#how do u like THAT.. over byler

[astrobei]

something something mike wheeler is so used to being brushed off and ignored by his own family that he learns to make his feelings loud and obnoxious around most people because it’s better to be ignored when you’re being annoying on purpose than to be ignored when you’re being vulnerable on accident. he learns to roll his eyes and be slow to trust and be critical of newcomers because his friends are his people— his most trusted, his tried and true ride or dies, but after you make it into his circle he will die for you. he scowls and he glares and he tries so hard to be somebody he’s not because he thinks things will be easier for him that way, because he’s been bullied his whole life. he’s a little abrasive but he softens around his best friend, who can get him to open up without even saying a word. he likes syrup on his eggs and cheesy pop music. he’s the paladin, he’s a fighter, he’s a source of good. he’s will’s light in the darkness and he finds that same light in will too. he’s surprised every time a parental figure hugs him. he’s seen his best friends die and come back and die again. he spent a year searching for a purpose and he found it in will byers. he feels like nobody needs him, but all he wants is to be needed. to be wanted. he feels like he’s drifting apart from his people, until will reels him in, tethers him, and says hey, remember when you said asking me to be your friend was the best thing you ever did? well being your friend gives me the courage to fight on.

[smoosnoom]

incredible submission by @http-byler :) sobbing btw

[bylertruther]

smth abt eddie telling dustin to look after the little sheep -> s5 is going to return to s1 form -> dustin tells mike in s1 that his obliviousness blows his mind -> the whole painting & confession & obvious general fiasco that is willelmike -> dustin's going to have to put on his bob the builder / "the world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes" sherlock holmes hat and get involved

[cannibalismyuri]

(song added by me)

[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

[theresa-thegalwhocriedrizz]

new byler gate alert!!!!!

(miniongate master post)

tw: i’ve got super bad grammar pls ignore it

may i introduce to u..! MINIONGATE!!!!!! the theory that ive just invented that mike wheeler and will byers are actually the henchmen of the so loved gru from the despicable me franchise!!! why do i think this? well, well, well, let me tell u!

first of all, their colors.

wowza!!! blue and yellow!!!! also for the fake minions fans, in minions the rise of gru our beloved kevin, bob and stuart fly to california (the west). blue and yellow meted in the west! whoopie!!!!!!!!!!

ok ok sooo second, minions r actually supa gay🤓gear me out!!!! there’s actually so many scenes where there are minions kissing or showing affection to each other (it’s very heart warming tbh) ei:

awwww🥺

anywho. third! so there’s this:

the minions r only stupid boys!!! mike and will believe it or not r boys also they’re stupid. visual aide⬇️⬇️⬇️

so, we’ve gone over why i think mike and will are minions. ‘now how does this relate to them smooching in the next season???’ u might be asking. well, i’m glad u asked!

alright, picture this. it’s the finale, right? everyone’s fighting whatever big bad there is, and will is being vecnaed (vecnaned? vecnaeded? vecneed???) or something. mike is by his side trying to break him out of the trance yk. vecna’s giving will all them horrible sad memories and wills like, “wa wah😭😭ily mike😭waaa i’m gay😢”. but then!!!! vecna shows will a memory that he doesn’t memeber, and will’s all confused. the memory is a minion with a bowlcut looking at a cute minion, and vecna does his scary voice over and he’s like, “mwaha😈😈😈hey bowlcut, do u ember this? heh”. and will’s like “who the flip re these minions???” vecna countinues his spooky voiceover “hah lmao stupid gay boy can’t even rember anything🤣ugh dumbo, this is when u lived with gru and michealminion😈” and then will stared remebeiing EVERYTHING!!! he membered when he was a minion and he kissed mikeminion🫢and when he helped steal the moon and doctor nefario died💔and all his other minion memories. AND THEN HE STARTED SHIMMERING😯😯😯and mike was like “erm what the sigma” so will did one of those magical girl transformations

this except it’s will byers turning into a minion. so now will is a minion, and mike is like “will why ru a minion🧐” and will catches him up on all the minion lore! and mike transforms into a minion as well. and theyre like woohoo we’re minions now, then they rember that vecans still being spooky. so they go in upside down using their minion powers. so they show up and r like “haha vecna henry 1 ur sooo ugly and stinky we dont like u😡” then mike and will use their epic gay minion powers and vecna dies🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🥳🥳🥳🥳🤩🤩🥳🥳🤩yippee! and now vecna is dead for ever! so u know what that means😏then byler gyat freaky🙁but not supa freaky they just kissed bcuz theyre 14-15 and some ppl needa get a grip🤗🤗also chappell roan started playing🫢and everything thing was right in the world cuz byler is canon!!!!!

