#it's how all the wheelers have a similar arc

[wheelercurse]

Mike’s character arc (a summary)

#it's how all the wheelers have a similar arc #it has the same themes at least #and how Mike's character development is linked with Will #byler #long post #st screencaps

[chirpsythismorning]

There isn't much discourse about how Mike went from saying that El was a weapon in s1, even encouraging the others to use El's powers when she was still recuperating after finding Will in the void, to then in s3 accusing the others of being reckless with her powers, saying she's risking her life for no reason.

Now, I want to make clear that I'm not bashing Mike here, this has less to do with what he's doing being right or wrong. What this is about is how Mike went from doing something himself, to calling out other people for doing it, without acknowledging that fact and why the writers chose to frame it all this way.

You might think it's insignificant, but these two following scenes are clearly being paralleled to each other. And so the fact that Mike himself is acknowledging this as something to be critical of, makes me wonder what exactly is going on in his mind...

I want to preface this scene from s1 by saying that Mike is giving very off vibes here. I know that I certainly viewed this scene as romantic the first time I saw it, but since rewatching it recently, I was getting completely different vibes.

They literally make a point to focus on Mike being distracted, on the verge of impatience. Then, the way El reacts upon Mike getting up abruptly, gives this feeling of uncertainty about Mike's consideration for her in this moment, as she's clearly not what's on the top of his mind right now. And it just makes you wonder, are we truly supposed to be feeling peak romance rn?

I never realized how out of place this scene was until now (or is it...). It's just such an odd choice to have El resting her head on Mike's shoulder for comfort, only for Mike to cut it short with him being distracted, and with Dustin and El looking awkwardly at Mike like "Okay?...", then followed by a scene where he's trying to convince the others to use El's powers to help.

Here we have s1 Mike displaying behavior that s3 Mike was calling out the others for displaying:

Here we have Lucas, who was very, very critical of El being dangerous ALL of s1, and yet now in complete contrast to that, he is showing more consideration and common sense for El's well being than Mike, the supposed love (at first sight) interest ...

'That's the most important thing, remember?'

A question, followed by Mike just standing there in silence, like he's only just now really thinking about El being safe as their main priority... This is something that combined with everything else unfolding over the course of this season and the seasons after, that makes Mike's behavior a whole lot easier to understand.

I'll have to make several other posts about this, because there are a lot of aspects to it, but for now I'm just going to focus on these two parallels.

Here we have what happens in s3, with Mike being critical of the others doing something he himself literally did in s1:

In fact, how careless all of you are.

THIS. When Mike makes it a big deal to call out everyone for doing something he himself has already done, he's outright admitting that it's something that he believes is wrong, and by not even slightly acknowledging his role in doing something similar in the past, it's very likely that he feels guilty about it.

This was probably his way of trying to make it right, by standing up for El in a way that he didn't before because he was treating her like some superhero and not a real person back then.

It's just that the word love slipped out, in the heat of the moment. And El, upon overhearing this, is seeing this development of Mike herself, with s1 Mike going from, yes being more kind and considerate than the other 2 boys in the beginning, but still sort of expecting stuff from her without her being able to verbally agree to it, to now having developed and changed to saying that one of his big priorities is her safety.

El is taking this as being evidence he went from not loving her, to loving her. Another reason why it's pretty obvious El didn't believe Mike's monologue, bc she herself witnessed Mike develop his apparent romantic feelings for her over time, and so him saying it was love at first sight, was probably the catalyst that made it abundantly clear to her that he wasn't being truthful, bc she knows it's not the truth. She's not stupid.

Again this isn't about Mike doing this back then or even the others doing it now as being bad vs. good, this is about the writers going about it this way, sending a message that Mike feels guilt, enough to try to make things right, but is apparently not ready to unpack the actual guilt that is beneath the surface which lead him to this point.

And then there's this scene, which... it's actually terrifying how obvious it is they instructed Sadie and Caleb to lean out of that shot with Will and Mike reacting to El entering the room... Like... It's SOO obvious when you watch it now what they're trying to hint at without saying it.

Not only are they hinting at Will's feelings, because that is part of it, they're also hinting at Mike's internal struggle. Will is always on the back of his mind whether he's willing to address it or not. And all while that is happening, he is feeling unaddressed guilt about how he treated El when they first met and spent that one week together helping her run away from the bad guys while also looking for Will, something Mike viewed as being worthy of El using her powers...

I'll have to make the other posts regarding this soon, because it all starts to click what's going on with Mike when you look at all of these things together.

While Mike is just a kid like pretty much everyone else in this story, and while he didn't mean any harm by asking El to help them find Will (none of them did), I think that's kind of the whole point?

I think that he got lucky superman landed on his doorstep, who just so happened to be in danger herself, giving him his own purpose to help her too, with her needing him as well, and so it became a situation where they both needed each other.

But because El could literally not speak, it's not like she could really voice her feelings about things they were doing, beyond yes and no. She had Lucas sort of being critical of her, with Mike encouraging El to do things that would make the others see her as being worthy of sticking around so they can find Will. It goes without saying she felt obligated to do these things, even if they didn't outright tell her she had to or else. We literally see almost all of these scenes with her doing stuff for the others being instantly juxtaposed with scenes of Brenner doing the same. It's not the same scale of severity, but it is an acknowledgment that although she is outside of the lab, she still feels like her powers are what define her and it's all people want from her.

I think what it comes down to, is that in that moment when she is sacrificing herself to the demogorgan at the end of s1, we are seeing in real time Mike realizing what he and the other's have been asking of her this whole time, without outright asking her.

And you can literally see the retaliation and devastation hit him all at once. The instant regret, where he's backtracking and El stops him from even trying.

'Goodbye Mike' singles him out, because while he was the one out of the three that showed her the most kindness from the start, he was also the one who at the end of it all, was still expecting her to risk her life for them...

