#not nancy

... is Steve Harrington

First off, I must make it very clear that I am not the first person who found out about this. @anime97-99 already made a post about Nancy's, Jonathan's and Steve's queerness here where they mentioned how it's very likely that Jonathan did his photos in S1 not because of Nancy but because Steve.

This post is meant to support their theory with more evidence.

screenshot taken from @/anime97-99

This first point was also already made by @/anime97-99. When Jonathan is in the darkroom and hangs up the photos for drying we get a clear picture of what they're actually showing us. Yes, Nancy is there and she is clearly shown to us in the forefront but she isn't the only one portrayed here. Steve is always with her and unlike with Nancy we get to see his front and his face.

What really stands out about this screenshot though is the second picture hiding behind the first one. This is what really gives it away as it seems like Nancy is disappearing behind the first photo while Steve's face remains visible.

While this instance of Nancy disappearing might be the first, it's by no means the last time of it happening. We get to see this quite often when it comes to Jonathan, Stave and Nancy which is especially noteworthy considering they only share so little screentime together to begin with. There are a lot moments where it seems like Nancy just disappears or blinks out of existence when they are all together. See here.

When Tommy comments on how the the "starring lady" is here we don't get to see Nancy. The camera lingers on these three people showing us Tommy, Steve and Carol. It's Steve though who is in the middle here. He's front and center because the "starring lady" doesn't need to come to them (like Nancy does.) The "starring lady" is already here.

Nancy Wheeler might be the perceived "starring lady" but the actual "starring lady" is Steve Harrington.

When we look at what Jonathan says about why he took the photos of Nancy and Steve we should also realize that Nancy may not be the only one who fits Jonathans description. Yes, we have Barb saying to Nancy that going up to Steve's room isn't like her but Steve most certainly isn't Tom Cruise either.

Both "Risky Business" and "All the Right Moves" are movies featuring Tom Cruise as the main actor and we all know that Nancy is a fan of him during Season 1. She has a poster of him up on her wall after all. So what Steve was trying to do in order to distract Nancy from her missing friend was not only trying to make her watch a movie of her favorite actor. He also implies that he looks like Tom Cruise and could even be this much beloved actor for her. This gets further evidenced by the fact that Steve is singing a song from an iconic scene featuring Tom Cruise from "Risky Business" as he leaves the carpark. See this video here. (Huge credit to @somethings-wrong-with-nana for pointing all of this out to me)

So in other words: Steve is a pretender. He doesn't just want Nancy to pretend like everything is okay, he himself also pretends quite a lot. He pretends to be Tom Cruise when he probably doesn't even care for him that much and who knows what else he's also pretending to be?

Thank you all so much for the love for the first one!! <3

You slip quietly out of the building, hoping to escape the mass horde that wold crowd out a second later when the mall closed before heading out to park bench Steve had asked you to wait for him at.

‘Why am I seriously stupid enough to give this dumb ass ice cream man another chance?’

Humming softly to yourself, a sigh falls from your lips as your short puffs of air sent out streams of smoke from your mouth like the trails of little shooting stars into the inky darkness of the night sky, knowing in your heart why. Frustrated with yourself, you couldn’t help but love the man, and you understood deep down inside that he loved you dearly too, he just needed time to heal. He just needed you to show him the error of his foolish, teenage ways.

You plop down with a sudden thud, your jeans shifting uncomfortably against the hard wooden seat. Gazing down at your watch, you curse yourself for only wearing a thin t-shirt, the hairs on your arm bristling slightly in the cold breeze that seemed to characterise the late summer nights of Hawkins this year. You gaze up at the moon, its light pouring out ripples as if on an expanse of silver lake, drowning out all but the brightest stars and the smile that gleamed from your face as your thighs started to ache, your thoughts lighting up with your mind and filling up each corner like sunlight as you think of memories, of nights spent lying out on the grass with Steve, not a demagorgon or Mindflayer to be seen.

