#lucas and mike friendship

[dxncingwithastrxnger]

el and lucas will definitely be besties in S5 and i will live for it. they cry each other's shoulders and read stories to max together.

lucas now knows more than ever what mike went through when he didn't know if el was still alive and el now holds and kisses him tighter bc she feels bad that she didn't even give him a sign back then. after all, unlike max, she was able to do it.

Oh, they most definitely will!! They're definitely gonna spend a lot of time at the hospital together in Max's room, taking turns reading and both of them crying every so often as they talk about different things. Despite the circumstances of it, I'm really glad they'll be able to get some of that bonding time in, tbh 😌

Yeah, I think both Lucas and El are gonna have a whole new level of respect for Mike and see him in some whole new lights that they weren't really able to see him in before because they didn't fully understand until now because of what's going on with Max, honestly. Lucas and Mike are gonna talk about it at some point and Lucas is going to reference a good point. The rest of the party never fully realized how upset he was back then when El was gone. They all thought he had been pretty happy and okay, all things considered. Yeah, he'd act a little weird sometimes and he wasn't doing as great in school, but for the most part, with the rest of the Party, he was his normal self. And then Mike explained that it's because he didn't want to tell anyone. Half the time, he felt like he was going crazy and sometimes he wouldn't even be sure if El really was still alive or if he was just lying to himself. But either way, he knew the others wouldn't believe him and he didn't want to deal with that. His friends were happy. Will was back, Halloween was coming up, one they'd been planning for for ages, and things were good. And then he tells Lucas that truthfully, he was actually getting in trouble a lot, and in a lot of ways, he was kind of miserable. Lucas feels bad about it but Mike tells him to shut up, it's in the past, and "Hey, at least I was right in the end, anyways. Would've been great if I had been able to rub that in your guys' faces, but oh well, at least I got her back." and it's all gonna be good.

And then with El, she's just gonna go up to Mike at some point and just say, "I'm sorry" and Mike's just gonna be like, "????" And then El's gonna tell him that she's sorry for not sending him a sign all the way back then, when she was living in the cabin and he called her everyday. She said that she should have, because she was able to, and it wasn't fair for her to leave him hanging, when she knew fully well that he was alive. And then when her eyes start tearing up, Mike just pulls her into his arms and holds her close, kissing the top of her head and telling her that she doesn't need to apologize, because despite everything, she needed to be safe, and he knew that if he had gotten that sign from her, then he would of went out and tried to find her and he wouldn't stop until he eventually did and he could've lead others right to her location in the process and who knows what would've happened then. It was good that she didn't give him a sign, in the long run, and it doesn't even matter anymore because he got her back and he has her here right with him and she's never going away again because he's never going to let her go ever again and better be ready to deal with that. And then El laughs a little through her tears, the whole thing muffled because her face is buried in Mike's chest and she squeezes him, her arms wrapping around his waist a little tighter as she says, "I am not going anywhere ever again. I will never leave again unless you are with me this time. And if people think that I am dead again, I will make sure you know that I am not. I promise." And Mike then just smiles and buries his face in her hair and says, "Good. I promise the same." and then they just stay there holding each other for a little while <3333

UGH, I want all of it so badly, man. Thank you so much for sharing this all with me!!! I absolutely love it and I appreciate it so much!!!! Hope you're have a great day/night!!! 💜💜💜

[astrobei]

maybe my number one stranger things pet peeve is when people write max mayfield like she’s an asshole who hates her friends (especially mike) as if her love for and memories of her friends did not give her the strength to realize she wanted to live. as if her love for her friends didn’t literally save her life.

[http-byler]

platonic wheelclair doodle request from instagram <3

[oneway-closet]

mike thinking that there’s something wrong with him because he’s in love with will so he goes to lucas and asks “lucas is it weird that i find will very pretty and want to kiss him” and lucas responds with “nah bro i used to want to kiss him too you’re good” and the two of them living on in obliviousness until max explains that they are. not straight

edit: check out this phenomenal fic itsromeowrites made based off of this post! https://archiveofourown.org/works/42759546

[mlchaelwheeler]

anyways the biggest byler proof to me is that if you switch out either will or mike in any byler scene, it immediately seems off and feels weird. mike and lucas tearing up saying they'll go crazy together? odd. max and will staring at each other's lips in the movie theater and then zooming in on them blushing? unsettling. mike smiling at dustin like how he looked at will in the van? nope.

[rbinsgf]

Turn the other cheek, and I take it on the chin /Part 2/

Part 1

The sky was blue, two and two made four and Eddie was a coward.