And that just makes it hit so much harder when you think about how that made Mike feel in that moment.

And then in s2 how that impacts Mike and his journey going forward.

His breakdown at the end of s2 upon her return.

His behavior in s3-4, in relation to him juggling his relationship with Will and El, now that they are both in his life at the same time.

It all starts to make sense.

I won't go too much into it because those other posts are bound to be long with a bunch of pictures too!

But on that note, there's at least one thing Mike isn't acknowledging, and it's literally what led up to the unintentional love confession that then led us to 10 more episodes of miscommunication because of it...

It's going to be important for him to address this guilt for him to fulfill his arc and to also close off his expectations that he has to have a romantic relationship with El in order to keep her in his life at all.

The audience themselves seeing this and being forced to face it is also going to make it a lot easier for them understand why Mike did what he did, not only because he's a queer kid in the 80's who has every reason to doubt and repress, but also because he understandably feels sort of indebted to El after everything.

It's more complex than him just falling out of love with her and falling in love with Will because of XYZ.

I think there is a lot of guilt and shame and trauma connected to their meeting and the events that followed. And addressing that is going to give a lot of closure to the ending of the story and also the beginning.

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #i feel like mikes arc always comes off as convoluted to most viewers bc they’re missing the whole picture #like this is literally canon #Mike went from doing something to saying other people doing it was wrong without acknowledging his role in that from the beginning #and so ppl using that development as aww he loves her now… #doesn’t even work when apparently he loved her since the moment he saw her… #not being willing to pay attention to how they are building up mikes arc #dancing around all of his actions with #everyone makes mistakes bc they’re children and that’s okay #and just leave it at that… #bc yes obviously all of the characters should be able to make mistakes and be forgiven #but were ignoring the elephant in the room here #it’s canon Mike feels guilt for how he treated el in s1 yet he hasn’t acknowledged it… #instead of acknowledging his history of doing something similar #he’s pointed out everyone else doing it as if they’re doing something wrong he himself would never do… #as if he doesn’t have first hand experience #they could have actually made this moment romantic and genuine IF they wanted to #they could have had mike open up about how he used to do that #but after getting to know el and realize she is her own person #it made him think differently and he wants to do better by her #then maybe when she confronted him in front of everyone he could have said it again or asked to be alone to say it to her directly #and to apologize for how he acted in the past by expecting stuff of her #and THATS why he is extra cautious now #and then got her reaction #instead they give fans the impression Mike is the ideal male love interest #who is perfect for el #with this moment being one of their top reasons #and it’s a scene where he avoids confronting series long built up guilt…

[yumeka-sxf]

Seems like this chapter just about wrapped up the Mole Hunt arc. I decided to analyze a bit more than I usually do with my chapter reviews since there was a lot to talk about on the Twiyor front!

When Fiona questioned Twilight about not killing Yuri, he gave his official "for the mission" reason, but slipped up by calling Yor "Yor-san" instead of "Yor Briar." This made it obvious to Fiona (who already knows about him softening) that he's trying desperately hard to cover up those feelings. Even though this would have been a good opportunity for her to imply that she's a better fit for the wife role, she doesn't even try because she knows Twilight would defend "Yor-san" in every subtle way he could.

When he gets home and finds out that Yor doesn't actually have gripes with him, he's relieved of that last load of stress and is finally able to relax, causing him to collapse (similar to the very first chapter when he collapsed after Anya passed the Eden entrance exam). After he realizes how utterly exhausted he is, he can't help but ask Yor to help out with his housework.

Her reply is what really makes everything sink in for him - despite all his attempts to be a flawless spy, she doesn't want him to be that way. She's happy when she can be useful to him and thinks it's bad if he pushes himself to be perfect all the time.

And yet, that's exactly what he has to be in order to survive as a spy. The fact that he had to ask someone for help with simple housework, plus someone telling him that he doesn't have to be perfect, made him recall the feeling he had when he looked into Wheeler's eyes...that he lives in a world where you have to be perfect in order to survive, and having any kind of weakness just won't due.

While Twilight continues to be clueless about Fiona's feelings for him among other things, what he does realize at the end of this arc is his own feelings - that he does have a weakness. He's beginning to understand more than ever that a spy can't afford to be anything but perfect. And yet, his refusal to kill Yuri, which is a result of him caring about Yor (even though he gave Fiona his usual "for the mission" reason, she saw right through it) is conflicting him even more.

I also have to point out how considerate Yor was of Loid's exhaustion - she completely pushed Yuri away, even after noticing he was injured. She didn't even invite him to stay and have tea with them!

What Twilight was about to say to Yor (in his mind) before Yuri interrupted is debatable, but going by his previous line of thought, it was probably something bittersweet like "which is why...once Operation Strix is over, I'll have to leave the Forgers" or possibly something more immediate, where he now realizes how compromised he truly is and so might reconsider the stipulations of Operation Strix even before it's over. Though I think it's more of the former since his thoughts in the shower in the next scene make it seem like he's not ready to do anything drastic yet, but the idea is still gnawing at him.

Fiona had noticed his leaking emotions way back when she was first introduced, but this is the first time Twilight himself is realizing it and not denying it. Whether anything major will change in his actions from now on is yet to be seen. Will there be another aftermath chapter or two with Twilight still being jostled by this realization? Or will things go back to normal now and he'll brush those feelings aside for another day? It seems like Yuri has been totally thrown off the scent, so his identity should be safe for the time being. Will Anya get to read his mind the next morning and finally find out everything that happened? The next new chapter won't be out for another 4 weeks, so brace yourself for a grueling wait!

#spy x family #spy family #sxf #spyxfamily #loid forger #yor forger #twiyor #sxf manga #sxf manga spoilers #sxf spoilers

[whateversawesome]

Let's Talk About Yor

Something is going on with Yor lately. Have you noticed it too?

