually wants to experiment with having sex with them. y'know, for funsies and stuff.

💕 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙼𝚈 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝙴 𝙸𝙽 𝙰 𝙿𝙾𝙻𝚈𝙰𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙾𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿? → again, it depends. he's fairly monogamous, but if he's with two other folks who he thinks he has great chemistry with and also have great chemistry with each other, then yeah, he'd pretty much only be satisfied in a polyamorous relationship. (mun admission here but i fucking love the stoncy 3-way ship oh my gOD--)

💘 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙼𝚈 𝙼𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝚂𝙰𝚈𝚂 '𝙸 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄' 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚄𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝚂𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝚃? → cooking for someone else, asking if they're okay (especially on a regular basis), and letting them know that he's a safe person to talk to/come to with any problems are common ways in which jonathan shows his love to others. taking pictures of someone else when they're not looking is also another secret love language of jonathan's to be aware of <3

》》 𝐬𝐞𝐱 & 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬!

Screaming. Me but with Nancy instead and I’m desperately trying to bargain with the duffers so we can both get what we want.

Steve being an over enthusiastic ally with her crush on Vickie to hide the fact that he absolutely can not stand the idea of sharing her with anyone please Also do you think eventually girls would start warning each other like “He’s cute and he’s great in bed but something weird as fuck is going on between him and his best friend and it’s just not worth it.” meanwhile Robin is like “Damn neither of us are getting bitches :(”

the thing with Nancy is that well. I don't trust her to not break any hearts. honestly my head canon is that if robin did tell Steve that she had a thing for Nancy that it would be the one time that Steve wouldn't be all over enthusiastic ally over robin's potential romantic endeavours. and that's bc he knows what it's like to get his heart demolished by Nancy wheeler and he wouldn't wish that on robin. I think Steve trusts Nancy with his life, loves her absolutely, but I think if they ever got back together he'd be holding his breath and just like waiting for the other shoe to drop. because honestly I do think Nancy would cheat on Steve if they got back together (track record isn't good and I don't think she wants the life Steve is envisioning for himself, the whole uh 6 kids thing) and tbh I found it bizarre that robin was like campaigning for Steve and Nancy to get back together in s4 bc it's the bff rule that you don't let the besties get back together with the ex that broke their heart. like part of the reason I think robin would kinda hate Steve's girlfriends/dates is bc she doesn't want his heart to get broken like Nancy broke it...besides the weird platonic jealousy thing she's got going on too lmao. idk maybe Steve was being a bit of an unreliable narrator when he told robin the story of stoncy circa 1983-1984 bc the bare facts do not paint either Nancy or Jonathan in a good light. or he just doesn't know all the facts but um we the audience do. maybe all Steve knows is that Nancy didn't ever actually love him during the year they were dating and that after their fight/break up Nancy and Jonathan teamed up (this is my version of friend's were they on a break or not bc um. it doesn't matter if they were technically broken up, it's still a huge betrayal imo and I see the s2 stancy fight as a fight and not a break up soooo cheater mccheaterson) but does Steve know that Nancy and Jonathan had sex? does he know that Nancy was pining after Jonathan for the whole year and that he was literally second choice bc Jonathan didn't ask her out after a month of waiting? yeah I don't think so, because I think he would have a lot more feelings about it. and then like. idk I don't really ship ronance (I love that everyone's having fun with it tho <3) mostly bc I don't think Nancy likes girls but lets say she did the reason why I struggle to ship Nancy with robin is kinda the same reason I struggle to ship Nancy with Jonathan in the sense that Nancy says and does some pretty mean things to both of them (nancy's frustration with robin at the library, only warming up to her when she proves useful, which is mostly due to robin being autistic coded vs Nancy calling Jonathan's very real financial situation an "Oliver Twist routine"; neither of these things are things that robin and Jonathan can control and Nancy doesn't ever apologise for saying these things or acting that way. which she doesn't have to I guess but I think it contributes to the girl boss syndrome Nancy has which is that she's never wrong. which is why I Liked ronance teaming up this season bc it gave Nancy the opportunity to be wrong <3) anyway basically I have complicated feelings about Nancy and I think she's bad at relationships and she would definitely fuck up a polyamorous relationship but maybe that disaster would be fun to explore? idk. single Nancy rights

also yes there is definitely a gossip chain about Steve harrington and his weird relationship with his best friend but there's always somebody willing to take that risk in the name of good dick

Okay so I need to share this with the world. Years ago, when I listened Dance with the Dead's "The Shape", my mind created a ST fanfics at that very moment. Each song was a chapter. I started putting my ideas into paper until I realised I was missing plots for some characters. So I ended up trashing what I've wrote and moved on. The instant I heard the first notes of "A storm is coming", my jaw fell to the ground. I couldn't believe it!

