#fuck mileven

[bylerxbrainrot]

can we all collectively agree that jonathan byers is the #1 byler shipper

idk if will told him or if he just knows but he’s definitely aware of it

[paladintoyourcleric]

This always bothers me with Milevens, they only really care about El's side of the story. Like Oh yeah Mike might have feelings for Will and is probably not happy in his relationship, but El will be sad if they break up. And I found this perfect example:

(this is not the full post btw, there is more but this is the part I wanted to touch on)

Just because Mike "cares deeply for her" does not mean he likes/loves her romantically. Like you love your sister, but not romantically? (if you do im concerned )

And just because you love someone romantically doesn't mean they like you like that. I'm in love with Maya Hawke, she doesn't love me back.

No one should ever be pressured to stay in a relationship just because the other party still has romantic feelings.

[claire-de-lune]

what do you think about Smalltown Boy being mikes first song on his spotify playlist? (a song about being gay in the 80s and wanting to leave town)

It means Mike is gay in the 80s and wants to leave town. (With Will, his secret lover).

Didn’t you know Music=Sexuality. Get your shit together anon. We all know Mike hates El and only wants Will.

[love-byers]

ah yes because they filmed this stranger things scene in an actual cabin in the middle of the woods and not on a set with artificial lighting, green screen, and props like 80% of the rest of the show and just allowed the natural light from the sun to cast down on will and mike in a way that film/lighting professionals would agree has connotations

because the creators of this show with a 30 MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET PER EPISODE don't give a fuck

mike visually reaching out of the darkness to comfort will, who is bathed in light, means absolutely nothing

you're so right random mlvn stan on twitter who has never studied film a day in your life

[samcats]

Mike and Wills friendship vs everybody elses

I’m sick of people acting like Mike and Wills friendship is platonic when 1. One literally had a crush on the other and 2. None of the other friendships are treated the same way Mike and Will are throughout the seasons so let’s go over them!

(This is gonna be a long one!)

Season 2 & 1

First off, in season 1, the show focuses on how Will going missing effects Mike the most out of all his friends. Mike is the only one to notice Will isn’t at school the day he goes missing. Mike is the one to come up with the idea to go out looking for him. Mike only keeps El around when he realizes she can help find Will. Mike is the only one that’s focused on after they find Will’s “dead” body. Mike is the only one out of the party members that holds proper hope that Will may still be alive.

In season 2 he was the only one that went outside of the arcade to check where Will had gone. He was the only one that noticed Will was being extra quiet that day at school. He panicked when he couldn’t find Will, “Will what’s wrong? I couldn’t find you, are you hurt? I’m gonna get you home, okay? I’m gonna get you home”, He purposely volunteered himself to go check on Will and then proceed to stay with Will in the hospital for days afterwards. He was the only one out of his friends that stayed with Will in the shed when he was possessed.

Edit: also wanted to point out how in the crazy together scene when Will told Mike about the mindflayer he said “just please don’t tell the others okay? They wouldn’t understand.” Implying that Will trusts Mike the most and that he thinks only Mike would understand what he’s going through.

& Will only yelled Mike’s name when he was having an episode before the crazy together scene happened. He didn’t yell Lucas’s name or Dustin’s or even Jonathan or his mums, his first instinct was to call Mike for help. Both of these things furthermore prove my point that their friendship is different from the others and they’re much closer

Again, the show focuses on Will and Mikes friendship the most this season. Not their friendships with Lucas or Dustin or anybody else, just with eachother. None of the other friendships in the show have done anything like this. Hell none of the friendships in the show ever GET as much attention and focus as Mike and Will do throughout the seasons. They are treated so differently. Still don’t believe me?

Season 3

One of the most iconic Byler scenes is the rain fight scene. Now I'm not really gonna talk about how obviously romantic this scene is by itself. But how it contrasts Will and Lucas's apology scene. The contrast between these two scenes is such a huge piece of evidence to me and I'm surpsired I don't see it around more

(Thank you to this video for saving me while I was trying to find the scenes https://youtu.be/u-rLx10eROw?si=vdGoQNtnXU103iZt )

Here’s the two scenes mixed together for reference:

Byler’s fight

In the Byler scene, it has buildup. Will getting mad and then bursting out of the room, Mike follows him while Lucas stays behind. Once they get outside, the lighting is dark and blue. The music playing in the background is somber. The way both characters talk and act makes you know that this is a serious scene. The aftermaths of Will going to his house and crying as he destroys castle Byers. And Mike and Lucas biking out to find him in the rain. You could make the argument that Lucas being there makes this scene bad proof, but it focusing more on Mike then Lucas tells you otherwise.