Even though she wasn't in every chapter of the latest big arc (Wheeler-Yuri-Twilight confrontation), the arc started with her and ended with her and I think there's a reason for that.

As I mentioned before, Yor is a very emotionally intelligent character. She surpasses Twilight on this, who struggles with his own emotions and the emotions of others too.

So the way Yor works is by becoming aware of an emotion or a change within herself and then she reflects on that. Then, things happen to her and she reflects some more about that issue or emotion, which is usually connected to the things that are happening around her.

Example: Look at the chapters leading to the cruise arc. Fiona showed up and Yor started questioning her place in the Forger family. Everything seemed to be cleared out during that same visit, but then Loid went to a tennis tournament with Fiona and Yor kept thinking about this. When the tennis challenge happened, even though Yor won, this didn't make her feel better, quite the opposite. Finally, Loid reassured her during that date in the bar, right after he got kicked on the chin.

That should have been it, right? Wrong. More things kept happening to Yor and she kept thinking about her place in the world, whether or not she should keep her assassin job until we finally get to that moment when she realizes her reason to keep on living and protecting is her family.

I get the feeling we're now at a similar point in the manga. Somehow everything keeps pointing to Yor, specifically to Yor and her relationship with Loid. Look at what's happening to Yor and tell me what you think is coming:

1.That chat with her office friends about gripes, marriage and welcome home kisses.

2.The welcome home kiss that never happened when she got home.

3."The fight" she had with Loid, or more specifically: thinking about her husband while he was shot by Yuri. (Those sad eyes said a lot!).

4.That honest talk she had with Twilight where she tells him she wants to take care of him.

5.Her chat with Yuri, where her brother asked her if she loves Loid.

6.Meeting the Authens, a real marriage, and seeing them kiss. (The Authens' Theory here.)

See what I mean? If we take into consideration the way Yor grows as a character and the way she realizes things, then where is this heading?

It's clear Yor is about to realize she has feelings for Loid!

The way the story keeps pointing at a kiss with giant arrows is not a coincidence. For Yor, who is inexperienced, a kiss would mean true love and a real marriage (which is what she wants). If the almost kiss didn't happen at the beginning of the story (when Yuri visited) is because back then, the marriage wasn't real. Maybe they liked each other and a little more, but they had just met.

Now about the first twiyor kiss...we'll you can read my theory on that here. And I'd like to add a little more...

I know I said I wanted it to happen in the movie, but I admit I was being waaaay too optimistic about it. Sadly, I don't think it'll happen in the movie. Like some of you mentioned, that moment belongs to the manga and I agree.

However, all that is happening with Yor is leading to that kiss. I still believe she'll be the one who takes that step and will be the one who kisses Twilight. I insist; it's part of her character arc, which is about gaining confidence in herself, becoming a woman, and feeling worthy of love.

At this point, she's on the verge of figuring out her own feelings and after that happens, she needs to accept them and then figure out how she wants to proceed. I believe it won't be an easy task for her. Knowing Yor, she won't want to inconvenience Loid and impose her feelings on him. She also won't want to risk what she already has: her family. So it will take a while and maybe a little encouragement (maybe from the Authens?) to get to the point of actually want to act on these feelings.

But it's coming.

#spy x family #twiyor #loid forger #yor forger #sxf #spy x family meta #spyxfamily #loidyor #loid x yor #spy x family anime #spy x family manga #spy x family theory #twilight #spy x family twilight #thorn princess

[moonstruckme]

So, I know you don't commonly really write for steddie, and you don't have to write this if you don't wanna. But what about Like, reader graduates hawkins high and goes of to college (eddie is probably still held back for his last year???) And when she left she was more on the quite side, soft color pallet, kinda stariotypical pastel sunshine character. And she comes back for the summer and she's like, more punk-ish??? Like a few more piercings, and same kinda quite personality but kinda different aesthetic?

I think you could do something similar with poly!marauders as well, where same thing happens but it's over the summer between years?

Idk, you dont even have to write it, I just have a stupid soft spot for this weird trope/character arc. Make sure to take care of yourself and have a lovely day!!!!!

I'm happy to write for any characters on my list, thanks for requesting gorgeous! Hope you're having a lovely day and taking care of yourself as well <3

Steddie x fem!reader ♡ 637 words

Steve and Eddie are scanning the crowd for you up until the very moment you come up to them. Even then, it takes Eddie a second to recognize you. 

“Hey,” you say, tentative. 

“Hey,” Steve says, stepping forward. “Shit, honey, come here.” 

You grin, some of the apprehension easing from your features as you hug him. 

“Shit,” Eddie agrees, wrapping his arms around the both of you. “Almost didn’t recognize you, sunshine.” 

Sunshine might not even be the best nickname for you now. When you’d left for college last fall, you’d looked like the rainbow had befriended you personally. All pastels, colorful sweaters and flowy little skirts. Now, it’s like you’ve been plucked from a graphic novel. Your clothes are dark down to the shoes, with ripped black tights under your shorts and lace-up combat boots that, frankly, Eddie thinks might get a little hot in the Indiana summer. He wonders if you’d be amenable to him calling you his little bat. Or witchling, maybe? He’ll have to workshop it. 

“You look so different.” Steve sounds positively flabbergasted, stepping back to take you in more fully. “I mean, not a bad different, I just—wow, it’s really…” Eddie snickers. In his opinion, you look far less like someone Steve Harrington would ordinarily date (the girl next door, preppy style, Nancy Wheeler clone) and more like someone he would (cool as fuck). Luckily for you, they both love you down to your ooey gooey core no matter how you present yourself. 

“It’s a new look, babe, and it’s fucking sick,” Eddie summarizes. “Is this what college does to people? Maybe I should come visit.” 

