#but if i didn’t ship byler i would start doing so immediately if i found out about the pocket thing

[heliumcake]

i just find it fascinating how people will insist that mike is in love with eleven and hates will’s guts knowing full well his little heart pocket has been pointing at will the entire season

[cosmicbrowniefan]

the gayffiti artist

fandom/ship: stranger things, byler

summary: based on an old screenshot from a tumblr post i found! it read: “@christmasbarakat: my dad is a cop and i just called him and he was like ‘hey i have a 17 year old boy in the back of my cop car right now that i’m running him to the station’ and i asked if he was cute and my dad said ‘hey my daughter wants to know if you’re cute’ and the guy said ‘i want to say yes, sir’ and my dad started laughing so hard”

genre: one-shot, fluff

warnings: swearing, brief mention of alcohol/hangovers, mentions of cops (hopper doing his job), aged-up party (17), intentional lowercase

word count: 2,599

will byers was laying on the couch in his living room, scrolling mindlessly through his phone as the tv droned in front of him. he was incredibly bored. it was a friday night at 5pm. most teenagers would be scarfing down pizza with their friends and getting ready for a fun night out, which would ultimately end up in a hangover the next morning, but the memories would be worth it, nonetheless. will had never been like that, though. not that he didn’t want excitement by any means, but he preferred literally anything other than the typical cliche parties. popular people scared him. but who could blame him for that?

the front door opened and will looked over his shoulder. it was his mom, coming in with an armload of groceries. will immediately jumped up and went over to grab a few bags from her. 

“oh, thanks, honey.” joyce dumped the rest of the bags and her keys on the table. “you really don’t need to help unpack, it’s alright! in fact, could you please call your father and ask when he’s going to be home?” joyce sighed and took a breather before reaching to unpack a bag. “i need to know when to start dinner.”

“sure, mom.”

will set down the bags he had and went to his room. he flopped down on his bed and pulled up his call log, clicking on “dad <3″. it rang a few times, then there was a click, signaling that it had been picked up on the other end.

“what’s up kiddo?” 

hopper smiled when he picked up the phone, switching his hands so that he was steering with his left and holding the phone with his right. his gaze lifted to his rearview mirror at the kid in his backseat. the kid glanced over at hopper for a second, then put his chin in his hand and turned to look out the window.

“hey dad,” will said. “mom wanted to know when you’d be home tonight so she knows when to start making dinner.”

“depends,” said hop, “what are we having? i know she was debating between a few different things. if it’s tacos, i’ll be home in 20 minutes. if it’s that eggplant casserole, i’m stuck at the station until midnight.” the kid in the backseat smirked.

will laughed.

“no idea,” he said. “guess you’ll just have to take a chance.”

hopper sighed and chuckled.

“fine,” he said. “listen, i’ve got a kid here that i need to bring to the station. and then wait for his parents to come him. but i’ll be home after that, alright? probably 6 at the latest, if he gets a ride home quickly.”

will raised an eyebrow.

“a kid?” he asked. “what on earth did a kid do to get in trouble with the cops?”

“okay, i use the term ‘kid’ loosely,” said hopper. “he’s probably about your age. kid, how old are you?”

“seventeen.”

“he’s 17. so yeah, your age.” hopper cleared his throat. “one of the more polite perps i’ve had. and one of the more interesting cases i’ve had too, but that’s not my business to tell you.”

“perp?” the kid muttered, raising an eyebrow.

“interesting,” said will. he grinned. “is he cute?”

hopper laughed and glanced back at the kid, who was now watching him with mild interest.

“hey, kid.” will smiled as he heard hop talk to the guy through the receiver. “my son wants to know if you’re cute.”

the kid in the background cleared his throat.

“uh, i want to say yes, sir.”

will grinned widely as he heard hopper lose it on the other end. he kinda wanted to meet this guy.