anyways!!! thanks for reading!!!!!! let me know any of ur thoughts, theories, opinions on miniongate!!!! peace out

(⬆️art by @cmnzoq )

[conanssummerchild]

im bored as shit so im going to asign a community person/ship to every conan gray song bcs i really just use this site as a stream of my conciousness, if anyone has a better one for any of them feel free to tell me, also fair warning abed is my fav character, i'll try not to make everything abt him and troy but no promises

grow: the whole final episode really but im thinking mostly jeff tbh or also abed leaving for LA, or even maybe troy leaving on his voyage ☹️

idle town: the 'town' being greendale i feel like this applies to jeff also 😭 like its abt all of them but its jeffs pov

generation why: im thinking my girl britta hehe idk how to explain it but the vibes are so there

crush culture: im thinking annie, but also maybe jeff, aro king 👑

greek god: im thinking maybe abed in high school? i would say annie but she seemed to care more about fitting in while abed had accepted he couldnt, also hes like insightful and observant yk

lookalike: oh my god, brittas pov and its about jeff and slater oof

the other side: troy and abed, specifically in geothermal escapism 😭</3 im killing myself why would i do this

the king: okay fuck this is so trobed coded, abeds pov

comfort crowd: the whole study group tbh <33 in more specifics i was thinking jeff + the study group and honestly abed and annie

wish you were sober: i mean this one has to be either jeff and britta or britta and troy, though troy and britta could be taken either as britta wanting to go party and smoke weed or wtv and troy not rlly doing that stuff or britta feeling rejected bcs of troy giving all his attention to abed 😭 (like as in wish u were sober being wish u werent a raging homosexual)

maniac: probably i'd have to say jeffbritta from either pov

(online love): i... dont know tbh. the vibes are giving annie and troy for some reason, maybe once troys already left?

checkmate: the fond eyeroll i had to give, jeff and britta again. maybe annie being pissed at jeff over their kiss but i dont ship them romantically

the cut that always bleeds: idk, maybe jeff and annies weird ass relationship that keeps fucking happening is the closest, from annies pov

fight or flight: idk tbh, maybe trobed and britta if i had to go with smth, this one is mostly EXTREMELY byler coded (from stranger things) and im never fucking letting that go

affluenza: ok i mean ive gotta give this one to jeff dont i

(can we be friends?): troy abed and annie <3 im so soft for them

heather: ok fuck i HAVE to say trobed and britta and its abeds pov and if we're being specific them in virtual systems analysis becuase i'll never get over this episode ("ive run the simulations, i dont get married :/") bcs i fucking love abed being jealous of britta while she was with troy in the cool way but also in the sad if troy cant love me no one will way

little league: this is troy and abed when troy leaves :(((( and this is canon bcs my beloved wife and i are so troy and abed coded and she loves little league sooo

the story: ok so the boy and the girl are hmm annie and abed, the boy and the boy are troy and abed duh doy, him and his friend are maybe idk britta and troy, i dont wanna say jeff or abed bcs their dad/mum abandoned them and that bit's abt wanting to get away from ur parents yk

fake: (😭) maybe jeff (alan's pov 😔😔💔💔) nah but fr i see people joking abt his song but its lowkey fire

overdrive: WHY DO THEY ALL MAKE ME THINK OF JEFF AND BRITTA

telepath: jeff 😔 and 😔 britta 😔

movies: ok i literally cant say anyone other than abed, the king of movies. im not really feeling troy tho, maybe rachel, like maybe when abed kept trying to super speed run their relationship and he was anxious abt not passing the relationship tests

people watching: the MOST annie coded song ever holy fuck she is so people watching coded i love her so much

disaster: abed. or britta. my abandonment/commitment issues babies <33

best friend: TROBED. THE ONLY BEST FRIENDS EVER

astronomy: would it be absolutely too painful if i said troy and abed. honestly i actually think im feeling more jeff and abed but not like at eachother just both of them together in their sadness, from their pov to someone else (britta and troy probably seeing as these r their main romantic interests)

