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honestly my biggest fear for season 3 was the idea that they might give steve a love interest. and especially when robin was announced as a character i got Worried. steve’s character has evolved a lot, especially after season 2 and i still genuinely think the last thing he needs is a love interest. i mean between season 1 and 2 when steve is dating nancy, he kind of..isolates himself. because he was such a dick to nancy in season 1, he kind of devotes any and all time he has to her to make up for being a douchebag. he stops hanging out with anyone else because he’s spending the majority of his time with nancy. and when nancy dumped him (and rightly so because he really wasn’t a great boyfriend when you think about it), he really did find himself alone. until that point, his character revolved around nancy. he was “Nancy’s Boyfriend” or “Nancy’s Love Interest”. that’s what steve’s character was and that’s pretty much how he was written (just about all his motivations and actions revolve around nancy in season 1). but of course the latter half of season 2 changes that. steve kind of finds himself a little more. he’s not confining himself to being Nancy’s Boyfriend because he was confining himself to that before. he grew, basically. he evolved from just being a love interest plot point or part of a love triangle. he became his own character in season 2. he connected with other characters that aren’t nancy (dustin and the other kids) and had motivations that had nothing to do with nancy (helping the kids and company defeat the Big Bad just because it’s the right thing to do). and that’s why i was so against steve getting a love interest in season 3 and i am so happy that they went the route they did. because what steve does need right now is just himself and friends. and i’m so glad robin is a part of that because she is awesome. and i do think she helped steve learn that he doesn’t need to have a girlfriend to feel valid in some way.. because we see at the beginning of the season he is trying and failing to talk to girls and despairing when girls are talking to other guys. i think he was kind of feeling like he needed a girlfriend to stay significant in some way. both to himself and to other people -- he’s living in the past. he’s graduated high school, but he hasn’t quite moved on just yet. robin, i think, helps him do that. i stan friendship.