“you know what, kid, you’re making my night a lot better,” hopper said to the kid in the background. “i got real lucky busting you instead of breaking up some annoying shitty party of something like that. you’re a lot like my will, you know?”

will felt his heart skip a little when hopper said that. this guy was a lot like him? and hop didn’t meet him by breaking up a party or doing some stereotypical teen shit like that? intriguing. 

“alright, will, i’ll be home in a bit.” 

hopper’s words shook will out of his daydream. 

“s-sure,” he said. “yeah. yeah, see you soon, dad!”

“see you soon, bud.”

“bye, kid in the background!” will added quickly, almost instantly regretting his words. that was weird to say, wasn’t it?

“uh, yeah! yeah, bye!” the kid called up to the front seat. he almost instantly regretted his words, too. he had never even seen this guy but he found himself thinking he was cute. what was WRONG with him?

will smiled slightly to himself after hanging up the phone. all of sudden, he stood up and went to the kitchen, grabbing his keys off the table.

“honey, where are you going?” joyce said. “what time is your dad gonna be home?”

“no later than 6,” said will. “and i’m- i’m just going out, okay? i’ll be back for dinner.”

“oh, okay, h-”

but will was out the door and starting up his car before his mom could finish saying “honey”. 

maybe it wasn’t a typical teenage rebellion thing, but the idea of going to see a kid in jail and possibly getting his number was enough to make will’s heart race.

***

hopper opened the door to the station and held it, gesturing for the kid to go ahead of him. he did so begrudgingly. hopper followed after him and went over to his desk, picking up a phone. he held it out.

“come on, bud, time to call home.” 

the kid stared at him. it was very clear that he did NOT want to call home. hopper smirked.

“you know what, because i like you so much, i’ll do you a favor,” he said. “give me the number and i’ll call home for you, okay?”

the kid perked up and thanked him profusely before giving him his home phone number. he went over and stood further away from hopper as he dialed, hoping to be out of earshot of the call. however, after a few seconds of being on the phone, the kid heard an all too familiar “he did WHAT?!” screech through the receiver. he groaned as hopper explained the rest of the situation to his mother, then hung up the phone and stood up.

“she’ll be here in 20 minutes. come on, kid.” hopper picked up his keys and headed over to a small holding cell in the corner of the room.

“wait a second, you’re putting me behind BARS?” the kid exclaimed, looking panicked. “doesn’t that seem, i don’t know, a little extreme?”

hopper chuckled.

“all standard procedure, kiddo,” he said. “you’re not actually getting arrested or anything, it’s just a holding cell.”

the kid sighed and headed over to the cell, plopping down on a metal seat attached to the wall. 

“for the record,” hopper said, as he locked the cell, “i didn’t want to pick you up. i liked the stuff you were spray painting. good messages.”

“then why DID you pick me up?”

“i had no choice, bud,” hop responded. “i circled the block and ignored you SEVERAL times until i couldn’t anymore. just doing my job.”

the kid put his head in his hands.

“you know,” hopper continued, “i really do think you’ve got some good stuff to say. maybe just, in a more non-vandalismy way, next time? listen, my son will, the one we were talking with? he’s an artist. i’m sure he’d like the stuff you were writing and i’m sure he’d probably be able to give you pointers on better ways to- um- express yourself.”

the kid looked up, tears at the rim of his eyes.

“i’m sorry,” he muttered. “i really am.”

hopper waved it off.

“don’t be,” he said. “really. corrupt asses like mayor kline need to be called out like that. and i can assure you that i won’t be in any rush to clean or cover that up.”

the kid smiled slightly, but put his head back down. he was going to get chewed out for this. a second later, he heard the door to the station open, but since it wasn’t followed by the yelling of his mom, the kid didn’t look up.

“hey! what’re you doing here?” said hopper.

“hi, dad.”

THAT got the kid’s attention. he snapped his head up and instantly spotted what was possibly the most ADORABLE person he had ever seen in his LIFE. the boy had brown hair, not messy, but slightly tussled. he had gorgeous hazel eyes, and a cute, crooked smile on his face. he was pretty tall and broad, but from his demeanor, seemed to be a complete teddy bear. 

