#milkvan familial parallels

[bylerspookie]

Becky Ives trying to save/calm down her sister (and then proceeding to tell her that her baby isn’t alive, which was not true)

vs

Mike Wheeler trying to save/calm down his basically sister girlfriend (and then Max proceeds to “die”, but Eleven doesn’t accept it)

EVEN BOTH OF THEIR LEFT EYES ARE DARKENED I CAN'T

[aemiron-main]

“i loved you. i loved all of you.”

it’s so funny to me when people take mike’s monologue/“i love you,” confession seriously considering that this is what El’s lifelong abuser had to say to her a few hours before Mike’s monologue:

Especially considering all of the pre-existing Mike and Brenner parallels.

[runninguplenorahills]

Either I’m comically late to the party or this has actually not been talked about yet/enough:

El’s Outfits! Short sleeved striped V-necks over tight flowery shirts!

Looks like a parallel to me!

The scene with Hopper and El at the cabin is in s2, ep.3 "The pollywog" and it's meant to be their reconciliation after El was upset with Hopper for being late the night before. Hopper first tries to lighten the mood by joking about the triple-decker eggo extravaganza he's cutting for El but then the conversation turns more serious as Hopper states that El has been visiting Mike via the void again, and then we get this dialogue:

El:“[Mike] said he needs me.”

Hopper:“I know you miss him kid, but it's too dangerous.You're the last thing he needs right now.”

Hopper then tries to make El happy by telling her that she'll see Mike soon but El gets upset because he's been saying that on day 21, on day 205 and now on day 326. What was meant to be a reconciliation escalated into a bigger fight. A fight about “friends don't lie”.

Also, the fact that Hopper literally just straight up told her that she's the last thing Mike needs right now💀, kinda harsh. But at the same time it's very interesting because of what Hopper said to Joyce one episode earlier: “Owens is right you know. We're coming up on a year and I think everybody's on edge”, and while at this point in s2 Hopper has not yet interacted with Mike, we as an audience have already seen Mike being on edge for the first two episodes. Hopper very likely assumed that Mike wasn't doing well with the anniversary of Will's disappearance coming up, and he knew El reappearing would somehow make it worse. And he was right. Mike had a breakdown not even two minutes after he reunited with El.

The scene with Mike and El is in s4, ep. 9 "the piggyback" and it's meant to be their reconciliation after their fight earlier this season. Mike tries to lighten the mood by joking about looking cool with the glasses but just as the conversation turns into something more serious they get interrupted by Argyle:

El:”I- missed you”

Mike:”yeah, I missed you too. You know, the last few days, I... I had to think about the last talk we had. You know, before the cops and the whole world went to shit and everything. I. I guess, I just... I don't know. I guess I just wanted to say that—”

Argyle:”Surf's up, Romeo!”

And that's kinda where this parallel got me rethinking what could've happened if Argyle didn't interrupt Mike. Mike most likely would've said that he's sorry but would El have believed him? Would she have accepted the apology? Or would their moment of reconciliation have turned into a bigger fight like it did with Hopper? A fight about "friends don't lie"? Or has it maybe escalated into that despite the interruption?

And the "I know you miss him [...] You're the last thing he needs right now" paralleling with Mike and El saying they missed each other makes me think of how especially after the van scene Mike really would've done better without everything that happened at surfer boy pizza. Yes he missed her, but giving her a grand love confession was the last thing he needed. The last thing he would've wanted to do.

[ineffablelvrs]

bro fr got paralleled with not only his (soon-to-be-ex) girlfriend's adoptive mother (and father), he got paralleled with her biological mother as well lmao

(becky about) terry about el:

mike about el:

[izzymeadows]

The way s4 started with El saying that Hopper is her hero

And ended with Mike saying that El is his superhero

Milkvan is never gonna beat the familial parallels allegations because it isn't even trying

[sarahivess]

They say the Elmike reunion was romantic, still these two scenes are almost exactly the same.

They both have been separated for an entire season, both never gave up the hope that they’d find the other one again. The reunion between Hopper and El was even more intimate tbh, because they were alone while Elmike was around everyone else.

PLATONIC reunions.

Bonus:

“I called you every night for 353 days.”

“I kept it open 3 inches.”

“I never gave up on you.”

“I never stopped believing.”

[stranger-chichka]

Another familial connection between Mike & El: Nancy, cousin Joanna, cousin Eleanor & Jane from Lenora Hills

Nancy (whose name means “favor" or "grace”) has a cousin named Joanna (meaning “God is gracious”). Another form of the name Joanna is ... Jane (it has the same meaning).