Lights flicker on in front of your eyes, blinking open from your contemplation as a string of fairy lights dangle down from the surrounding circle of trees like little dewdrops, dazzling your eyes so much you don’t see the soft wisps of hair slide onto the bench next to you, an adoring gaze trailing up his face as his deep chocolate eyes crinkle, pupils dilated as they fix on the look of surprise on your face. Fixing his uniform, he takes off his hat and places it on the ground, remembering how much you had hated it for covering up his hair before chuckling to himself, glad he elicited the expression that he wanted, but simultaneously catching your attention.

‘Y/n...’ he starts, ‘I know I have a lot of explaining, and a lot of making up to do, but I can’t even begin to make it right for someone as incredible as you.’

You just glare at him, as he nervously makes eye contact, his eyes dipped and forlorn, like a lost puppy’s.

‘I love you so so much, and you’re right. You’re not Nancy, and you never will be. And I’ve been so foolish to let you believe that’s a bad thing, when in fact it’s perfect. I don’t want Nancy. I want you. All I’ve ever wanted, since the first day of middle school, was you. I was just too scared to allow myself to feel.’

‘I love you. I do, really, and I know you may not believe me after how stupid I’ve been, but trust me, Dustin has been reminding me at least once a minute, and I understand now how much of a dipshit I’ve been. But all I want in this stupid town, is you, y/n, if you’ll have me.’

When he sees you smile lightly in the dim glow, he dares to slide his butt softly down the rest of the bench, his feet tangling over each other as he moves closer to you, reaching one arm to wrap around your neck before letting his head come to rest heavily against your neck. The rush of warm air that escaped his mouth as he left a dry kiss against your neck made you shiver against his grasp.

‘I missed this, I missed you,’ he whispered whilst straggling one of your legs clumsily over his waist, straddling him gently as his heart pounded so fervently in his head he felt like he might keel over onto the damp, glistening glass if you did so much as look at him with those bright, loving eyes of yours he couldn’t resist. 

‘Can you forgive me?’

You bite your lip for a second, looking down at the scared boy who’s fingers twitch against your hip, before replying, ‘you may be an idiot, Steve Harrington, but you’ve always been my idiot. Whether you realised it or not, I’ve always been yours.’

Stuttering slightly, a nervous grin twitches on his face before his plump lips fall into a serious line, before he gasps deeply and rushes out the words, ‘and I’m never going to make the mistake of missing you again.’ His eyes fluttering down to the hand that had become entangled with yours at some point, tugging gently on your fingers.

Bring as few items as possible, if possible. If you can leave most of your belongings at where ever you live before going to college, do that. Only bring what you are 210% certain you’ll need. (Bed sheets, pencils, clothing you know you actually wear). Don’t go buy dorm gadgets or extra paper or textbooks. Wait until you KNOW you need these things to buy them/take them from home. I’m in my third year and I’ve had to move all of my belongings because I’ve changed dorms/apartments 4 times so I’ve spent the last year going through everything and donating/selling/giving to my parents what I don’t need or want. Save yourself the trouble and just DON’T bring useless stuff.

Talk to professors! Especially if you need help in a class, but even when you don’t. In my experience, Professors love when you ask them questions about personal projects that are relevant to their research/teaching area. I do this and now I’m bffs with most professors in my department (which has many advantages). 

Do your homework as soon as you get it. I know everyone and their mom is going to preach time management, but I’m serious. I’ve gone through phases where I do all of my homework and projects the day they’re assigned and I’ve going through phases where I do everything at the last minute. I can tell you first hand that doing everything early is SO MUCH LESS STRESSFUL (as you can imagine). Another benefit to this is that everyone else is going to be working on these assignments long after you’re done, so they might ask you for help. Helping and teaching others is THE BEST way to make sure you understand something. 

Explore campus in your free time. Find all of the shortcuts. Become an expert so you don’t get lost trying to go to class. Before I knew my campus well enough, the weekend before a semester I walked between all of my classes to find all of the rooms.