“i- uh,” the boy stuttered, “um. i decided to be rebellious.”

hopper raised an eyebrow.

“really?” he said with a smirk. 

“yes!” the boy insisted. “but, like, not in a sneak out of the house to go to a party on a friday night kind of rebellious,” he said. “in a, sneak into your dad’s work, but not really sneak in because your mom knows you left the house and your dad knows you’re at his work, kind of way.”

the kid in the cell raised an eyebrow and watched with amusement. what a cutie pie. he was stuttering and blushing so much, the kid couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

“and why are you sneaking into my work?” hopper said with a grin. he already knew the answer.

“to see the cute 17-year old you picked up!” the boy spit out. 

the kid in the cell felt himself burning up. so this WAS will. he had secretly been hoping that it was.

hopper laughed and shook his head, gesturing back to the cell. will turned and locked eyes with the kid. they both immediately started blushing and smiled and waved at each other shyly. “will, don’t seduce my convict. and kid, don’t corrupt my son.”

will rolled his eyes and laughed a little as he walked over to the cell. he sat on a chair next to the cell and the two boys looked at each other awkwardly. after a minute, they both laughed.

“um, i’m will,” will said finally.

the kid smiled. “i’m mike.”

“so, uh, what’re you in for?” will asked. 

“vandalism,” mike said, rolling his eyes. “even though your dad said he liked my work. nothing serious, i was just spray-painting shit to call out our stupid government.”

will smiled.

“i think that’s quite possibly the best crime you could commit,” he said, making mike blush. “i wish i could’ve seen it.”

“well, you still can,” said mike. “your dad said he wasn’t gonna cover it up for a little while.”

“good,” said will. “i’ll certainly make sure to go take a look.”

there was a moment of silence between the boys as they looked at each other’s eyes, then away and at the floor. it wasn’t awkward, though. just full of typical teenage hormone-fueled tension.

“um, other than commit crimes, what do you do?” will said, once again breaking the silence. mike laughed.

“well, i write,” he said. “not just on bridges, on paper. and i play d&d because i’m a total fucking loser.”

“no way!” will exclaimed, his face lighting up. “i do too!”

“oh shit, really?” mike said, grinning. “oh my god, that’s awesome! we should start a campaign!” 

“we totally should!” will agreed. “but i have to warn you, i’m a pretty good dm.”

“you’re also just a pretty dm,” mike added. his eyes went wide the moment he realized what he said, and he began stuttering and fumbling for some kind of recovery. “i- um- i mean-”

will, whose face was bright red, couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face. “i- um- thank you,” he said quietly, making mike shut up at once. “i’m really glad i called my dad. you are just as cute in person as you sounded over the phone.”

mike looked down at the ground and smiled. 

“um, th-thank you,” he said. “you know, your- your dad said something about you being an artist. and i write. and he said i needed to figure out how to get that out in ways that aren’t graffiti so... maybe you can help me with that sometime?”

will beamed.

“of course,” he said kindly. mike smiled back at him, getting lost in those gorgeous, gorgeous eyes.

“MICHAEL WHEELER!”

will and mike’s heads snapped up to the door. mike instantly turned red. it was his mom, looking absolutely FURIOUS. and his dad, looking annoyed for being dragged along.

“you are in BIG trouble, young man!” 

karen wheeler marched over to the cell and glared down at her son, who was looking up at her sheepishly. hopper was watching, amused, from the corner, and eating a candy bar.

“i’m gonna take a stab at this and assume that this little troublemaker is yours,” he said, smirking and standing up. 

“yes, unfortunately, he is.” karen peeled her eyes away from mike and turned to hopper with an exasperated and apologetic look on her face. “i’m so sorry, chief. what can we do to make it up to you?”

hopper shook his head and stood up, going to unlock the holding cell.

