#and not only that but el lies to mike too and he feels insecure and can't be himself with her

[strawberrybyers]

i think one thing we all agree on is that it would be absolutely batshit insane to have will express how much mike means to him and really cement that will is in love with mike only to have him rejected ??? you’re telling me that they wanted to perfect the van scene only for will to end up alone??? you’re telling me that all those stares between mike and will mean NOTHING??? you’re telling me “hawkins is not the same without you” isn’t a coded love confession??? you’re telling me that a painting will made for mike that el told mike about in her letter to him that she thinks the painting is for someone will likes then mike receives the painting and is told el commissioned it but that’s a lie and we’re reminded once again how much mike HATES being lied to??? what about mike feeling insecure in his relationship with el and not saying ‘i love you’ and him only regretting it not because he actually does love her and wanted to tell her the right way, but because she left and potentially put herself in danger??? he says he didn’t want to tell her he loved her because he was afraid he would lose her, only to have the poor girl crying and begging in front of him to say “i love you” but he wouldn’t so his fear actually did come true by NOT saying it!! we can’t forget the formation of will, el, and mike when they’re onscreen together — will being in the middle is a distinctive film choice!! and that’s only a scratch of the surface of byler proof.

there’s too many dots connecting in all the places that lead to “byler endgame”. if byler isn’t endgame then what the hell was the reason for purposefully filming and editing these scenes to hone in on the dynamic of will and mike with will being in love with mike and mike not being able to balance a friendship with will and a relationship with el if it all means at the end we get mike and will saying they’re “only friends” ??? MAKE IT MAKE FUCKING SENSE BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY BIZARRE TO LEAD ON A DYNAMIC LIKE THAT ESPECIALLY IN THE 2ND TO LAST SEASON

[manic-pixie-aquarius]

Mike Wheeler, quick to defend Will but not El

No cause it's crazy that Mike didn't hesitate to stand up to bullies talking shit about Will in his absence, but when bullies started surrounding El with a camera, clearly about to humiliate her Mike just stood there. (As did Will, but to be fair we never see Will stand up to bullies. But he did aid El earlier when her diorama was broken).

Yeah, Mike was already upset that she lied, but she lied about having friends due to her insecurity. If my s/o lied about something like that to me, I wouldn't be that upset... I would be empathetic and try to help them feel comfortable by talking about my own experience with bullies and not fitting in at school... which leads me to ask once again WHY do people still ship Mileven??😭 They are not good together! I've been an advocate for El being single and learning how to be independent from Mike and men in general because there have been so many men with power over her her whole life who've dictated everything she does- INCLUDING Mike, and as much as I love him as a character, he is such a bad boyfriend to El!!!

(I saw a gif earlier of Mike saying this paralleling Brenner but can't find it anymore ughh)

Anyways, off of this tangent, Mike being upset and passive aggressive and overall unhelpful to El after she is humiliated is because he's actually upset with Will and therefore cannot be bothered by El's issues - which is entirely fucked up. Like bro that is your GIRLFRIEND. Just like you said to Will...

She's your girlfriend but you sure aren't taking your boyfriend duty that seriously... you didn't even want to talk to her after she got humiliated in front of her classmates. Everyone is focused on your quietly sulking ass at the dinner table, but you didn't even go through the brunt of the problems your girlfriend and best friend did (as far as we know, we don't see any major struggles Mike is going thru prior to season 4 --besides the hellfire club stuff--unlike El's bullying and Will's struggle with queerness. Those of us who aren't the GA know that Mike not writing "Love" is likely an internal issue with him falling out of love with El/struggling with his queerness). Like Will is initially upset at El because she keeps lying to Mike about her status and he's also mad about Mike not reaching out to him. El is mad at Will for telling the truth and also at Mike for not standing up for and helping her/probably for being scared of her and rubbing her mistake (hurting Angela) in her face "What did you do?!"/for him not saying he loves her. Basically, El has multiple reasons to be upset at Mike. And Mike's upset at Will for not reaching out/"being a douche" to El/for thinking that he should be a top priority along with El. He is also upset at El for lying, although he expresses anger at Will for not telling him about El's lying even though he didn't even know about the lying. In Mike's eyes, he isn't doing anything wrong even though he is a big subject of both Will and El's insecurities. So why is he sulking? If anything, El should be the one allowed to sulk and get the sympathy/empathy. But she doesn't, and Mike acting like the victim of this whole situation in this scene sends El over the edge.

I honestly love this scene because she had every right to be mad at Mike. And I'm not trying to let Will off the hook here, but he was trying to be noble by clearing any lies before they went too far, although they went too far anyway. He also has every right to be upset at Mike (as far as we know, because Will mentions that Mike didn't reach out which leads us to believe that the reaching out was one-sided)

Note: I haven't done a season 4 rewatch yet so correct me if I'm wrong about anything. I only rewatched the rink fight and Byers dinner scenes for this post!

[thestrangestthing89]

I think it's possible that Mike was actually sending letters to Will and El was stealing them. - We know Mike was trying to call Will and was complaining about not getting through. The logical next step would be to write a letter. It doesn't make sense that he was so determined to call but then just didn't try any other way of getting in touch with him. - Will said El had a whole book of letters from Mike, but we know she only had about 6 of them. It's possible Will was being dramatic. But maybe he saw her taking the mail and that's why he was under the impression she was getting a lot of letters. - El concocted a whole fairy tale version of her life. She told Mike she was succeeding in school and had great friends when none of that was true. She was clearly telling Will that her relationship with Mike was perfect because he's under the impression they are in love. She lies a lot. She wanted her relationship with Mike to look perfect. If Will was getting more letters than her it would have bothered her. She wanted everyone to think everything was going well and she had her normal life all together. And it's harder to sell that story if she isn't getting a lot of letters from her boyfriend. - I don't think the letters would have been so obvious or direct, but it's possible it would have made her suspicious about Mike and Will's relationship and make her start paying more attention to Will's behavior. Because Will really isn't acting weird. He only got secretive about the painting. We have no other indications that his behavior showed he was crushing on someone and hiding a painting doesn't exactly scream "he has a crush on someone". He could be hiding it for a lot of other reasons. - Would El have even known to be upset at the lack of "Love, Mike" at the end of her letters? She has never sent letters to people before. People sign them in a lot of different ways. But maybe she saw Will's letters and how Mike was writing to him and realized hers were different and Will was getting all the "Love, Mike" letters not to mention ones that weren't emotionally distant, which lead to her feeling neglected by him. - We know Joyce got the mail but I doubt she was hand delivering each letter to her kids. It probably just got thrown on a table. So El could have easily gotten to it before Will. - Mike being weird at the airport could have also been because he isn't sure what's going on with him and Will. They only talked on the phone a few times. I'm assuming the last time was when Will started his painting. So it must have been a good conversation. But if Mike was still sending letters after that call and Will was still not responding he could have been more insecure about their relationship. - When Will mentions Mike wasn't reaching out enough he's surprised and points out that Will should have reached out more too. Which could have been what made him realize Will wasn't getting letters he sent him.