You roll your eyes at him, flushing faintly. Another pro of your new style: the pink of your face stands out ever-so-much-more brilliantly against your new dark palate. 

“I’m serious, sweetheart,” Eddie goes on, delighting in watching your color change. “I need you to start coming to my shows so we can lure in your crowd. You’re too fucking cool for us now.” 

Your shoulders start to come up around your ears, but Steve saves you, tucking you under his arm with a kiss to the top of your head. “She was always too cool for us,” he says. It’s the truth, and Eddie sends you a wink to make sure you know he knows it. “You look amazing, really. God, we’ve missed you so—is that a tattoo?”

Eddie all but lunges for you. “Where?” 

“Here,” Steve says, stretching the collar of your shirt over your shoulder, where an inky design sits starkly against your skin. “Shit, this is so cool.” Eddie jostles for space, head squishing between yours and Steve’s to get a better look. “It really works for you.” 

You smile bashfully. “Thanks.” 

“Fuck me,” Eddie breathes, and you shiver pleasantly as his breath his your shoulder. “Actually, if I can get us to Steve’s in five minutes, would you top me right now? This is too fucking hot—oh, don’t look at me like that, Stevie boy. You know you like it too.” 

“I do,” Steve says, giving Eddie a look that’s probably aiming for stern but only hitting fond as he tries to coax your face from his chest. “It looks great honey, when did you get this?”

Your voice is characteristically quiet, but a bit proud, when you say, “That one’s from a couple months ago. I got my first last November, though.”

“Your first?” Eddie’s gobsmacked. “How many are there? Wait, no, don’t tell me.” He grabs you by the legs, hoisting you over his shoulder. “I wanna find ‘em.” 

“Eds, put me down!” You hiss in his ear, but your words are undercut by giggles. “Steve!”

“Sorry, but I’m kinda on board with this one,” Steve says with an apologetic shrug in your direction. He tosses Eddie the keys. 

#steddie #steddie x reader #steve x eddie x reader #steve harrington x eddie munson x reader #steddie x fem!reader #steddie x you #steddie x y/n #steddie fanfiction #steddie fanfic #steddie fic #steddie imagine #steddie drabble #steddie oneshot #steddie scenario #steddie fluff #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fandom

[oceanic-sunsets]

Mike Wheeler and Will Byers, Character Arcs explained by the Duffers and Letting Characters surprise you

I’ve been so excited to write this analysis because I love talking about character’s arcs, development, and storytelling in general. For this particular analysis, I’m going to focus mostly on Mike, the Wheelers, and Will, but I’ll touch on a few other important characters too to draw parallels/give examples. 

Once again, I’ll remind you that I believe Mike is gay, so my analysis will touch a lot on the subject. 

Now let’s get into it:) 

I’m going to start this off with a few notes from the Duffer’s Masterclass, lesson 7: Character Development. They tell us their creative process, how they come up with characters, what defines them, and later on, what their main arc will be. 

So as we can see, some names were changed, Will was Tommy and Mike was Joel. Something that stands out is that Mike, since he was named Joel, has always been intended to be Will’s best friend, the closest one of his friends. 

Now, for Sheriff’s daughter, the Duffers mention how she didn’t make the cut, and this is only me assuming, but it sounds like the role Max would later on have: she’s the new girl who two of the main kids are interested on. 

Next we are shown the following characters’ descriptions: 

The Duffers then explain how a lot of it “mostly stuck”, how some stuff didn’t make it into the show, and then we have characters whose name changed but their purpose stayed the same, or those who got some traits swapped up with a different character. For example, how the “Billy Flanagan” role was first represented by Steve back in S1, and later on by Billy, even with the same name. 

I’ll talk about a few characters, their old traits vs what I think (based on the show) they ended up changing. 

Karen Wheeler: She's first described as a great, overprotective mom, who suffocates Mike and tries to protect him from the evil around him. She hides from his husband. Projects happiness but actually very sad inside. This obviously didn’t stick. This sounds an awful lot like Joyce, word for word. See, instead: Julie Conley. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Ted Wheeler: Suburban, always busy with work, never around and not close to his son.  This is still pretty spot on. Ted Wheeler was always meant to be exactly who he is. But wait, could there be more to it?

Mike Wheeler: --introduce him with DnD-- shy, birthmark on his face and neck, which he is bullied for. No confidence outside his friend group. Ultimately coming of age, falls in love with El.  Mike’s connection with DnD and being bullied stayed. The rest, however? it all changed. Notice how Karen used to have a role more similar to what ended up becoming Joyce. Now, look at Mike’s first description. Sounds familiar, right? That’s because it basically describes our Will: shy, with an overprotective mom, no confidence outside his friend group and with the ultimately coming of age. Falls in love with El Mike. I’ll get back to Will in a bit, for now, let’s go back to Mike. The Duffers also mention how his character completely changed and it was influenced by Finn Wolfhard’s performance: the Mike we know isn’t shy, quite the opposite! he’s brave and fills up the group leader’s role. 

What does this mean? It means his character arc can’t stay the same, because his fundamental traits, those that define him as a character and give him a drive, also changed. See one of Will Byer’s previous descriptions: More normal. Rings any bell?:) 

Lucas Conley: Nerd, dungeon master, dresses in black, glasses, LOTR and other fantasy books, videogames, unkempt. As the Duffers say themselves: this is nothing like our Lucas Sinclair. Instead, it sounds more like…

You guessed it, Mike! With his Hellfire t-shirt, long hair, more edgy look and interest in videogames and fantasy. This is not the only reason why I think Mike ended up filling this character’s role. Just wait until you read the next ones.