“just get him some sidewalk chalk or something, okay?” he joked. karen smiled slightly and nodded.

hopper unlocked the door and mike walked out, clearly embarrassed. his mom grabbed him by the ear and practically DRAGGED him out of the station. will raised an eyebrow as she did so and gave mike a half-hearted wave goodbye. well that wasn’t the cliché, romantic parting he was hoping for.

hopper glanced over at will, who was staring out the window. he smirked.

“he’s a nice kid,” hop said, making will look over. “and i meant it when i said i thought you’d get along. and it would appear that i was right about that, wasn’t i?”

will blushed and opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment, the door to the police station flew open, and mike rushed it, panting and shoving a paper in will’s face.

“h- here,” he gasped. “it’s- it’s my phone number. it would have been written romantically in graffiti on the side of the station instead, but your dad took my spray paint, so....”

will looked up at his dad and smirked. 

“buzzkill,” he said. hopper put his hands up and rolled his eyes in mock-offense.

“mike! come on!”

mike glanced out the door behind him, then turned back to will.

“please call me,” he said. “i don’t want to talk to you through your dad’s phone next time. no offense, sir.”

“none taken, kid.”

“please?” mike asked hurriedly as his mom called for him again.

will stared at him. then a small smile started on his face and ended as a huge grin. he nodded ecstatically.

“i will,” he said, “i will.”

mike grinned back and opened his mouth to say something, but his mother stomped in at that moment and dragged him out by the arm.

“okay, talk to you soon!” mike called behind him. “um, you, will, not you, chief.”

“i was hoping that.”

“bye mike!” will called enthusiastically, waving. he felt himself get just as embarrassed as he was when he said bye to mike over the phone.

mike smiled and blushed, waving back.

“bye, cutie pie!” hopper raised his eyebrows at mike, making him gulp. “and sir.”

[willthecleric]

Why I am now 100% convinced that Mike is gay with internal homophobia, deeply in love with Will, and using Eleven as a projection

Okay, so before I start this post, I want to say that this isn’t just me being a mad Byler shipper angry about Mileven. This is me looking at subtext within the show (and especially S3) and analyzing from there. I’ve done a lot of rewatching certain scenes and looking into things deeper. I’ve also discussed quite a bit of this stuff with @kaypeace21 and we agree on pretty much everything.

For the longest time I thought Mike was BISEXUAL with a crush on El, projecting it as being way more than it was (because the dude went from 0 to 60). S3... S3 convinced me that Mike is not bisexual after all... I am now 100% convinced that he is GAY and suffering from internal homophobia (seriously, looking at his actions in S3 puts his ‘oocness’ and over the top behaviour in S2 into a lot better perspective). WILL’S behaviour also makes a lot more sense when you look at him as being gay and deeply in love with Mike (I won’t get too much into that though, because most of the fandom already believes that he is gay and in love with Mike).

Before I go into things properly, I would like to say that I am not implying that Mileven doesn’t love each other... They do. What I feel is that they love each other PLATONICALLY (El might have a bit of a crush on Mike, but mostly I think she gets confused).

Season One

Okay, so there wasn’t a lot of Byler in S1 - it was more Mileven based, but still. There WAS Byler content there. To start with, I would like to say that... I don’t really buy Mike’s crush on El. It feels... weird and forced. It never really felt RIGHT to me, and I never really saw the chemistry. It was weird.

Now, a lot of people say that Mike wasn’t THAT determined to get Will back in S1... I disagree. I actually think that he and Joyce were the ones that were the most determined to get him back... in the sense that they NEVER GAVE UP ON HIM (Mike and Joyce are actually paralleled A LOT. Like... A LOT. When it comes to WILL - as in they BOTH LOVE HIM DEEPLY). MIKE was the one who organized the search party after Hopper told them not to. MIKE was the one who was most visibly upset when talking to Hopper in the first place (boy looked like he wanted to cry and seemed really annoyed by Lucas and Dustin bickering). MIKE was the one who noticed immediately when Will wasn’t at school and thought it was strange. MIKE also was the one who most adamantly denied that Will was dead. I don’t think he even processed his death tbh. His reaction was... weird. He seemed to be more mad at El for lying to him than sad that Will was gone. And we know Mike loves Will a lot so it’s not that he didn’t care. He cared A LOT. He just... could not process it properly. And then AFTER SEEING WILL’S BODY JUST BEFORE... he heard Will on the radio (with pretty bad reception) and IMMEDIATELY knew it was Will. Like... in no seconds flat he was alert. And that boy clung to the hope. He didn’t even think he was losing his mind or anything. He KNEW it was Will because he never processed that he was dead. He even said when he saw the body in the first place that it COULDN’T BE WILL.

