#but anyway the sheer amount of mlvn and stncy parallels will never cease to amaze me

[cringengl]

An underrated similarity between Mike and Nancy when in their relationships with El and Steve is that people think they aren't being like themselves, not just the characters but the GA as well...

People talking about Mike after season 4:

Vs Barb talking about Nancy in s1

It's literally the exact same reaction to Nancy and Mike's behaviour. Although there are a lot examples of Stranger Things characters disliking how Mike is acting in his relationship with El, such as Will- "you're ruining everything and for what, so you can swap spit with some stupid girl?", Dustin- "it's bullshit" and obviously Hopper, I think the GA's reaction is always really important.

Although we start season 1 off with Nancy dating Steve and the scene with Barb happens very early on in s1 so we don't know Nancy beforehand, the reactions towards Mike are so important because we have known him for 4 seasons now.

The Duffers want to give a certain impression and the casual watchers who don't closely analyse Stranger Things are most likely to pick this up. We are supposed to realise that Mike isn't being himself, there's a reason why the contrast between season 2 Mike and early season 4 Mike is so insane and so many people talk about it.

It's because through Mike's efforts to conform and date El, he not only is mistreating his friends but is also losing himself. This is literally what the rain fight is about and is abundant in both s3 and s4.

Stranger Things is all about learning to accept and love yourself for who you are and neither Nancy or Mike are themselves when they are in these relationships, which why they will never be endgame.