#especially the part at the end where Nancy's like well i don't get the normal happy domesticity but hey! it's cool! I'm fine!

[piedoesnotequalpi]

It's a Fine Life from Oliver! is so Racetrack Higgins coded

[transvampireboyfriend]

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7 - part 8

When they get to the lake an hour later, Eddie is the first to come spilling out of Steve's car.

He walks several paces away from it, tuning out the post-drive chatter of his friends, his arms stretching above his head as he walks closer to the lake, stopping a few feet away from its shore.

Eddie inhales deeply, enjoying the fresh air and admiring the sunrays twinkling on the water. He can feel them on his bare arms too.

So.

Maybe the world won't end because he said a bit too much about how good he thinks Steve Harrington is.

Steve came out to them last year, on a sunny afternoon when they'd all been lazing around, reading magazines on Steve's living room after spending all day in his pool. Nancy and Eddie were arguing about how hot some actor was.

Eddie can't remember who it was now, but what he does remember is Steve casually saying "I can settle this argument, lemme see", and crawling on all fours to where Eddie and Nancy were laying practically on top of each other.

They must have worn the same perplexed expression when Steve declared "He's hot", because he then took a look at both of them and shrugged, said "I like both. I like whoever" and that had been that.

So Eddie knows Steve would not make a big deal over him basically saying he finds Steve attractive, but he's still worried, because their sexualities don't automatically mean Steve will like him like that and Eddie would never assume that, but now Steve might think he did.

He looked uncomfortable in the car and it's the only explanation Eddie can come up with.

And Steve's never been particularly receptive of Eddie's gestures, Eddie tried flirting a few weeks after Steve came out and Steve froze, whenever Eddie pays him a compliment Steve gets a little weird like he did in the car, Eddie's tried asking him to do stuff together like go on a hike, or Eddie teaching Steve to play guitar or he's even asked him to dance but Steve almost always backs down when the activity involves touching Eddie.

And it's fine. Eddie can understand, he's not everyone's type, it's cool. He just wishes he could shake the attraction off, but so far he's had no luck. If anything he only feels more attracted to Steve with every day they spend together.

And Eddie doesn't want to make him uncomfortable.

So Eddie needs to be careful not to let it show too much, because then Steve would feel forced to verbally reject him and Eddie just knows that Steve would hate that, not to mention he would be devastated himself.

Steve can't know.

After all Eddie said in the car, he'd been thinking maybe it had been a terrible idea to come along on a week long trip to a remote cabin with Steve. He'd already shown too much of his hand by gushing about him to everyone who would listen, Eddie spent the whole trip kicking himself over it.

But, as a dragonfly circles him, Eddie thinks of his friends, and he decides he can be an adult about this. He'll clear things up and apologize if Steve's still uncomfortable and they'll have a normal week.

This is meant to be fun and he always does have fun with his friends, Steve included. He always has fun with Steve especially, and he won't let his dumb feelings ruin that.

Eddie listens to quick steps coming up behind him and then a small but firm hand slaps his back.

"Are you alright?" asks Nancy, coming to stand next to him.

Eddie scoffs, doesn't turn to look at her.

" 'Course I am," he supplies "why wouldn't I be?"

Nancy gives him a withering look.

She was the first to find out about his crush, already knowing Eddie so well within a couple of weeks of their friendship.

Eddie fondly rolls his eyes, finally looking at her.

"I'm fine." he assures her "It's fine."

He offers her a smile and turns back to the lake.

Nancy gives him a once over before she wraps her arm around his waist.

Eddie sighs into the touch, her warmth comforting even in the mid day heat.

"Don't lose my fucking scrunchie" she threatens.

Eddie chuckles "I promise I won't" he lies, probably.

"Stop making promises you can't keep." Nancy shoots, untangling from Eddie's side "We should get you your own."

"Maybe I could make some!" Eddie suggests, "To replace the ones I've lost,"

"How did we switch from you buying them to this?" Nancy asks, her mouth tilting into an amused smirk.

"Oh come on, this way is more fun!" Eddie protests, almost stomping his foot in his excitement.

"You don't know how to sew" Nancy reminds him.

"Do too!" he protests, thinking of his many customized jackets and jeans. Though, he'd never made something so delicate as Nancy's pretty hair accessories.

"And Buckley said she'd teach me!" Eddie concedes.

That startles a laugh out of Nancy, "Yeah, I'd like to see how that goes" she says.

"Oh, I bet you would" Eddie shoots back winking at her. He gets shoved for it.

"Shut up." Nancy demands, giggling.

As their laughter dies down and Eddie straightens up, Nancy turns to the lake.

"It's so pretty here" she comments, looking out at the forest tree line beyond the water.

"Sure is" Eddie agrees, watching birds fly by.

After a while Nancy slips her hand in his and interlaces their fingers.

"C'mon," she says "we're the designated lunch ladies"

"Oh?" Eddie asks, following as she tugs him along.

"Yup! Steve and Jonathan are unpacking and Rob and Argyle called dish duty"

"Thank god for that," Eddie quips

Nancy laughs "That's exactly what I thought"

part 3

[jetsteelyourheart]

My top 5 Crackships

Inspired by my top 5 8 characters thing going around, I want you all to vote on your favorite of my Top 5 Questionable Rare pairs

I will be providing excuses reasoning excuses below the poll, so if you feel like roasting me properly seeing my justifications, do that - or don't!

And remember, they're fictional characters, so it costs nothing to be normal about this and have fun

*Not all of these are controversial, but those that are? watch out!

Excuses:

Zuki:

If you follow me then you know I'm an OG Zutara fan, but on the rare occasions I'm feeling Cannon Compliant, Zuki is my go too ship. This has all to do with the comics, where basically Zuko's only confidant is Suki and you get wild panels of them looking at each other like this:

I was devistated when Korra came out and it seemed like Sokka and Suki didn't last, but if the above is why, then I'll take it.

Stobin:

I am going to get so much flack for this one I think. BUT. Consider: The cannon ships in the show are generally not well written. I like Hopper/Joyce, I like Max/Lucas, but Nancy/Jonathan and especially Mike/Eleven do literally nothing for me, they are so bland. I do see the irony that one of the things that makes Stobin well written is because its one sided on Steve's part because Robin is gay. But their interactions are literally the reason to watch the show if you ask me. Pushing past these excuses though, I just kinda dig the ship. In my head its an open poly situation for certain, but sexuality is so wild and fluid and weird, and Gold Star status is gatekeepy at best anyway, so like, why the fuck not. I had a great aunt who had an open marriage with a gay man, (big beard behavior) and they had kids and did everything together. Its like... Platonic soulmates + if you will. And that's what I want for Stobin. Platonic soulmates + and a big ole polycule surrounding them. Or maybe its just my incoherent bisexual ass talking

(If I could put fan-art with the polycule in it I would but I wouldn't repost someones art like that... so I'm stuck with cannon images)

Zacknei:

No one has played this game. When people think Zack, they either ship Cloud or Aerith, and honestly I ship both those as well (though ClAerTi will always be my top for them). But I love Cissnei. She has big Sydney Sage energy for me, and all of Zack's emotional beats in the second half of the game surround her (...or cloud) not Aerith (just for the record). Also if you join all the fanclubs and work hard you get invited to your own fanclub and I'm pretty sure there's evidence that Cissnei is the president which is hilarious. I just love their interactions and was DEVASTATED at the end. Analytical Girl & PuppyDogHimbo is a beautiful ship dynamic. Also Rick Gomez will always be my Zack Fair VA. I hate the new guy so much (and its not his fault!! Sorry man!)

Aquarella:

So the section is really short. But my god. Cinderella and Aqua have the most chemistry of any character in that game series bar none. I'm including Riku and Sora in this. I'm including Roxas and Axel. Ok, not really this is not the hill I want to die on. BUT. At least in Birth By Sleep, this is the emotional high-point. Aqua taking her hand like a gentleman at a ball? The way Aqua saves Cinderella from getting run over by her demonic carriage??? The way she lovingly protects Cindy's body with hers? Did you see Prince whats his face doing any of that ? NO. And then. If Aqua were a guy everyone would've seen it when this game came out (but I guess gay people weren't invented until 2015 or whatever.

look how devastated Aqua is when Cinderella goes to Charming at the end. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THEM.

Sorayla:

I really do like Raylum, but this is a poll on my hot take rare-pairs, not cannon compliance. Let me start off by saying, no, I haven't seen this season yet, it only came out twelve hours ago whats wrong with you? This pair grew on me starting in Season 4 after the time skip. I think it goes along side my preoccupation with tough smart girls and their dumbass golden retriever himbos. They have a nice trajectory, and with Callum going a lil dark and edgy on us recently, I like their banter a lot. Especially in Season 4 I was surprised by them and I crave more adventures with the two of them alone. I don't think it will ever happen, but I like it none the less. They bring a certain... Sokka & Suki vibe to the party that I'm here for.

Anyway, I tag @ebbilayart @retiredficwriter & anyone who decides to do it!

And if no one feels like setting themselves up as a target, that's good too!

[shopcat]

i've definitely said this before but no harm in repeating like i think... beyond what the writers intend or what they're actually attempting to aim for (if anything) i can see the stupid steve nancy "love triangle" Thing in many entirely reasonable lights and not one of them end in it actually being a love triangle. it's not a love triangle. and MAYBE!!!! i'm just tired of the steve haters of the world being like "season 4 steve sucks he's just so into nancy" FUCK OFF!!!! MAYBE YOU TRY AND HANG AROUND YOUR EX IN A STRESSFUL SITUATION AND SEE HOW YOU COPE. BITCH. anyway i think it's a testament to um character empathy and a love for their part in their narrative to view things not only kindly but ... logically and not just dismiss what could be happening either out of like panic or despair bc that's just not as fun at the end of the day and i am maybe naively hopeful. and instead it's just SO easy to contextualise and a story is only what it's telling YOU etc etc.

like how okay to me the 6 little nuggets speech coalesces all at once like, 1. steve and nancy got together in a period of their lives where the only problem in their lives was meant to be like. which college they're getting into. to each other they represent the like literal halcyon days of normalcy in an incredibly depressing twist on it where the nostalgic times they wish they could go back to was just Average Life. just Highschool. with the knowledge monsters don't exist and their friends aren't dead. in the continued battering ram of the upside down's particular brand of trauma year in and out wearing them down i think being around each other will always bring out that part of themselves that remembers what it was like When They Were Happy and i think the entire reason they seemed to revert so much to their roots this season in those little glimpses we see is because of this and this particular like, go of it the stakes were higher and their involvement was far more concentrated so um. when every move you make has weight it's not CRAZY that he wanted to let a little bit of it off and i think he sees nancy as this shining beacon of What Once Was, so YEAH in the fucking throes of the beginning of the apocalypse he latched onto her again a little. entirely understandable and not a VILLAINOUS TRAIT on either of their parts

this goes hand in hand with 2. steve himself is a notoriously avoidant incredibly actually NEUROTIC person. he wants SO badly to just cling on to what he once had he will unintentionally dig his nails in to it and we see this a LOT in the context of nancy especially during season one and like the first half of season two. he wants to Let The Bad Things Go and just go to the movies and be a couple normal kids again. whenever the upside down rears it's head again he doesn't react with like, preparedness or even fear he just goes straight to NO NO NO NO NO which is like. literally. but it's because he doesn't WANT to deal with it like at All. and i find that actually interesting juxtaposed with how nancy actively seeks out and cannot let the upside down go... maybe for what it did to her or maybe because she just feels she has to. who else is going to. and the initial reason she even bonded with jonathan or if you like to think so developed proper feelings for him is because jonathan ALSO sought it out. the upside down is a mystery to them that they want to solve and the upside down is a PROBLEM to get away from for steve and i think this is significant. so i think them experiencing something that feels bigger than it ever has in a context where it's all on them and where the kids they're taking care of are in genuine danger as well as themselves, coming right off the back of having to ESCAPE the dimensional hell they were this time not even metaphorically dragged into it's totally reasonable to look at one another and go GOD. it was so simple with you!!!!!