Lucas was determined too and I give him lots of love for it... Dude is BRAVE and LOYAL and risked his life. But he also was way more accepting that Will was dead than Mike and Joyce.

And as far as Eleven in all this... Mike was IMMEDIATELY physically attracted to her. As soon as he saw her. While she not only looked like a BOY, but looked a lot like WILL. Seriously El and Will look similar! Hopper EVEN CONFUSED THEM FOR PART OF S1. That was deliberate I think, and clearly not because of Willel because Willel was never really developed. Mike only actually ADMITTED that she was pretty when she dressed like a girl, but he also started sending her heart eyes... like really quickly. When he barely knew her at all. It was... weird. And forced. I think he started seeing her as a projection for his love for Will (S3 strongly implies this to be the case). Naturally all of this was subconscious. Pretty much the whole series so far this boy is in denial. And a lot of people think Mike put El before Will... I disagree. Mike DID go to look for El, but keep in mind... EL COULD LOCATE WILL. At that point Mike was convinced he had a crush on her, but WILL was his priority. He KNEW El was crucial to finding Will. Think about this... they run charging into the gate... and end up in an Upside Down version of Hawkins with no real idea where Will is and a monster on the loose. Using El to find him was IMPORTANT. Notice how Mike was immediately back to wanting Will located as soon as she was with them again. How he wasn’t prioritizing her getting exhausted over her trying to find him. He even referred to her as someone they could use to find Will... multiple times. AND he told her that they could go to the Snow Ball when WILL WAS BACK. Mike didn’t forget about Will. Mike prioritized him! AND when they were in the hospital after Will was back... MIKE was the only person who was awake the whole time, eager to see Will, he was the first person in the room (that boy RAN and usually he can’t run for shit), and he put his head over his heart like he was checking he was still alive. People can interpret this as friendship... but I think S2 and S3 greatly contradicts this.

Season Two

I won’t touch upon this one too much, because it has been done to death... but this is the BYLER season. It was everywhere. And not in a platonic sense! Mike was... over the top protective of Will the entire time, and very affectionate. In ways that he is with no one else. I don’t think he ever was even like that with El. and there are SO MANY PARALLELS. With pretty much every ship that has been in the series. There are loads of examples. Most of the parallels were with Mileven... and I used to think that was a hint to Mike being bisexual... but now I think it is a hint to the LOVE TRIANGLE, not his sexuality. Mike was just... REALLY clingy to Will. He was basically attached to him the entire time AND they had a bunch of ‘romantic’ scenes.

Now, as far as El goes... Mike was WAY OVER THE TOP. Like... it was crazy. Very excessive (kind of like his behaviour in S3 but in a different way). At the end of S1 he was sad and missed her... but like a year later... he was... just  too much. He was OBSESSED with El. I always found it really weird. I get that they ‘connected’ but Mike was acting like she was everything he needed in life when he BARELY KNEW HER. And his never giving up on her? He called her every night and that is great. He is a loyal boy... but he did WAY MORE for Will in S1. Mike... thinks he sees her outside his window, but instead of looking for her in the woods (the logical place he could go, where he could find her), he mopes around and acts emo. When Will was in another dimension he did more. Also Mike heard Will on the radio and was right back into action... but he saw El and just thought he was being delusional. He also stopped calling her when Will was in trouble. I’m not saying this like Mike doesn’t care about El. I’m saying that Mike prioritizes Will when need be. He cared for El, but mostly she was someone who he could project his love for Will upon. He could be with her and have a heterosexual relationship and be ‘in love’. This was SUBCONSCIOUS of course. No way would Mike EVER do that knowingly. He isn’t like that. And when El was back... he was SUPER over the top about her. Like.. this guy has convinced himself he is in love with her despite barely knowing her. At all. And his looks at her are so FORCED.

