#The painting

[gayofthefae]

Hot take:

Will's season 4 arc was having a romance with Mike until he selflessly sacrificed himself as reparation for his guilt towards El from the beginning of the season in the same way that El's season 1 arc was having a romance with Mike until she selflessly sacrificed herself as reparation for her guilt towards Will from the beginning of the season.

[chirpsythismorning]

I swear this was a fever dream

[zooperspy]

“What painting?” The two words that are going to break Mike Wheelers brain

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[notlushi]

The Comic is here, yay!

I had more ideas for this little comic so now I’m making it into a AU of a AU and a little ask thing in case y’all want to question about the existence of this.

Carnival AU: @sm-baby

WARNING! THIS COMIC WILL HAVE BLOOD SO CONTINUE ON YOUR OWN RISK

[tinitiny]

WHY ARE WE IN A ROOM?????

[byler-com]

“Will is painting a lot, but he won’t show me what he’s working on.”

It’s finally done !!

After 4 days of painting I finally have my own Byler Painting™

I love it so much it’s going up on my wall,

Everybody thank Will Byers for creating this masterpiece <3

[phonopsyche]

what do you see in your dreams, ophelia alina ariane?

(process under the cut)

[rvspecter]

[whewchilli-theghetto]

like even if el commissioned that painting, how unromantic is it (for mike and el) that will is the one explaining everything to him? and el isn't even there?

[runninguplenorahills]

And what if I told you that the fact that Mike asked: “did you paint this?” was neither about being impressed by Will’s art improvement, nor was it about being shocked that someone put that much effort into a gift for him.

This was Mike asking for reassurance that this is The painting! That’s the painting Will’s been working on! That’s the painting for the “girl” he likes! Only that the girl isn’t a girl at all and the painting was for Mike all along!! This was Mike asking for reassurance that: “it’s me!? I’m the person you like?” because of course Will painted this! Of course he did and that didn’t come as a surprise to Mike because he knows how good Will is at art! And he knows that Will usually shares his art with him! What Mike is in disbelief over is the implication this has if it’s actually The painting! The realization that he might be the person Will likes!! And so he asks, and oh boy, he sounds so happy! So hopeful! So in disbelief! And then Will says ”yes” and for a moment time stands still….. until Will tells Mike that El commissioned the painting. Which shocks Mike and there’s a mix of disappointment and confusion on his face because “Oh… So this isn’t The painting after all?” but also “but this doesn’t make any sense!” And now Mike is torn because “what is happening right now?” But as Will starts to explain Mike realizes that he was right. Will is talking about himself. This is The painting. He is the person Will is in love with. And he’s speechless, doesn’t know what to say except for asking for reassurance again and Will says “yes”.

WILL. SAYS. YES!!

[gayofthefae]

I just realized something so sweet and personal about Will's painting.

Their DnD characters don't look like that. We saw him draw them plenty in season 1. Will the Wise has a long beard and Mike's character I think has straight blond hair.

Will didn't just draw their characters per usual, he drew them as their characters. He's drawn Mike's knight character a hundred times. But he's never drawn Mike as a knight. He was understanding that Mike's character is a projection of who he aims to be, like all of them, so he drew MIke as the knight this time. For the first time.

That's what this smile is. Mike has played a hero for years. But he's never been one. He saw a dragon and probably expected his character, overjoyed with more of Will's familiar art, but instead, he was met with a glorious knight in shining armor with black, wavy hair. He was the hero this time. *(you can even see his facial expression change from happy excitement to this broad smile)

In season 1, Mike initiates the search party because of Will's heroics in DnD meaning that he would do it for them. He acknowledges that Will's actions in character are still his own. This is the same. This is Will saying "To play a hero, you have to be one yourself. And you are. I see through your character disguise. I see you. This is just the hero you've always been without the mask."

THAT is why it's different. THAT is why it's so much more personal than all the others, not just the heart, MIKE. THAT is why it hurts so bad (Will too but I'm referring to me/us).

I've said in a previous post that it wasn't about the heart, the heart was kind of for us, it was more-so about the heroism. And that's exactly what I standby. The heart isn't the only new thing about this painting. The hero has never actually been Mike before. And Will responded "Yes it has been. It always has been."

[chirpsythismorning]

Never getting over how accurate this meme was 😭

[mikeslawyer]

mike changing his mind about the meaning of the painting every two episodes of season 4

[frozenfrogz]

Me waiting for Mike to say thank you to El for the painting just for El to say, 'what painting?'.

[notlushi]

Delusional: characterized by or holding false beliefs or judgments about external reality that are held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, typically as a symptom of a mental condition.

Irrelevant to Jax’s mind he throws it in the trash-

NONE OF THIS IS CANNON TO SM-BABY CARNIVAL AU

Just me having silly ideas

Carnival AU: @sm-baby