and while also 3. the speech itself was ... a death speech to be later quoted and reminisced upon a la "but you need to go on your rv trip!!! you can't die here!!!" and he'll go "you idiot... the six little nuggets were you guys all along" and 4. within the Literal speech itself he SAID the kids were "practice" and it was probably only ever intended to be a way to show his genuine connection to them and was never meant to be taken quite so literally as "i actually want 6 real life children that you my future wife will birth", it's also tied into 5. i am so fucking scared right now. and we used to be in love. and you're sitting next to me while my throat hurts from the ligature wounds given to me by a monster and you appreciate how i also represent a sense of typicality and grounded preparedness that you sometimes feel you need. and you're also scared. and i want to be normal and i want to be happy and i want us to be safe in the end and i want something to look forward to. and it's the simplest thing on earth -> i want to get the FUCK out of here. but we can't get the fuck out of here because we're driving towards our doom and i'm the one in the driver's seat. and i'm scared. and i want to say it because if i don't say it no one else is going to know. and she says that sounds nice because it sounds nice...

and finally 6. i think steve is like. mourning. i think he's looking at her and going i loved you once and i miss it but, integrally, it's past the point of return. we've grown and we've changed and maybe you're finally realising how much and she is so important to him and he loved her and he LOVES her but he doesn't Love her. she is the reason his life changed and maybe he never got to put to rest that he could never go back to the way it once was but he doesn't WANT to go back and he's SAYING this. he's going thank GOD you gave me the bump on the head and woke me up because i feel like i'm finally moving forwards now and i wish it could be normal but it can't and thank god for that. i am so scared of change but knowing you is what changed me and i am so happy for it. she introduced him to it all through one way or another and he never once even considered that a bad thing (though i do think he doesn't give himself enough credit etc etc). their talk in the woods before it is SO important to me because he's saying Thank you. and he's saying GOODBYE!!! he's saying yeah the person i picture next to me in this pipe dream is you because in a way it probably always will be you and because it Was always you back then. but i don't want to marry you. i want a place to settle down and have some kids even metaphorical and i know YOU don't want that. it's an acknowledgement of how much they've changed it's a conversation behind the conversation of looking into someone's eyes and telling them what you want and knowing they don't want the same and letting go of what once was even though like YEAH it's not the end of the world if there's still some sort of stirred up feelings. but it's not a love confession and it's not a man desperately trying to cling onto his ex while she (grown woman that she is) sits there and smiles at him for it and therefore turns her into a doormat and him into a creep or whatever the fuck the braindead masses are squawking about...

AND THAT IS THE REAL 6 LITTLE NUGGETS!!!! also i think to reduce two great characters independently to who they are To Each other is a disservice and there is no hidden plot within the plot dedicated to their romance in any deliberate way imo. or whatever. steve is not just Nancy's Ex and nancy is not just one half of a love interest bouncing back and forth in the worlds most tired misogyny ping pong of steve v jonathan. i think all the stuff this season it's the show's way of letting us see that nancy can see how much he's developed as a person and how even after all the hard work he himself put in for it and it's his own genuine kindness and literal body he puts in the line he still believes it's all because of her and he's grateful and while i have Low Hope i also must also have Hope that it will end... kindly. they both deserve an Ending and not just a massacre of characterisation.

[messrsbyler]

when did mike realize he had feelings for will do you think?

okay so...

by the end of season 2 i think mike realized he saw will in a different light than the rest, which ofc has been obvious all along but in contrast to what he said in season 1 to dustin "well, you are my best friend too. all of you are. will too", after going through that traumatizing experience with will and living the very real posibility of losing will for good this time while he was so close and yet he couldn't do much to stop it from happening, i think something clicked in mike's brain. by the snow ball, i think mike has this notion that will is different, i don't know if he knows in which way, but will is especial for him. mike isn't sure what he feels when that girl asks will for a dance and when he sees the both of them together, but he does feel something (i mean the scene is paralleled with dusting seeing lucas and max dancing and compares their expression in the same shot while mike stares at will and that girl). but then el shows up and mike's attention shifts and he can shove those feelings and thoughts to the back of his mind.

by season three we see mike is actively drowning himself into his relationship with el and failing at finding at balance because, for the most part, he doesn't seem want to get that balance. he pushes his friends aside, for the most part, but will is the one member of the party that gets the most backlash from mike's behavior. this is because mike is trying to compensate with his relationship with el, checking the boxes of a normal teenager, rushing to grow up and have a normal summer, and the feelings that were stirred during the snow ball are getting in the way. i think mike is trying really hard to convince himself he is normal and these feelings don't exist for him. but, of course, they do, so mike keeps having contradicting actions throughout the season, pushing will away by his actions and words and then chasing after him, apologizing because he knows he fucked up and he doesn't want to fight with will or lose him in any way. so... mike wants to distance from whatever he might be feeling for will, pretending it isn't a thing, and that leads him to hurt will and push him away, only for mike to then regret it and want will back.

by the end of season three with the whole "because i love her and i can't lose her" fiasco, we learn mike is supposed to have these feelings (that have been pushed on him throughout the season by other characters, btw, just like it happened in season 1 with lucas and nancy), but then he can't say the words to el to her face even when they are in a life-or-death situation and have no guarantees of making it out. i think mike said it in the spur of the moment because he convinced himself that was the next step and maybe the one thing that would fix his crumbling relationship with mike, but the moment he let out the words he realized they felt wrong and maybe unfulfilling. then everything goes down, the byers are moving away along with el, mike and will have that little exchange where mike exposes in his own way his fear of losing will ("what if you want to join another party") and will reassures him that's "not possible", something clicks for mike again, just like in the end of season 2. and then el shows up, confesses he heard mike and that she loves him too, kisses mike and that click he felt with will... it's nowhere to be seen with el. and we get that "oh... oh no" expression after the kiss, then mike looking back at the byers house and then numbly hugging karen. by this point, mike knows. that feeling he gets with will, that one thing that set him apart in season 2, he knows now what it is. he has feelings for will, the type of feelings he is supposed to have for el, and now both will and el are going away, and he doesn't know what to do with himself or with the situation.

by season 4 mike has had about six months to deny these feelings to himself, which is definitely fueled by the bitterness and hurt he feels when he can't contact will and will doesn't try to contact him back. then he learns about the painting and this girl will supposedly likes through el's letter the day before he leaves for california, and it puts him on edge. i'm thinking mike worked hard to pushed down his feelings for him and fool himself into thinking they weren't a real thing, but then in the airport he gets jealous over the painting and angela (before he learns angela is el's bully), and then will is asking "what about us" and idk i think somewhere at that point mike's feelings for will just broke free and mike couldn't keep them down anymore, but he should, so he gets angry at will because it's not fair, and why is will calling him out here like he didn't try to call every day only to be met with a busy line? and why is will bitching at him over being a third wheel when he brought the painting to the airport? a painting that's for a girl he likes? and for the rest of the season mike simply knows for sure he has feelings for will, and he for sure gets hopeful at times, but then will uses el's name to talk about his feelings, and pushes mike to say i love you to el, and will wants them together so mike has no chances with will and this is what he is supposed to do, so the monologue happens and the world goes to shit because no one is being honest about their feelings. they are all lying and that gives vecna the upper hand.

WHEW! that was long but yeah, i think that's the timeline i resonate with the most. ofc their feelings for each other have always been there, since season one, developing into what we get in season 4

anyhow, thanks for the ask!

[grey-sides]

omg i love pretend relationships and especially when one of them is actually in love with the other </3 like imagine they share a tender moment and billy thinks it could be real but the second they are out of sight steve reverts right back to normal </3

Anon, you're speaking my language. And the torturous part is that "normal" Steve is still physically affectionate!

But you know it's that moment, away from everyone else where Billy expects him to shift back and Steve doesn't and Billy chalks it up to him drinking or something. So Billy pulls away to preserve his sanity and Steve whispers, "Don't. Let me pretend for just a second more."

Billy's aware that Steve still loves Nancy, he just doesn't like her very much anymore (that is something I cop straight from a stucky fanfic ngl). But he's waiting for her to decide she loves Steve again too. He's bracing for impact, can see the ground getting closer.

It has to be enough, this time stolen away with Steve, holding his hand, calling him nicknames that old Billy would have gagged at. He's ripping himself open and exposing the softest parts of himself and he's begging Steve to not destroy him. Even though he knows it will, there's no way this ends well.

Until it's over. The wedding's over, they're heading back to wherever they came in from, California, Chicago, Philadelphia, wherever and Steve sets his hand on Billy's knee and they don't talk about it. But they don't ever really go back to being just friends either.

And Steve says I love you first and they've said it a hundred, maybe a thousand times, for handing over the last hit of a joint or picking up more beer or handing over painkillers after a party. But this time, the words stitch up Billy's open soul, tucking a part of Steve's neatly in there too.

[sennqu]

i would really like to know what part of vol2 was a masterpiece beyond it looking and sounding slick and cool.

first off. the Vecna reveal as the big bad behind everything when nothing in the previous seasons even hinted that he and his family existed? Those murders would have become a town urban legend in no time!! Especially since it only happened 30 years ago?? And as evidenced by the writers keeping in the line "the murder house" when Jason and co. talked about it, other townspeople beyond Eddie's uncle did know about the Creels so why did none of the other born and bred main characters ever know this?? This reveal was an ass-pull of a retcon plain and simple.

Max ending up in the coma?? Completely diminishes the Dear Billy scene. Oh, music and human connection saves you from despair?? SIKE! actually it doesn't because we really just wanted to use this Kate Bush song for style points. Trauma does actually get you in the end wdym? then they used the song again, for what I don't fucking know, but certainly not for thematic reasons. Timing the lyrics to come back just as Robin throws the molotov?? ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. And also we get to El to "revive" Max because El really is just that special. No one would know what to do without her!

Not even going to get into that indulgent close-up of El's feet.

Not even going to get into posing dead Brenner like Jesus on the fucking cross.

Lucas' speech ending with "normal is just a raging psychopath". Really?? Really?? Was this supposed to be a shot at Jason? The same guy who, upon seeing Max - a stranger to him- immediately tried to rescue her?? I will die on the hill that S4 accidentally created a compelling antagonist in Jason and just never fucking knew it. (i've cooled down on my thoughts with this one. still think the line was stupid as hell though and that jason was a lot more compelling than vecna)

Eddie dying for no reason, plot-wise or narrative-wise?? WHY? So he could die a hero? BITCH HE COULD HAVE LIVED AS A HERO. I didn't care for Eddie all that much but he should have died right after his guitar solo if he was already marked for death. at least that would have been cool instead of stretching it out like what happened

Not even going to get into how Steven, Nancy, and Robin were choking for what seemed like an hour or longer. Pacing was off the entire 4-hour runtime but that especially seemed egregious.

The El and Hopper reunion feeling like an afterthought?? It was so emotionally dull. They might as well have made them reunite at the start of S5. El going "I always believed you were alive" BENCH WHERE. YOU LITERALLY CREATED A SCHOOL PRESENTATION TO HONOR HIM AS A DEAD HERO. This one actually got to me the most because I live for loving father and daughter dynamics and I was rooting for them to reunite but what we got.... it fell so, so flat.

The entire two day timeskip in the first place. Absolutely abhorrent. Completely cutting into the climax, completely removing the falling action.

Hopper fucking beheading a Democreature in slow-mo. The entire Russia story arc was already very heightened but you know what. yeah sure why not. WHY THE FUCK NOT

Mike's monologue about loving El even when she's not a superhero when she is literally doing superheroism right in front of him. Mike straight up saying with his full chest that his life started the day after Will went missing. Will who is next to him as he's fucking saying this shit. Will who has done nothing else this season except to help mend his relationship with El.

Robin seeing Vickie again at a fucking weapons emporium. WHAT FOR? They didn't even rationalize this with a throwaway line that maybe she and her (ex) boyfriend were going hunting or whatever. Literally just did this so we can see Robin upset. Because really? We could have that scene in the gym WITHOUT THE WAR ZONE SCENE.