Terry Conley: Lucas' dad, disappointed in his son, makes him shave his head and hair, abusive with his mother. Very obviously not our Lucas’ dad. Instead, it’s a mix of both Ted (disappointed) AND Lonnie (disappointed and also abusive). Why do I include Ted, when you could arguably say he’s not disappointed, just never there emotionally? Because of the hair thing and his wife’s description. By saying he makes his son shave his head and hair, it’s implied that it’s because it’s long/not “normal”, or “adequate” enough. Ted Wheeler is an absent father, but he also represents conformity and traditional values: he would not support his son’s hairstyle choices. 

Julie Conley: Lucas's mom, very sweet, doesn't stand up for Lucas, should leave dad but doesn't. Again, not our Lucas’s mom. This is word for word the Karen Wheeler we know: sweet but doesn’t really stand up for her kids. Should leave Ted (see: the almost-cheating plot and their unhappy marriage), but doesn’t. 

This is the family that’s meant to represent normalcy, conformity and traditional values, but they happen to have a rebellious son. THIS is the role that the Wheelers ended up filling, you see it very clearly from the very start with Nancy, a little bit with Mike (who then retreats, trying to fill his expected role) and we start seeing a glimpse of rebellious Mike again in s4. 

Will Byers: Mike’s best friend, more normal, more shy, goes missing, killed by an entity.  He doesn’t have much of a description, but besides going missing, two traits stay: Mike’s best friend, and shy. As I mentioned when I talked about Mike, since his traits changed, so did his character arc. He’s still the shy, missing kid that drives the show, defined partly by this experience and the events that revolve about it. We just have to add the missing pieces to it: (see: Mike Wheeler’s original description) lacks confidence outside of friendgroup. Overprotective mother. Tied with DnD. Bullied. Ultimately coming of age. Falls in love with El Mike. 

Need more convincing, more proof? Let’s take a look at this section of the show’s bible. 

Now again, with my notes. The yellow highlighter represents what is true to Will’s character, and the blue one represents Mike (yeah, I know, I know). 

“He’s never had a first kiss, much less a girlfriend. [...] he will discover a courage he didn’t know he had. By the end, he will even kiss a girl.” This was meant to be Mike’s original character arc. You COULD argue that it’s only about season 1, but even then, it is not true to the events of the show. Mike’s s1 story was NEVER about his insecurities with girls, not having a girlfriend, and finding courage. The entirety of Mike’s actions in s1 (and therefore, his arc) are driven by Will’s disappearance and the goal of FINDING him. It’s NEVER, not even once, not even when other characters try to convince him of it, getting a girlfriend and kissing a girl, despite having kissed El by the end of s1. 

Instead, whose plot is intrinsically TIED with romance and a confirmed coming-of-age story about finding courage within yourself? 

Yeah:) And you KNOW what’s the logical conclusion the Duffers have written for this particular arc? “By the end, he will even kiss a girl boy.” That’s the resolution to this kind of arc. NOT rejection. It is a pretty clear example of “Taking a character from point A to point B”. 

The Duffers say: “you can’t give everyone an amazing, big arc. [...] We gave Mike the biggest arc in terms of him coming of age” and then explain how IMPORTANT it is to not try to explain everything all at once, instead, drop hints so you're telling the audience, "this is an important part of this character and we're going to continue to explore it, but we're just getting started you can't just include it all, reveal it all too soon”. You can’t make it too complex from the very beginning either, instead, simplify and slow down.

Then they mention how they like to take a character that's a stereotype, make the audience believe they know this character, make them believe it’s a comfortable portrayal, something they know. And then you flip it and reveal there's more to this character because no one can be so easily defined. However, just HINT it. The reveal will happen on its own, at the right time for the story.

So, based on all of this… What do I think that happened?

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I do not think they planned byler from the very start. I think they had an idea of what they wanted to do, of what message they wanted the show to send, but found out along the way a different, more natural, and groundbreaking way to accomplish that. And I think they realized as soon as early s1, when they knew they wanted it to become a several seasons show rather than a limited series. It’s no coincidence there are elements like Will’s sexuality, homophobia, and conformity present from the very beginning. But they also found a way to portray this in a subtle way so it made sense in both outcomes: if they didn’t get a s2, s1 could still stand on its own, make sense, and feel resolved enough. If they got more seasons, they had more time to hint at this story, get the greenlight, and develop it over the course of all the seasons.

I also think the characters themselves, despite being written by them, lead them to this conclusion naturally. As they say in their masterclass… 

“You can drive and throw obstacles at them, but they can become very real, and sometimes they end up doing their own thing, surprising you”.

To finish this analysis, let’s do a little exercise. 

What is Mike’s Overall Arc, considering the following? 

His family represents conformity, an upper-middle-class household that’s apparently normal and very traditional. 

Both Nancy and Mike are meant to be the Rebellious Children in their very normal, traditional family.

Mike goes from leader to comic relief, to the Angry-closed off-messes-up character archetype. This is so evident that he even becomes unlikeable to most of the General Audience.

The Duffers remind us that hints are important and addressed later. Seemingly ‘weird’ actions and off personality have an explanation: there’s something deeper going on with Mike. You cannot address it all at once, it has to be over the course of episodes and seasons.

More advice from the writers: sometimes you plan something but end up realizing it works out better in a different way. Sometimes your own characters surprise you, and take you to the path that is more natural for them, who they are, and their story.

Mike’s character arc was never getting the girl once the Duffers really established who Mike was. 

And with that, I conclude this analysis. :) Wait for the next one! Please tell me your thoughts if you liked this and read this far. I love reading your tags and comments.

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #st analysis #anti mileven #my analysis #mike wheeler is gay #i don’t like begging for reblogs and notes #but i’m really proud of this one and spend an insane amount of time on it #so just this once i’m on my knees begging #if u liked it pls share it and tell me ur thoughts…… #seeing that people are interested in my analysis is what keeps me going and reminds me i’m not alone in this

[strangerwheelerthings]

The parallels between the character arcs of 15 year old Nancy and 15 year old Mike are real.