Lucas’s apology

It’s super rushed, you barely even notice it. It’s super random and isn’t focused on at all, it just starts with Lucas saying he’s sorry and Will saying it doesn’t matter and it’s pretty much over. The lighting is bright, our minds are more focused on trying to get ready to trap Billy then the actual conversation they’re having. Neither Lucas or Will react to it afterwards. You could literally skip this scene and you wouldn’t miss anything.

So why have such a useless scene in the middle of nowhere?

The Byler rain fight is such an important scene to show how Mike and Wills friendship has gone downhill, to show the change between children and teenagers, and also to hint at Will's sexuality. The Lucas and Will scene is just so useless and random and could've been left out, but the way it contrasts the Byler fight scene makes me think that its only purpose was to show the difference between Mike and Wills friendship together vs anybody else's, and nothing else. Because why else have it there? If Mike and Wills scene wasn't meant to have a deeper meaning, then why make it as dramatic as it was? Why build it up the way they did?? If it was platonic the scene would've been more similar to the Lucas scene and/or toned down a LOT.

It's undeniable that the Duffers where trying to show us something with these two scenes

Season 4

You can tell there’s clearly tension between Mike and Will when they reunite in the airport, which is very odd. Mike and Will are best friends, and again, Mike wouldn’t act this way with any of his other friends. He didn’t even act this way with El

Mike then later admits that he was being an asshole to Will, and we get that beautiful “friends. Best friends.” Scene.

Now, I want you to rewatch that scene and pretend that Will is Max or Lucas or Dustin or Erica or Steve or Jonathan or anybody Mike is friends with. But you can’t. It just feels too wrong and too romantic, doesn’t it? It seems weird as well, because we know full well Mike wouldn’t say something like that to any of his other friends. He’s never had a conversation like that with any of his other friends, either. This is because they’re just that. Friends. So why should it be any different for Will and Mike?

This is the same for any scene with Mike and Will. Season 4 or not

And if you seriously cannot notice the difference between Mike and Wills friendship vs anybody else’s, you need to do a rewatch

Anyways, there’s probably more stuff I could add but I’m gonna leave it at that for now. If you have anything to add leave it in the comments! Thank you for reading

[spookystarfishzombie]

[legendarydragonperson]

I need everyone to remember that it's not just Noah Schnapp and Brett Gelman who are supporters of the genocide in Palestine, it's also it's also Shawn Levy a producer/director, and Ross Duffer who signed a thank you letter to Biden thanking him for military supply.

But it's also ALL OF THE CAST THAT HAVE BEEN SILENT. And if you think it's because they can't with Schnapp's recent behavior Amybeth Mcnulty has spoken about it, and Joseph Quinn participated in an auction for charity. Granted one has a smaller role and one has been released from his contract but there's no rule in this stuff it's about action and I think that's loser behavior.

I get that it's going to be popular either way of a boycott but Netflix is expensive and pirating is pretty easy. Be a fan of the show but remember who made it.

[fruitbythefoot7]

hi this is your friendly reminder that all of the endgame ships (jancy, lumax, byler, jopper) have a very clear parallel between all of them that mlvn very clearly does not have. 

in s1, nancy gets stuck in the ud, calls out for jonathan, and is pulled out and into jonathan’s arms. 

in s2, will is stuck in one of his ud episodes, calls out for mike, and is pulled out and into mike’s arms. 

in s2, hopper is stuck in the ud tunnels, and inevitably gets saved by joyce (who had been calling out his name) 

in s4, max is in a trance, calls out for lucas first, and gets pulled out by lucas’s knowledge of what her favorite song is and falls into his arms. 

and in s1…el is stuck in the ud, calls out for mike, and gets out completely on her own. 

so. what does that say about them? 