yours: AHH THIS SONG DEAR GOD </3 can i say abed jesus fuck im killing myself this one for abed hurts so much, not really directed at anyone in specific, or more like just directed at everyone, just his abandonment issues :( ("i dont always see it coming" PUT ME DOWN)

jigsaw: oo britta, my queen she just wants to be loved so bad </3 but also a bit abed ("if being less insane would make you stay" oof)

family line: okay. jeff.he actually invented having daddy issues

summer child: ok its abed bcs i kin him idc, im conans summer child™ and i said so /lh

footnote: not quite sure, very annie coded imo. maybe trobed? either pov ig but im feeling troy

memories: hm, trobed after troy leaves? abed trying to get over him but he keeps imagining troys still there with him like as in one of the hallucinations he has bcs i read a fic like this yesterday and it was sooooo good, idk maybe this is a little far fetched

the exit: im not rlly sure actually, either jeffbritta after the whole i love you in front of anyone fiasco or trobed when troys dating britta 🤷‍♂️

never ending song: ok, jeffbritta.

winner: THE MOST SONG EVER. ok this one is abed. it will always be abed. family line i feel like is more about a hostile home enviroment and jeff implies that his was, while winner is more pain of neglect or disconnect so i feel like its more appliable to abed because of how hes shown to not be understood by his parents and feels responsible for his mother leaving and this makes me think of the line "you dont really wanna hear the truth, do you?" because like his mum loving him on paper but not actually loving who he is or be willing to accept hes different and has different needs FUCK abeds mother all my homies hate abeds mother (what im not projecting at all my parents definitely love me and accept that im autistic /s)

killing me: im not quite sure actually. conan did write this song about someone who gave him tonsilitis and abed cannonically had tonsilitis though so 🤯

lonely dancers: hmm i feel like this song is upbeat enough to be trobed being silly tgth but maybe its more jeffbritta coded, or jeff and abed abt britta and troy, or vice versa, not sure

sorry i never mentioned shirley i do love her

feel free to take any of these as platonic or romantic idrk, a lot of them i couldve meant either way anyway

if u even made it this far u can have a gold star ⭐️ there u go

[messrsbyler]

byler headcanon where…

jonathan taught will morse code so they could tap on the walls of their bedrooms and talk like that during the night as a fun little game. when will told mike about it mike thought it was the coolest thing ever and practically begged will to teach him as well, so in their sleep overs at mike’s basements will teaches him little by little. but mike has a hard time paying attention and retaining what composes each letter.

seeing will writing it down for him just doesn’t help. it gets to the point where it’s really late at night and karen comes downstairs to send them to bed already. begrudgingly mike flips the lights off and the two of them snuggle into their sleeping bags.

will is about to doze off when he hears a muffled tapping against his ear. then mike is saying “was that an F?”

“no,” will says, “that was an U.”

mike frowns and from upstairs karen yells “enough with the tapping and talking! go to sleep, kids.” mike sighs.

will turns in his sleeping bag towards mike like always and closes his eyes to fall asleep. two seconds pass when he feels cold fingers in his palm. before he can react and pull away, mike taps across his palm, this time a dot, a line across with his nail, and two more dots. will opens his eyes and finds mike staring right back at him, big dark eyes filled with excitement.

“was that an F?”

“no, that was an L.” mike scowls and will laughs though he keeps it down so mrs wheeler won’t scold them again. “what do you wanna spell, anyway?”

mike twists inside his sleeping bag and rolls a bit closer. “i wanted to spell friend.”

will smiles at mike and mike, besides being annoyed of not being able to learn morse code yet, smiles back. and will feels warm, and safe, and like this basement could be the entire world for all he knows because his friend is here and that’s more than enough.

“here, give me.” will reaches for mike’s hand and gently taps across his palm. “this is an F.”

“ah! i was so close!” mike whispers and will chuckles again. “how do you make an R, will?”

“like this”

“and an I?”

“like this”

“what about-“

the next morning jonathan comes by to pick will up and will makes sure to leave behind the cheat sheet with the morse code symbols. mike doesn’t pay it any attention though. he goes to his room and lays on his bed, tracing across his palm the word FRIEND. that one he learned alright, and he couldn’t be prouder of himself. it was easy, when he could still feel the tingle of will’s fingers tapping across his palm.