First off, we have the socially 'acceptable' relationship. Nancy started dating the popular, conventionally attractive, wealthy jock, even though they don't really connect very well. Mike dates the girl he's closest to, having felt that subconscious need to attribute closeness to a girl as romantic feelings. Even taking things at face value and ignoring the possibility of comphet Nancy, there's a lot of similar feelings going into this for both of them. There's this pressure to desire a relationship with this type of person. There's this disconnect between what they actually feel and what they choose to accept.

Second, though directly related, is the need to change themselves to fit in. They fall to peer pressure. The way this presents itself is different, as Nancy falls into the popular crowd while Mike falls into the outcast crowd. Mike may not want to be popular, but he conforms to Eddie's restrictions and judgments just as readily as Nancy did. Neither of them are as fine with things as they pretend to be.

Third, these patterns of behavior distance them from their best friends. Lucas resents being stuck in a box, and wanted his friends to be there to support him. Mike has always been the glue of the Party, the one who was a really good friend when they were all kids. Yet, he was acting different. It was pushing his friend away as he tried to keep all of them within the same box he was placing himself into. Barb was scared of where popularity would take Nancy, of how much it would change her. She knew Nancy wasn't acting like herself, and she could see how continuing down that path would force them apart. Nancy pushed her into an uncomfortable situation because she was unwilling to separate what was good for her friends and the unhealthy box she was trying to force herself into.

Fourth, "I love you" is a very difficult phrase. Both of them say it at some point because of expectations, but both of them also struggle with the concept as a whole. The family trauma is strong with these two.

Last, but not least: no matter whether you ship Nancy with Jonathan or Robin, it directly parallels Byler. Either both the Wheeler kids were avoiding their growing crushes on a Byers boy, or they were both attempting to force themselves to be straight.

#could be said better #but im not wrong #they hardcore struggle with similar things throughout the whole show #they are very much siblings #who share a lot of similar traits #we need more interaction between the two of them #Jonathan talked to will in season 4 #let nancy talk to Mike in season 5 #she understands far more than he realizes #nancy wheeler #mike wheeler #wheeler siblings #byler #ronance #jancy #stranger things

[henrysglock]

I’ve seen your posts against the theory of El being created by Will as a manifestation of his trauma and I was wondering if you’ve considered how this could link to Edward being the other version of Henry. I don’t know everything about the Henward stuff but I have read a lot of @aemiron-main posts about it and some of yours.

Considering how much Will and Henry are paralleled do you not think it could be a possibility that Will created El as a response to trauma the same way Henry possibly created Edward? Or like how Edward was possibly split off from Henry. Could El not be split off from Will in a similar way?

Also in regards to Edward, I’ve seen a lot about the idea of the lab faking memories and Edward having fake memories as he was created from Henry and never actually had a childhood. Could a similar thing not be the case for El?

I just find it a bit strange that the Henry fans seem to be the most against this theory when it seems to align with a lot of the other theories that you guys have.

Also to be clear I do understand why you and others would consider the theory misogynistic however in my opinion there is too much evidence for it to completely right it off just because of that. I’m not saying it is definitely true however there is something there with how Will and El are paralleled so often and all the other evidence.

Also I think this theory could be true without it erasing El as her own character. Her arc has been about independence and learning who she is. Just because she was originally created by Will doesn’t mean that she can’t exist herself at all. The two could go hand in hand with her learning who she is despite originally being created by Will.  She clearly is real in the sense that everyone else can see her and she is real person so I don’t think this theory necessarily has to result in El dying or not existing.

I’m interested to hear your opinion on this and whether you think there could be a connection between the two in any way.

To start us off, I'd like to raise a point about Will-Henry paralleling: Mike and "Henry" in TFS are heavily paralleled. Then couldn't Mike be responsible for creating El out of grief over losing Will, creating someone who could find Will, and/or creating someone it's socially acceptable for him to love...then becoming upset and detached when she doesn't perform the same function in his life that Will does? With Mike/the Wheeler family's ties to the Creel family in-show, which are just as numerous as Will's parallels to Henry, plus the extremely heavy-handed Mike-Henry parallels in TFS. All that on top of Patty-El paralleling and how Patty doesn't seem to be real/seems to act as a manifestation of Henry's mommy issues than a real girlfriend. I'm not even a manifestation theory truther in the slightest, but I'd almost peg that as more plausible.

My issue with the manifestation theory, particularly re: El, actually goes deeper than that. It's fundamentally flawed because Henry exists. El is a product of the experimentation on Henry. The theory with Henry and Edward is lab-faked memories, as in memories implanted in one or the other by Hawkins Labs. That doesn't fit in here. If it did, El would still be lab-created...Unless we want to argue that Will created the lab, which means he also created Brenner, Henry/Edward, Owens, all this real, tangible stuff. It's not just El they would have to create. It would be everyone who had a hand in creating El.

As for timeline stuff, there are two most plausible options.

The timelines existed in parallel all along, therefore there's no "splitting point"

There is an original splitting point, and it happened long before Will and El, possibly even before Henry and Edward.

If there is an original split at all, the split seems to have happened before Henry and Edward with Captain Brenner and the whole Philadelphia Experiment thing in 1943, because we then have this Richard and Martin deal that seems to crop up before Henry and Edward. In this case, though, an El-Jane split would be a more reasonable conclusion here.

Shifting gears a little, other posts on the topic (because this isn't an individualized criticism, it's broad) have also managed to reduce El's lab-specific trauma responses and lack of socialization to "El is just Will with superpowers and guts, everything he wishes he could be", which misses the root cause of her behaving the way she does while also painting evidence of her suffering as something good and desirable.