[wheeler-fan]

i think everyone focused so much about eleven character development that no one is talking about el season 1 anymore 🙁 I'm rewatching this season now, and there's so many things that needs to be spoken up and no one does it and i don't understand why. it's very important bc when we take a look at eleven now, her behavior, her feelings and worries, it's all connected to the little eleven from season 1. I have a couple things that i have noticed from basically two first episodes.

NUMBER 1: eleven is afraid of loud noises, i bet that it was really quiet in the lab, she was locked up alone (I'm talking about lab from season 1 not 4 to be clear) practically the only person she talked too is brenner, she was a scared kid and probably was scared of every noise bc she thought that papa is coming to her. Then we can see in season one how she reacts to every noise, she was afraid of the storm, she was nervous when Lucas and Mike were yelling at each other, we can see that she's scared and quiet all the time bc it's her first time at this world- we can't say that living in the lab was actually living 💀 she wasn't even treated as a human being but as an experiment. Everything is new for her, she's fascinating about everything, there are so many things she wants to see, try, learn but she's also scared of everything and then- we can see how she reacts to loud noises even when she's grown up, for example season 4- el is getting bullied in rinko mania, we can see how she's covering her ears bc the music is too loud-(also funny thing i have noticed, the first thing that Mike does when he finds out what's going on is yelling at Angela's friend to turn down the music, why? bc he knows eleven, and he knows that loud noises are hard for her so that's the first thing he does)

NUMBER 2: how useless eleven felt in s4 without her powers, remember s1? when she failed the experiment Brenner got mad and locked her up for a punishment, we can see that when eleven didn't have enough power to do something she was treated like an useless thing, so now, when she lost her powers she felt that she lost the only thing that makes her special, she was really insecure about herself, she thought that no one will love her without her powers bc for what? that's why I can't understand people who are defending brenner 💀like bffr.

NUMBER 3: her love language, she puts attention to words, why? bc all her life everyone lied to her, tricked her, "pretend" that they care using words but never actions, that's why she was focused on Mike's words and not actions, and here we have a problem bc mike is focused on actions and not words bc his parents probably use words but how their children can know that they are honest if there's no proof of actions? exactly. Mike cares about actions and expresses himself with actions, that's why the conflict between mileven was ever made. They have a different love language and they both didn't know what to do with that, so now, eleven though that mike doesn't love her bc he doesn't use words, and mike thinks eleven doesn't need him bc she doesn't use actions but words.

Also i would like to mention the fact that this poor girl didn't even know what privacy is. She wanted to get dressed in front of the boys and saw nothing wrong with that. The fact how bad she was treated in the lab needs to be spoken more

(btw i tried to put pictures in order to make it more clear but idk if it works 😭😭 it's kinda about mike tbh but let's focus about eleven here that's supposed to be about my beautiful girl this time)

[wheelercurse]

The painting plotline

or how the narrative was built for byler endgame. 

Back in July first, I was angry because I thought they had used the painting that was introduced as something important between Mike and Will's relationship to fix the straight relationship. But when I questioned the writing choices, I realized I was wrong.

Do they really end this plotline with a lie when the main theme of season 4 was about telling truths?

The answer is no, of course; it was just one more step in their journey. So, the truth has to come out, and we have two outcomes: they will get together, or Mike will reject him. And some people think Mike won't reciprocate, but that doesn't make sense because why would they build this complicated plot only to end in... nothing? And I said nothing because if they remain just friends and Mike is still with El, we're back at how this plot started.  

Anyway, when you view all this storyline in retrospect, you can see the painting plotline was built as a love story. They even used some classic romantic tropes with this one.

So, let's explain this better.

They introduced Will's character with the painting. Through El's letter, the first thing we learn about him is that he's painting something, and probably it's for a girl that he likes. So we knew that he was interested in someone, and Mike knew about this painting because he was reading the letter.

The next scene with the painting in it is the airport reunion. Will is excited to see his best friend again; we can assume this painting was for Mike. But then Mike gave him an awkward hug (first romantic trope). It's too common to see an awkward reunion between two characters, repressing feelings for each other. So, there's tension, but this doesn't end with the awkward hug. Mike looked at the painting, dropped his smile and asked about it, and Will avoided the question, saying it was nothing. There's tension between them. It's so blatant, and it was thanks to the painting.

The tension finally explodes with their fight (in the closet at Rink o Mania). Yes, there's no mention of the painting, but Will's bad mood started because of the airport reunion. And yes, Mike was upset about the stressful situation with El, but also because Will wasn't talking with him. Remember Will told him during the fight: "Mad that I didn't talk to you?" Will knows him better than anyone.   

In this fight, we have another basic romantic trope: one character insists they are just friends. And Will didn't insinuate that he wanted to be more than friends, but Mike took it with romantic connotations. It's a classic trope to state there's nothing romantic between them when they're repressing feelings.

To solve this conflict between them, Mike went to apologize. In this emotional scene, they shared an intimate moment that got interrupted. Oh yes, another classic romantic trope they have used many times in the show.

In this scene, Mike has some dialogues with romantic connotations. 

"Max, Dustin, and Lucas, they're great. It's Hawkins. It's not the same without you." "I feel like I lost you or something." 

At the end of this scene, they were closer, so Will decided to take the painting with him.

Another relevant scene it's the one when Will told El that Mike wouldn't like that she was lying to him. Will hadn't lied to Mike yet, but he was already hiding his feelings for him. This little interaction isn't just about Mike and El's situation but also Will and Mike's. And later, it will also become relevant to the painting plotline.