[noodlesbatches]

13 Reasons Why Byler au ~ A sample of a fanfic I may make for this au!

———

“Here are the tapes.” Dustin hands Mike a converse shoe box. Mike hesitates to grab it, he is unsure. 𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦? He thinks to himself. Mike’s eyes stay and the box, he honestly just looks confused and scared. Dustin notices, he sighs and pulls the box away. Mike’s attention is now fully on Dustin. “You should hear what he has to say, Mike.” Dustin says, he is clearly a little irritated Mike hasn’t just taken the box already. He holds out the box again. Mike finally takes it. He holds it close to his chest, for some reason its like he can feel Will’s heartbeat in the box.

“Will I regret this?” Mike says in a breathy, whisper. He slowly looks up at Dustin, Mike has a small frown on his face and he looks like he’s about to sob. Dustin’s heart melts, he feels bad for his good friend. “No, you won’t,” He says, but it didn’t sound all that reassuring. Dustin clears his throat, he sits down on the bench in the park they are in. Mike sits next to him with the box on his lap, he turns over to Dustin.

“Should I- like- now?” Mike manages to stutter that out under his shaky breath. Dustin looks over to Mike and furrows his eyebrows. “Not here.” Mike’s eyes widen a little. “Wh-?” “Trust me, Mike.” Dustin looked very serious, how could Mike not trust him? Mike nods and looks back down at the box. “I should go then.” Mike says, Dustin seems to agree as he stands up already preparing to leave. Mike decides to stand up as well. “See you tomorrow.” Dustin said that very softly, there was a weird sense of hope in his voice. “Yeah���” Mike isn’t even sure Dustin heard him, but that doesn’t matter right now.

Mike gets onto his bike, the headphones and tape all set up, now all he has to do is press play, what’s stopping him? Mike stares at the play button his thumb shakes over the button. “Fuck it.” Mike mumbles out to himself. He presses play and-… “Hey, Will Byers speaking, I know you probably didn’t think you’d hear from me, well your wrong. Welcome to my tapes stranger, please enjoy this rollercoaster of emotions, sit back, and relax…”

To be continued!

———

Yes I will add more sometime. Thanks for reading this, and if u have any tips pls give me them! :D

heres a crappy drawing to go with it :

[campbyler]

can i just say i lowkey get a little cranky when people side w mike over will in fanfics ESPECIALLY this one even tho that seems to be the consensus (mike in the right will in the wrong). like maybe it’s my will bias but like??? what dude he do wrong there??? mike was intentionally pissing him off?? will dropped a tray in his lap which COULD HAVE BEEN an accident (not saying it was but like, it could have looked like that especially since he was tired) and mike reacted to it. and mike just immediately threw food right back at him and the. will even had the thought process to not throw food back but he did because mike literally threw it at his face like i would have done the same?? and nobody getting onto mike thinking “now mike think ab how that will make u look to stoop down” they all looking at will???????? personally, i woulda done it too ✌️ i’m on wills side fs and i knowwwww i’m an outlier, literally breaks my heart 😭

ah hello! thanks for this ask and for being so invested in the fic!!! it really does mean so so much to us that you (and so many others) have put so much time (and frustration LOL) into these silly boys ad their rivalry/friendship/idk what to call it :)))

here are my Thoughts since you brought up people choosing sides! the fun thing about acswy is that it's a dual pov fic. so every other chapter, we're getting will's perspective, then mike's perspective, and back and forth for the whole story. so, i think something that's SO important to remember about that is that they're both unreliable narrators. every chapter that thea, suni, and i write, we try to dive into the headspace of will and mike and attempt to wrestle with the tension and frustration they both feel from the years they've spent running around in circles.

they've both been in the right; they've both been in the wrong. so from our perspective at least, as we continue to write this and share camp byler's story with you, we hope everybody keeps an open mind that picking one person's side or the other isn't our goal here!

[kidovna]

Sorry if it's been asked already (I always ask this to people with really cool artstyles so I mightve asked you myself already and straight up forgot LOL) but I was wondering, do you have any advice/tips/tutorials for drawing full bodies?

I just think you have a really cool artstyle and ive always struggled making fanart (other than semi-realistic screencap redraws) because I still have to learn how to stylise full bodies😅 (faces too but those im a bit better at).

Anyway, ive also been following u since your scorbus era and it's been so cool to see all the growth and different fandoms youve gone through! (I myself am a big byler🫡).