Those were the irrefutable truth of the world. Eddie used to call his behavior "self-preservation" when he ran away from cops and angry jocks mob, or when he skipped a class he couldn’t understand, or when he ran away after witnessing one of the most traumatizing death in the history of mankind.

But as he saw Robin Buckley angrily stomping down his stairs and into his basement, he couldn’t qualify his next course of actions of anything but cowardice.

He had known day more glorious but as he shielded himself from the furious woman with a, for once, quite Mike Wheeler, he couldn’t care less about his image in front of his club.

Hypocritical right ? Yeah that’s another truth Eddie was very well aware about himself but who would dare look him in the eye and spit that fact in his face ?

Robin Buckley actually, as she did not hesitate to shove Mike out of the way and grab Eddie by the collar of his worn out Hellfire shirt, bringing him dangerously close to her angry red face, and shoving him against the wall.

"You, Edward Theodore Munson, are the biggest hypocrite I’ve ever seen. How dare you force those big monologues on conformity and "Hawkins’ monster" on us on top of those poor cafeteria tables, only to turn around and do exactly what you so loudly claim to be against ?"

Eddie was petrified, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from hers. The basement was as quiet as ever, everyone seemed to hold their breath, too scared they might remind Robin of their presence.

"Steve changed, actually no, he didn’t change. He just had the courage to show his true self, he stripped away from the role that was forced on him by his parents, friends, everyone in this shitty town and by you too. He would and has put his life on the line so many times for every single one of you," She said the last part louder, slightly tilting her head to the side towards a specific side of the table but never moving her rage filled gaze from Eddie’s wide eyes. "He trusted you Eddie, he confided in you and what did you do ? You humiliated him by using his vulnerability against him. I hope you’re happy your pathetic little audience appreciated the spectacle." A protest formed itself on Jeff’s lips but was quickly shut off by a quick glare and an honest to god growl from Robin.

"You know what truly breaks my heart Eddie ? Steve still defended you and he doesn’t even blame you ! Do with that information what you want but I hope it makes you feel so bad you won’t be able to look yourself in any type of reflection for as long as possible."

She slowly stepped away from him, releasing her grip on his shirt and making a show of dusting him off,

"If you want to know what I think of this shit show Eddie. You don’t deserve him." She turned around, facing the kids, "and you guys are a bunch of ungrateful brats who don’t deserve Steve and all that he does for you."

She only looked at the older Hellfire members with disgust before turning back to Eddie. The man in question was looking at the ground, his head hanging guiltily and shoulder hunched.

Robin stepped back into his space, her mouth close to his ear, and let out her final strike in a quite sigh,

"And to think that man saved your life.."

With that, she left as she came, the front door banging loudly behind her.

That last sentence she had whispered in his ear sent a glacial chill down Eddie’s spine. It stabbed through his chest in plain and shameful guilt. Eddie sat heavily on his throne. A throne that Steve had spent two weeks making since the basketball team had burned his old one when he was on the run. He lost himself in a spiral of shame and regrets, cringing at himself as he pictured how it all went down earlier and how, even after noticing Steve leaving, they’d kept that same behavior. Laughing at the expense of the poor man like hyenas. One by one, the older members left quietly. The kids stayed a little longer, sitting in silence before all leaving in a quiet agreement. Eddie only registered Dustin telling him they will be using the phone to call for a drive home. A drive home that, for the first time since the boys had joined Hellfire, wouldn’t be Steve.

Eddie had fucked up, that much was very clear. He also knew why he said all those horrible things, he craved the validation and admiration of his sheepies and hellfire friends.

The only way he had found to maintain those was to do what he had always done.

To the detriment of his friends, Eddie was a hypocrite, selfish and coward man. Eddie saw an opportunity to remind his club of who he was, Eddie "the Freak" Munson, natural nemesis of the jocks.

Robin’s words kept circling in his mind viciously.

The sheer fury that emanated of her trembling frame was enough for Eddie to imagine how bad his words must’ve affected Steve.

He knew those exact words would hurt him and he still said them.

He also knew Steve, through and through now, and with that came the knowledge of what Steve might be thinking about himself right now.

Because his sweet, kind and good Steve, didn’t even blame him one bit. Eddie’s words had definitely hit a very tender spot in Steve’s myriad of insecurities and self doubts.

The man was probably descending full speed through the worst of his self deprecating thoughts right now.

Eddie wished the bats had eaten him alive as the thought of Steve believing Eddie saw him for who he was not.

Eddie would rather Vecna came back as a zombie than Steve Harrington taking his stupid, stupid words at heart and believing them.

If Eddie was going to do one last thing, it was to make sure that Steve knew he wasn’t seen as anything but the painfully good man he truly was.