On top of that...simplified, this interpretation becomes "evidence of a woman's suffering is created by a man because those are traits he wishes he could embody." -> "a woman's suffering results in desirable traits". Not cute.

Another issue I have is that manifestation theories center Will (or Mike, depending who's manifesting) in El's story. It centers a man in a woman's struggle for independence from men. That's an added layer that Henry and Edward don't have to contend with.

This all doesn't even go into the aspect of people claiming that once Will accepts himself and comes into his own, El is no longer needed, thus, she dies (yes, I've seen that take). I've also seen people taking all of Henry's clock stuff and attibuting it to Will. This theory doesn't just do a disservice to El, but also to a raft of other characters...all while being riddled with easily-poked holes.

Lastly, I'd like to address this bit:

I just find it a bit strange that the Henry fans seem to be the most against this theory when it seems to align with a lot of the other theories that you guys have.

I'm not disagreeing as a Henry fan. I'm disagreeing as an analyst. Just because I subscribe to timeline theory doesn't mean I'm going to subscribe to any and everything that involves splitting a character in two. This theory doesn't actually align with much else we've had to say, for the reasons I've listed above re: Henry and Edward.

#asks

[acipphic]

stranger things habits of cycles and mini arcs that make me think byler is endgame

This is kind of my first stranger things theory/study so I don't know if somebody already took note of what I'm about to say on here or not so I'm sorry if I'm just reiterating common knowledge, I'm new on tumblr! I just hope to put information that we already have and understand in a different way that puts the show into perspective. If someone already noted this, I hope you enjoy reading what I think anyway :) I’m just having fun studying these characters

What is my definition of a cycle? A repeating theme/s in a character that often shows their flaw or something to take note of, and then allows you to take into perspective what the overall show is trying to tell you about this character. This further allows the audience to understand where their story is going, and how the character is thinking or feeling. Each full cycle shows the same repeating flaw and the character’s reaction to it, which gives us a window into their next move or arc, and what they are going to do about this cycle. Cycles feel like parallels but are more consistent within the characters. Cycles are similar to character arcs but not quite character arcs because I find that these pieces of character information repeat each other over and over rather than advancing or developing by much (like Steve and his troubles with the ladies), until they finally resolve. So, more like mini, bite-sized character arcs that make you think about what the character is thinking. It does not follow the traditional exoskeleton of a character arc. This definition is not official by any means and is just me putting a name to mini-arcs throughout the season that I find repeat themselves, thus a cycle. 

Just a warning that this can get kind of rambly lol you have to stay with me here!!! I promise it mostly makes sense. I am just mega autistic and I have so much to write.

Before I go into my theories, I need to lay some groundwork information down.

We know that;

Will, El, and Henry Creel have all been abused

Will, El, and Henry Creel parallel and mirror each other

Thanks to Tumblr user snacksizedgates, we also know about Will and El’s cyclical mirroring and foiling of each other

Mike and Nancy share similar perspectives on relationships

Mike Wheeler’s arc for two seasons has been about being unable to say “I love you”

Mike Wheeler’s arc is unfinished (we know this because of the end of e09 of s04)

The painting scene is probably one of the most important pieces of information to understanding Will’s character

Part 1) Proving that Stranger Things is Cyclical

The characters that I mentioned above are not the only characters that experience cycles. To prove that what I’m talking about in regards to Byler is tangible, I first have to prove that cycles are prevalent at all. 

Steve, Robin, Joyce, Hopper, and Jonathan are all seen going through specific cycles in their arcs. Nancy as well, but I did not mention her because she comes into play later on. The story itself also follows certain cycles without the characters (such as the start of the upside down and the continuing of it into the 80’s), but it follows more of the traditional arc-exoskeleton that I mentioned before. 

Joyce’s cycle includes a level of distrust in romantic relationships because of a cycle of traumatic experiences. Her flaw is distrust. Joyce is a single mother, and her past relationship with Lonnie was not only traumatizing for her, but for her children too. We know that Joyce was abused, along with her children, which is the start of not only her cycle, but Will and Jonathan’s. Joyce then is put with another man in Season 2, Bob. Bob appears to be a good role model and a kind man, but Joyce is put into another traumatic situation when Bob is promptly killed off by a demogorgon in front of her. This created another lasting impact on her, which bleeds into Season 3 where she gets a traumatic flashback of Bob dying. Then, in Season 3, she has to watch Hopper “die”. However, in Season 4, because Hopper actually ends up alive, I think that he is what puts a stop to Joyce’s cycle. Joyce has an expectation that the relationships she goes into will fail, which is probably also why she was hesitant to go on a date with Hopper. Now that she knows that Hopper won’t essentially fail her like the rest of the people she’s been in relationships with, she can heal. This is her closure. 

Steve’s cycle includes troubles in romance and finding true connections. He is shown inside his cycle and attempting to break out of it, either by going on dates or even confessing to Robin. The issue is, the women he goes after are either uninteresting or not for him, because he is stuck in a past relationship (Nancy). He has an ideal in his head about who the girl he dates should be like, and he cannot break out of it because he is stuck in his own expectations. Season 4 highlighted this flaw of his, and I believe Season 5 leads into him accepting that what happened will stay (his breakup with Nancy), or, disfavorably, a Stancy endgame.

Robin’s cycle, similar to Steve’s, includes troubles in romance. However, this cycle is more nuanced because Robin is a lesbian, and this struggle is highlighted by her in the show. Her flaw is the inability to be her true self. Robin recognizes how Steve and her are similar within their struggles, but she is put at a higher disadvantage. Robin cannot be herself, and this is arguably not a personal struggle, but a struggle with societal expectations. Queer characters in the show grapple with an amalgamation of character vs. society and character vs. self, which makes me appreciate the nuance of these characters.I do believe that Robin’s break will be during Season 5, when she hopefully gets together with Vickie, especially because at the end of Season 4, Robin appears more comfortable with being herself around Vickie. She’s already accepted her queerness, and that’s half the battle. Does this remind you of someone?