Sorry this is long, have a nice day/night🥰 and feel free to ignore this if you want, no worries!

answering both of this together because i feel like my answer is going to be similar to both of them:

keep live/quick sketching people and poses! it’s a fantastic way to practice anatomy and when you speed up your process, it helps you figure out how full bodies look in your style because it’s your immediate instinct to draw a certain way! you don’t even need a live model to pose for you. the internet is full of incredible images and stock photos that are always fun to sketch. If you’d like a place to start, Adorka Stock is a deviant art page full of stock references made for artists.

I’m always and forever an advocate for quick sketching because when I started doing live sketches about a year ago they looked like this:

And these are my sketches from a couple of months ago:

The difference may not be massive to most people but I feel like my grasp on anatomy AND my line weight has improved drastically since. I feel more confident going into a piece knowing what the poses are going to be like in my head.

Apart from that, it’s normally widely accepted to reference poses for your art as long as you’re not tracing over someone else’s work. my favourite thing to do is self reference with photos or a mirror because then i can get exactly the pose that i want.

I hope this helped!

[smoosnoom]

are there any underrated byler fics u think more people should read? (your fics are amazing and so are you ok byeee)

yes !!!!!!!!! so many !!!!!!!!!!

ok i already made a post so long ago recommending my favs except i cant find it . so . we start from scratch . ill try to only list ones i feel not many talk about :D

soft spot by argylemikewheeler - very very sweet and short ! they act so like their age, its so endearing !!!

only you by nightowlfury - makes me want to wail into my hands, just incredibly . wow . like u really get to see mike's desperation to protect the ones he loves Oh my god ....

stepping on the last train by suzieburself - just . everything i ever wanted in a byler-goes-many-years-without-talking kind of fic, longing in a way ive always wanted to read and it just . makes me want to yell at my walls for hours and hours, please give it a read !!!!!

yuanfen by skinsfairy - this makes me want to yell for the rest of my life . i love love loveee el in this and i just . i love the party in this i love everyone in this !!!! read asap !!!!

i have died everyday (waiting for you) by ethqreal - this also ,,,, wow . mike is an idiot but kind of in a good way and Oh my god i love how just . loved will is in this it makes me feel so glittery on the inside

just a curious speck that got caught up in orbit by willow_lark - which . ok . this is the second part of the series and its my favorite Favorite favorite, the first is just as swell but idk . this one is especially likable and ihave no idea why !!!!! give it a read asap !!!!

what do we do now? by an orphan_account - more miwi, it is just . unbearably cute !!!! short and sweet as well, but just . everything to me

swing over the creek (too scared to jump in) by ethqreal - i think one of my favorite fics ever to reread, i love love loveeee the way will is depicted in this, and also just the atmosphere of it all . highly recommend !!!!!

these are just the first few i saw in my bookmarks that i felt most pressing to be represented here :) ill try my best to conjure up a few more less known fics !!!!!! i hope this satisfied ur ask !!!!!

[thefirstlioveyou]

the entire s4 and the build up of byler relationship really convinced me that mike is queer but what bothers me is mike saying he loves el and he can’t lose her again in s3 in front of everyone else what do u think abt that confession scene cuz that scene also convinced me he was indeed in love with el

i feel someone else might be better articulated about this but heres how i feel about that.

when he said that, it was coming from a place of trauma.

mike suffers from survivors guilt from the events of season 1. when el faints in the last episode, her power being [almost] used up, mike realizes he messed up. he realizes he had seen her as some sort of tool for him to use. as the season closes off, we see him realize how in danger el is, and how she needs help. mike naturally being caring and responsible for others (hence ‘the heart’ title), feels this overwhelming guilt once el sacrifices herself for her friends and gets taken away, disappearing in front of his eyes.

because of who he is a person, it’s easy for him to connect certain things, thinking if he had treated her differently then maybe she’d be okay. once she finally comes back in s2, and we enter s3, he begins to become controlling over how and when she uses her powers because he still carries unresolved guilt from the ending of s1.

the thing is though, in reality, it wasn’t her passing out that caused her to disappear. it was el who made the choice to sacrifice herself. but because of who mike is as a person, it’s easy for his brain to connect the wrong things. almost like, “oh i worked her too hard, she ended up disappearing and i lost her, it’s my fault. if i hadn’t done that, she would’ve been here.“ in s2, he believed she could’ve been dead. “she wouldn’t be dead if i had just treated her like a normal person.”

guilt can be so strong that it makes you connect things that just aren’t.. connected.

in the scene you are referring to, he is arguing with max, who believes she knows her own limits and has the right to choose when to and when not use her powers - which, honestly, i agree with her for the most part.

