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OTP Meme [2/2 Seasons]: Season 4

"I don't think my parents ever loved each other…My mom was young. My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a nice family. So, they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac and started their nuclear family…Screw that."

In the wake of volume 2, I've seen a lot of people pointing to this quote as evidence that Nancy and Steve aren't compatible/won't be endgame. This isn't a new thing, of course. People have been using it as proof against Stancy from the start, since Nancy's description of her parents' relationship deliberately echoes her relationship with Steve. Steve is older than Nancy, his parents are rich, and he (at least initially) expects to end up working at his dad's company. He dreams of having a family. Steve is everything Nancy says she doesn't want.

Except Nancy is lying when she says she doesn't want it.

I've said it before, but Nancy is afraid of emotional vulnerability, and her character arc is about overcoming this fear. Admitting that she wants the future Steve is offering her means trusting him with her heart and her dreams and hoping he won't break them. And Nancy has seen what it will look like if he does break them, knows how much it will hurt.

It's too scary for her.

But with Jonathan, there's no resemblance at all. He's the same age as Nancy, he comes from a poor, broken family, and he does shift work to help make ends meet. He’s the first one to say "screw that" to the "boring" life Nancy describes.

A relationship with Jonathan feels easy. Safe. Nancy doesn't have to worry about trusting Jonathan with her heart, because she never really gives it to him in the first place. And he never really gives her his. He's not the one making bold declarations of love to her. He's not the one dreaming of a happy future with her. And he's not the one challenging her to be emotionally vulnerable. Jonathan will always put Will and Joyce before Nancy, and in turn, Nancy will always put her journalism before Jonathan. That's just how their relationship is.

No vulnerability. No real risk of getting hurt. Not scary at all.

Jo March owns my life and is my absolute favorite Little Women character but I will be as impartial as possible when explaining why Jo and Laurie would never be able to have a successful marriage no matter how much chemistry and love they have for eachother.

1) Their Tempers

Perhaps their biggest reason for why they wouldn’t be able to have a happy marriage is simply that they get angry much too often. Like when Laurie gets really pissed bc Meg chose to wear a pink dress and be a different Meg for all but a moment or when Amy criticizes Laurie’s laziness, rudeness, and privilege which despite knowing she’s right he chooses to embarrass her in front of everyone. Or when young Amy burns Jo’s book and Jo for just a moment is willing to take the chance of Amy falling through the ice and dying bc of it. We could overlook this day for just a moment. But eventually Jo and Laurie will get into a fight where neither will be able to forgive eachother or just fight in general all too often. Neither of them are patient or willing to accept things are simply the way they are. And for that they would start to annoy the hell out of eachother...

2) Laurie’s social status

To blatantly put it, Laurie is rich. It’s constantly talked about, shown better with how he’s friends with people like Fred and lives a very similar lifestyle. The second Laurie would be of age and marry and take over his grandfather business he would be pushed into a sort of elite life which especially in the 1800’s would be incredibly sexist. The women are expected to socialize, be proper, gracious, make friends, etc. And let’s be honest, Jo is not that kind of person. When Laurie proposed to Jo he essentially asked her if she was willing or even able to do that. And she wasn’t and probably could never be. Jo isn’t the kind of person who would become a woman whose main job is to socialize, have babies, and be a good wife. Laurie’s status would very quickly catch up with them even if they decided to travel the world and it would kill who Jo is and wants to be.

3) Jo has dreams and wants to be independent

This one is the most important if you ask me. As I said earlier, Laurie lives a sort of lifestyle where a woman’s job is to support a man not have “minds” or “hearts” as Jo puts it. And that’s all Jo wants. She’s unwilling to just let herself become the woman society is attempting to force her to be. She wants to be more, free as a man in the 1800’s. Like even if we take that Jo didn’t love Laurie romantically but loved Bhaer. She herself knew deep down that it wasn’t that she couldn’t love these young men romantically but that if she wanted to stay who she was, write and travel she really can’t marry either of them. Because for women that’s what it was.

4) Laurie’s kinda codependent

Like I was talking about Jo’s independence I have to say that Laurie is a little co-dependent. Jo and Laurie are too similar in every aspect except one which is the part most important. Jo wants to be free but it’s shown how Laurie wants people. Like at first when he immediately falls in “love” with Jo and becomes almost a part of the March family. And then later when he is lonely and traveling around Europe heartbroken Jo isn’t there with him. He falls apart and starts drinking, being rude, etc. He needs people around him to be happy and Jo makes it pretty clear that emotionally and spiritually she’s a lone bird.

5) Laurie is just a better person around Amy

Amy is someone who fits all of Laurie’s perfect match/love of life criteria. She likes to be around people, she’s a society girl, smart, and grows up to be pretty understanding and not stubborn. Like she quickly forgives Laurie for what happened at the party because she doesn’t hold a grudge. She can be a society woman as shown by her giving up art and her being universally adored at Fred’s party. But she’s not just some simple girl she also shares certain qualities with Jo she’s smart, kind, expressive, and ambitious. Except Amy knows that even if it’s not her dream her goal is to marry rich and provide for her family. She is not afraid to call Laurie out on his crap (which works). When Amy rejects his proposal he doesn’t whine about it. He makes it is goal and actually tries to go work for it by going to London with his grandpa. Most importantly however is that they love eachother and are romantically attracted to one another.

In the end though nobody says it better than Jo

(Inspired by this post)

“…Amy will rule you all the days of your life.” “Well, she does it so imperceptibly that I don’t think I shall mind much…in fact, I rather like it...”