#being a bylerina is fun

[jazz-penguin]

I have rewatched the show again, now with my bestfriend who had never watched ST before. It's exciting to see what non-shippers think about the show when they watch it for the first time. And you know what? She's expecting Byler to happen in S5 :) It would be weird not to expect them to end up together, she said.

Ah I love my friends.

She doesn't like Mike, though. I'm working on it showing her some of your Mike Wheeler Protection Squad posts 😉 I think we're making progress.

Another bestfriend of mine (you can have more than one, I call bull on logic just like Mike 😁) said she would love Byler to happen and she really sympathize with Will, but she doesn't see any chance for it... We have already agreed to rewatch the show together next year, lol. 😏 She wants to rewatch ST for the first time from Byler perspective.

Of course I made a few (well, tons of) comments, but they both never liked melvin and didn't find it cute that two 12 y.o. kids, one of which is a girl who has just escaped the lab she had spent her life in, got together after a week of knowing each other. They think it's weird and unhealthy. Did I mention I love my friends?

[jazz-penguin]

Will: *decided to take a shot again and slightly touch Mr I-Will-Not-Hug-You while he's not looking since previous attempt at Suzie's house failed. Succeeds this time*

Mike: *inhales, stops processing*

Gif is taken from this post by @beaulesbian

[jazz-penguin]

Byler nation: according to our data, Byler will finally be established in 5x05, it's gotta be raining, boys will kiss after the fight, Mike will initiate the kiss, they will be wearing green clothes, Heroes will be playing.

Milwaukee shippers: lol, you're delusional freaks.

Episode 5x05: *the rain starts*

Milwaukee shippers:

[jazz-penguin]

Immature love says:

"I love you because I need you".

Mature love says:

"I need you because I love you".

(c) Erich Fromm. The Art of Loving

[jazz-penguin]

Mike: So... I bring him home at 10?

Jonathan: At 9:30!

[jazz-penguin]

Hehe... based on this comment by @hot-wheelz 🤭

A prophet we never knew we could trust.

[jazz-penguin]

Another interesting thing about Mike is his "emo" behavior at the beginning of S4.

I understand that a long distance relationship is a complicated thing, but Mike was getting letters from his girlfriend constantly, it's clear that she's obsessed with him (too much for a girl who's supposed to be a girlboss as El is presented in the show, tbh, but we understand that she is traumatized, unprepared for relationship and therefore attached to her boyfriend like a little duckling), and it should have made it easier for Mike. But he indeed looked depressed and shown lack of interest in anything besides dnd. Even if we don't take into consideration the book about Lucas, we can clearly see something is off with Mike. The mess in his room, the strained relationship with the family, the lack of support for Lucas when he asked for it - all of this is quite telling.

Mike's behavior is drastically different from Dustin's, who is head over heels for Suzie. He is dealing with their long distance relationship a bit longer and much better than Mike. Dustin looks fine. When he jokingly compared their girlfriends, Mike looked almost indifferent.

This is what Mike looked like for the entire first episode before they went to play dnd.

And then we find out that all this time he could not get through to Will, who did not contact Mike at all 😏

Gif is taken from this post by @beaulesbian

Should I remind you how Mike started to look like when he and Will finally made up?

It must be the Californian climate... 🔆

[jazz-penguin]

Mike: *comes out to the family, tells them he's in love with Will and they are dating now*

Karen: *crying from happiness because Mike finally trusts her enough, she always knew that the boys love each other*

Nancy: *she loves it that Mike has finally accepted himself and won't be a little asshole anymore, at least now he's gonna be a happy little asshole. She's not surprised he fell for a Byers*

Holly: *doesn't really understand what's going on, she just likes these rare moments when her brother smiles so much*

Ted: Wait. Haven't you two been dating since like 12, when you had to create that imaginary girlfriend with superpowers to hide your real relationship? 🍗

Part 2

[jazz-penguin]

When we get a flashback of crying Mike biking home after "Will's body" was found

[jazz-penguin]

When I get sad or bored I remember that the showrunners have been hinting on Byler and slowly and subtly developing it through the seasons and so they can't just brush it off and my day brightens up immediately.

[jazz-penguin]

Guys, I think I missed it - did Finn reblog a Byler edit?

Update: so apparently it happened a while ago, it's not new. Anyway it's always nice to see a puzzled redditor 🙃 And I like it that Finn is so cool with fan stuff :)

[jazz-penguin]

Mike: 💭 "Wow, he became so handsome. His face is glowing. Damn, I need to focus on what Will is saying. Lips... Something about commissions... His bunny teeth are so cute... I wonder if big noses get in the way of kissing? Wait, what is he saying? Wow, Will needs me. I mean, El does. Do you need me? Yeah? Oh shit, why is he crying? I probably need to say som... Oh BOY, the painting is so great, it's so beautiful, he drew me, oh my god, he drew me with a heart on my shield, he drew us, holy shit, this is amazing, I love it, I wonder if he draws me often? More often than the others?

I can't wait to hang it in my bedroom!

Wait, why is Jonathan looking at me like that? What did I do?"

[jazz-penguin]

Mike comes out to the family - Part 2.

Part 1.

Mike: But dad, El is a real person!

Ted: The girl with telekinetic abilities?

Mike: Yes!

Ted: And you were going to movie dates with her during last summer?

Mike: No, I went with Will, but those were not dates! We were going with Lucas and Max!

Ted: Double dates, then?

Mike: No! Eleven couldn't come, Hopper didn't let us meet that often!

Ted: And you wanna tell me that you were obeying the authorities, you, Michael Wheeler? You better stop making things up, son, or no more sweetie pie!

Sweetie Pie:

[jazz-penguin]

Bylering is fun, I keep enjoying the scenes of these two fighting. These are the moments when we get a chance to see glimpses of their real feelings.

In this scene Mike is attacking Will for being a douche. But is he angry at the fact that Will didn't tell him about Eleven lying and having problems? Is he calling Will out for not caring about his step-sister enough and not helping Mike to take care of her? Is he asking Will why he didn't prevent El from going with Angela? I mean, that's what a loving boyfriend would do if he cared about his girlfriend at the first place.

But instead of this, Mike is attacking Will for not interacting with him, he is angry with him sabotaging the whole day and not paying attention to Mike. And he was trying so hard with those vomit green socks and got a pokerface in return, lol.

Like it was Will who ruined the mood, not Angela and other bullies.

[jazz-penguin]

Their ship just wasn't sailing, it collided with an iceberg... the captain saw it with his own eyes, because they were wide open...

And some people say Finn is a bad actor... wtf is wrong with them. They should open their eyes too 😏🤭

C'mon Duffers, explain things already.

[jazz-penguin]

When I get sad or bored I remember that Mike looks at Will much more attentively than at whatever other friends show them and my day brightens up immediately.

Thanks to @heliumcake for noticing this moment ✨