however, i still understand mike. he’s coming from a place of guilt. “i can’t lose her again.” he’s suffering trauma. her simply using her powers doesn’t mean she will magically disappear, but due to past events, that is exactly what it means to mike. he just isn’t communicating that and instead projecting it onto max and the others.

so… why does he say “i love her.” ?

remember, s3 is him trying to be as normal as possible, getting a girlfriend and liking girls and pushing away the things that make you happy - because to him that’s what growing up is about (it’s not, he’s just a repressed homosexual).

this is when things get a bit messy, and the part i have a hard time explaining…. so please bare with me 😭

he remains with el because of the guilt - this relationship is what makes her happy and a place where he can make sure she is safe. he almost feels as if he’s obligated to stay from losing her the first time. he wants to be useful, needed - typical for the type of trauma he’s facing.

because of the ‘normal’ and heteronormative small town and era they live in, and the fact this is the first girl that isn’t repulsed by him, it’s easy for him to confuse all these messy feelings for romantic love. he’s quite literally trying to convince himself it is in s3, and realizes this may not be for him in the end of the season.

so essentially, all these things he’s going through are blurring.

despite realizing how he actually feels, he continues forward in the relationship, despite being unhappy and unfulfilled… sounds familar, huh? (the wheelers need therapy). in the s4 monologue scene, this is where he decides to lie in the hole he dug himself in, lying to el saying he loves her.

mike believes lying about this is the best for the both of them - somewhere where they’re most comfortable. el is happy and safe under his supervision, mike stays away from confronting his trauma and accepting his sexuality.

he’s internalized this mindset. this is his s3-self understanding of love.

so when he says “i love her,” it’s coming from a place of unresolved trauma. the trauma, societal expectation, his own parents’ relationship - it’s all so internalized that his brain has confused this hurt for love.

that’s why in the end of the season he explains it was “heat of the moment stuff.” it wasn’t coming from a place of romantic love, it was coming from a place of hurt. but el understood it as otherwise, kissing him as mike stands there conflicted, unable to move, realizing the situation he’s put himself in.

as i said, there’s probably someone wayy more articulated about this. but thank you for the question! i still liked thinking about this anyway! :D

[will80sbyers]

why do i feel like when byler becomes canon in s5 the hetero dudebro redditors and the 12-year-old mlvns are gonna turn on the duffers, accuse them of bad writing bc they're mad they were proven wrong and act like the season isn't canon?

some of them already do something similar — i saw a toxic mlvn on twt hating on max and calling elmax a "forced, fake friendship" because they were angry that max was mean to mike in s3 and basically implied that max manipulated el into breaking up with mike.

one of them even said that "it feels like the duffers write mlvn terribly on purpose sometimes". they're so close to getting it, yet so far.

No you don't understand how much it pisses me off when they accuse Max of not being a good friend to El only because she didn't like El to be completely dependent from Mike!!! It's one of the things I can't stand of reddit they are so fixated on throwing shit over a 13 year old girl only because she was a GREAT friend and told El that she didn't have to stay in a relationship with Mike if he wasn't telling her the truth about things!!! She NEVER forced El to do anything and most of the bad things they did like spy on the boys were things Eleven wanted to do first, she literally decided and found it fun BECAUSE THEY ARE CHILDREN OF COURSE THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DO EVERYTHING PERFECTLY THEY ARE LITERALLY KIDS PLAYING AT THEIR FIRST RELATIONSHIP!!!!!

Even recently if you go on the stranger things reddit you can find a post F U L L of people saying this "Max manipulated El" BULLSHIT

I can't stand them and I really hope byler happens and they stay sour about it for the rest of their lives because it's exactly what they would deserve for being so openly homophobic to even ONLY the idea of it happening in the show to the point they don't allow any normal discussion about byler in that place that should instead be a place for the WHOLE fandom and not just their Melvin obsessed asses

[wibble-wobbegong]

How do u want the first byler kiss to be

ok i think i’ve answered this before so i decided to write out a little ficlet. practice writing before i start spamming mike stuff as his birthday comes up

———————————————————————

2:30. Ish.

Mike lowered his watch back down from his face, arm bouncing against the mattress as it landed. Being woken up again like this is not what he was hoping for when they’re meant to be saving the world tomorrow, but he gets up anyway. If Will is awake, then so is he.