[bylergetonefree]

being anti-mileven is about so much more than defending everything mike does and says bc of societal norms, repression, and his incredible and completely ignored trauma. it’s also about defending the shit out of el, because she is precious and wonderful and strong and beautiful and deserves so so much more than a boy who cannot say he loves her, who cannot even write it from thousands of miles away. it’s about friendship and identity and forgiveness. it’s about codependent connection brought on by trauma and the realization that there are many different ways to love someone. i hope mike and el always love each other. just not in the shallow, conventional way they think they have to because they don’t know another way. yet.

[i-dont-bite]

"you're basically saying disabled people can't be in relationships!! you're ableist!!!" no i'm not you dumb fuck i'm saying a girl who's been a LAB RAT and ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY since she was born until she was TWELVE shouldn't be thrown into a lifelong relationship with a kid she just met a WEEK after she escaped from the lab when she could BARELY SPEAK and didn't know what a the word "FRIEND" MEANT

[bylerxbrainrot]

BYLER BTS S4 🎀🎀

[glisten-inthedark]

El asking Mike why he can't say he loves her.

Mike: I say it.

Me:

[fiendforbyler]

y’all i was recreationally scrolling through the m*leven # (no bad vibes sent i swear i just feel like getting both sides of the argument is best to cement my belief) and something i saw was someone saying how el is always at her best when she is with mike. which imo is very untrue. let’s go on a deep dive together, shall we?

season 2

at the end of season 1 we know el disappears off into the upside down. separated from mike. by the start of season 2, she is trying to understand more about herself and her powers and her origins, and all of this is done seperate from mike, on her own. this solitude allows for her to find her individuality without being ‘the weapon’ or ‘mikes crush’. i think that while the 08 stuff is kind of silly, it is important to note that during that, she did begin to understand the root and significance of her powers, as well as feeling accepted properly by like-minded people for the first time possibly ever. she also finds her mother and learns about her origins, just beginning her journey of curiosity about herself. we know that finding mama was very important to eleven, and she did all of this away from mike. while she was at hoppers, she mourned losing him, yearned for him, pined, etc, and that caused tension, upset and drained her. NOT mikes fault, btw, he is my actual child and i do not believe this is anyone’s fault, just the facts. when she is back reunited with mike, yes it is a beautiful beautiful scene i cannot deny that but she is a different version of herself than when mike saw her last and therefore this separation was very beneficial to her character.

season 3

we all know how this season goes. mike and el making out left and right, no communication just sucking face. during the m*leven breakup, mike is pretty nonchalant and uncaring about it all, and max helps el on her journey of self discovery. during this time when we’ll bd mike are broken up is the first time el is introduced to trash mags, silly games, something other than being the girl with powers or mikes girlfriend. she begins to understand her likes, her dislikes, herself. no one ever tried to help her find her individuality before, not like this. this is when el also starts ‘making her own rules’ and really coming into her own, maturing into her own wonderful person without mikes presence. in fact, the breakup is very necessary for this to occur. not to mention the fact that she also solves majority of the billy mystery without mike there, in fact she solves it while ignoring and icing out mike, with max’s help. this breakup is essential for elevens character development, and that’s not an accident, certainly not since it is a frequently reoccurring then throughout the entire series!! the ending scene with the ‘i love you too’ is an awkward way to summarise a season spelt apart and i think it may also because she is still learning what she likes and dislikes, this is all extremely new to her.