Resignation filled his mind and he pushed himself up from the throne, walked out of the basement and took the keys of his van before stepping, in the soon to be dark, street.

Eddie was going to see Steve, apologize but most importantly beg the man to not take Eddie’s words for one of the universe’s truth.

It’ll be the last thing he’ll do if Robin Buckley didn’t kill him before for daring to stand in the same vicinity as her friend.

———————————————

Here’s part 2 !! And Eddie’s pov yay !! I’m so grateful for your response to the first part as it’s also a response to me getting back to writing and it motivates me so much guys !!!

Next part will be up in a few days since I’m going back to college full time but I’ll do my best to update this little fic as soon as possible !

I tried to tag everyone who asked for it and hope it all worked ?

Love y’all gang ! 🫶🏼🧡

Tag list : @liketheocean @cameheretoread @doubleb11 @m-owo-n @moonage-daydreaming @shitnshit @throwbackthrowaway @a-huge-nerdy-nerd @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @zerokrox-blog @summer1066 @thesuninyaface @i-less-three-than-you @gamerdano @ineffablecolors @warriorwerewolfheart @tinysuits @cr0w-culture @thatonepotatochild @classicwho @lololol-1234 @what-is-life-but-an-empty-void @victor-thee-corvid @little-gae-shit @livelaughlexa @a-little-unsteady @stevie-crow @val-from-lawrence

[booksandpaperss]

Mike: I definitely like girls

Lucas: buddy no one said you didn’t-

Mike: I DO I SWEAR

Lucas: mi-

Mike: I’ll even prove it

Mike: uhhhh

Mike: if Will was a girl I’d totally date him!

Lucas:

Mike: see? get it? Cuz I find girls attractive and therefore would definitely date Will if he was one

Lucas: I- I need some water. I’ll be right back.

Lucas: *on the phone* Max? Babe? Oh thank god you’re there, yeah I need reinforcements. The situation is more dire than we thought.

lowkey inspired by the several times my bestie @andiwriteordie said that Mike would say he’d date Will if Will was a girl bc you are 100% correct lmao

[bylertruther]

yk. the resistance ppl have to so much as considering the idea that mike might not jump to immediately and enthusiastically engaging in obvious n indisputably gay shit with will publicly is kinda funny in a puzzling way when season three and season four, where he does exactly that the entire way through, are literally right there for us all to watch on netflix.com. like. Okay ❤️

[uselessnbee]

i would love to imagine Mike coming out to Lucas like "Holy shit i'm in love with Will!!" and Lucas completely chill not even looking up from the comic he's reading goes just "aren't we all a little bit in love with Will?"

and that's how they come out to each other <3

[night-eyes1]

[swanqueenelmaxshadowhunters]

El walks into Max laughing so hard she's nearly crying: what are you laughing at?

Max, trying to breathe: no-nothing

Lucas, rolling his eyes, but smiling at them: Mike tripped and fell, rolled down the street. Don't worry, Will got him.

[starbylers]

It’s honestly exasperating to see Will’s feelings constantly reduced to ‘just a crush’, people saying that Will’s van speech was ‘what any good friend would do’…No. It was a love confession (disguised, but still a love confession). It was not just someone giving a motivational talk to their bestie, but Mlvns wish it was and this is why I’m so sure Byler is endgame. The reason they constantly downplay the sheer depth of Will’s romantic love for Mike, try to attribute the van scene to Will ‘being a supportive friend’, and pretend those feelings also belong to El, is because it’s insanely obvious that the Duffers choosing to focus on this intense and beautiful love Will has for Mike, to constantly emphasise how much pain this love is causing him (he literally breaks down crying in the van, this is way past a friendly chat) points to Mlvn being finished 😭. We all know it makes no sense storytelling-wise to show character A loving character B that much (in exactly the way that soothes character B’s insecurities, whilst not showing anything even approaching that level of feeling from B’s other love interest), just for them to not end up together. Will’s love has to be this small, inconsequential thing that he will just ‘get over’, he has to be just ‘giving Mike friendly advice based on feelings El also shares’, because otherwise the direction of the story is laughably obvious.

[helioleti]

Infinitely mad that they made El & Mike a romantic couple. Just found a bunch of GIFs of them being goofy & sweet in s1 vs their smiley hugs in s4, and while I’m not the biggest enthusiast of their overall dynamic, it made me tear up.

All I see are two people whose beautiful initial relationship filled with childhood wonder and genuine kindness, has been thoroughly unnecessarily strained and destroyed through the need to keep the romance going. And now they barely even sincerely talk to each other. Just why

Just look at them. We could’ve had it all if they were platonic.