Look at Mike’s ‘soft looks’ towards Will in comparison. They are a lot more natural.

Season Three

A lot of people think that S3 is pretty much the end of Byler, but I disagree. I think actually S3 confirms for sure that they are in love. I mean... to me it is so obvious. And it explains their behaviour SO WELL. I mean look at Will. That boy was incredibly jealous of El. He had no problem with Dustin and Lucas having girlfriends, but Mike??? Will got REALLY pissy and there were multiple times he looked upset over Mileven.

And Mike? WOW. S3... is when I KNEW he most certainly had to be gay for ANY of his behaviour to make sense. Mike.. was an ass. Definitely. BUT I think there was a reason for his attitude - not justifying it, just explaining it.

What started me off with wondering was @kaypeace21 posting analyses on Mike’s behaviour and... they made A LOT of sense to me. (They can be found here and here). People can easily dismiss this... but I actually think it is wrong to. I mean... Look at Mike’s behaviour in S3. How he treats both EL and WILL especially.

Mike is... distant with Will while he also still clearly loves him deeply. He isn’t visibly affectionate with him anymore, but look at how he was with him in the theater... SOFT and concerned like usual. Look at him after he upset Will during the DnD game. Wasn’t he MORE upset over that than he was over lying to El and hurting her? When he is supposed to be madly in love with El? That... makes no sense. A lot of people think Mike doesn’t care anymore, but I think he is actually realizing that he is in love with Will and is trying to squash it. Notice now, when they are GOING THROUGH PUBERTY (you know... a time when you really get a better sense of your sexuality) he is suddenly being off with Will. Will who he is used to be very affectionate with and had no issues with. Now he isn’t really like that anymore. And he is suddenly wanting to act VERY hetterosexual.

Maybe because he has internalized homophobia???

See how he is with El. It’s... not at all how he was with her in S1 and S2. I think it’s because now he is going through puberty and El is going through puberty... and she looks more and more like a WOMAN. I think Mike’s obsession with her was breaking because it became A LOT harder for him to convince himself he was in love with her because she was looking less and less ‘boyish’. I mean... look at his behaviour. He was being a dick. And sexist. I strongly believe that he was trying to emulate the heterosexual relationships of his friends and the feelings that they had... but he was overcompensating for it. And acting too much like I AM A BOY WHO LIKES GIRLS. I AM IN LOVE WITH EL!

This is also why Mike was REALLY going hard with how much he loves El in public... When the Byers moved he was really going with it when they were in the group, but when they were alone he didn’t act sad really. Then they were outside again and he was being lovey dovey. Isn’t that more proof that he is trying to convince everyone else that he loves her?

All they really did was kiss. He barely got to know her more as a person and didn’t like her going outside in the world. He saw her more as a possession. He wanted to be with her romantically but he DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO. And then he tried emulating the people around him and took it a step further. He went way too far. Even CHARACTERS IN THE SERIES thought it was over the top. I think... Mike was trying REALLY HARD to convince both himself AND everyone else that he was in love with El. Just look at that cabin scene. Mike went crazy there, said he loved El... and everyone reacted strangely. And then MIKE reacted strangely too. It was like he had NO IDEA why he said that. AT ALL. Then in the store when he was trying to confess to her... I’m sorry but I don’t buy AT ALL that he was nervous. He was... way too over the top and forced and I could literally feel him forcing himself with it. Like wow. He was really going hard while not being able to express how he felt. AND he said that to him love makes you CRAZY. (like this, perhaps???) Interesting that of ALL the sayings he could come up with, it was that love makes you CRAZY. There are loads of sayings about love, but to him it’s going CRAZY WITH SOMEONE.

