Do you think Nancy has muscles? What would be Robin's reaction to them?
Oooh ok so let’s talk about this canonically.
Season one Nancy definitely did not have any kind of muscles or strength. I can’t see her as ever really being into athletics, except for dance when she was, like, six, so she never really develops it. Literally just a walking, talking twig. But after the events of season one, I can see her having an ‘Oh shit, monsters are real and I should really get my endurance up in case I have to fight for my life again’ moment.
But I don’t think she would go all in, just yet. I think she’d discover that jogging/running helps her to clear her mind, so she starts going down to the running track pretty often, especially when she and Steve are arguing or, maybe even worse, doing that tense not arguing, but also not talking thing.
By season 2, she has great stamina and can run for far longer, far faster, but she’s still kind of weak. I don’t think she would really consider doing anything more than running until after season 3 when she literally had to beat her old coworker to death with a fire hydrant. But I still think she’d be a little hesitant. She wants to be strong, she wants to feel confident that her body can carry her through these monstrous events and that she won’t end up getting herself or somebody else killed because she was too weak. But she still has that little voice in her head saying ‘But girls aren’t supposed to be muscular’.
It isn’t until after season 4 that I think she would actually start getting her strength up. She starts thinking ‘It’s the fucking apocalypse. I don’t fucking care what anyone else thinks, I need to get strong’. She literally gives no shits that people, especially guys, ‘don’t find muscular women attractive’. She’s doing what she needs to in order to have the best chance at survival. Steve remarks on how toned she’s getting, at one point, and she’s seconds from biting his head off even though he really didn’t mean anything by it.
Now do I think she would become some kind of huge powerlifter? No. But she gets more toned during the time between s4 and s5. Her arms, stomach, and back get more defined and she doesn’t feel like her shoulder is gonna pop out of socket every time she uses a shotgun, so she’s pretty happy with where she ends up.
I think Robin is super impressed by this, especially because she witnessed so much of Nancy’s progress between s3-s5. After season 4, I can see her asking Nancy to teach her how to run better, but their lessons usually end with Robin curled into a ball on the grass trying to remind her lungs what air is while Nancy is standing there like they were just on a casual stroll. Nancy definitely doesn’t let her give up, though. I can see her totally going full drill-sergeant on her.
And Robin can’t deny that she thinks Nancy looks good, though she tries her best not to ogle her too much. It definitely makes her feel a little guilty, though. But she forgets all about the guilt when Nancy kind of hints that she thinks she looks ugly now that she’s more toned because ‘Guys don’t like muscles’. Robin definitely puts her foot in her mouth and says, ‘Guys might not like it, but at least there’s still girls—‘ and then she turns bright red and says ‘Not saying that I think you’re, like, into girls but I thought maybe it would make you feel a little better than some girls— hypothetically— might be into yo— into that!’
It actually does help Nancy feel better about herself and kinda makes her realize that she’s not opposed to girls being into her. She actually kind of likes the idea of a faceless girl thinking she’s hot. More than that, she’s wondering what Robin thinks of her muscles and— Oh shit.
Anyway. Once they end up together, Robin definitely has to restrain herself from biting Nancy’s bicep or shoulder anytime she accidentally flexes. Definitely makes excuses to be in the room when Nancy is working out. Nancy loves it. And she loves it even more because this is the first time she’s felt genuinely attractive and found it something to be proud of, because she built her physique with her own hard work and effort instead of it just being a random genetic lottery.