Let's also mention another relevant scene: Mike and El fight. At first glance, it seems like it isn't important to this plotline, but it is because it introduces their main conflict: Mike can't say I love you. This is just a surface level; their problems go beyond that, there are a lot of insecurities and misunderstandings around them, but I'm not going to dig into these. 

This scene is relevant to the painting's plotline because this painting is the thing that makes Mike finally utter those three words to El. I will explain more about it later.

Another important scene in this storyline is Mike and Will heart to heart in the desert. They are burying a body, and Will is staring at Mike with a lot of yearning; then Mike glances at him, and when he gets caught, he tries to look away. Another classic romantic trope.

They talked in the top of a car about the thing that Mike couldn't say to El, but he never mentioned what it was. Will told him: 

"Sometimes it's scary to open up like that, especially with people you care about the most, because what if they don't like the truth?" 

This line also refers to Will because he is scared of telling Mike how he really feels; he's in love with him. So, we are expecting that he will overcome his fear and be honest about his feelings, but he ends up lying.

The van scene. Mike opened up about his insecurities, and Will couldn't take Mike talking so little of himself, so he decided to give him the painting. And he gave him a speech, telling him that Mike is the heart, and he's a leader, he's the one who inspires and guides their group of friends, but he lied, saying that El was the one who commissioned the painting. Then, Will kept describing his feelings for Mike but used El's name as a disguise.

Mike was moved by these feelings. Will's words reassured him. Will has the love that Mike is looking in his failing relationship.

But remember that Mike knew about this painting, that's why he looked confused every time Will mentioned El's name. He was trying to connect the dots.

Let's move on to the monologue scene. It's fascinating how this scene should be just about Mike and El, but Will's presence is palpable. He even is in the shot when Mike said I love you for the first time. 

Mike stumbled on his words, and Will touched his shoulder and told him: 

"Don't stop, remember you're the heart." 

That line reminds Mike and us (the audience) about their talk in the van. These feelings weren't from El, and Mike is about to give this speech with the wrong idea. He believed that the painting was from El, that she needed him, but he was wrong. That's the whole point. That's why they lost. 

I have read people saying that Mike would have told El that he loved her without Will lying, but that was not what happened. This was a specific writing choice. Not only they wrote, Will disguising his feelings as El's, but he also reminded Mike about the painting, telling him that he's the heart, seconds before Mike tells his speech.

So yes, Mike finally utters these three words thanks to Will and his painting.

Another classic romantic trope: that one character is moved by these words or feelings, but they misattributed them, thinking they came from another character. 

For example, Beverly thinks the poem was for Bill but then learns it was from Ben, so they end up together.

Half of it: Ellie writes letters to Aster, pretending that they are from Paul, and Aster falls in love with these words, and she gets closer to Paul, but in the end, after learning the truth, Aster and Ellie kiss.

Gossip Girl: A character asks Dan to write his vows, and he does it, so these words move Blair, and she falls in love with them. In the end, when she learns they are coming from Dan, they get together.

There are more stories with a similar plot, but with these three examples, you get the idea.

They didn't mention the painting again in s4 because their plan wasn't to solve this conflict until the last season. But they ended the season with Mike and El barely talking to each other, even when Mike said these three words that El wanted to hear, there’s still distance between them. And Mike and Will are closer than the way they started this season. They got another important conversation, where Will confided in him about Vecna, and Mike reassured him.

So if the painting was the solution to fix Mike/El’s conflict why the ones who ended being closer are Mike and Will?

And if it was the solution, the plotline will be over.

With this outline, you can see that Will’s arc was about telling the truth about his feelings, but he was scared and most important, he thought that there was no chance for him, so he pushed Mike and El together. He sacrificed his own happiness for them. So, he has to be rewarded from the narrative. Again, remember they’re characters, not real person. Yes, I know that a real person isn’t due to reciprocate, but in a story there should be a good pay-off for your character. More, if he’s a kid that have been suffered all the show, and they have taken so much from him. 

And with Mike’s arc is similar. He was also hiding feelings. You can infer it for his actions, that he has feelings for Will. Some romantic tropes apply to him (looking away, awkward reunion, just friends, he created the intimate moment). But anyway his pov was hidden from the audience. He never confirmed that he in fact loved El, until the monologue that it was pushed by Will. When El asked him if he still loved her, he AVOIDED the question 

“Who say that I didn’t?” “I say it” “You know what I THINK of you.” 

And when he’s talking with Will, he never said that he should have told her how he feels, he just keep saying “I should have said that thing.” “I should have explained myself.” His arc also ended similar. At the end he wasn’t completely truthful about his feelings. 

Now you can see how the narrative was built up to make them endgame. The painting was a plot device to develop their relationship, and this story isn't over until the truth comes out. And when that happens, they will get together. It's inevitable. It's carved in the narrative.  

[will80sbyers]

Mike felt like he lost Will and said the last year was weird for him because he didn't have Will by his side and he said he was worrying too much about his own personal insecurities regarding himself and his relationship with El and that he basically regrets not doing more to stay best friends with Will and we know he even called him a lot... so he tried so hard because he was feeling awful and SPECIFICALLY because he was missing Will...

Mike was missing Will more than he was missing El, and even if he was worrying about her it wasn't only because he was worrying about how she was doing there...

in fact, after she started telling him that everything was great...it was because he was worrying about how her doing good in Lenora while he was being bullied at school was making him feel like he should be more cool if he ever wanted to stay in a relationship with her!

and so he didn't even realize that there was something wrong with her in the past months because he was focused on feeling bad for himself...

their whole relationship was based on lies for those months, all those letters that El sent were her putting up an act with him and at the same time he was feeling like a loser back home and like he had even lost the only person that always made him feel better about himself

wow.

Byler is coming to us next season because that's what Mike needs the most (and even wants the most)

He's gonna realize that soon.

