strangercleric

[strangercleric]

New byler/milkvan analysis just dropped! They actually analyzed Mike and El's relationship according to what makes a healthy / unhealthy relationship. I just think that is so important to not only see how well Mike and Will work together, but also how bad Mike and El are for each other when they are in a relationship.

I think it is so interesting to see just how Mike and Will just work. And Mike and El don't.

[strangercleric]

No cause they had NO business making Will and El look so much alike

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"well then... let's start a new party"

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lore accurate byler height difference

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yeah what if i said season 5 byler

[strangercleric]

I don't really know how reliable Dustin's book is in terms of canon or not, but I think (since it's official content), someone must have looked at the story before publication. Maybe a screenwriter, maybe even an intern. But I KNOW it had to be reviewed by the series' official team at some point. I mean, the books talk a lot about the characters' personalities, their desires and fears outside of what we see on screen, so it would be simply inconsistent if no one did a review or something like that.

That said, I think most of you have read or are more or less familiar with the big byler scene in Dustin's book. Like, Dustin constantly emphasizes how weird Mike is, how upset and irritable he is. But this scene is the one that gets me the most, the one with the phone call.

First, we have Mike "muttering" a greeting to Will while everyone else is literally shouting or something. Quite similar to the airport scene, right? To me, this indicates how nervous and anxious he is about the call, even uneasy.

So the initial awkwardness is overshadowed by an overwhelming desire to learn about Will's life in California. Mike grabs the phone with unabashed eagerness, grasping at that small chance to have Will as if it were his lifeline. He's desperate to talk to Will, to learn about him, about his life in California.

Soon after, Will brings El into the call. I suppose our poor boy thought it would make Mike happy. I mean, Mike talks to El through letters all the time, but hearing his girlfriend's voice and actually talking to her is a whole other story, right? But Mike simply doesn't say a SINGLE WORD to his girlfriend, just as El doesn't address Mike directly. We know why El is avoiding Mike, but why would Mike avoid El like that?

This is so strange that even Dustin notices it. He's a little confused by his friends' (El and Mike) behavior because he and Suzie (who have a healthy relationship and genuinely like each other) are completely different. They always have something to say to each other, at every opportunity.

And, as if not talking to his girlfriend wasn't enough, Mike practically blatantly ignores her and goes back to being desperate to talk to Will, so he starts talking about D&D because he knows Will likes it and practically says (albeit subtly) that he's looking forward to Will's next visit. Will, not El. Him, not them.

And he's so desperate, clutching the phone so tightly that Dustin can't take it back. Mike is so deeply immersed in his desperation to get a piece of Will back that he can't help himself.

With that, I imagine every time Mike tried to call, I imagine him desperate, anxious, about to explode with frustration and longing because he couldn't talk to Will, to his best friend, to the person who destabilized him with his absence.

Anyway, I don't know if we can consider this 100% canonical to the events of the series, but I assume someone reviewed the content at some point, so to me this is fantastic and incredible and makes me desperately want a Mike book. I NEED to know what happened to Mike Wheeler in the meantime, I NEED to get inside his head or I'll die. That's it.

[strangercleric]

[strangercleric]

Chapter 5: Jealousy, jealousy

Jealous Mike is everything to me. I love to write him in this state and here he mixes the facets of being protective and jealous. He's also a little angry with himself because he doesn't understand what's happening to him (of course haha). Anyway, i hope you enjoy it!

[strangercleric]

The bike. Are you joking me.

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“will is going to be rejected and die alone.”

yeah keep telling yourself that…

[strangercleric]

What will become of our mental health when it is actually confirmed that Mike did write letters to Will that he never sent? I'll take that as Byler end Game