(fanfic anon cont.) My fanfic followed season 2 events, and it was mostly about the teens. And yes, my fic had Stoncy because my polyamorous ass was so freaking upset for the missed opportunity. So yeah. Maybe I'll post this on Reddit? I'm still a bit bitter about all the shit they used to throw to Natarlie - and specially to Charlie.

ahhhh that's v cool, anon! what ep/scene was is it in? 

also stoncy >>>> love triangle (part 2)

hey i came across a stranger things calendar at a stall in a shopping centre yesterday and. stoncy rights :)

Literally all I want from s3 of stranger things is a scene that has Nancy Jonathan and Steve in it and they’re working together and being friends

My stoncy shipper heart is desperate and will take what it can get

Making boards of three people all dating each other counts as okay for this page right? It doesn't actually matter 'cause they're staying. Wow we've been gone a while! School has just been hectic and I've really had no inspiration for boards (except completely self indulgent ones obviously) but I'm hoping to get a couple of requests done this evening. In the meantime enjoy these! Homoflexible Jonathan Byers, straight Nancy Wheeler and bisexual Steve Harrington all dating each other ~ Mikey

Nancy & Jonathan: STEVE?!?!?!?!

My OT3 loving, obsessed heart: STONCY IS SO REAL I AM CRYING I AM DEAD THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH LOOK AT THIS GREAT POLYAMOROUS RELATIONSHIP SO AMAZING SO INCREDIBLE I'M DEAD AND I'M ALIVE

I’m in my stoncy feels (nobody look at my ao3 bookmarks okay 😭 I’m having too many feelings for my own good) so y’all have to suffer with this song too, I’m feeling very angsty (Steve POV Steve POV Steve POV Steve POV—)

parents + relationship

Joyce: She’s typical Joyce, concerned and well-meaning. Sweet. A bit confused at first, because all three of them? What if Jonathan got hurt? But she realized that was a question to be asked with every relationship, not just ones like this. 

Ted Wheeler: He’s doesn’t like it. He doesn’t really know what to think about it, so he just stays quiet about it, skirts around the topic. He tried, a little bit, to think of how it would be to be with more than one person, but it didn’t do much to open up his mind.

Karen Wheeler: She immediately goes into protective mode, making them stay in the living room while either of the boys are over, making Nancy’s curfew two hours earlier for 3 weeks before she starts to see how much Nancy loves those boys, and how much they love each other. She starts to stand up for them to Ted (when he does make the occasional offhand remark) and the other mothers in the neighborhood. 

Steve’s Parents: Steve never told them, so they didn’t catch on until around the six month mark. They thought it was just a phase, and that he would grow out of it soon. That bit hurt Steve, that his parents didn’t care enough to ask a single question about his relationship. Jonathan and Nancy make sure he knows that Will and Mike and their parents are his family too. 

~inspired by the messages of @dear-galileo and their beautiful mind, go check out their blog, they write!~

Lmao but forreal, I want to hear your brutally honest thoughts on stoncy & elmax

Oooh spicy okay!!! Here goes.

Stoncy: I used to be pretty big into Stoncy from S2 up until S3 came out, as evidenced by my AO3 account lmao. As also evidenced by my AO3 account, I’ve now more or less jumped ship to Stonathan, and now seems a good time to maybe explain that? Don’t get me wrong, I still read Stoncy fic at times and can appreciate them, but I always had concerns about the fundamental compatibility of Stancy and Jancy. Prior to S3, the solution was simple: put them together!

Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan each have their own strengths and weaknesses (their kind of hands/head/heart dynamic is super fun to work with!) and theoretically, between the three of them, they would be able to work through their canon issues and all find happiness together. Nancy can bridge the initial uncomfortable gap between Steve and Jonathan, Jonathan brings a sense of perspective and patience to Steve and Nancy’s penchant for emotionality and miscommunication, and Steve reminds Nancy and Jonathan that the whole point of being in a relationship is to enjoy one another’s company and have fun. There’s a lot more to the dynamic than just these things, of course- but the point is that theoretically, Stoncy all balance one another out. They’ve proven that they’ll risk their lives to protect each other, they work well as a team under pressure, and as members of the very small group of people who know The Truth, it makes sense for them to stick together.

Still, they have a lot of issues, and I don’t mean the practicality of three high schoolers in the 80s in Indiana trying to navigate a polyamorous triad. The fact is that we’ve explicitly seen in canon how Nancy is incompatible with both Steve and Jonathan, and I don’t think sticking them all together provides a fix. Adding Jonathan doesn’t magically make Nancy love Steve, just as adding Steve doesn’t magically change the fact that she and Jonathan have completely different priorities and goals in life. I don’t want this post to be INSANELY long, so I’ll go into each individual ship’s issues in another one if anybody’s interested. TL;DR Stoncy is really fun and their dynamic is interesting to work with, but at this point, I don’t believe they would really work out.

Elmax: I absolutely adore Elmax! I don’t really ship any of the kids seriously, and I don’t really think about their romantic relationships beyond high school since they’re still so young, but I think Elmax could be a really sweet little “puppy love” kind of couple. They have fun together, they genuinely want to see each other succeed, and of course as a lesbian I’m biased in favor of WLW relationships. 

The fact that they’ve both been abused and controlled by men in their lives who were meant to care for them (I am NOT talking about Mike or Hopper I am NOT starting that drama I’m referring to Brenner here please do not bite my head off) provides an interesting dynamic, in my opinion. Max is intensely protective of El’s autonomy, and El admires and respects Max because Max has never tried to control her and wants to see her be herself, whoever that may turn out to be. That kind of respect is ideal as the basis of a relationship! Plus, they’re just really stinkin’ cute.

Thank you for asking!!!

ask my opinion on a ship