Whatever the fuck they did to Steve "oh actually I wanna have six kids" Harrington.

Will not even getting the dignity of saying his feelings. Was a simple last longing look at Mike as he says, " I really am stupid for falling for him, huh, Jonathan?" Too Fucking Hard? No need to say Mike's name, no need to say the word GAY (calling him a fag or a queer or a fairy was fucking fine though) to make it clear as day where Will stood. it could have been done so easily with how they set up the Jonathan and Will scene. And now we have to contend with people arguing that maybe he really wasn't in love with Mike at all or the even stupider take that maybe Will was actually in love with Eleven.

Brenner getting shot multiple times was actually very cathartic and I'm glad El left him to rot. But again this just comes back to why is El's storyline the only one handled with this much grace and understanding for her agency?

The Russia storyline just fucking ending with them being able to cross country borders no problem??? and no sign of Dmitry or Yuri at all?? Fucking sloppy.

Mike just... existing as El's cheerleader now apparently?? What the hell happened to him. They couldn't even make him a malewife right because he had to have Will push him into his monologue.

Speaking of monologues, fucking Henry got pages and pages of the most uninspired villain script I've ever had the misfortune of hearing in this year of 2022. Yeah yeah we live in a society. yeah yeah El is actually just so special she even created her own super villain what else is new.

S4 Volume 2 was a total let down and I am not going to be blinded by the beautiful cinematography into saying it was better than it is, than what it could have been. All style, no substance.

And as redditor timlest said it best:

[kaypeace21]

i LOVE your analysis especially byler ones so please don't take this as hate, it's the last thing i want to do. but while i love the byler theories do you actually think the duffers are smart enough to realize the potential/brave enough to follow through on the relationship. bc tbh i think our viewpoint is skewed i don't think anyone but byler shippers see the canon possibility. and also it really seems like m/leven is going to be endgame? just wanted to know more of your thought process

Even if byler never happens- I’m 100% sure mileven won’t be endgame XD. Regardless of byler, Mike and El are just not going to happen. (Even if they’re ‘dating’ in s4). I could try to explain the reasons why I think byler will be endgame though. I’ll give the cliffnotes version. This will probably be a mess- because focusing on all the reasons isn’t as good as analyzing , each reason as it’s own separate post, in depth). 

Why mileven isn’t endgame

- The duffers said, while filming ST, El was supposed to die in s1 (glad that didn’t happen). And this was also their plan when pitching their show ‘Montauk’ (later retitled ST), saying that the hypothetical  s2 sequel would be about the boys returning to their town 10 years later. Mileven was never ‘planned end-game’. They also describe mileven kissing but never mention the word ‘love’ like how Jancy was described in the Montauk pitch. Nancy’s bio says “ she will experience love for the first time.”  But when they describe mileven, they say, “If Mike is the Elliot of our show, Eleven is our “E.T.” Like that’s … not romantic, Duffers. And if it was supposed to be … WTF did you guys watch the same film? 0-O

- In the byler centric s2, the Duffers kept mileven separated. And the mileven kiss wasn’t written in the show. Millie pretty much said “they had to do it.” Much to Matt’s confusion but then the Duffers agreed. And used ‘every breath you take’ (a song about divorce), and just by coincidence their 2nd back-up  song was also a song about a divorce? Nah, they were trolling.

- Most of the women (Nancy & Max) in the show critique Mileven saying Mike treats her as if she’s stupid, can’t take care of herself, or as she is a possession. 

-in the first ep of s3 almost all the guys (who had/have gfs) Hopper, Lucas, and Dustin all criticize the mileven relationship and think it’s unhealthy.

Hopper says “ They’re spending entirely too much time together… It is constant.It is constant! Okay? That is not normal, that is not healthy! ”

Lucas mocks Mike, saying “ Oh El, I wish we could make out forever and never hang out with any of our friends.”

Dustin says when they flake on him, “It’s bullshit, I just got home!” (insert Nancy calling Stancy ‘bullshit’)

and before this  Dustin talks about Romeo & Juliet (while mileven is out of frame). R&J is all about the dangers of not knowing the difference between love and infatuation. Juliet after Romeo is banished just complains about how in love/sad she is but never pursues looking for him (sound familiar)? R&J claimed that they were in love with each other after knowing each for a few days and deciding to get married-sabotaging the closest relationships they had with their friends/family (all in the name of ‘true love’) . Similarly Mileven thought they were in love after only a week of knowing each other, and the second they are reunited they start dating and spend all their time with each other. El is allowed out of the house (and her friends are allowed to visit), but El hasn’t interacted with Max nor Will? They spend almost everyday in her room just making out. Mike puts very little effort into integrating her into his life or as part of the group. The only time they go out- is for Mike to show off El to Dustin like a possession- then before El can even do the boding activity with the group (with the radio tower)- Mike convinces her to leave to make out. They are both complicit in this and they both bring out the worst in each other and they make each other blinded to their loved ones’ feelings.

- El literally asks Max “How do I know what I like?” Do I have to explain why this could be problematic? She even says “I don’t know”, when Max asks if Mike is a good kisser.You can call me ‘ableist’ my abused-autistic ass will disagree. But El is not ready for a romantic relationship! it makes perfect sense for El to be confused by the distinctions of romantic, platonic, and familial love- when the first 12 years of her life she didn’t receive any form of love , PERIOD! And she is not like normal abuse victims (she has never had proper socialization with peers her own age or even adults).All she had was television. She latches herself on to anyone who is kind to her (something I used to do). Without Mike she used Max as a replacement almost immediately, and even starts repeating/mirroring the things she says (specifically coping phrases from her …over 6 times!). She’s also susceptible to doing what others say or want her to do, “dumping his ass” (with Max’s validation and encouragement). El might love Mike but I don’t think it’s romantic, she latched on to the first person that was kind to her. Before their first kiss she asked Mike “Will you be like my brother?” And she’s hurt when he says “no”, asking “Why not?”. He then kisses her (she watches a lot of soap operas and she assumes it must be ‘romantic love’). You’re telling me that if she was ‘in love’ with Mike she would have been that happy over dumping him? I’m not saying El is dumb for not being able to discern these things (I think people without such backgrounds may still struggle with this concept). But it makes perfect sense for El to be confused by the distinctions of various loves or even the differences between ‘crushes’ , ‘physical attraction’ and ‘romantic love’ 

- In the last ep El asks about what he said at the cabin to Max, specifying “you talked about your feelings?”. He says and I QUOTE “Oh! Oh, yeah that.Man, that was so long ago. Um…”  and starts to scratch his head. Then he excuses what he said at the cabin, saying it was “in the heat of the moment stuff and we were arguing… I don’t actually remember. What did I say exactly?”  

Now either he legitimately forgot! Or he lied! You know the thing that broke them up in the first place! The one thing that El holds as her most important value in life- honesty. And he lied- about something as important as his romantic feelings?!  Make up any excuse (about being shy/character flaws all you want), but this isn’t real life- it’s fiction (everything is done for a narrative purpose). That wasn’t an accident ( mileven wasn’t “written out of character”- like milevens claim,  the duffers were criticizing the ship on purpose) .And the fact he lied again! Wouldn’t bode well for a long term relation with each other. The whole season, criticized their romantic relationship ! That wasn’t a coincidence neither was the fact he looked confused by her confession, and kept his eyes open the whole time and didn’t kiss her back . 

And as she smiled and walked away, he looked confused. That wasn’t a directing mistake, like so many milevens are claiming! You really think they wouldn’t make sure their ‘fav ship’ didn’t have a good final kiss? 

 Especially since it was right after a romantic Jancy scene (which was directed amazingly)- where Nancy even mentions Mileven- to make us compare the 2 pairings romantic scenes even more. 

* I know I sound like an assh*le but I’m just annoyed. I’ve always censored my byler posts trying not to offend/criticize mileven. I never cross tagged my byler meta with the hashtag mileven (never will, cause it’s rude). But (without sounding pompous) my byler posts generally gets reblogged a lot- and now the milevens have seen my posts (and are sending lots of hate my way) and worst of all they’ve invaded the byler tag. Today I saw 2 posts in the byler tag saying. “We’re delusional” and “stupid”- and also in the same posts they say they “feel attacked” by us.Um… there’s a difference between byler shippers privately criticizing a ship without bothering mileven shippers (and only tagging it byler) . Versus Mileven shippers  tagging things byler (and ranting about the ship and it’s shippers). Loved the comment about how Mike can’t be bi cause “he loves El too much”.I think Mike is probably gay and in denial. But, um that’s not how being bi works- didn’t know  bi people love women and men ½ as much as the gays/straights. Thanks for informing me (rolls eyes for eternity).So kid-gloves off, nothing left to lose! Time to compare the ships.

‘The breakup’ vs ‘fight’ parallel

comedic vs dramatic! The casual sunny day vs the dramatic framing of the storm (a romantic trope) . The ‘break-up’ being a scene with multiple onlookers vs the fight being with Will and Mike only (making it more personal/intimate).  ‘Cold as ice’ playing after the mileven breakup vs the sad instrumentals playing during the byler fight. The comedic after-math at the mall. El and Max laughing, and another joke being made as the bus leaves.El’s happiness vs Will’s heartbreak.

Mike’s drastically different expressions after their fights. He looks regretful with Will, and almost annoyed with El dumping him.  The fact Mike apologized right away more than once to Will, and ran into a storm to apologize a 2nd time. But with El he just lies to cover up the first lie, and then after the break-up he just complains/lounges on the couch (not taking any responsibility). He literally says about El “Why is she treating me this way? What did I do to deserve this? What did I do wrong?”.( He lied and made her feel “like garbage”!) Then he burps and laughs about chips- and makes sexist comments. Neither EL nor Mike are heartbroken by the breakup.

But when he angers Will (by him trying to finish the game early), he immediately tries to de-escalate saying softly “I was just joking- c’mon, let’s finish the game”. But when Will just yells back (much to Mike’s confusion) he doesn’t dismiss his feelings as irrational (like he wrongfully did to El) but chases him to the garage-  and begs him to stay since it’s raining.

In the garage, Mike immediately apologizes saying “I said I was sorry, alright. It was a cool campaign.” But after this, they fight and Mike runs into a storm to apologize a second time , and says to Will’s door “ WILL! I’m sorry I was being an asshole. Can you just come outside and we’ll talk? WILL!” He immediately takes responsibility and apologizes. And he’s desperate to resolve things. And when they find him outside castle Byers he just asks  (Mike’s catchphrase) “Will, Are you ok?”

Shed scene ( “best thing I’ve ever done” vs “the most important thing in the world to me”) parallel

When Mike says to El  “you’re most important thing to me” in the pool shed. El doesn’t even acknowledge the comment (and neither should the audience- cause the words were empty). She completely ignores his words, and responds by asking him about his previous comments. Asking whether Hopper was right about them spending too much time together.

I didn’t edit (or delete any scene after his proclamation) this is how fast it was delivered ! The framing of this mileven scene was not cinematic or heartfelt, and neither was the delivery from Mike. He’s not crying, trying to reach her with proclamations of his genuine feelings. There’s no dramatic music, framing, lighting or shot composition. And El just responds and cuts his supposed ‘true feelings’ off- only to agree with Hopper and says “ she should spend time with her own species.” And if this ‘romantic moment’ wasn’t already undermined enough. This is when Mike realizes she was spying on him , and feels wrongfully violated (something she doesn’t apologize for,  saying “I make my own rules” . He even brings this up in a later episode (this clearly bothered him)!

Juxtaposed to the MUCH longer byler scene. A literal single tear falling down his cheek as Mike , recounts the first day they met. Mike being in the back drop of darkness only his face being illuminated (having him appear like a guiding light to Will). Saying “ I felt so alone and  so scared… but you were alone too” (alone together/crazy together) .  He then talks about asking Will to be his friend, and then he pauses and breaks eye contact , before looking him in the eye and smiling (lost in the memory) saying softly “you said yes, you said yes.” (cough like saying yes at a wedding).