The door is barely left open every time he does this, but it’s more than enough for Mike to stick his fingers through and open it wide. He tries to do it quietly, but his door always squeaked after a certain point which seems to change every time he opens it. A little twinge from the hinges is all he needs to hear before he stops and starts sliding through the gap he’s made, trying hard not to wake up the other party members sleeping on his floor. After El had decided she wanted to be with the party too, they’d taken out Mike’s bed frame and put four different beds right next to each other on his floor for them to pile on. Not ideal, but none of them are denying the comfort it brings. Even if it does make him feel like baby bird waiting to get kicked out of the nest.

When Will leaves like this, that nest immediately feels emptier. It’s a sensation so thick it manages to wake Mike in his sleep, every single time. Tonight is the fifth time he’s done this since (almost) the whole party moved in.

There’s always a gentle wind that calls Mike out to the garage when he starts to follow, beckoning him to step closer and into the darkness of the house. The electricity was shut down last year when they stopped trying to save Hawkins and simply dubbed it a no-man’s land, quarantining the town and everything in it. They’re just lucky that El and Will are owed a lot by the government, meaning they get shipments of the supplies they need to stay alive and fight. Electricity can’t come on trucks, though. Not unless a few AA batteries count.

The house is always dark at night. Before, his mom would leave the light over the sink on. The lights from Lucas’ house and the neighbors across the street would reflect on the windows. He’s gotten used to the colorless hours of dusk to dawn.

When he makes it down to the garage and there’s a light coming from the other side of the barely open door, he stops feeling like a bird and more like a moth. No longer clumsy and daunted as everything in him comes together to push him there. There’s a craving that runs through him so intensely he almost doesn’t want to go. This light is not something that deserves to be devoured and torn. It deserves to be held close by warm hands, ones that’ll set it free when it asks. Hands he doesn’t have.

“Mike?” He blinks a few times, trying to reorient himself. Maybe standing in the doorway and staring at Will is his natural state because he doesn’t remember closing the gap.

The light is in Will’s lap. Nothing more than a battery powered lamp. Just a stupid hunk of plastic.

“Hey. Are you okay?” His feet move fast as he rushes to fill the space by Will’s side. He stretches his legs out in front of himself, not sure what to do with them and a little jealous of Will’s ability to curl so perfectly into a criss-cross.

Will stays quiet for a few moments, just looking down at the lamp. It flickered once. Twice. Then, “Do you..,” a sigh, “Do you really think we can win tomorrow? I mean— we’ve tried so many times and it never works, Mike. He always comes back. What are the odds that anything we do tomorrow actually works?”

Looking up to meet Mike’s eyes, Mike can see how they’ve gone glossy and desperate for an answer. It seems as though the gravity of tomorrow is pulling him down— the corners of his mouth, his eyes, his shoulders and back. All of Will is being dragged towards the ground, and Mike won’t let it happen. He’s been given wings by his friends, by this light, and he can use them for good.

“Well, I don’t see any world where we don’t win. Even if tomorrow goes to shit, it doesn’t matter. We’ll win. The good guys always win.”

“But that’s just in stories, Mike. Real life… it isn’t nearly as nice as those stories. Happy endings aren’t that easy.”

“Do you know who you sound like right now?” Will quirks his brow at the switch of tone.

“Who?”

“Frodo. You sound scared that you’re not gonna make it because everything keeps getting harder. It’ll get harder,” Mike takes a small, quivering breath before placing his hands on Will’s face so he can catch those tears he know will start falling, “But I think Sam was right. People tell stories with happy endings for a reason. If we really had no shot at beating Vecna… I don’t think we ever would’ve gotten you back, Will. We got you back for a reason. You beat that possession for a reason. There is a reason that people always talk about good guys winning. Even when the villains are big and scary and cruel, they never win. They don’t have what we have.”

Will is quiet, watching him. He hasn’t taken Mike’s hands off his face yet, so Mike pushes a little further and brings their foreheads together so he can look into Will’s eyes and see nothing else. He doesn’t want to see anything else and he doesn’t need to.

“Vecna is alone. He’s been alone for a long time. Not us, though. We have your family and my family and the party. We have the party. Hell, we even have Argyle,” Will let’s out a little laugh at that one, “And you know what else? We have you. You’re the hero this time, Will. And the heroes always win.” Will lets out a watery laugh and shakes his head, jostling Mike’s grip on him, so he lowers his hands. Will grabs them.