season 4

oh boy. i mean, obviously el hasn’t been fitting in at school, that’s very obvious. i mean what could mike have to do with that? directly, not much but indirectly??? everything. i believe that just the fact she is in a relationship with mike is throwing her off balance and we are supposed to notice that!! then when mike arrives i mean first of all the flowers and the ‘from’ is a whole other post but immediately her situation worsens, she gets abused by angela, ridiculed by her and her friends, then literally attacks angela with a skate, and it’s all so… out of character? and the ‘you never say it’ argument… it’s all meant to make us look at the couple and go ‘these guys aren’t working anymore’ (!!!!!) i mean, el is, emotionally but also to a point physically, hindered in this relationship with mike and it’s neither of their faults!!!! they just aren’t working!!! and that’s okay!!! they need to be seperate to develop as characters and this is proven by the separation when el gets taken to get her powers back. a great way the duffers could have utilised this plot point was by making mike go with her. think about it! he learns about her while she learns about herself, all while regaining her powers and mike gaining new understanding and appreciation of her as a person! what a great way to deepen an ‘endgame’ couple’s relationship! will also could have had great development, having self-discovery with jonothan and argyle! who doesn’t want some brotherly bonding time? but that’s is not what happened. el needed the time away from mike, broken up, no contact, to focus on her self and improve and discover. this was more than essential. el thrives on solitude to become more powerful as an individual person. she needs to separate herself from mike to be the best version of herself. and that is why m*leven is not endgame. they are a a couple who do not work, they do not make each other better, and while i think a mike-el friendship dynamic could be really effective, as a couple they clash. even during the monologue, mike didn’t really achieve anything. he was kind of just saying words. i mean he canonically lied, what kind of confessional speech by a love-struck teen would be full of lies?? it doesn’t make sense. it is not supposed to make sense. we are supposed to notice these things.

i’m not even using this as byler proof, more just as the fact that i don’t find mike and el compatible, like at all. maybe as platonic buds, but not as a couple, and certainly not as a thriving endgame one. in conclusion, m*leven bones.

thank you for coming to my ted talk.

TLDR; el needs to be seperate from mike to improve upon herself in every way.

[will-you-be-a-satanist-with-me]

Will: Works on a painting for god knows how long only to give the credit to El who barely even knew anything abt the painting and gives a heartfelt speech to Mike about how much El need Mike in order to keep them togheter even tho he has a crush on Mike.

(Some) Milkvans: "OmG wILL iS rUiNinG MiKE aNd eL'S reLAtIonShIP.

[tender-emotional-music]

I do find it very interesting how so many mlvn shippers bring up the fact they want Mike and El to get married, or have included it on their s5 wish lists. First of all, no. Second of all, they’re teenagers. And thirdly, the show isn’t exactly marriage-positive, or at the very least it actively contradicts the idea that marriage = love, or is representative of a healthy relationship.

Joyce and Hopper, who have one of the key driving relationships in the show, are two divorcees, whose previous marriages failed for different reasons. We know they’ll end up together, but I doubt they’ll actually get married in a traditional sense. I wouldn’t mind it if they did, but I could also see them being together and having their joint family without being legally married. Either way, they’re an unconventional relationship and the show is very open about the issues they had with previous partners and the reasons behind these issues.

We don’t see much of other married couples. The Sinclairs appear to have a good marriage, but they don’t appear very often. The only other prominent married couple we see is Karen and Ted, which is… not a great example. We see Ted supports the family financially but is emotionally distant, and Karen tries but doesn’t always know how to connect with everyone. They aren’t very affectionate (hell, Karen nearly has an affair with Billy 💀), and it’s implied she somewhat settled for married life, even though she’s unhappy. I don’t need to write much about this, as the show explicitly states that they’re a typical American nuclear family. (I’m interested to see if this will be explored in s5 and if they’ll be redeemed somehow, but that’s purely speculation).

Just in general I think it’s interesting, especially as no one brings up marriage in terms of lumax or jancy. I wonder if it’s because they know there isn’t really anywhere else to take the couple. The other ships are slowburns. Melvin got together extremely quickly and have been shown to suffer for it, and never work through their issues to end up on the same page the way other couples do. It’s a relationship both Mike and El have outgrown, but do not know how to break off, or that it would be okay if they did. No one needs a wedding for lumax because we know they’re in love. I feel like some fans think a wedding is the ultimate way to prove mlvn’s love, even though we should a) already be convinced of it if they were actually a great couple , and b) the show has never fed into the narrative that marriage is the ultimate show of true love, especially as they’re extremely consistent in showing the unhappy reality behind many marriages. Just in general, ending with a happy little wedding would feel slightly out of touch for a show with a message about non-conformity

[allieslobster]

Every day I wake up and I attempt to really try and get along with Mileven’s and remain civil but it’s slowly dawning on me that 98% of them are just really fucking annoying and brain dead.