[ghosttotheparty]

has anyone written anything where everything is the same but steve has beef w eddie bc he saw hellfire coming out of the school the night of lucas’s basketball game

[tired-bisexual-brainrot]

modern au where everyone is old enough to drive and max picks up mike on the way to school everyday but she always plays dove cameron’s “boyfriend” because after milkvan broke up el and max got together.

max, calling mike on the phone: i’m outside your house hurry up or i’m leaving without you!

*5 minutes later*

mike: hey sorry i woke up late

max, who already had the song playing when he opened the door: “i can be a better boyfriend than you, i can do the shit that you never did”

mike, groaning: oh for fucks sake maxine do you have to play that every morning!

max: yes.

[bylertruther]

a collection of my thoughts + notes as i read lucas on the line —

first of all, i am, of course, feeling yet another wave of anger at all the "hot takes" that floated around cheapening lucas's season four journey or vilifying him for wanting to try new things, make a better life for himself, and be in the company of other black people that weren't related to him for once. as if his experience as a black boy doesn't make his life all that much harder, so much more complicated and isolating, even as he tries to better it. just... sigh. the more i read the more upset i felt about how fandom, no matter which one it is, treats black characters, especially ones with darker skin.

max breaks my fucking heart into a million pieces in this, over and over again.

i already know that people mischaracterize mike to a horrendous degree, but it is just... funny, for lack of a better word and in a terribly unfunny way, just how egregious it is. mike's written as such a stern stubborn hardass. he's a good older brother, and even uses that Older Brother Voice on others when necessary. he thinks motorcycles are cool, as well as the people that ride them. he's mopey and broody and irritable. he wants to fight to defend the ones he loves, but he won't do it if the offenders are bigger than him, which they often are. he fidgets with an old dnd die. he likes board and card games. he's honestly kind of a Cool^tm nerd guy—just has that standoffish vibe to him. he's the most difficult person to convince, apparently. he's also incredibly cut-to-the-chase, no-bullshit, mega blunt. of course we know that mike can be kind and sweet beyond his years, too, but i feel like that outer, more prominent layer of his—which, honestly, has persisted since the very beginning—is often cast aside by people for something more palatable. sad.

mike is the heart, i know this, everyone knows this, but... it is kind of funny that dustin and mike gave up on calling themselves a party, and what remained of them in hawkins wasn't much, didn't support lucas at all (which did hurt him a lot, because he couldn't give up hope that they eventually would), and that they only came together again like old times when will and el came down, but that togetherness went away once they left again. "look how the party fell apart just by will and el moving away." mike is the heart of the party, yes, but he relies on will, whether it be the support he offers or the inspiration he serves him, in order to be that heart. just interesting to see that repeated here, too.

the party doesn't understand or even see the racism lucas faces, which is to be expected, but still sad.

lucas is prone to nervousness and anxiety, and he clenches his hands into fists to keep them from visibly shaking. he also doesn't like the aggression that's prevalent in hyper-masculine spaces and takes note of it.

lucas's father was adopted by a white family, but they're not allowed to talk about them—ever. he's a vietnam veteran and doesn't talk about his time there either. he prefers keeping a low profile, because he feels that keeps his family, and people like them, safer. he also used to be a barber and he's the one that gives lucas his hi-top fade.

will didn't only wear jonathan's clothes. he also wore joyce's.

so many beautiful and heart-wrenching passages about the monsters of hawkins, which is a repeating motif in these tie-in books. it's classism, racism, homophobia, ableism, and so much more, and it's always there, lying in wait. those vulnerable are expected to remain small and hidden to survive, lest they become targets.

lucas has a dnd character that sounds a lot like robin hood. hashtag commie king 🤝

robin was the wise-beyond-her-years, nonjudgmental mediator between lucas, dustin, and mike. it took them hours to reconcile and she would interfere when it got too heated. lucas also felt that she would've fit right into the party were she their age.

nancy was their official chauffeur. hehe.

max flinches whenever anyone mentions neil or calls her maxine like he does. she also tried to run away on halloween, but talked herself out of it.

mike wasn't interested in dressing up for halloween because will and el were gone. max wanted to go as green lantern and lucas wanted to go as mad max, thinking he could borrow the costume from her.

eddie is apparently a freak, jackass, always high, and looks like he hasn't showered in a week. nice.

lucas knows the "i contain multitudes" walt whitman quote and it was a black boy that shared it with him. that boy, jay, also showed him james baldwin. the sinclairs are also fans of prince. 🌈 :)

i already knew this before reading, but it was nice to have even more proof that lucas is indeed the bestest boy in all of existence. this is #real and true.