“I don’t know where you pulled that from, but I think you’re wrong. You’re the hero, Mike. You made me into one.” That hits Mike in a little piece of his heart that hasn’t been touched in a long time. It’s raw and tender and it hurts a little, but adrenaline rushes through his veins and his hands start to shake in Will’s. Just the tiniest bit.

“Well, Sam and Frodo were both the heroes, weren’t they?”

“Yeah. I guess they were. Frodo wouldn’t have made it out without Sam.”

“Sam never would’ve been anyone important at all if it hadn’t been for Frodo.”

They look at each other a moment longer, and Mike starts to lean back and give Will space when Will uses their hands to tug him back. Mike laughs a little, and he hates how wet it comes out but god Will’s hands are so warm in his and everything inside of him feels so alive, beating with a newfound light to fly towards.

When Will reaches both of his hands up to cradle the bottom of his head and tilt it forward, everything freezes. The lips across his forehead, over his hair, make all that life from before feel like nothing more than a planet in a universe. Everything inside him grows tenfold, and then again for every second Will holds him close and keeps his lips against his forehead. He can barely feel them over the thickness of his bangs, and he can’t deny that craving that’s kicked back to life.

Will is gentle, and he is sweet, but he is also so much stronger than anything else Mike has ever known. He lets that craving take over when he grabs Will by the shoulders and tilts his head up to kiss him properly.

[lesbianrobin]

i understand ur post but i have a byler mutual saying almost the exact same thing about if they make mlvn endgame because to give will one sole love interest and put him through that much trauma and struggle to accept his sexuality only to have the guy reject him and end up with his sister is homophobic writing and u probably dont agree but i find it hysterical that st have managed to get themselves into such a conundrum that their only option is to introduce mikes secret twin of the opposite sexuality thats been there the whole time so they both get a happy ending. surely this is a perfect plan and there are no flaws whatsoever and everyone will be satisfied

SMCKSKXJSNKE i was literally just talking to sarah about how they've written themselves into a corner by reintroducing the stoncy love triangle in s4 because BEFORE they could have been like yeah steve is over her and now he's finding fulfillment outside of romance etc etc but now they've reignited stancy for some fuckin reason (my fingers are crossed for that theory that says since the upside down is stuck in 1983 it was making steve and nancy's 1983 feelings come back) and suddenly they'll be pissing off Some segment of the fanbase no matter what they do.

re: byler i think. well first of all i think that byler isn't even remotely on the radar of casual viewers as an actual possibility and i don't think it could happen in s5 bc the vast majority of viewers would be like where the fuck did that come from. second of all my el argument is partially a joke but also it's just fundamentally a very different situation where like. for will if byler doesn't happen nothing gets Worse for him shit just stays the same. for el if byler happens something Must get worse for her like she loses her boyfriend of 2-3 years. they're in different situations.

third of all i think it's very silly for people to act like will Needs for mike to like him back in order to be happy when like. it's not The Crush that's making will miserable it's being closeted in a small town in the 1980s and feeling like he can never have what he wants and be truly happy in life. mike liking him back would not fix the misery he feels at having to hide this part of himself from the world.

yknow in s3 robin is a sorta closed-off character who's snarky and prickly at times and she only really opens up in the russian torture scene + the bathroom scene. and in the bathroom scene she is Terrified to tell steve she likes girls but she confesses to having a crush on tammy thompson and... steve makes her feel okay about it. he makes fun of her crush and robin feels Normal and Safe and they laugh together and by the time s4 rolls around robin is a much more open and happy person than she was back before she'd come out to steve. she's more herself. and you know what never happened? tammy thompson never liked her back. robin didn't need a girlfriend. she needed love and support and validation from a good friend. she needed to find comfort with herself and her sexuality and all the other parts of her that she hid behind a tough exterior for protection.

as much as i hate watching will scenes bc noah schnapp can't act for shit, i am kinda looking forward to seeing him finally openly addressing his sexuality in s5 and maybe realizing that his childhood crush on his best friend not being reciprocated isn't the end of the world. i think if will could move on and let mike go (in the romantic sense not as a friend) it might also feel a bit like letting go of all his pain over the past few years and starting over with a clean slate. obviously idk what exactly's gonna happen in s5 we're all just making shit up right now but i guess that's kinda what i hope will happen with him.

it makes me sad kinda that will's most dedicated fans are more preoccupied with getting him a boyfriend than like... self-confidence and shit. but i'm not actually that sad bc i kinda don't give a fuck about will anyway