[strangercleric]

here are some friendly reminders incase you had byler doubt

the duffers are not bad writers

the duffers have never written an unrequited love trope that spanned past one season

the blocking of the final shot of s4

the duffers didn't need to make will in love with mike to write an effective arc about his sexuality

mike and el's relationship is at a standstill

mike needs to be needed, and will always will need mike

el needs/wants independence, which clashes with my previous point

mike and will spend most of their time with each other this season

noah said something 'finally goes right' for will this season

finn said that mike's cluelessness in the van scene will 'pay off'

it took 12 hours to film the van scene (a 3 minute scene), meanwhile the duffers told finn to add whatever he wanted to mike's monologue, and the majority of it was improvised

the duffers could very easily come out and deny any possibility of byler happening, but they won't

whenever the cast is asked about mike and wills relationship in season 5, they stumble around the question, claiming they are trying to avoid spoilers

noah is a gay man, and therefore, likely understands how much queerbaiting sucks, and would most likely not participate in queerbating

homophobic comments about will in season 1 were always directed towards to mike

el did not understand what a romantic relationship was in the 1st season when mike kissed her, and therefore, the relationship is not stable or healthy

during mike and will's fight in rink o mania, the song playing in the background is quite literally called in the closet

the duffers are extremely detailed, and it is extremely unlikely that any tiny details pointed out as 'byler proof' are just coincidences

the outfit that mike shows up in at the airport is said to be 'a shitty knockoff' basically calling cali mike a shitty knockoff of the real mike (ty argyle)

the objective romantic tension of mike and will's scenes. ex: crazy together, i didn't say it/you didn't have to, 'we will' in s4 epilogue

mike constantly looking at wills lips (which is definitely intentional, unless finn has a crush on noah, lmao)

mike being able to hug dustin perfectly normal during eddies campaign in 4x01, but suddenly becoming awkward about hugging will the literal next day

mike straight up lied in his monologue when he told el that he loved her from the moment he saw her. in reality, mike wanted to send her to penhurst (a literal mental institution), and was truly only concerned about finding will

when will went missing, mike immediately went out looking for him, and continued looking for him after receiving proof he wasn't dead. yet, after literally seeing el after she had supposedly 'died' all he did was try and call her for like 3 minutes every night

mike's character is generally considered to be very likable in s1 and s2 when he's not in a relationship with el, but 'insufferable' in s3 and s4 when he is in a relationship with el

after being el says 'i love you too' to mike in s3 epilogue, he does not reciprocate, keeps his eyes open, and ends the scene looking disgusted and confused

in s3, after el broke up with mike, max says that mike is going to be running to her, begging her to take him back, implying this is how you're supposed to deal with a fight in a romantic context. however, mike does not do this. instead, he makes lays around in his basement and makes misogynistic comments about women. however, after he gets into a fight with will, he bikes across town in a thunder storm just to apologize to will.

"our son with a girl?" -ted wheeler

in his book, dustin states that el and mike never seemed to have anything to talk about with each other. in contrast, will states "talking to you is always easy" in his letter to mike

while talking about mike and wills relationship, noah said "you could never really tell if it was something romantic or just a really special friendship" meaning that you are supposed to question the closeness of mike and will's relationship

giving will a bf/love interest that is not mike in s5 would simply be lazy writing

mike rejecting will would not give any purpose to the plotline of will being in love with mike

no characters in the show actually like m*leven

while talking about lucas and max's relationship, caleb said "it's not like mike and eleven, it's real"

in s4, m*leven is paralleled to st*ncy, while byler is paralleled to jancy

might add to this later if i remember anything else

[strangercleric]

day one billion without new byler content i've been rocking back and forth and im starting to see sounds and hear colors. im gonna pass out. goodbye world.

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another day, another slay

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Did someone say Lesbyler????

I’m obsessed with this editing style rn, I DEFINITELY will be posting more

[strangercleric]

I still can't get over the fact that THIS is Mi!even's arc in S4:

- Mike can't say "I love you" and she is hurt

- El confronts him about this and he says he "cares for her" because she's a "superhero"

- El gets mad because she doesn't have powers anymore and Mike doesn't love her for her

- El leaves to get her powers back, leaving Mike a note that says "I've gone to become a superhero again"

- While searching for her, Mike again references that she's a superhero

- Mike finds her when she has her powers back

- He finally manages to say "I love you"... immediately followed by saying that she's a superhero

Like... any byler theories aside, the implication (at least from El's pov) is that he doesn't love her if she's powerless. The only two times he's said it, it was during moments when she was actively using those powers.

And yet... WE'RE the ones that hate El?

[strangercleric]

Unconscious Will in this scene is giving Frodo