Jane is Eleven's real name, but Mike doesn't know it, so he calls her El (meaning "God"). El is a nickname for Eleanor and, well, a few episodes later he calls her his cousin Eleanor (meaning “merciful” -- from ancient Greek “éleos/ἔλεος” = compassion/mercy -- and “God is my light”).

In s4 Jane lives in Lenora Hills, California. Lenora is a variant of the name Eleonor.

And Mike, again, is referred to as her brother: "We're her brothers, and we're family."

Let's go back to Nancy. Her name is originally a diminutive form of Anne or Ann, and the names Hannah, Anna, Anne, Ann are etymologically related to Joanna: they are derived from Hebrew חַנָּה Ḥannāh "grace" from the same verbal root meaning "to be gracious."

Oh, as I was checking the meaning of the name Nancy the first thing that google gives is this:

And the Duffers gave us THAT scene: Steve calls Mike "Nancy" while having a rainbow Band-Aid on his face. HOW CRAZY IS THAT??? But wait....

Mike's first word after his first kiss with El is "Nancy."

Also, in s2 Mike & El are saying their goodbyes (the scene starts with Nancy looking at them) at the same spot he reunited with Nancy in 1 while EL was wearing her clothes.

Even Hopper's car is at the same damn place!

Not to mention their Snow Ball dance paralleling Dustin & Nancy's (credit to @heroesbyler).

[heartsgettingwiser62]

There's just something about El's head being perfectly placed between the family portrait and Mike's, Nancy's and Holly's portrait. Y'know, as if she was another Wheeler kid.

Yup, El. Pretty much.

[pinkeoni]

Mike didn’t love El the first time he ever saw her but you know who actually did— her mama.

[rebellius]

Hey dude, slip a "Y" in m*leven so maybe it'll be as popular as byler.

[sunflowersand-bees]

el and platonic parallels

BONUS:

el holding max

and lucas holding max for funsies

(lumax is on this platonic list because at the time they were broken up and neither are particularly aspiring to get back into a relationship. of course they still love each other, but max needed space to heal and lucas just wanted to be there for her in whatever way he could, and since she broke up with him, that was was through being her friend)

[bylerspookie]

BRO does anyone know why Mike says things twice?? like, he repeats things twice sometimes, the second time is louder (usually). I sound insane rn cause I know this happens irl lol but why is it always him? (I think maybe a few other characters did it, like, once. At the top of my head I can only think of Brenner who weirdly said the same line as Mike.) Is there any significance of that? Maybe it's something he does specifically or maybe the number is significant? Idk

Examples:

"We're friends. We're friends."

"Will is alive. Will is alive!"

"We won't. We won't let him."

"We will. We will."

"What did you do? What did you do?" (I think Brenner said this too)

"What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you?"

There's a lot more but that's all I can think of right now.

[aemiron-main]

mike and el are just a normal couple, nothing to see here.

not to mention that both conversations are about el feeling like she’s a monster. 

[sadboyhrs]

s5 wishlist (in no particular order)(also incomplete):

WillEl following Jonathan around like little ducklings

Nancy and Mike actually bond as siblings (never before seen)

Jopper telling ppl they have 3 wonderful children

Healthy Milkvan breakup

Steve, Jonathan, Mike + Will team up

Wheelers x Byers soulmatism

Robin-Mike affiliation

Nancy and Will bonding over guns, how annoying Mike is and how cool Jonathan is

Lumax reunion (has to be v.emotional)

Stonathan bromance

OG party actually having scenes together

Karen Wheeler learning abt the upside down and slipping into joyce byers mode

Cali gang reunion because Argyle, Jonathan, Mike and Will are the funniest thing ever

WillEl defeating vecna with THEIR powers

Mike and Will leave hawkins together xoxo

Argyle, Nancy, Steve, Robin and Jonathan team up

Will and Max scenes

Dustin and El scenes

Jonathan and literally anyone who isnt his family

Little woman parallel with Mike and Will

Jonathan and Will hiding Lonnies dead body (this is personal)

Central Byers family xoxo

[gayofthefae]

More Mike/Hopper parallels and familial parallels for Milkvan.

"After Sarah, I saw her too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real." - Hopper, "The Body"

"Sometimes I feel like I still see her. Like she's still around, but she never is." - Mike, "Trick or Treat, Freak"

additionally:

"I'm not crazy" "I'm not saying that you're crazy" "No, you are. And I understand."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy" "Me too"

[stranger-chichka]

The same mirror behind Nancy