Also... when Mike told El that she was ‘the most important thing in the world’ to him, the tone was weird. Honestly I think he was trying to convince himself that it was true. His speech to Will was a lot more honest and heart felt. I think Mike understood the implications of what he said to Will and then was trying to force it onto El. Mike loves her, but he sure hasn’t treated her like she is the most important thing in the world to him??? Sounded empty to me.

I will note that Mike seems to parrot a lot of cliche ‘love expressions’ with El in general. Like he is saying what he thinks he is supposed to. Acting like he is supposed to.

Also funny how... when they are at Will’s house... MIKE CAN’T REMEMBER SAYING HE LOVES HER.And he probably can’t remember trying to confess either. Soooooo he can remember meeting Will when he was FIVE and the whole ‘crazy together’ thing from the year before... but he can’t remember either saying he loves OR trying to confess to the girl he is madly in love with THREE MONTHS earlier??? That... isn’t suspect to anyone? Really? In fact... that entire interaction was suspect. Mike was odd. And the only time he was excited was when he mentioned Will... which he tried to play off as being casual. Why do that when it’s just a bro? (And speaking of bros.. why is he suddenly referring to Will as one? That is... odd. Suddenly when they are older and more mature Will is a BRO. Like he is wanting DISTANCE FROM HIM). The whole exchange with El was really weird and not at all romantic.He was shocked by the kiss, didn’t close his eyes, and looked confused afterwards. That five second exchange with Will had more love and happiness in it. And it was flirty.

That exchange... was them saying that they would always love each other. Mike was worried that Will would replace him and Will said he never would. Will said he would ALWAYS love Mike. Which he also said during their fight (that he had believed that they would PLAY GAMES FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES). And Mike will always love Will too... during that ‘confession’ when he talked about ‘going crazy’ with someone, he added in that he wanted to GROW OLD with them. Mike will always love Will too.

Another aside is that as far as Mike goes, playing games is associated with Will and growing up is associated with El... you know... the thing that  a man is supposed to do... find a girlfriend and grow up. I think the scene in the garage was Mike being defensive tbh. He was just crazy asserting that he was doing what he was SUPPOSED TO DO. And... when he wasn’t with El anymore, he started playing games again. He was doing what he WANTED TO DO. Playing games seems to be his natural inclination, but he is also curbing it... In that scene with El, he started talking about how he likes presents but then stopped himself and reprimanded himself. He wanted to sound more like an adult. To me it seemed like he was trying to force himself from what he wanted (Will) to what he was supposed to want (El).

Despite how awkward and not into it Mike was, he seems to be trying to cling to El still. To try and force himself back to how he was before when he was sure he was in love with her. I strongly believe that in S4 he will be with El again, but it will be like it was in S3. And if the Duffers aren’t cowards, they will actually have Byler in the end. Honestly at this point Mileven is just... it’s nonsensical more than ever. It’s a joke. I’m not sure how they can salvage it??? They... did not have good romantic chemistry AT ALL. I don’t  think they EVER even had real feelings for each other. And we are supposed to think they are soulmates and in love? Nope. I don’t think so at all. And I think Mike is definitely gay because he tries SO HARD to act like a straight guy. How many straight guys in the season thought he was weird and over the top? A NUMBER OF THEM. Because it was true. The boy didn’t know how to be with a girl once she started LOOKING LIKE A YOUNG WOMAN.

Was some of this me overthinking? Maybe... but remember... while the Duffers have really messed a number of things up with this show... they have generally been consistant With Byler. Also if this is baiting, it’s the worst baiting I have ever seen. They... have gone way over the top with this while developing Mileven very poorly. IDK why they would do that if it was their precious endgame. They might back out at the last moment because they are cowards... but at this moment in time I think this is legit. And they are endgame no matter what because Mike clearly is in denial. Like... his character makes a lot more sense this way.

Mike loves Will NOT El.