So, after he says “you said yes, you said yes.” It’s important to mention that he takes a deep breath and breaks eye contact again, (looking down and to the side) as he says this line. Subconsciously, I believe he knows this line is romantic and he’s too afraid to say it to his face. Only flicking his eyes up to look at Will  after he finishes the entire sentence, and to gauge Will’s reaction.

This whole monologue is only of tight shots of just their faces (their bodies aren’t shown like in the pool shed scene). This is a personal moment between them and them alone- and the fact we zoom in on their faces (expresses this to be important emotionally) . And when we see Will’s reaction to Mike saying “it was the best thing I’ve ever done”. We just see Will’s face only- no music is playing and all we hear is  Will’s whimpers and Mike crying in the background.

“ Blank makes you Crazy” vs “ Crazy Together parallel

When Mike tries to confess his “love” to El he says “Well they do say it makes you crazy”… much to El’s confusion.He has to try to explain it a second time to El- who just gets even more confused, by his ‘confession’. Saying “you never heard that expression? Like blank makes you crazy … like the word (love)?”

But when Mike says he “feels like he’s going crazy” Will immediately responds with “Me too”. Mike even smiles at the comment. So that moment in s2 means more than we think, when Mike (with tears in his eyes) smiles at Will’s comment and asks them to go “crazy together”.And when Will responds back “yeah, crazy together” (who also has tears in his eyes). They even linger on the moment as they just smile and stare at each other.

Mike is in denial, and may not even realize he loves Will, but he knows subconsciously that he does. He heard the phrase “love makes you crazy and that damn stupid”, 100′s of times and that’s why he said that phrase to Will. And why it made him so happy when Will reciprocated , by saying “ yeah. crazy together.” In addition to why we see them both go from happy, to immediately upset over the conversation.The scene was already romantically coded in s2 (but the scene in s3 re-contextualizes the whole thing) . Mike thinks “love makes you crazy” , and he asked Will to go ‘crazy together’ with him. And When Will is at castle byers looking at the Halloween pic of the 2 the day Mike said that, Will cries and calls himself “stupid” (4x). Can’t get more obvious… Like look what the duffers did! 

El and Will’s opinions on Mike (Parallels)

-When asked if Mike was a good kisser,  she just said “I don’t know he’s my 1st boyfriend.” (implying she’s thinking, at least subconsciously, of having other boyfriends ,who are not Mike in the future).  But when Mike pretty much asks’ if Will thought they’d never get girlfriends, and spend the rest of their lives with each other’.Will just sadly responds “yeah, I guess I did. I really did!” Unlike, El, Will always saw Mike as his future, his forever.

-And when Mike says “it’s just a break” , Max says “No it’s not!”, and we see El laugh along with Max’s comment. She is not heartbroken at the idea of never getting back together with him, romantically. Right after they break up she was laughing, reading comics, and playing games with Max.

But Will is devastated over the fight! And out of all the memories in Castle Byers it’s the Ghostbusters photo from Halloween that causes Will to pick up the bat and start destroying everything. That was the night that Mike agreed to go “crazy together” with him. He tears it in ½ right in the center where Mike and Will are. He was so stupid to think it meant anything. The “crazy together” scene, that Mike initiated in s2 was always meant to be romantic. Not only because of Will’s reaction to the photo in s3, but because Mike in s3 says “They do say it makes you crazy…blank makes you crazy.”  Which is exactly what happens to Will, as he has his breakdown.Castle byers was built on a rainy night , the same day Will’s dad left, when Will was 5 (the same age he met Mike). And lonnie called him a “queer” and a “f*g” and forced him to do “normal things” like baseball to have him “be more of a man”. And then on a rainy night, after Mike says “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”… what does Will destroy castle byers with? A baseball bat! The fact Will has a baseball bat (despite in s1 saying he does not like baseball) in Castle Byers, surrounded by things he loves: drawings, d&d, art supplies, a microscope, comics- just shows what an impact Lonnie’s problematic conditioning and abandonment had on him. He used a baseball bat to destroy something he loves -castle Byers, and symbolically he was trying to reject his feelings for Mike using Lonnie’s old tactics of fixing him.

- Also, El doesn’t even seem to appreciate when Mike acts like his true self (goofy/like a kid). She laughs when Max complains he talks too much. Rolls his at his jokes with the cpr-dummy, covers his mouth and tells him to stop when he tries to joke and sing, ignores him when he gets excited about talking about dinosaurs. Which relates to my next point

The only characters who’s character bios focus on ‘escaping’ through d&d is Mike and Will.

Will in the Montauk pitch was described as having “sexual identity issues… LIKE MIKE , Will ESCAPES through fantasy gaming where he can be himself, uninhibited.” Like what is Mike escaping from… being a nerd? Because they could of said ‘like his friends’. And no it’s not because they’re best friends- they even specifIed in Lucas bio he’s “ Mike’s best friend” (which was even mentioned in s1).

.In Mike’s character description it says “ bullying and near-crippling insecurity. He has never had a first kiss, much less a girlfriend.He ESCAPES his insecurities through reading fantasy novels … retreating into his own vivid imagination. The Dungeon Master of his Dungeons and Dragons group, he writes sprawling adventures with fantastical monsters.When he finds himself on a real adventure, facing real monsters, he will discover a courage he didn’t know he had. By the end, he will even kiss a girl.”

*Interesting that Mike uses D&D  to escape his insecurities about not having a gf (retreating into his imagination). While Will (who is somewhat aware of his sexuality) uses d&d to escape and be himself uninhibited. They’re foils in a sense- using d&d for opposing reasons.

So the s3 fight about d&d games has a lot more meaning 

Mike equates heterosexual romance with ‘growing up’ and his feeling for Will as something childish he has to grow out of.When they fight over d&d. Mike says “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”, then he tries to ½ apologize only to say, “I’m not trying to be a jerk. Ok? But We’re not kids anymore.” He pretty much explains, this is just the way things are-boys fall in love with girls, get girlfriends, and that’s just a part of growing up (heteronormativity).  And tells Will “I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” And poor Will who is probably more aware of his feelings just responds. “Yeah. I guess I did. I really did.” And after this Mike rushes to Will’s house and apologizes saying he was an “asshole.”When he tries to say he loves El . It was very forced. He can’t even use the world love or explain his feelings, “A feeling … yeah, like, something… like OLD PEOPLE say it sometimes”.

He can’t even describe love and what his “feelings” entail for El , he then says  “Yeah, like something , like old people say it some times. He doesn’t even say it back in the last ep, when she confesses. It’s all talk, but no feeling, it’s just a part of becoming an adult in Mike’s mind.

In the last ep before the mileven kiss, he even invites both El and Will over for Christmas saying “ And Will too… we could all have new presents to play with and… *scoffs* Sorry, that made me sound like a 7 year old...  ”

And it’s implied in the last ep (before the mileven kiss),  because of the 3 month breakup Mike is back to liking d &d. When Mike sees Will put his own d&d book in the donation box he stops him.

Mike: “WHOA, dude that’s the donation box.”

Will: “ I know, I’ll just use yours,  when I come back. (pause) if WE still want to play?”

So then Mike asks, shyly …

Mike : “Yeah, but what if you want to join another party?” (cough- girls , the other ‘species’, or just someone else: girl, guy or otherwise)

Will: “Not possible.” (Will will always love Mike- insert Mikes immediate heart-eye reaction to this comment).

I think people don’t notice what the subtext is here- regardless of his intentions, Mike broke Will’s heart. He made him feel “stupid” for ever thinking he ever had a chance with Mike. He always saw Mike as his forever, but Mike shot any hopes of that down in the garage. Will doesn’t trust his own instincts. Mike could straight up flirt with him in s4/5- and Will would dismiss it as his imagination. He essentially said ‘he’ll always love Mike- but if something is going to happen. It’s up to Mike to initiate it’.

Mike was queer coded since ep 1 (and he’s more queer coded than Will)!

 I LITERALLY thought (in s1) Mike was queer before Will!

- 3 rainbow references. Mike in s1 in his basement has a red heart being propelled by a rainbow sign. We see this again in s3 as a drawing. Mike also stands next to Will behind a rainbow apple poster in s2. Forbidden fruit + rainbow = queer forbidden romance. Also the apple poster was in the AV Club and at that time the rainbow apple-mac sign was suspected to be in reference to for Alan Turning (the gay ‘father of computers’).

In s1:

- 4 separate characters said El looked like a boy, but Mike doesn’t care! Even one of the men thought El might be the missing ‘Byers boy’. When El loses her wig , Troy said “she doesn’t even look like a girl” to the cops. But Mike just calls her “really pretty”

-Nancy says “I thought you were acting weird, but I thought it was because of Will” And Mike responds “I thought you were acting weird too I thought it was because of Steve … Do you like Jonathan now”?” Nancy: “No, do you like Eleven?”. They literally compared the explicit love triangle between Steve/Nancy/Jonathan to the Will-Mike-El dynamic!

- Mike literally uses gender inclusive pronouns when talking about crushes using the word “someone” (3 times), and embarrassing himself because he can’t articulate the difference between friendship and romance. When he could of simply given the 80s heteronormative  answer of ‘when a boy likes a girl’.

Mike: “ you go to school dances with someone.

You know someone that you like”

El: “a friend?”

Mike: ‘not a friend uh … uh someone like a” (gives up and kisses her)

-Mike’s mom said “ What’s been going on with Will, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. I just … want you to feel like you can talk to me. I never want you to feel like you have to HIDE anything from me” (she even emphasizes the word ‘hide”  (which is heavily queer coded)

- when Will ‘dies’, “we can be heroes” by David bowie (a bisexual singer) plays,   “And we kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame” is the lyric that plays when Mike returns to his house and cries in his mother’s arms over the ‘death’ of Will. Do I have to explain how ‘kissing and shame’ are queer-coded . And how such a lyric is oddly romantic- if we’re supposed to see their bond as nothing but platonic XD

-his dad jokes “Absolutely not” *turns to wife* “our son with a girl?”.

- when Lucas makes fun of his crush on EL, Lucas gets down on one knee  and says “ I love you so much, will you marry me?” and literally 1s later, we’re introduced to the bullies and the idea (for the first time) that Will is ‘gay’, and Mike is in the forefront of the scene and unlike his friends he is THE ONLY ONE physically assaulted as they cause him to fall face first into a rock (like a gay-bashing) .  They leave Lucas and Dustin unharmed. Even though Lucas just proposed to another guy- which should have gotten him a beating by the homophobic bullies.

It’s supposed to subconsciously hint Mike is queer like Will, and likes Will. The first interaction with the bullies, they mention Will being ‘gay’ right after they mention Mike’s crush on androgynous El and have a guy propose to Mike. Mike says to “ignore them” ( the homophobic remarks) but is assaulted anyways. And when asked what happed he doesn’t want to tell El the details cause he’s ashamed .

2nd time the bullies talk about Will, Mike is once again in the forefront, unlike his straight friends who are in the background . But this time Mike initiates the confrontation), as the bullies say Will is “flying in fairyland with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay”. Mike was literally on the verge or tears at this comment (despite being happy a few moments earlier , telling the others to ‘act sad’ because they’d look suspicious other wise). But this is the comment where Mike snaps and pushes Troy back (because he took it personally/wanted to defend Will).

The framing of Mike once again being in the front and snapping at the homophobic remarks ( gifs don’t do it justice, just rewatch the scene -Mike eyes water at the remarks). Then the last time the bullies appear , Mike jumps off the cliff and “flies like a fairy” (like Troy said) thanks to El . Troy at the police station even uses the word “fly” not levitate.

-Mike sneaking out to find Will, as Steve sneaks in to Nancy’s. They both even make eye contact (and pretend not to have seen each other).

- they share dinosaur toys , in s1 and 2 they appear to be the only ones with dinosaur toys.