❤️

[thranduel]

wanna know the major difference between byler and m*leven in season 4?

when el needed support and comfort from mike, he didn’t give it to her (got angry at her at the roller rink and made her feel like a monster, left her alone and stared at her when she was shaking, gave her silent treatment in the car, made a sarcastic comment, refused to say “i love you”, lied, started gaslighting her, only told her he loved her when he was forced into it but literally made up lies in his monologue).

when mike needed support and comfort from el, she didn’t give it to him AND left him behind (invalidated his trauma when he mentioned he understands what it’s like to be bullied and said he doesn’t understand, left him a letter saying “from, el” which basically symbolised a break up, made him feel more insecure and worthless, has never actually asked if he’s okay or spoken to him about his trauma in general, didn’t even talk to him after the monologue he was pressured into which once again made him insecure).

when will needed support and comfort from mike, he gave it to him (went to genuinely apologise to him, took responsibility for how he behaved, admitted he was worrying too much about el, said that hawkins wasn’t the same without him and that he was afraid he lost him, promised they would work as a team again and be best friends, comforted him in the cabin).

when mike needed support and comfort from will, he gave it to him (gave him the painting he worked hard on for him which made him the happiest he looked all season, sacrificed his own feelings for him and used el’s name as a disguise to help their relationship because he saw mike was sad, put mike before himself, gave him strength and made him feel so loved even though he was struggling with his own struggles too).

how do people still argue about who belongs together??

[kl125]

Why do you ship Mileven?

(This was chilling in my drafts, and I just realized that I never posted it lmfao).

Oh my! Well, that’s quite a question. I guess I can boil it down to this, for my TL;DR folks: I ship mileven because it makes me happy. Let me explain. I’ll try to keep things concise. This is my opinion, and how I read scenes, so please keep all of this in mind. More under the cut!

I find their relationship to be one of the most realistic portrayals I’ve ever seen in media. So many shows and movies get two characters together, show only the happy moments, break them up over a stupid misunderstanding, and then they get back together after a grand gesture, without addressing the reason they broke up in the first place. It’s standard, it’s cute (sometimes), but it’s fairly shallow. It works in things like romantic comedies, when we don’t have a lot of time to really get to know everything about their dynamic, but it leaves me wondering, “Do these characters even work well together?”

With Mike and El, there’s no question about it. We see it from the very start. Mike is compassionate and selfless, albeit a bit closed-off with his feelings, while El is courageous and loyal, but deeply insecure about her self-worth. They both value honesty, and they have a strong need to protect the ones they love through any means necessary. El loves Mike’s nerdy side, while Mike loves El’s boundless curiosity. The few times we see her genuinely laugh are when Mike is being a goofball, and Mike has never made her feel stupid for asking about a common topic.

However, the Duffer Brothers aren’t afraid to show that relationships take work. It’s not all fun and games. One way or another, the “honeymoon phase” will come to an end. When we’ve seen cracks in Mike and El’s relationship, they’ve been real problems. Not some stupid misunderstanding that could be solved with a quick explanation and a little trust between partners.

Mike lies to El (per Hopper’s threatening insistence), so that he can continue dating her, otherwise Hopper will force them to separate permanently. El knows from the start something is off. She’s doesn’t blindly believe him. She trusts him, but she’s afraid something bad is going on. When she finally confronts him outside the mall, you discover it’s not about the lie itself, but why he did it. She wants an explanation of the circumstances that lead up to the lie. He eventually explains, but now this issue has shed light on another, much more pressing concern. They are spending way too much time together, and it’s not helpful for El’s personal growth. This was the original problem that Hopper tried to rectify, but he went about it entirely the wrong way. Max attempts to advise El on solutions, and while it helps her gain confidence, Mike and El both still desire a reconciliation of some sort.

In the end, because Mike and El have a solid foundation built on trust and understanding, only they can fix the cracks and repair the damage. Mike fully apologizes for keeping her sheltered, and he vows to be a better partner. It’s a great way of showing how problems don’t need to be the end of a relationship, as long as both parties love and care enough about each other to recognize their faults and make appropriate changes. It’s not about changing who a person is at their core, but rather knowing how best to treat a partner so that they feel supported and loved beyond a shadow of a doubt. And it’s important that Mike and El are the ones fixing the problem through their words and actions, and not a third party messenger running between them.

It’s also wonderful to see a character like El find another person who loves her unconditionally. El has long since accepted who she is and what she can do, so much of her conflict centers around if she’s worthy of external love and acceptance. She’s spent her whole life searching for it, and the closest she got was her mother. However, because Terry is basically catatonic, there’s no way for El to nurture that bond. In walks Mike Wheeler, and suddenly she feels like a person, not a weapon. He sees her as she is and loves her for it. She doesn’t need to hide any part of herself, good or bad.

As for Mike, he struggles with opening up and expressing his feelings. He’s honest, but only to a point. El challenges his comfort zone and guides him to a more open state of being. “Friends don’t lie” is the driving force behind their relationship. They make each other better, at the end of the day.

I could go on, but I feel like this is long enough already. Let me know if you want me to expand on any of these points.

[bylerspookie]

This is such a reach/delulu theory but you mentioned Corey Hart... Well, boy do I have a theory for you. His song 'Sunglasses At Night' plays in S2 when Steve is driving to Nancy's house because "something is wrong". Well, what ship is Mileven often paralleled to? Stancy. And who just so happens to be associated with sunglasses in S4? Mike. This song also kinda relates to Byler in a way, but I see it more as predicting their S5 fight and budding relationship in contrast to Mileven being bones. I am not good at executing theories but here you go! Hopefully it makes sense.

The first Line

"I wear my sunglasses at night - so I can, so I can- watch you weave, then breathe your story lines"

This to me really screams how El was lying in the letters/how Will was lying about the painting and how they both came up with these different stories and lied to Mike. Additionally Mike wears the sunglasses to hide his own feelings like in the airport and pizzeria scene. Wearing shades also reflects a struggle with identity which Mike is also going through this season.

*skipping some lines*

"While she's deceiving me, she cuts my security - has she got control of me? I turn to her and say"

This line really tells one of Mike's many struggles and how he feels this season, insecure.

"Don't switch the blade on the guy in shades, oh-no"

This gives me Byler Fight and Mileven break up energy. I can see this as Mike opening up in S5 about his feeling and how it affected him (it being the painting and the break up). Switch the blade also can mean caught by surprise. When Will's feelings and lie is revealed, Mike will certainly be surprised imo (I added 'imo' cuz ik some ppl believe he already knows about Will's feelings and the painting).

"Don't masquerade with he guy in shades, oh-no"

Once again about lying and deceiving.

*skipping some more lines*

"And I wear my sunglasses at night - so I can, so I can, - See the light that's right before my eyes"

This just makes me think of the van scene and Mileven fight in S4. In the van scene Will is covered in light, and Mike's wearing figurative shades to hide his feelings once again. Now, on the other hand, seeing the light with El gives me the energy that Mike was on the verge of ending things. He seemed to be coming to terms and understanding that he doesn't need to stay in a relationship for whatever reason.

