Barbara Holland/Nancy Wheeler

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Pairing
Pairing: Barbara Holland/Nancy Wheeler
Alternative name(s): Bancy
Gender category: Femslash
Fandom: Stranger Things
Canonical?: No
Prevalence: Rare
Archives:
Other: Barbara Holland & Nancy Wheeler (platonic)
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Barbara Holland/Nancy Wheeler, also known as Bancy, is the femslash pairing of Barbara Holland and Nancy Wheeler from Stranger Things.

Canon

Barbara and Nancy are best friends prior to the start of the series. While at Steve Harrington's house Nancy and Barb have a fight, causing Nancy to go outside by herself, leading to her being captured and killed by the Demogorgon. Nancy spends season 1 looking for Barb, and season 2 feeling guilty for Barb's death.

The Duffer Brother, creators of Stranger Things, on Barb's role in season 2:

Barb finally got her justice this season. Was that always planned, or was it in a response to the fan outpouring last season?

Ross: It’s hard to know. We had Barb’s parents and Nancy dealing with it long before this season; we were working on Season 2 long before that came out. It’s so hard to know how much effect it had, but we certainly wanted a big idea for this season to be the characters to be dealing with the trauma of what happened in the past. We wanted people to react realistically for that, and for someone like Nancy who feels guilty because she played a part in her best friend’s death, that’s not something you can just brush aside and get over in a year. So we needed her to be dealing with it. So that storyline was already set in motion by the time the Barb stuff came out which took us all completely by surprise. We were not expecting that.

- ‘Stranger Things’: Duffer Brothers on ‘Scarier’ Season 2, Justice for Barb and That Death (SPOILERS)[1]

Fandom

Many in the fandom have argued that Barb is a queer coded character, and additionally that she has unrequited love for her best friend Nancy. A common joke among fans is that Barb is a queer character because she is deceased, following the bury your gays trope[1]. "Justice for Barb," became a common phrase.

Common Tropes in Fanworks

  • Pastfic: focusing on Nancy and Barb's relationship before the beginning of the series
  • Pining: one sided romantic relationship, usually Barb pining for Nancy
  • Barb lives: Barb is not killed by the Demogorgon

Example Fanworks

Fanart

Drawing & Illustration

Graphics, Manips, & Edits

Fanfiction

Archives & Fannish Links

References

Stranger Things
Master Lists Stranger Things CategoryChallengesCharactersShipsZines
Crossover Ships Will Byers/Richie TozierBill Denbrough/Mike WheelerEddie Kaspbrak/Mike WheelerWill Byers & Eddie KaspbrakRichie Tozier & Mike Wheeler
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