- The s1 mom hug scene where Mike feels he lost Will is paralleled in s3 - signifying how he lost him a 2nd time.

- Mike in the 1st ep being the one to insist on looking for Will in the rain (callback to s3). But he never went looking for El when he saw her through his window? Even when Mike saw Will’s dead body, the second he heard his voice he convinced his friends to help rescue him!

- You remember the binder (from s1) that Mike keeps, filled with 100s of Will’s drawings, and how he caresses the drawing after thinking Will was dead. That’s totes platonic.

- Mike in s1 proclaiming “I’m the only one who cares about Will!” Seems like something a kid with a crush might say ( because obviously his other friends care about Will). But he thinks he cares the most. He was even the first to worry about Will not showing up to school, the first to suggest looking for him while speaking to Hopper, and when Hopper and his parents say ‘no’ he sneaks out anyway (and is the first to suggest forming a search party). The first to believe he was alive after seeing his dead body.The only boy to have a scene dedicated solely to him mourning Will.  Mike being the only boy to stay awake at the hospital, and the first boy to see and hug Will. The only one to have a private one on one talk before Will goes missing. The only one who was literally given 100s of Will’s drawings. And yet Dustin says Lucas’ is Mike’s best friend? So what does that make Mike and Will?

In s2:

- Will in all 3 seasons identifies as a wizard. But in s2 Mike (the paladin) says Will is a cleric. Meaning this reflects how Mike actually feels about Will. In d&d, they have similar moral values, powers, and generally need and depend on each other in the lore of d&d. Paladins have similar healing powers to clerics, but clerics have stronger healing abilities - which is interesting since Mike has always been viewed as the protector. But to Mike Will has helped him (maybe deal with the loss of El and other trauma) , just by being there. And if Mike says Will is a cleric,despite Will still identifying as a wizard in s3, it shows how deeply Mike actually feels about Will. It shows he views Will as one of the only people who understands him and views him as a healing presence and his moral compass.

“ strength of conviction gave many paladins a sense of common fellowship but did not always endear them to others. In many cases, paladins did not get along quite as well with other non-paladin adventurers, with the exception of clerics with similar beliefs.”

“A Paladin tries to hold to the highest standards of conduct, but even the most virtuous Paladin is fallible. Sometimes the heat of emotion causes a Paladin to transgress his or her oath (of honesty, courage, compassion, honor ,and duty). A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order. After a rite of confession and forgiveness, the paladin starts fresh.”

This proves Mike knows he treats Will special/different than his other friends- and unlike a relationship with El (they are still individuals who are not dependent on each other). And Mike thinks being with Will quite literally makes him a better person. Juxtaposed with how him being in a romantic relationship with El made him blind and apathetic to those closest to him .

- All the mileven s1 parallels vs byler s2 parallels were ALL initiated by Mike. If the parallels were meant to show a one sided love triangle (on Mike’s end). They would of made Will the instigator not Mike! Parallels can be watched here , start at 6:50)

-Mike initiated the “crazy together’ line- and in s3 he said ‘blank makes you crazy’. So subconsciously he knew the line had romantic connotations.

-Mike initiating the hand hold (with a zoom in shot) and in the show this is only done for romantic pairings. Also Mike being the one to initiate the ‘arm thing’ which is generally romantic. But in s3 , Lucas also does this, saying “I am spending quality time with my girlfriend’

-Mike saying, asking him to be his friend was the “best thing I’ve ever done”

-Mike constantly following Will around, asking if he’s okay or biking to his house to check on him in s2 . In s3 running out to chase Will to the garage and apologizing, and running into a storm to apologize a 2nd time.

YOU SEE A PATTERN! Mike is whipped! And is the one constantly chasing and pursuing Will, not the other way around! Before s3, people always portrayed Will as the (stereotypical- problematic trope of a) sad-pinning-gay in a one sided love with Mike. It’s like people didn’t even watch the show (and just assigned tropes/stereotypes they wanted, that weren’t actually there). Will (probably too shy or scared to- because of homophobic taunts) never initiated a single byler moment- it was ALWAYS Mike!!! If people were actually objective, they would of thought it was Mike who was the one pinning!

- Which brings me to Mike literally pinning! Mike forcing Will to dance with a girl (who has a rainbow hairclip), but you literally see Mike’s shocked expression like  ‘what,why’d I do that ?’ And after this, they show Dustin looking sad about Max/Lucas dancing and then they have Mike get into the frame (next to Dustin) and look sad when Will/girl are dancing in the same exact frame as Max/Lucas. As they switch between these last 2 shots.

the cannon Spotify playlists-called ‘Mike’s basement beats’- These are character playlists that Spotify and St worked on together after s2.

-his first song is “small town boy” an 80s LGBT anthem about living in a small town and being queer and bullied. Every band member was openly gay.

-his 11th song is ‘don’t you want me’ from a “celebrate your gay pride” album

* But queer people are “delusional” for thinking Mike isn’t straight? And are told to “open your eyes and watch the show” (that was an actual quote in the byler tag). Ok? Take your own advice, then! XD

One of the Duffers cited inspirations for ST is SUPER GAY (and what they based the byler dynamic off of).

In the Will comic, Will throws an old 1970s book called “house of stairs” at the demorgorgan. And in a later chapter Mike and Will just read together at the library (just silently reading together, enjoying each others’ company-totally not a romantic cliche).And Mike warns Will the book ‘could have spoilers’ for the d&d campaign. Also look at this byler-centric cover :)

  Peter (Will) is shy, quiet ,initially a pushover, and gay-coded.  And as a coping mechanism he has psychological-breaks with reality where he thinks of his best friend from the orphanage, Jasper (Mike) . Another kidnapped boy, named Oliver (who looks just like Jasper/Mike) is also queer-coded (but a violent-sociopath). And, unlike Jasper who actually wanted to protect/take care of Peter -Oliver starts to gets a sick thrill out of making Peter dependent on him (which Peter catches on to pretty quickly). Oliver was insistent on being the only one to ‘wake’ Peter from his episodes (just like how Mike did for Will, in s2), except Oliver calls him pet-names like “sweetheart, baby, etc.” 

And again to prove it’s queer-coded I’ll read some of the (shortened) quotes, in the order they were written. These are quotes from Peter (Will’s) pov talking about his childhood best-friend Jasper (Mike) .  

-“his room. His and jaspers room.  Jasper looking up from his desk, smiling glad to see him. Jasper saying . Something very important. The most important message, the secret message.  He couldn’t hear him . But jasper keeps smiling , keeps talking . What was the message, jasper? What was the message? The dream had been beautiful at the beginning, terrible at the end, but he longed  to be in it again. If only he hadn’t awakened.”  

-“Jasper sitting on the bed and taking off his shoes ,smiling, ‘you’re okay pete, you’re better than a hundered of those slobs put together. Tomorrow I’ll tell them so myself‘ jasper’s strong, hard body as he got into bed ,so different from peter’s. Strong, to protect him to take care of him. Jasper, who always took care of him”.

-“He wanted to think about oliver it  it was like having Jasper back again. It would disturb him to see Oliver go off with Abigail… the rejection quite painful. It had never been like that with Jasper…jasper.

-The room they shared with rainbow colors, murmuring comforting words to him , enclosing and protecting him. He let himself drift into it, the rainbow hues dimness.”

-“No one ever depended on him. It was he who always depended on others, on Jasper. jasper, who had always taken care of him. Jasper…”

later he admits his feelings for Jasper to Lola/el. Lola and Pete are plantonic soulmates. The only reason why they survive and don’t succumb to their dark and violent urges/psychological brainwashing is because of each other. Lola has  brown hair and eyes and has a buzzcut and is heavily implied to be a lesbian (as she is the only girl in the group who is not fooled by Oliver’s ‘nice guy act’. Which makes the other girls ‘suspicious’ and alienate her). Also this was written in the 70s… she has a buzzcut and is said to “look like a boy”. It’s not that subtle! There was a reason that the author whose first name was WILLIAM (was suspected to be gay/bi when he was alive)!  XD

-Peter says “ he was my friend we were always together . Jasper his name was jasper .in the dream he’s taking care of me’. Now he was beginning to cry, his throat constricting and tears welling up in his eyes .’taking care of me … he always took care of me… taking care of me, and , and … and loving me’. ‘”It was the best time in your life’ she murmured’. ‘Yes’ “

* cough protective childhood friend, rainbows, ‘best time of your life = best thing I ever did.

S3 ending (byler centric ending)

When we first see Mike during the Hopper mologue, the moving truck leaves. “Like you’re pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night (d &d)”…  (the last thing they talked about was Will visiting to play d&d and their fight this season started because of a disagreement about d&d.)

Then Mike looks back at the Byers house (just lingers there and looks back as his friends leave) like how Will did seeing Mike hold hands with El and leave .  “But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing. I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change.”Mike , like Will “doesn’t want things things to change”. He doesn’t want his  his feelings of friendship to become romantic in regards to Will,  it “scares” him (especially in rural 80s Indiana). Right after Will cries,  it immediately switches to Mike hugging his mom- to mirror the time he thought Will died in s1 “So I think maybe that’s why I came in here, to try and maybe stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were.” He goes back to his mother for comfort, like he did the 1st time he lost Will. But also to reverse back time, to s1, before he realized his feelings for Will were romantic.  When things were simpler. 

“But I know that’s naive. It’s just not how life works. It’s moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s sad. And sometimes, it’s surprising. Happy.” (byler endgame)

Will (in s2) even says everyone treats him like ‘freak/ that something is wrong with him’ (purposely leaving out Mike from the discussion). And then when Will disparages himself as a freak,and Jonathan agrees but asks Will, ‘who would he rather be friends with-  David Bowie (who was openly bi since the 70s) or Kenny Rogers’? And when Will says Bowie, Jonathan agrees saying “see, it’s no contest”.

So,  it’s just another coincidence that when Will ‘dies’ (in s1) a David Bowie song (‘we can be heroes’) plays. And as Mike hugs his mom, mourning Will -  a romantic lyric from the song plays during the hug?“And we kiss, as though nothing could fall. And the shame”  (which is heavily queer coded)?

And then in the last ep (in s3) Mike mirrors this scene in s1, hugging his mom, since he feels like he’s losing Will all over again. And right after the hug (‘we can be heroes’) plays again!?  I’m not saying byler is endgame. But- WAIT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M SAYING! XD

These men literally invented ‘hetero-baiting’ (with Robin & Steve) and you think they’re going to queer bait?!

Also, if Will was a girl named ‘Willow” no one would call byler ‘delusional’ ! Even the most casual viewer would say it’s obvious they’d end up together in the end!

If the witness said about El in s1 , “ same height… it could be the Byers girl”, instead of ‘boy’ (pointing out the resemblance).  Mike only meeting El cause he was looking for Willow. Proclaiming “i’m the only one who cares about Willow!” . Mike getting into fights and getting upset (almost crying) about the bullies insulting Willow. Mike only getting angry at El when he thinks she lied about Willow being alive. Mike being the only boy who has a scene dedicated to his loss of her (with the same romantic lyrics playing). Mike having a whole binder of her drawings and caressing one of the drawings, after he thinks she died.  Mike being the only one of her friends to stay awake at the hospital, waiting for her to wake up- so he can see her and hug her first. People probably would of started shipping it the second Willow stared at him and was the only one who didn’t lie to him, in the first ep! Another parallel to El!

If Will was Willow, the majority of the fandom would be byler shippers. Think about it! . Mike having s2 byler scenes that are identical to s1 mileven scenes, and then additional unique byler scenes. Mike staying by Willow’s side 24 hours a day for several days (not even changing clothes), carrying her out of the hospital, grabbing her hand (with a zoom in shot),constantly asking her if she’s okay at least 5-7 times, putting his arm around her twice, being the only one who could tell something was off with her (and it wasn’t her normal type of quiet). Calling and running all the way to her house and banging on the door to check on her, desperate. Watching her sleep cause he’s so worried. That shed scene reminiscing about how they first met in perfect detail, saying “I asked, I asked if you wanted to be my friend. You said yes, you said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. (like a marriage proposal)”  The “crazy together” scene. Them being close since they were 5 vs the girl he knew for a week (but is somehow in love with?). In s2 if Mike sadly watched Willow dance with another guy , while Dustin does the same to Max. Forget it- everyone would already know mileven would be doomed to fail.