"I wear my sunglasses at night - I cry to you"

We will definitely see Mike cry his eyes out next season.

GUYS GUYS GUYS WTF THIS IS AMAZING

I LITERALLY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY BECAUSE YOU PRETTY MUCH SAID IT ALL

and yes we HAVE to see Mike cry his eyes out to Will, especially because in the first song of his playlist there's a whole outro saying "cry boy, cry" over and over and over again like it has to happen

and when Steve is driving to Nancy's house, I guess we could say it's related to Mike too because it's the Wheeler house, ykwim? this kinda doesn't make sense idc

and the sunglasses thing, I feel like I'm the only one who hasn't realized that both of them wore sunglasses, lol, and Mike wore them twice... (both times when he was hiding his feelings)

and the artists name is Corey HART bro HELP

[wewebaggit]

LMAO at this ⬆️ not bringing up any memories of this ⬇️

But this ⬆️ bringing up memories of this ⬇️

Because it is not just the lines. Mike Brenner parallel(s) (hate that word) is not that simple here. El already started thinking back to her lab the moment she bopped Angela and there was blood and a crowd watching her disapprovingly. Will wasn't looking at her with pride or adoration, mind you. He looked way more scared, in fact. Mike just voiced his shock and upset. So while, yes, the following scene is of Brenner asking her the same, it's not about Mike being an asshole (some people feel he should've patted her on the back I guess) but El herself coming to that conclusion. What did you do ➡️ you think I'm a monster too is a leap of judgement from El because she's half remembering shit from her past and the words thrown at her at school aren't helping. Mike wasn't scared when she's hurt people before lmao. Not once. Not even the first time it happened in front of him. It was OBVIOUSLY a stupid thing to do at that point as seen by her following arrest.

El's monster vs superhero dichotomy is a result of her own insecurities (starting right at the lab) and her own reliance on powers for everything. She must feel incomplete and less than ordinary without them. Her powers were a justification for her isolation her "weirdness" as the show likes to say, but without those (they're just like an arm or a leg to El atp she's never known a different life) she's a nobody because she's not a superhero. The solution to El and the others having to let go of the superhero epithet bestowed upon her is not her loss of powers or trying to think of her as a girl without those, but to think of the superpowers as just any other part of her body. To someone like me who's been wearing glasses since before I started losing my milk teeth people with free vision possess what I feel is a superpower. An ability I don't possess. But I am not making that their whole personality or even finding that to be what's cool about them. In a similar vein her friends and family that are aware about these abilities of her have to treat them as just something she has and they don't. Free vision, an extra finger, Dustin's ability to be neatly folded into a bag, Lucas' athleticism. It's not EVERYTHING but it's not nothing. I do not feel that is what's happening rn. I do not think Mike is obsessed with her superhero-ness ONLY. He uses it as a compliment to boost her like he does with Dustin. But the point is he just has to cool it down on the super. This got rambly but my point is, the above scene is about El or El and Brenner and maybe Mike and El because El made that connection with other things in consideration. But WE ARE NOT supposed to make it about Mike and Brenner. Mike is not feeding into her superhero identity anymore than Hopper, Joyce, Max and the others are. It's her own internal struggle. "You think I'm a monster, too" came at a low point in El's struggles at Cali where she was 100% being defensive and self-pitying and accidentally ended up uncovering Mike's own lies (by omission). [This is not about the monotonologue at the end. That's a whole different thing.]

[pholiabanna]

The way if mlvn is endgame, it just lacks any interesting continuation bc what is the plot??

S3- they lie + break up. Mike blurts out he loves El and El overhears it. At the end of the season she comes to Mike and says i love you too but Mike cannot respond because he is 'insecure' apparently. They get together.

S4- El lies because Mike cannot say ily. They spend the season separated. Mike realizes now he can say ily to El... while El is in another dimension and cannot respond (so a switch situation to S3 scenario). Now El doesn't respond to Mike at the end of S4.

S5 - NOW IT IS EL WHO CANNOT SAY ILY!!! But she has to say it!! and respond to Mike's monologue!!! Like??? pls this is just so terrible!

Yeah, I agree so much. They've (intentionally) made them unredeemable as a couple as of season 4, and if they were still together in s5 they would need even MORE conflict (since conflict is essential for writing a storyline and making a story move forwards, even if it's the story of a romantic relationship). But it's gotten to a point that if there's even one more conflict between them most of the audience will be actually pissed off (they already were in s4, just look at some of the most viral GA tweets last year hating on them).

For me this makes it even more obvious they will break up, but it also explains why byler is better by miles. If a relationship doesn't have any slow burn at all and they get together jn the first of 5 seasons, they will need, as I've said before, constant conflict to move their story together forwards. However, since byler is a slowburn, their conflict of not having gotten together yet and not having confronted their feelings yet is precisely what's moving their story forwards. But when they overcome this and they finally get together, they will have a perfect and healthy relationship unlike milkvan, not only because they are the right person for each other, but because the story (stranger things) will be over at this point, meaning they won't need to introduce petty conflict in bylers relationship to move their story as a couple forwards because there won't be any story to be told anymore. We'll just be shown at the end that they're established, healthy and mature. And I'm pretty sure seeing this play out will make most of the non homophobic audience who isn't for byler yet because they don't think it will happen, fully root for them after realizing they're just better.

