u/ilovechouquette

The Duffers started relying way too much on creating viral, tiktok-editable moments so people would focus on those instead of how messy and directionless the season actually was. It feels like a way to distract us from the terrible script and the fact that they didn’t really know where the story was going. The show stopped feeling like a sci-fi horror series and started feeling like a Marvel parody.

And even though I loved Vecna’s entrance, that’s kind of where his downfall as an antagonist began. After that moment, he stopped being taken seriously as a real threat. In season 4, he was scary through tension and build-up, he didn’t need any aura farming or stylized entrances to be terrifying: his presence alone was enough.

Eleven/Rapunzel:

Both El and Rapunzel grew up isolated from the world/society and controlled by a parental figure because of their special abilities. El is enclosed and exploited by Brenner because of her powers and Rapunzel is imprisoned by Gothel because of her long blond magical hair. In both stories the adults in their lives disguise manipulation as love and protection. Brenner and Gothel constantly act as though they’re caring for them but in reality they’re using them for their own benefit and keeping them emotionally dependent

Both characters arcs are about freedom, identity and reclaiming personhood, their journeys become about discovering who they are outside of the lab/tower and outside of the roles forced onto them by their abuser

Their hair reflecting control, captivity and dehumanization.

Mileven/ Flynn Rapunzel :

Mike and Flynn are the first people to truly see El and Rapunzel as person first rather than as powers and experiments, in both relationships being loved as a person instead of valued for an ability becomes emotionally transformative for the girls. Mike and Flynn are also the antithesis of Brenner and Gothel neither of them** **tries to control the girl they love, they’re protective but not possessive, the love in both relationships is tied to trust, emotional safety and choice instead of manipulation

That’s a perfect Mileven variant.
Cr: natalialovebot on TT

"I love you on your bad days" is probably one of the most misunderstood lines, there's a side of the fandom that constantly uses that line and Mike/El's conflicts to make tiktok edits out of context to debunk his love confession, when those moments actually reinforce what he meant.

Loving someone on their bad days does NOT mean:
- Never feeling hurt
- Never getting frustrated
- Never arguing
- Approving every action they take

It means not abandoning them when things become difficult. And that's exactly what mike has consistently done throughout the show:

- In s1, when he thought El lied about Will being alive, he felt betrayed and used, yet he still protected her, brought her home and refused to hand her over to the police or the bad men chasing her.
- In s1 again, after he yelled at her because Lucas got hurt, he instantly regretted it, waited for her to come back home and then went looking for her.
When he found her again, he promised himself that he would never let her go again (=Slide 5 with the script)
- In s3, even after she dumped him, he still tried to win her back and remained her emotional safe place. during the sauna test and the aftermath with Billy/The MF, she still instinctively ran into his arms for comfort because Mike is her refuge, her emotional support, her home.
- And in s4, after their argument, Mike traveled across the country to find her while simultaneously confronting his own insecurities so he could finally express his feelings openly. When they reunited, the script described El seeing him like a mirage before realizing he was real and embracing him like home again.

At no point in any of these situations did Mike ever consider abandoning her. Even during conflict he still chose her over and over again. That's what
"loving someone on their bad days" means.
Their arguments and moments of frustration do not erase the love between them because healthy love has never meant the absence of conflict. Sometimes i genuinely wonder if some people in this fandom have ever experienced real relationships or even basic human interaction.