And again think about s3 if Will was a girl.They parallel the (comedic) mileven breakup vs (the sad/serious) byler breakup. Then Mike just complains and burps on the couch vs apologizing to Willlow multiple times/even going into a storm to apologize a 2nd time (and to ‘talk’). Willow having a breakdown over the fight vs El laughing and high five-ing Max after.The shed vs the pool shed scene- “best thing I’ve ever done” vs “you’re the most important thing in the world to me”, “blank makes you crazy’ (as El stares confused) vs “crazy together’ (where Willow says ‘yeah, crazy together’). Mike going on ‘movie dates with Willlow all the time’ right after making out with El. The last mileven kiss where Mike has his eyes open the whole time,  and doesn’t kiss back. And saying he doesn’t remember saying  “I love” you to El (and doesn’t say ‘I love you’ back). Right after having a talk with Willow about playing games when she comes back (the crux of their fight). Mike getting excited that he’ll be able to visit El and Willow on Thanksgiving and them visiting him on Christmas (those are holidays where family usually introduces their S.O.) Having the last scene of Mike,  be him looking back at Willow’s house, and have that whole monologue about “feelings changing”, and then he goes to hug his mom like the s1 byler scene where he thought Willow was dead, signifying he lost her again. And that’s not even all the scenes- and every time byler won by a landslide. If Will was a girl, we wouldn’t be ‘delusional’! It would be obvious writing on the wall, that Mike would eventually choose Willow over El by the end of the series.

But since they are 2 boys, we’re delusional, because queer kids don’t exist … apparently.

*S3-I’m not repeating my literal essays but they’re probably better than this post so here are the links to pretty much all my s3 byler meta.  (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

gif credit: 1st few have the name stark in the gifs, 2nd byler gif (found on wheheart.com- user dream_daisy, not sure if they also have a Tumblr , 3rd livelovecaliforniadreams, 4th &10th Cath-avery, 5& 6th unknown, 7-9 eggogorgon . Tell me if you know the unknown one so I can give credit , please.

[clericbyers]

The funny thing about RR!St3 (and yes I'm still talking about this) is that its technically your au so if u don't like stuff about season 3-and maybe that's like everything lmao- than you can change it for this au!!! so what're some things you could change to flex on the duffers with ur beautiful Galaxy brain?

oh ur so right….oh man OH MAN the power in my hands right now…this is super long but i got so into it okay thank u…

First off, my real vision for RR!ST3 would not be too close to how ST3 went down; the RR!ST3 I originally hashed out was me trying to stick close to ST3 but as I said then, it was hard bc many of the issues in ST3 wouldn’t happen if Mike wasn’t obsessed with El and if we actually address the fact that these kids are dealing with serious trauma from the events of ST2. In RR!ST2, Mike would be the one dealing with being possessed, Will would have been at his side the entire time, Nancy and Mike would be a lot tighter thanks to RR!ST1 (like she’d be very overprotective because she almost lost her brother and he’s annoying yeah but she can’t imagine not having him in her life anymore). So when RR!ST2 ends with the Snowball, I can see Mike still dancing with El when she returns because he needs to thank her, she saved his life after all, but I really. just cannot see his level of attachment being enough to try to date her. Because in ST1 and at the beginning of ST2, Mike is wracked with guilt about losing her, about bonding with her and ultimately her being a sacrifice to save them. He doesn’t have that in RR!ST1 and RR!ST2, at least not to the same degree as ST1 and ST2. He didn’t have the time to bond to El and while I think he might have fleeting feelings for his savior (like I said, nightingale effect) and have some guilt about how she seemingly gave up her life to save everyone, especially him, I also think RR!ST2 Mike would be very attached to Will though given how Will trusted him and stuck by him despite all the horrors. Mike takes loyalty very seriously and Will being with Nancy and Karen (as she would be the “crazy” mom who lost her son in RR!ST1, but she’d enlist Joyce’s help since Ted wouldn’t really care so it would be power duo Joyren trying to figure out where Mike is) in the RR!ST2 shed scene would mean a lot to him.

Now, we have those 8 months between ST2 and ST3 where basically Mike and El entered a relationship in ‘85. In that time frame in the RR au, I would focus more on how the Party is getting over the trauma they faced during RR!ST2. Firstly, Mike is definitely not okay after being possessed by a demonic godly shadow force. He’s in therapy again maybe, back on medications, IDK what exactly but he is broken inside but trying his best to act like everything is normal and he wasn’t just possessed. I think he would try to cling onto his childhood as Will did in ST3, because Mike didn’t get to grow up normal since he got kidnapped and possessed by monsters. Will and El would bond a lot in those 8 months though, definitely becoming closer siblings and El having a crush on Mike can still a thing. Mike might not feel that same way for her but he’d be down for dating if just to feel normal again. Part of that may be to continue dampening how he feels for Will because he just wants to be a regular kid again and what he feels for his best friend is not at all natural in his mind. I like the idea of Mike and El getting together in ST3 at the mall scene so I’d stick with that. But I also feel like Mike would definitely also be spending half the time subconsciously trying to stay away from El because she’s also a reminder of the horrors he faced in the UD and with the Mind Flayer.

There would be a lot of Will, El, Mike moments too! Will is her brother of sorts in the RR au and Hopper is only ever really comfortable with Mike coming to visit when Will is over, too, even before Mike agrees to date El.

So okay, Episode 1 of RR!ST3 deals with the fact that all the kids are still dealing with some sort of trauma. Mike wakes up from a nightmare, uses his walkie talkie to contact Will, and Will comes over and sits in his room with him and they chat for a bit until Mike can fall back asleep. Will sits at the foot of Mike’s bed watching him sleep before he sneaks back out the house. Nancy catches him and thanks him for stopping by and then he catches Lucas outside too while making his way back home. Lucas casually mentions that he couldn’t sleep and they chat about how weird things have been when no one in Hawkins knows what happened last fall. In the early afternoon the next day, Will bikes over to Hopper’s cabin to hang out with El, they listen to music and doodle together for hours, just being great friends. El casually mentions that she might have a bit of a crush on Mike (who comes with Dustin, Lucas, and El to visit sometimes because fuck ST3 and isolating El from the Party). This could be a moment for Will to be like, “Oh, me, too.” and they can bond over liking Mike together (that’d be cute af!! and it would help Will feel more comfortable about how he feels toward Mike when he’s able to talk about it without persecution). She asks him if Mike likes him back and Will kinda just stops doodling.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs hoarsely. “He’s never said anything.”

El hums and takes out a purple crayon to color in the grass. “Do you know if he likes me?”

Will says he doesn’t know but that he’ll figure it out for her. Hopper won’t let her come with Will to the movie that night so he promises one night he’ll help sneak her out and then bikes over to the theater. We have the ST3 theater scene but it’s reversed of course, so it’s Mike who feels the Mind Flayer and Will who asks him if he’s okay. Mike isn’t as shy and flustered as Will was in ST3 though, he tries to brush Will off petulantly (as RR!ST3 Mike tries his best to act like the events of RR!ST2 aren’t affecting him as much as it is) but Will takes his hand and says, “It’s okay to not be okay.” and Mike kinda fidgets but squeezes his hand in turn before they both go back to watching the movie.

The next day when Dustin comes back, we have the Party going up to Cerebro but there would not be any El and Mike leaving like in ST3. Instead, Will and El are whispering between themselves but it’s not really much about anything. El is too shy to ask Mike if he wants to sit with her as they listen to Dustin call his girlfriend and Will just wants her to feel comfortable near Mike and keeps pestering for her to just sit next to him. Mike is irritated because he wanted to hang with Will more today and he’s bonding with El. His powers activate from his irritation and he’s blocking the radio signal for Dustin and Suzie’s call. When it starts getting late, the Party splits up, Will and El leaving first because of curfew (a real one not the lie El told in ST3). Lucas and Max leave next and Mike is left solo with Dustin.

“I know that Will and El aren’t together, but god, I feel so childish being the single one out.” Mike complains as a chill breeze washes over the two of them.

Dustin hums distractedly, still trying to work out why Cerebro isn’t picking up Suzie’s channel. It takes a moment for Mike’s words to sink in and then he perks. “You know, El likes you.”

“She what?” Mike blurts, giving Dustin a look. “No, she doesn’t. She can’t.”

“Uh, but she can and she does.” Dustin turns a random knob to a different frequency. “It’s pretty obvious; she was sending you heart eyes this entire time if your oblivious ass would have realized.”

Mike isn’t sure how to feel about it. He’s always seen El as Will’s sister, especially with Hopper attempting (and kinda failing) at dating Joyce. Even when they danced at Snowball, it was a thing of gratitude, of joy, of acknowledging that she hadn’t died and he was happy about that. But, El actually liking him? “What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Do you like her?”

Mike scrunches his nose. He feels…something toward her but he’s not really sure what it is. It’s not the same way he feels toward Nancy but it’s not what he felt toward Max either. And it’s definitely not what he feels toward Will, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now. He wants to feel normal. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, if it’s not a solid no, then I’d say go for it.” Dustin adjusts his hat and leans back with a sigh. “She’s cute and I think this is the first time a cute girl has ever liked your nerdy ass.”

“Shut up,” laughs Mike and he nudges his friend who grins in turn. He looks up at the sky and sighs. “I should probably get back home before my mom goes nuts. Talk to you later, yeah?”

“I’m leaving, too,” he sighs as he stands up. “I don’t know why this isn’t working. Maybe the clouds are too overcast.”

Mike shrugs and flicks at the radio’s antenna. It buzzes erratically, static blasting through Dustin’s headphones and then suddenly there’s a voice coming through the noise. It’s a blend of things, like the receiver is caught between two frequencies. One is Suzie, the other is some spoken code (in English because the random inclusion of the Russians works for Red Scare era / anti-Russia 80′s America but like…it had no set up so I wouldn’t use it for RR!ST3) that neither Mike nor Dustin can understand. Dustin tries to fix the frequency channels to focus on Suzie, but he looses her and the input only focuses on the frequency the code is on. Mike touches the antenna again, holding on this time around, and he can literally feel the electric currents coursing through him, something sharper than a tickle but not as harsh as actual electrocution. The dials on the receiver interface start wavering about randomly and crazily until Mike lets go and then there’s only static again.

“What the,” Dustin mutters, bending down to check how Cerebro is working. “What did you do?”

Mike stares down at his hands, a panic attack on the edge of his senses because, seriously, what the hell was that? First having flashbacks in the theater and feeling that shocking tingling sensation on their way up the hill, now this? “I…I don’t know.”

Dustin taps at a dial and frowns. “Touch it again. Like hold onto it as you did earlier.” Mike does as told and the dials go nuts again. “Mike…do you…have you had any issues near electrical appliances recently?”

Mike scowls and tries to remember if anything odd has happened recently. “No? Not really. Sometimes the radio in my mom’s car doesn’t work and the TV gets a little staticy but that’s normal. Oh, and we had flickering lights out at the cabin when Will, Lucas, and I visited but it’s a cabin in the woods so what do you expect.”

Dustin bites at his bottom lip. “And this only happens when you’re around?”

“I, uh,” Mike grabs at his hair, “No, no, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It can’t…I’m not, what…I thought that was the Upside Down only.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could touch the lights and the TV when I was in the Upside Down version of the basement. And when I touched them, everything glowed. Kind of like casting Daylight in D&D.” Mike struggles to find his breath; he never really talks about what it was like in the Upside Down. “And…and I knew, I knew where the demogorgon was before I should have. Like innate. And the dead people…”

“Detect Evil?” Dustin suggests, cocking his head to the side. “Mike, do you think any of that stuck with you here?”