Thanks for the ask, and also if there's tons of spelling mistakes in this I'm sorry, my autocorrect is always a bitch and I'm too tired to proof read rn lmaoo

[sapphicshipsaresuperior]

hiiii 💟 what do you think mike and will’s favorite things about each other are? what are YOUR favorite things about the both of them? 

hi anon! this is the first ask i've got, because i don't plan on posting stiff on tumblr YET - i do want to just in a few months. anyway i think i literally squealed when i saw i had an ask so thanks so much!

now i'll actually answer the question...

mike's favourite thing about will is how is always comforts him, will is his safe space. will is his home. this has been something i've seen throughout their relationship - from mike feeling insecure, worthless and will showing him his worth (you're the heart) to their first meeting where mike isn't the only one alone because will is too and then neither of them are because they have each other <3.

adding on to that, mike's favourite physical thing about will are his lips (dude can't look away for more than a few seconds) but his favourite thing to do with will is hand-holding. Like that small physical contact is will showing mike i'm here, i'm staying, i'm focused on you.

my favourite thing about mike is the care he has for his friends, especially in the earlier seasons because when he is in cali he isn't interacting much with the rest of the Party. i'd love to see more of his and lucas' friendship, because they were besties in s1 and sometimes that's forgotten.

will's favourite thing about mike is that when he's around mike he feel important and courageous. think: you make her (me) feel like she's (i'm) not a mistake. you see lots of mike looking out for will (fighting bullies in s1, throwing his arm around will when the government are shooting looking for el, freeing him from trances, etc...) and i think that makes will feel important, mike thinks he's worth looking after. and i think we might see will defending mike in s5 against vecna, because of mike's positive influence. maybe a parallel to mike's keep fighting monologue except with a healthy relationship and no lies in s5??

will's favourite physical thing about mike is his height, just a little taller than him so his favourite thing to do is hug mike. will thinks mike gives the best, most comforting hugs, which is why he was so disappointed at the airport :(

my favourite thing about will is his resilience. if i spent a week in the upside down when i was 12, and in the week i was away my crush got a gf, was possessed by the mf, had to move away from all my friends (though i have done that, and its awful, could potentially be my villain origin story) to say a few, i would not be the amazing person he is.

finally, my favourite thing about byler is that their childhood friends to lovers, best trope. its so sweet watching them in s1 and 2.

[thestrangestthing89]

Mike character analysis: Season 1 -Part 1 here

Part 2:

Mikes reaction to Will's fake body being found is very different than Dustin and Lucas. They are all upset but Mike is devastated and angry. El lied to him about Will (or so he thinks) and he just watched his body get pulled out of the water. He is heartbroken and bikes home to his mother crying. They only show Mikes reaction here because that's the one that's important to the narrative. Not that Lucas and Dustin don't care about Will - they do and are clearly upset - but it's different. They probably went home crying to their mothers too but Mike's reaction is where the story is, just like the bullying. And it's a direct parallel to Joyce's. Joyce finds out about Will and is comforted by Jonathan and Hopper while Mike is comforted by his mother. It's the first of many parallels between the two. They both (along with Jonathan) love Will the most. But even Jonathan believes that Will is actually dead when Joyce is trying to explain her theory to him. And she does sound crazy. She sounds like a grieving mother who doesn't want to accept the truth so she clings to the crazy, unrealistic story. Mike does the same thing. He believes the unbelievable thing El tells him and tries to get Lucas and Dustin on board. Lucas is immediately against it in the same way Jonathan is (and again Lucas gets the most criticism from the GA for this attitude even though he's not the only one) and Dustin seems like he's on the fence but goes along with Mike. Both Joyce and Mike love Will so much they are willing to believe and do anything rather than accept that he's gone.

The boys end up dressing El up in Nancy's old clothes so she can go outside because she isn't "normal". They say this right in front of her face, which is what leads her to ask Mike if she's pretty later. She wants reassurance that she's a normal girl. Mike gets prompted by Dustin to respond here and says "pretty" in response to Dustin. He gives the answer he is supposed to give. He would't be saying them if Dustin and Lucas weren't there. He's performing. And so is she. El has on normal girl clothes and is now going to act like she's supposed to. Mike is doing the same. They are conforming.

(Edit: I want to add that Mike's kindness toward El is entirely contingent upon how cooperative she is looking for Will. When she helps he is nice and when she lies and leads them in the wrong direction he gets mean and screams in her face. Does this make Mike a terrible person? Of course not and it's incredibly simplistic to say so. What it does mean is that he doesn't trust her and why should he? He doesn't know her and she's done nothing to earn his trust.)

Right before Will's fake body is pulled out of the quarry, Mike and El have a brief conversation on the train tracks. Mike doesn't want to tell El he's been bullied but she presses. He tells her he didn't want her to think he was a "wastoid". He doesn't think this superhero can understand what being bullied is like. This whole conversation sets the stage for all of the problems in Mike and El's dynamic. Mike is insecure about what other people think. He wants this superhero to think that he's cool. El claims to understand this, but this conversation comes up again later in S4 and she doesn't. They don't really bond here. This wasn't a big moment of connection that Mike took it to be. It clearly doesn't mean much to El when she dismisses him for bringing it up in S4. And Mike spends the rest of the season feeling insecure about how he's a loser who found superman on his doorstep. This whole moment at the train tracks is about his insecurities and tying his confidence to El. El thinks he's cool so he's cool. But if she thinks he isn't then he spirals into self-doubt. (It's only Will seeing him as The Heart that fixes this because Will is the one who actually sees the true Mike.)

It's a dynamic they continue to have through season 4. El lies to Mike because she thinks he won't understand her bullying and she's scared. He needs her to be the superhero that saves the day all while most of his attention is fixated on Will. They have never communicated well and they have never grown into a more emotionally mature relationship let alone a friendship. They are stuck. They've also grown more emotionally mature separately but together they coexist in the way that 2 people who have been through a lot together do. They share trauma and nothing else but they can't let each other go because they went through something major together. It's not a romantic dynamic let alone a friendship.

Part 3 here

[mikewheely]

Hate parades, ship wars, and memes aside, can we please talk about this scene for what it is?

Now, first of all, before my post gets misinterpreted in any way, I would like to clarify, that I am a hardcore Mileven fan, like, I am obsessed. But when it comes to individual characters, I am a very neutral, empathetic viewer, who likes to find reasons behind the actions and reactions of characters. Maybe that is why I am hardly able to hate any character because they don't think like I do or don't act the way I want them to.

I feel like this scene has been interpreted from all the wrong perspectives, but not much from the one it was supposed to be. Among all the hate against Mike, memes, jokes, and stupid questions, people have mostly overlooked how heartbreakingly beautiful this scene actually is. It's absolutely painful for both, Mike and Will.

You see Mike, who never actually expresses his insecurities and feelings as he is busy taking care of people he loves, for the first time reveals how scared he is that El would eventually lose interest in him because he is not good enough for her. That he just got lucky, and it was dumb luck that he found her in the woods, nothing more than that. Previously, we have only seen him worrying about her thinking that she would die while saving the rest of the world, leaving him alone and empty. But for the first time, we get to know that he has zero self-confidence and he thinks that he is not worthy of her love. And it kills him to think that El would grow emotionally distant from him and go away one day, and then he would have no idea how to live without her because he is just so much in love with her.