[ So basically, the equivalent of “magic” in D&D is electricity in the real world / the Upside Down since electricity and tech is kinda like modern magic, and all of Mike’s powers in the Upside Down are, in theory, paladin spells. He couldn’t control which lights flickered on like Will did in ST1 but he can turn them on and he can create a beacon, along with talking to the dead and having an innate circle of protection around him (a magic circle as paladins can have!) ]

Mike goes back home totally freaked out and refusing to believe he has “powers” because his time in the UD felt like such a nightmare anyway. He just wanted to survive, he didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask for the Mind Flayer to possess him and use his body to kill people, to almost destroy Hawkins in the process. And that night, Mike decides he absolutely cannot let these possible powers do anything or mean anything because he’s normal, he’s a normal 14-year-old boy who is absolutely not crushing on his very male best friend, no, he’s gonna get a girlfriend, and hang out at the mall like kids do over the summer, and everything is going to be fine.

The next day, Will doesn’t go over to El’s place to hang out, Mike picks up the phone and says a dumb lie about Will being busy to try to get out of it. (“Friends don’t lie,” says El afterwards. “But brothers do.” snorts Max, “All. The. Time.”) He’s frustrated by El wanting to spend time with Will one-on-one when he’s trying to get the og4 Party members together for some normal hangout time playing D&D because, again, Mike here is the one trying to cling onto his childhood, even more now that he might have “powers”. They play D&D with Mike as DM and it all goes well until Karen comes downstairs asking about magnets and Mike internally freaks out. He’s been feeling like someone is watching him for a while now (hint: El when spying on the boys in the Void) and now his mom is talking about something that could very well be his powers working. Dustin knows and can actually see it, so he suggests everyone should get some fresh air and hang out at the mall. The Party goes out shopping, they hang out at Scoops Ahoy and Mike and Dustin share their story about the radio last night but purposefully leave out details about what Mike did with the antenna. Will feels guilty for lying so he’s trying to find some new clothes so El isn’t always wearing Hopper’s hand-me-downs, and they run into Max and El outside.

“Well, well, well,” Max huffs as she crosses her arms. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Will is worried because El leaving the house and being at the mall of all places would definitely make Hopper upset. “Are you okay?” he asks her, careful not to sound too overbearing. “Does Hopper know you’re here?”

El shrugs. “I told him I was seeing Max. And I am.” She turns to Mike. “You said Will couldn’t come over yet you are shopping. Why did you lie?”

Mike, who has spent practically the whole time at the mall on pins and needles, is really not in the mood for being questioned like this. “It just came out. I wanted to hang with the boys, okay? Just us. Like old days.”

El frowns. “Do you not like me?”

“No! No, I really like you!” Mike softens up and gives her a smile. “Honest; friends don’t lie, right? I’m sorry I lied to you. Today’s been…weird.” Dustin huffs at that. “Don’t worry about it though, I genuinely like you.”

And Mike doesn’t mean it that way–he had just said ‘friends don’t lie’ because he really does see her as a friend–but El takes it that way, and she grins widely, blushing as she ducks her head. “I like you, too, Mike.”

Will didn’t even think Mike liked El that way but now that it’s spoken in front of him, he can feel his heart breaking just a bit because any chance he thought he had is gone in his mind. El steps into Mike’s space and he blinks a couple times. “I want to go out with you.”

Dustin gasps, Lucas covers his mouth, Will tries his best not to look dejected, and Max whoops at her side. Mike turns to Will, who is staring at his feet, and then looks back at El. (A parallel to Snowball when Will looked at Mike for approval before going to dance with Zombie Boy girl.) Mike told himself he was gonna get a girlfriend and be normal, right? Ignore whatever happens in his chest when Will smiles at him. Ignore all of that and his stupid powers and be normal. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let’s go out.”

So the Party stays at the mall a little longer and Mike and El hang out together and get ice cream at Scoops’ Ahoy, which is amusing to Steve and Robin both. At the end, they go back to the Wheelers and El has to go back to the cabin but Mike is kind of in a daze because wow, he just got a girlfriend for the first time and went on a date with her. Dustin keeps teasing him, Lucas is cackling and making kissing jokes, but Will…Will is oddly silent at first. They get back on the campaign but no one can really concentrate and Will starts getting concerned about El and how she was out and about without Hopper’s knowledge. Mike is even more frustrated now because he thought things were going to start getting normal now, but it just seems to be falling apart. Will won’t even concentrate on the campaign, Dustin is horrible at trying to be subtle about if Mike’s powers are activating, and Lucas is complaining with Will about how Max and El are hanging out.

Mike lashes out and storms outside, where Will goes after him. “Mike, I’m sorry, it’s a really good campaign,” Will starts with a hand to Mike’s shoulder, “but I’m worried about El and I just…I can’t concentrate right now. We can play it tomorrow, I promise.”

Mike yanks himself away from Will. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s always tomorrow! I said ‘see you tomorrow’ before and then I never did! Tomorrow may never fucking come! But oh, that doesn’t matter, huh? Tomorrow always comes for you. Tomorrow is always gonna be better.”

“Mike,”

“No!” he yells and lightening crackles in the distance. “No, you don’t get to say anything! You keep spending time with El, forgetting about all of us! I’m her boyfriend now and I’m not even this obsessed with her whereabouts.” He waves at Will, who scowls. “She’s not even really your sister and you’re letting her just ruining the party like this? And for what? So you can have a fake younger sister to hole up in her room all day?”

Will’s nostrils flare. “El is my sister whether you like it or not!” He snaps back with irritation. “It’s not my fault you don’t like El!”

Mike pauses, eyes widening just a fraction as his breath visibly hitches. No one was supposed to know that he wasn’t even sure how he felt…Dustin himself had come to the conclusion that Mike knew he liked El all along. Will though wants to take it back immediately. Taking out his anger onto Mike isn’t fair at all and just because Mike suddenly has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he should try to accuse Mike of not liking her. But he can’t help but question either way because Mike barely alluded to seeing her that way anyway.

“Look, I’m…I’m sorry, that came out wrong. So wrong.” He steps toward Mike, who tenses up more. “I know you like El, okay? I know you care about her. I care about her, too, just differently. She helped save you and the Party, how can I not care? That type of care has been with me for months. I can’t shut that off. I’m sorry.”

Mike’s breathing is getting denser and his vision is getting blurry because now he knows. Now he knows how he feels and he really fucked up saying yes to dating El. He doesn’t like her like Nancy and he doesn’t like her like Max either. He especially doesn’t like her like a boyfriend. “I like El like how you like her.”

“Mike?” Will’s voice is soft and shaking a little and Mike feels like throwing up.

“El saved me,” he whispers, “She saved me and I like her for that. I do. But she’s not…”

“She’s not what?”

Mike is crying now, angry tears dripping down his face like the rain as his voice crackles like the thunder. “She’s not you! I thought she would be enough and maybe I was wrong for it but it hasn’t even been a full day and I already know! I already know I don’t like her like that because I like you!”

There’s nothing but the patter of rain and Mike’s heavy breathing, and Mike can already feel his heart breaking because he spent so long trying to deny this and now he blurted it out in the midst of an argument like a dumbass and now Will is going to hate him. Hate him for not being normal, hate Mike for being what Lonnie always said he was. He’s crying still, hands shaking at his side as the tears continue to spill.

Will looks up at him with widened eyes and Mike can’t take it any longer. He can’t face the inevitable rejection right now. “I need to go.”

“Mike, wait, no! Mike!” Will rushes toward him but Mike’s already on his bike and riding through the rain. “Mike! Mike, come back!”

When Mike doesn’t turn back, Will rushes downstairs, tears streaming down his face as well and he can barely get his words out. “We need to find Mike, we need to find him now!”

“Will, what happened?” Lucas asks but Will grabs his jacket instead of replying.

“We need to go, now.” the brunette is shaking and Dustin puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Seriously, Will, what happened? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

“Yes, yes, oh my god,” Will collapses on the stairs before he can finish climbing them. “Oh my god, he confessed to me.”

“Confessed what? His powers?”

Will blinks a few times and looks up at Dustin as he rubs at his runny nose. “His what? Powers?”

Dustin freezes. “Oh. I, uh, I thought…oh…oh. Mike likes you?”

Will waves a passing hand. “Pause, what is this about Mike’s powers?”

Lucas speaks up with irritation. “I thought you said we need to go!”

So all the boys get on their bikes and ride toward the Byers house since that’s where Mike would go when his nightmares got bad enough and it’s a safe place for him outside of the basement. Dustin explains what Mike had done with Cerbero and how they caught this code that he had been sort of hashing out with Steve and Robin when they went to the mall. No one is home at the Byers residence (Joyce and Karen are out with Hopper doing their whole side storyline there) and Will starts to freak out more.

“Where would he be, where would he be?”

Lucas crosses his arms. “Maybe the cabin? That’s where his girlfriend is after all.”

And that’s not where Mike is, he’s actually with Steve and Robin at the mall given he feels he’d be better off with someone who understands the UD/MF mess (Steve) and someone who doesn’t know the Party dynamics (Robin). He’s just about to tell Robin about his confession to Will when he feels the Mind Flayer and knows that he’s back.

The rest of the season is kinda…the same ish but also not?? But so I don’t write out the whole damn thing now lmao here are the pointers:

El and Mike are still trying to be girlfriend and boyfriend when they reunite at the cabin (Scoops Troop is a thing but it’s not tied to the Russian bs so they aren’t at the mall the entire time) but Mike is also really uncomfortable with El’s advances though he tries not to act like it.

Mike avoids Will as best he can even though Will keeps trying to get one-on-one time with Mike to confess that he likes him back

Jonathan and Nancy team up at the cabin too with news about the exploding rats (the MF’s attempt to possess non humans that went wrong) and Mike speaks up about how he might have powers himself

El tries to teach him how to go into the Void (which would be like a prayer for him) but when he does so, he ends up running into the Mind Flayer and find out that it’s after him and is willing to kill all his friends to get to him

Mike and El both pull out of the Void together gasping and crying and Will is immediately at Mike’s side as Max rushes to El. “He’s going to kill us,” Mike sobs shakily, “He’s going to kill us all.”

El gets attacked by the Mind Flayer (not Meat Flayer) because it was coming for Mike and she intercepted the transmission using her mind

At the hospital Mike breaks up with El (instead of how in ST3 they became friends again), and she’s a little hurt but understanding when he confesses that he likes someone more than her and doesn’t want to hurt her by lying to her constantly when dating her

Will finally gets Mike to himself here and is about to confess but then Mike feels the Mind Flayer (his innate sense evil power) and it’s possessed someone. He confronts it, helps save Nancy from the shapeshifting demogorgon attacking her, and banishes it from this dimension, only to pass out from the effort

El takes over with her powers and with Mike’s help, accesses the radio to find the channel that Dustin and Mike had found before. She discovers that someone is trying to open the gate again under the mall

At the supermarket, Will and Mike finally get to talk and Will confesses that he likes Mike, too. “Blank makes you crazy, right?” Mike chuckles as he takes Will’s hand in his own. He’s not willing to say love yet even if he knows it’s true. He knows that Will understands him though. Will always does.

“Yeah,” the boy replies sweetly, “blank makes you crazy.”

Cue an almost kiss before Lucas and Dustin come around with the fireworks and they all get over to the mall

Big battle against the Mind Flayer and the people it possessed. Instead of a giant gory meat machine, it possesses people in Hawkins like it did Mike in RR!ST2 and uses them to shapeshift them into individual monsters. So the Party is attacked by a horde of demogorgons and demodogs!!