Then we see Will, who listens, very carefully to what Mike is saying, he sees the fear and pain in his eyes, and empathizes with him. He actually even senses that Mike was already upset before he shared what he felt. He understands and tries to assure him that El is always going to need him. Even when Mike compares himself with Lois Lane, and then says that was very stupid of him, Will goes, "No," which I felt was extremely sweet and kind of him to tell Mike that he is not stupid for being scared of losing El. He basically says out loud what Mike has a hard time expressing. Will does it for him.

In an attempt to provide some emotional support to Mike, Will finally gives him the painting. He reminds him that he is the leader, he is the heart of the party, it is he who holds the party together and without him, everything would fall apart. Even El, especially El. But this is also where things start getting heartbreaking for Will. Because he lies about the painting. He never says it was his choice to make this painting for Mike. He says it was El who commissioned it, she told him what to paint. Probably because he did not want Mike to have even a tiny amount of suspicion regarding Will's feelings for him.

We see Jonathan, who senses it, and most probably even knows that Will is lying because like El had said in the first episode in her letter to Mike, Will is painting something but he never shows it to anyone. So hearing Will say that El told him what to paint, was easy for Jonathan to understand his brother was not saying the truth. And he guesses why he could be doing so.

Will also looks away from Mike to hide his feelings, and Jonathan notices that. He notices Will throughout and knows what is up with his brother. This is when Will starts speaking for El and himself, which is heart-wrenching. He starts getting teary-eyed, trying to suppress all his emotions. But Mike does not understand that Will is actually talking about himself too because he does not have any idea about this. It's simple.

However, Will manages to provide him some emotional support, and Mike feels somewhat relieved that someone understood his fears and insecurities. It's like a parallel of the 'crazy together' scene from Season 2, where Mike understands what Will was going through. And even though he is so heartbroken at the same time, he feels happy that he has managed to make Mike feel better.

Then he looks away and cries, as the rendition of The First Lie (ST2) and The First I Love You (ST3), this time named Being Different, plays in the background, which is again one heartbreakingly beautiful music. Go listen to it.

This is where many people start asking, "How did Mike not see that Will was crying?". Well, let me tell you it is easy for you to notice because it is being shown to you; because it is meant for the audience to notice. Mike has no clue that whatever Will said about EL, could make him CRY. He took it as merely his best friend providing him the emotional support he really needed. He was looking at the painting and thinking about these things. He does look at Will once after Will looks away, but he could not understand that he was crying. Because Will actually was trying his best to hide it, by putting his hand on his mouth so that no one gets to hear it. Now let me remind you what Jonathan said in Season 1. Will was good at hiding. He is good at hiding from monsters, hiding his true self, and hiding his feelings.

But his brother, looking at him through the rear-view mirror, notices it and his eyes fill with tears, as he further empathizes with Will.

The immaturity many people have shown in interpreting this scene, which was actually so simple, is ridiculous. They just went on to make this such a negative, toxic scene, when it was actually so so beautiful. A group of people blames Mike for not noticing or in general just not having the same feelings for Will. I don't know guys, maybe one day, hopefully, when you are emotionally mature and have moved far away from stupid things like these hate parades because things didn't play out the way you wanted them to in your imagination, you will understand that you cannot make people have the same feelings for you, that you may feel for them. It is a very common idea, a much-explored one, even in Stranger Things itself, I don't know why some people don't get it. Dustin had feelings for Max, but Max chose Lucas. Steve had, even has, feelings for Nancy even now, she chose Jonathan. Tammy Thompson could not stop staring at Steve, and Robin could not stop staring at her, which initially also happens with Vickie. See, it has been explored several times in the show. So I don't know why it is Mike who gets this much negative criticism for literally being in the same position as Max, Nancy, and Tammy. Like I said, you can't make people feel what you feel for them, it doesn't work like that. Just like you cannot blame Will for having feelings for Mike, you can't blame Mike for having the same feelings for someone else.

You also made some theories about how Jonathan hates Mike for this, which was actually never shown or even hinted at. But even if it wasn't shown or hinted at, I don't know, would he? He himself has been a part of a love triangle, he is sensitive and mature. I guess he understands the situation better than you. Maybe it is just your defense mechanism to cope with the fact that things did not play out the way you wanted them to.

I am not here to change anyone's opinion. I know I can't. But I just really wanted to appreciate such a beautiful scene as this.

[counting-stars-gayly]

Mike Wheeler analysis: his trauma responses and how they pertain to his relationship with Eleven

At first, I thought it was really out of character for Mike to dehumanize El so much in season four, since he did the opposite in the three previous seasons, but man…I get it now.

Mike is a protective person and not just over his loved ones — right after he met El, he sought to protect her.

He took complete responsibility for her. He gave her food, water, clothes, a “bed,” and a place to stay. She rode on his bike whenever the kids went on their little missions, and he vouched for her, defended her. That’s one of the reasons why he got so angry when he thought she’d lied about Will and when she hurt Lucas. He’d trusted her to keep his friends safe, and he felt she’d not only hurt them but also betrayed him. Just as she relied on him for safety and comfort, he relied on her for the safety of his loved ones and comfort in knowing that they would be okay.

As long as he protected her—

—she could protect his friends and family.

(Obviously, he also looks out for her because he cares about her.)

El is someone who can ensure everyone’s safety when he can’t (ex: when she helped them save Will in season one and when she showed up to kill the demodogs and save Will in season two), which actually ended up leading to his insecurities in season four (but I’ll get back to that).

When Mike made that unnecessary comment, “She didn’t look fine,” at the dinner table, in season four, it had to do with his idealized view of her. El is “supposed” to ensure safety, yet she hurt someone without good reason. Though she immediately regretted hitting Angela, Mike still couldn’t get over how this action of hers contrasted so heavily with who he wanted her to be. In reality, she’s short tempered and prone to physical violence because it’s all she’s ever known; she’s learned to see violence as the answer, and Mike, without meaning to, fed into that big time.

However, for all his concern with acts of service, Mike’s not too worried about who’s taking care of him. He has a history of hiding his trauma and bottling up his emotions until they explode (ex: when he fought with Hopper in season two and when he yelled, “I love her, and I can’t lose her again,” in season three). He tends to be there for others when they confide in him but not confide in them. As far as I’m aware, there are three scenes where he opens up to someone about how he feels in regard to a serious issue (and each time, that “someone” is Will), yet in the first two scenes, he doesn’t actually share much.