The fireworks help a lot as Lucas suggested, and Mike and El work together as superpowered besties to banish the Mind Flayer from all the neighbors. Some die in the process (because it’s just, brutal and violent and horrible) and Mike gets temporarily repossessed in the battle but he’s more leveled up now and understands how this works, so he can banish the MF from him (a level 4 paladin spell might I add!) as much as El used her powers to take out the piece of the meat machine in her leg in ST3

Hopper closes the gate but not in enough time (we need him in the Upside Down for RR!ST4) and then the Mind Flayer retreats, but it kills all the people it had possessed in the process, which only wrecks the kids with guilt for being unable to save everyone like they almost did

This also frightens Mike who has been possessed by the Mind Flayer because it means his connection is still strong enough that the Mind Flayer could kill him instantly too (but it won’t bc Mike and El’s powers are too strong and it could possibly kill itself trying to kill them through that connection)

At the end there’s no one really moving away. El has lost her powers, Mike’s are nearly depleted / he doesn’t know how to use them without El’s help. Everyone is mourning Hopper and with El and Mike unable to use their powers, they can’t go into the Void to see that Hopper’s actually alive.

uhhh the epilogue is the first day of high school and the Party are hopping off their bikes and chatting about something nonsensical. Lucas and Max are holding hands, Dustin is waving his arms about wildly as he explains his latest science project, and Mike and Will are standing close together, just enough to brush their fingers together. (El is homeschooled since she needs to catch up on her education)

“You okay?” Will asks quietly as they stand off to the side away from the bustling crowds. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I know,” Mike grins down at his boyfriend, which is still so blush inducing to think about, so he blushes. “But, I’m fine. I’ve got you right beside me so I’m definitely okay.”

[rndyounghowze]

Shaken Not Stirred Players are Not Getting Married Today with Company at Gateway by the Bay in Somers Point, NJ

By: Ricky and Dana Young-Howze

The Gateway by the Bay was the jewel of the shore last night with a production of Company staged by the Shaken Not Stirred Players. This musical with music by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth was directed by Sally Castle and gave us a great reason to be alive!

It's Bobby's thirty-fifth birthday. He's got a great apartment, lots of friends. You could say he's always in good...well company. But there's this nagging thing inside him. He's not married and even though he has so many friends he's still lacking... something. He hangs out with all of his married friends and some on again off again girlfriends but does he ever really have someone? Will he find it before he has to blow out another set of birthday candles?

I used to do a lot of theatre with a small theatre group just like this so I can appreciate something about the direction by Sally Castle. When you have a company (ha) of community stage veterans like this you're more directing traffic and channeling energy. You get a group of stage friends with great energy and all of a sudden you're on the same wavelength. I felt like there was a little bit of dragging energy up front but then the first bars of the opening number struck up and this show just took off! You can almost rev them up every night and get out of their way.

This cast gave me so many feels! I don't know where to begin!

When you first look at Robert (played by Mark Leggieri) you think "really, him"? And then he sings and you're like "oooh!" And then he acts and you're like "him!" It's not that he doesn't look the part but you almost can't see it with such a lovable looking guy! So yeah he's the biggest sleeper hit of the night. You gotta come see him. He really holds his audience and delivers a powerhouse performance. He bowled me over.

Sarah (played by Nina Meron) can rock bright patterns and knock a guy on his rump. That's a skill set not always called for but she delivers. Don't forget that she's also a great singer and dancer and mixes great against James Dalfonso as Harry. Speaking of him...

Harry (played by James Dalfonso) can now add punching bag to his resume! It's great to see a producer cutting a rug with the cast onstage. I know producers who work in the office or direct behind the scenes. I like the producers who act in the trenches with the rest of the battalion.

Susan (played by Sherry Mistler) gave her best southern drawl that she could muster and this Tennessee expat was kinda impressed. You can hear her splendid voice in the background all the time! I definitely would love to see her onstage again!

Peter (played by Timothy J. Cooper) should really be known for his wonderful two step in "Side by Side" but he also has some really great acting chops. She and Sherry really need to share the stage again.

Jenny (played by Deborah Jenkins) was just a laugh riot from the very beginning to the end. I really liked her voice the best. This Indiana native had the Jersey shore rolling in the aisles last night!

I won’t talk about how David (played by Keith D. Cooper) played high “a little too well”. And he can sure cut a rug. His work in the mail ensemble pieces really took the cake!

I definitely couldn't keep my eyes off of Amy (played by Chelsey Jean) she gets my second favorite song of the night and she literally made me put down my phone and laugh out loud! To be so cool and trained to be off your rocker so divinely is an amazing gift! Thanks for sharing it with us!

A great shout out to Paul (played by Eric Williams) for being in character all the dang time especially since he has to be right behind Bobby center stage most of the night. A great voice with a lot of promise in it!

Joanne (played by Karen Sutherland) Is my spirit animal with her sass and snark. It's just what you need in a musical like this. You have to listen to her rendition of "Ladies who Lunch". It's the topper on the wackadoodle cake of this musical.

Greg Dragon who played Larry is an anesthesiologist by day but leaves people feeling anything but numb in real life. His singing and dancing is sure to give tingles! You think he should dance like a Sherman tank but he's really quite nimble.

Marta (played by Katie Risko) gets to sing my favorite song and so loved the way that she rambled on and on and verbally flowed all over us. That's the best way I can describe her performance. It's a really great thing I promise.

Kathy (played by Kimberly Glenn Tunney) is normally one of my favorite high school directors and was so great to see her hit the stage for the first time in a long time. I really hope it isn't the last! She was really good!

April (played by Jacklyn Buckingham) just made me giggle. It takes a lot of skill and intelligence to be so ditzy. Great job!

A good shout-out to the choreography by Nancy Gibson. It's hard sometimes to adjust for a large mix of actors that aren't exactly chorus girls but aren't greenhorns either. She was able to coax a mind-blowing performance out of them.

Conductor and pianist Scott J. Breiner worked hard with percussionists Jason Koenig and Ed Shea to fill the house with the rich music of Sondheim's score. This is a good thing about your director also being your musical director. You can directly control the mixes of sound and voices. Actually I have to commend the whole cast for having great voices that carried very far into the house over all the music and noise and karate going on. Great job!

Set design and construction by James Dalfonso, Eric Peterson, and Tyler Hogg made such a dynamic and beautiful staging. I wish a little thought would be taken on the height of steps in future productions. The many stepped platforms ensured a lot of actors were more looking at their feet so as to not trip instead of being in the moment.

Lighting Design by Philip Pallitto made great work of using the cyclorama and bright colors to brighten the atmosphere. I adore the use of shadow and light to draw our focus to what we should be seeing when the stage is full of couples.

Costume Design by Karen Sutherland and Sarah MacArthur gave me characters that "printed" in my head. I could tell you exactly who was who if you asked me something as simple as their shirt color and that's important in huge ensemble numbers. Great job!

This is a show that I love no matter how dated it gets. You get a fun loving cast that loves the show and you can still have a lot of fun stepping inside of it. You can tell that they really loved this show and want you to love it by the end too! They have a matinee today and another weekend coming up. Go see them!

[dingusandsmartypants]

Prompt: maybe a one shot about how Steve deals with his parents (because in canon it seems like they are away a lot of the time and we just don't see them) and maybe add Dustin into the mix somewhere because Steve basically has the little brother he didnt know he needed :)

Here it is! I got another prompt today that was to write about Steve’s father being abusive, so I kinda combined the two. I hope you like it!

(Trigger warnings: emotional/verbal abuse and slurs, mention of family member death – which is totally not canon but helped this story)___________________________________________

“You’re an idiot.” He’d lost count of how many times those words had been said to him. Nancy had said it to him a couple times, and though she’d said it jokingly, he couldn’t help but think there was at least a little part of her that believed it. It was true, he didn’t have the best grades in school, and he’d even failed a couple classes. But that didn’t make him an idiot. …Did it?

Steve sighed and covered his face with his hands for a moment. He’d just had another fight with his father, and he couldn’t help but feel like there was something wrong with him – the way he always did after a fight with the man. No one at school knew about the way his father treated him. He didn’t want them to; it made him feel weak. He was King Steve, after all. Or at least… he used to be. Once he’d ditched his asshole “friends” and started dating Nancy he began to lose that popularity. But he didn’t care. He had Nancy, and that’s all he really needed. …Now he didn’t even have her. She’d left him for Jonathan, and the worst part was the he didn’t blame her. Jonathan was smart and creative, and Steve was just… Well, Steve didn’t know what he was. That was the problem.

The couple people he had told about his father had insisted it was abuse, especially Nancy. But he’d never been hurt in a fight with his dad – not physically at least – so he was sure that it couldn’t count as abuse. Could it? No… he wasn’t abused. His dad was just an asshole, and his mom was just completely checked out, and… there was just something wrong with Steve.

He remembered the time that he’d gotten his ass kicked by Jonathan Byers in an alley after he’d called him a screw up, and he didn’t blame Jonathan. Even a year ago when it happened… he never blamed him. Because Jonathan wasn’t the screw up, Steve was. That’s what his dad had always told him. The only other person who knew about his father was his grandfather, who had died two years ago. His grandfather was the only person who truly believed in him. He was the only person in his family who came to all of his basketball games, and he’d even intervene when Steve’s dad would try to start things at holiday dinners. That’s why he’d written about him in his application essay. Nancy hadn’t understood how his grandpa was connected to his own experience of winning a basketball game, but it made perfect sense to Steve. Because he remembered seeing his grandfather in the stands watching him proudly; and he remembered how that made him feel. And that was how he’d won that game.

He took a shaky breath and squeezed his eye closed, trying not to cry. He was sure that if he started crying now, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And if his dad walked into his room while he was sitting on his bed crying, he knew he’d never live it down. This had only happened one time, but that was more than enough.

It had happened a week after his grandfather had died, and Steve had had another fight with his father. Normally after a fight, he’d call his grandpa to calm down, but at this point he no longer had that resource – which had been his only resource – and as he hid in his bedroom from his father, he couldn’t help but break down. But his father was evidently not finished with him because he’d only been crying a minute when the man came barging in. “Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you, you understand me?” he’d yelled, and then stopped short when he had noticed Steve – his son – sitting on his bed, sobbing. “What the hell is wrong with you? You are sixteen years old, almost a grown-ass man! Why are you sitting here crying like some kind of fag? Sometimes I wonder if you really are my son. Because no son of mine would be caught dead acting this way.”

Steve shuddered at the memory. He’d always regretted not telling his dad to go to hell, and that he wished he wasn’t his son. Those words would be so satisfying to say, but he’d never had the guts to say them out loud. He sighed and looked down at his watch which his grandfather had given him, and his eyes widened. “Shit!” he said, standing up. When had it gotten so late?

He had promised Dustin he’d drop him off at the Snow Ball, and if he didn’t leave now, he was going to be late. He liked Dustin. He was a good kid and he seemed to have taken a liking to Steve. He was like a little brother, and Steve wanted to help him in any way he could. –And if that meant teaching him how to do his hair and taking him to dances and… occasionally fighting monsters from another dimension… then that’s what he was going to do.

He grabbed his keys and left his room, feeling his heart race as he walked down the stairs, realizing he would have to walk past his father to get out of the house. He took a deep breath, and started walking through the living room, ignoring his father’s abusive comments… until he stood up and followed Steve, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning his son around to face him. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“Out.”

The man laughed. It wasn’t a genuine laugh, but a forced one of mockery, “‘Out?’ No. You’re staying here. You’re grounded, you hear me? You’re not going out with any little sluts tonight.” And that’s when Steve realized something. After everything he’d been through the past month from protecting the kids from Billy, to protecting them from rabid dog-things from another dimension, to babysitting them every week since then because damnit, he had absolutely become their big brother, there was no reason for him to fear his father anymore. He would never let the man treat any of the kids the way he treated Steve, and if he really wanted set a good example for said kids, then he shouldn’t be letting his father treat him this way either.

“No,” Steve said, “I don’t hear you. I’m done listening to you. You made me think I was a piece of shit for eighteen years, and I’m done feeling like that.” He shrugged his father’s hand off his shoulder and turned back around, leaving the house and heading for his car. He started the engine and smiled a little. Finally he could let go of the fear of ending up like his father, because he was doing something his father never had: caring about someone besides himself.