The third scene shows a lot of growth in Mike’s character because it shows him opening up to an extent that he never has before. And his prior sit-down conversations with Will in season four were all building up to it, emphasizing its importance.

(This scene is also the climax of Will’s season four arc, but he’s not really the focus here.)

Mike usually tries to be “strong” so that he can make sure everyone else is okay — probably because his parents weren’t there for him much growing up.

(I can’t find a gif for it, but there’s also that scene where Mike tries to call El in episode one of season two, Dustin asks him why he’s on that channel, and Mike lies.)

When El disappeared in season one, he couldn’t get over it. He blamed himself because she had been “his responsibility.” So when she came back to save the day in season two, not only did he feel that his other loved ones were going to be okay, but he finally knew that she was okay and that she was alive. Finding out that Hopper had been hiding her the whole time triggered such an emotional reaction in Mike specifically because he’d been bottling up his trauma, guilt, and worry for almost a year.

After that, he didn’t want to let El out of his sight. Throughout season three, he’s attached to her at the hip because he’s afraid of losing her again (and because of comphet). It’s something that none of the other character pick up on (because he doesn’t talk about it), so his conflict with Max holds so much weight. She was right that El needed to be in charge of her own powers; she was wrong that El didn’t have physical limits. Mike was right that if El pushed herself too far, she’d reap the consequences, which she did, but he was wrong to disrespect her agency. Max thought El was invincible because she’d never seen her at her lowest, like Mike had. The two didn’t understand each other because Mike never explained this to her. He never opened up about what made him so afraid.

The first three seasons are filled to the brim with scenes of Mike humanizing El, and one of the ways in which he does this is by reminding others that she’s a human first and a hero second. But he still always looked up to her and saw her as a heroine. He also never really got to know her (because it’s easier to use someone as a beard when you don’t know much about their personality), just as she never really got to know him (because she went along with everything he did and assumed it was normal). This caused their relationship to be based solely on trauma bonding. In other words, the foreshadowing for what happened between them in season four was there from the start.

When he started reducing her to only her powers in season four, he wasn’t doing it because he doesn’t see her as a person. Rather, he was doing it because his favorite thing about her (and one of the few things he knows about her) is her protectiveness. He depends on her being protective. “I don’t know how to live without you.” Yeah, no shit. She is the only thing keeping this boy intact because she’s the only thing giving him a sense of stability.

His insecurities about not being good enough for her have to do with the fact that she has proven to be an effective fighter while every time he physically fights back, things don’t go as planned, and she often has to save him. He doesn’t feel like he can protect her anymore — because he can’t. He protected her throughout most of season one only to fail in the end. He had one scene in season two and one scene in season three where he was able to protect her, and he didn’t protect her at all in season four. He feels like he isn’t good enough if he isn’t taking care of someone. Not to mention, in his eyes, if he no longer has the ability to protect her, he has no control over any dangerous situation, and that, understandably, terrifies him. If something were to happen to her, he’d lose not only one person he loves but likely everyone else he loves, too.

His fear of losing El also ties into why he’s so afraid to admit he doesn’t love her in a romantic way. He’s worried that if they break up and if she finds out he’s queer, their friendship will be over as well.

We’re talking about a boy who’s grown up in an emotionally distant family and had two of his loved ones taken from him and presumed dead when he was only twelve years old. No wonder he’s afraid of ending up alone.

[will80sbyers]

1) Mike & Will in season 1

In the first season Mike's focus is not on Will alone, the focus of the narrative and the focus of the camera is on his reactions to Will's fate and are enough to show that these two characters will have ( in the future ) more relevance to each other compared to the others but from observing Mike's reactions they are not that much different from the other Party members, they add a level of drama by having the moment in which he finds out that Will's body was found in the quarry be more sad and heartbreaking for Mike when they focus on him believing that El betrayed his trust and he not only thinks he lost one of his best friends in the whole world but also that he's being lied to about something this much important from one of the new friends he made- by this point he considers El to be one of his friends too and that's exactly what he says to her after he goes back home and she's in his house again, he takes her in anyway even feeling betrayed and tells her he did think of her as a friend and he now feels like he lost two people... Not only one!

But then she finds a way to have his trust back by making him listen to Will singing on the radio and this not only brings him back hope to see his best friend again but also gives him back a friend and makes him feel grateful towards her...

When Will is finally back home he's shown to be worried about his wellbeing and the camera focuses on him when Will starts coughing but the reactions Mike has are the same reactions Lucas has in the first seasons towards Will and even Dustin, all of them cry for him, all of them risk their own well-being for Will and decide to go into the woods and they are really happy to have Will back at the end of the season and eager to talk with him and play d&d again etc...

Mike is being established as the leader of the group in season 1 so he's the one that has the most focus on for who gets the group to start this- he's the one that inspires them to go out to search for another party member because as Will said, Mike is the heart and he wouldn't have left any of them to just be missing without him and the others going to at least TRY to find them!

Mike is the leader but I do believe the focus on him is also because the writers intended to connect Will to him later on, either because it was already planned that Will would be one of his love interests or just because they knew Will was intended to be gay and had already decided Mike was gonna be the one Will fell for eventually... I'm inclined to believe they did want to slowly build them as a future couple in a crescendo and started to place some small foreshadowing in the framing in particular and with the focus on Mike's heartbreak-

At this point of the story I don't think Mike was aware of having any sort of romantic feelings for Will, he was still his first friend and his best friend and he would have done anything for him and to have him back safe but it would have been the same for any other party member because they purposefully place the whole storyline about Mike jumping from the cliff for Dustin's safety right after he told him they were all his best friends in the middle of the season so that it was clear to the audience which type of character Mike has in general and why he does deserve to be the leader and to be considered the heart, they show just how much Mike's character cares about all of his friends and how compassionate and kind he can be!

They start to create a window into mike's heart and show how big it is, how he's capable of loving and being loyal to so many people at the same time and I do believe we see that after season 1 even after he starts feeling insecure about himself and that starts to make him falter a little and become a bit more self concerned because of that, his focus shifts too much into keeping El in his life to the point he slowly loses himself in the process and becomes lost, Will is the one that brings him back to himself regularly