Hopper’s cycle is more familial based, because of his dead daughter. Hopper’s old family completely abandoned him, his wife left him. This creates an expectation in him that everybody he gets close to will fail him too. However, his closure comes faster than most characters after El and Joyce come into his life. They are the missing pieces in his equation, therefore when he is with them, he feels whole again and the cycle is broken. I believe that he felt truly whole again in Season 2 and 3 after he was able to step up as a father, and then again in Season 4 when Joyce rescued him. 

Jonathan’s cycle is also about distrust and fear, and I believe that Joyce’s fears bled into him which in turn caused this cycle. His flaw and cycle is also very similar to Will, because of the shared experiences with their father, but his perception of it is much more parentified and hardened than Will’s. I believe his closure will come in Season 5, and I think that Nancy plays a key role in it.

Part 2) The Arcs and Cycles of Eleven, One, and Will

We know that El, One, and Will are similar, not only because of snacksizedgate’s brilliant superman theory, but because of common character descriptors and wardrobe choices in the show. One is described as a sensitive boy from his biological father, and Will is described as a sensitive boy from his biological mother. One wears a very similar plaid button up shirt to what Will is wearing, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. El and Will are treated similarly by Mike because they have similar character profiles. They are both shy, they are both quiet. El and One have shared trauma and power profiles, One sees something special in Eleven because he notes that Eleven is a lot like him. These are not coincidences, therefore all three of them parallel each other.

Eleven is shown to be put through situations that are very similar one after another. When she is young, she is under a cycle of abuse by the hands of her father figure. When she meets Hopper, her freedom is again limited. Then, she is put into a relationship with Mike who feels the need to moderate her powers. I am not saying that Hopper or Mike are bad people, they can have good intentions, but their limits that they place on Eleven prove to have impacted her character growth. This is inherent when we see Max and El’s shopping mall date in Season 3, and we see the most growth she’s had in a long time, and again in Season 4, when she has to be away from Mike to relearn her own strength, and cut off a part of the abuse cycle that has been impacting her (Papa). When she is away from the catalyst of control in her life, whichever it is at the time, she is shown to grow and learn the most than from when she is with them. We have to remember that this connection is completely intentional from a writer’s perspective, because they all parallel one after another. You are supposed to wonder if El’s relationships are benefiting her or stunting her, and you are supposed to tie those strings together to come to that conclusion. This is how media literacy works. Additionally, I find identifying a true flaw on El much more difficult because of her lack of personhood. She doesn't know who she is because she was not taught to understand who she is until Season 3. 

One is shown to be the start of this cycle of abusive father figures, and I believe that the relationship between Eleven and One is similar to that of generational abuse. We are told this repeatedly throughout Season 4 when El and One communicate (and the fact that they are literally numbered helps with my point. One is 1 and Eleven is double 1, which I also believe foreshadows their battle and the victor. This is not a coincidence.) and we are reminded of what Eleven went through with One when she reunites with Dr. Brenner to focus on herself. We are told directly how they view Dr. Brenner. Eleven and One view him as a father figure, calling him Papa, which solidifies the similarities they have with Will and parental abuse. I believe that because Dr. Brenner was the cause and One was the continuation, Will and El will step up to break this cycle in Season 5. This is why I believe these things are worth mentioning in the first place. These cycles of abuse play key roles in the progression of the storyline, and are meant to be thought about.

Will is also shown to be put through very similar situations. He had a terribly abusive father who put limits on who he was as a person, and stunted his growth, just like El. However, Will’s case is different because he is gay. Will feels as if he cannot be himself, and El feels like that too, but it is not the focal point of her cycle. Will’s cycle is one of shame and self realization that stems from his abuse cycle’s starting point, his father. He is raised to believe that being himself is bad, therefore he internalizes those feelings, which I believe could be his main flaw. Interestingly, all of Will’s major growth points come from Mike, such as in the rain fight in S03/E03. This may seem like a strange thing to highlight as a growth point, but I truly believe that the argument Will had with Mike proves that he has the ability and the strength to be more combative, unlike when he was younger. This is again shown to me in Season 4, where Will is struggling to stand up for himself and his sister in school, but when he is with Mike, he is comfortable enough to be more combative, and his ability to be himself skyrockets, because now we know that Mike makes him feel better for being different. A lot of Will’s growth points also develop Mike’s character, which is why when they are together, they are better together. This was said by Mike in Season 4, that when they are a team they are better. This is the antichrist of Mike and El, it starkly contrasts where they grow. El grows when she can find herself. Mike grows when he is with Will. Another one of Will’s growth points is the ability to be himself, and when he is with Mike, he is completely and wholly himself, compared to the scenes that show him alone and Mike-less in California. This contrast is completely intentional and is supposed to make the viewer think about Mike and Will’s relationship. Because Will’s cycle is focusing on how to be himself, and Will is himself the most when he is around Mike, we can assume that the way to break Will’s cycle of flaw is for him to be with Mike. The fact that Will, El, and One have such close ties with not only the upside down, but with cycles of abuse, lead me to believe that these cycles are worth drawing theories out of and thinking about. They are there for a reason, and therefore they have consequences on the story. 

Part 3) Mike and The Wheeler Family

I think that before I completely draw my conclusion and connect all of this, we have to focus on Mike as a character and we have to think about how he grew up. 

Mike’s parents are in a loveless marriage. We can tell that something is wrong in Season 1, when we first meet Mike’s apathetic father, but the deterioration grows even more prevalent throughout the seasons. In Season 3, this is fully solidified when we see Karen Wheeler feel tempted to cheat on her husband. The only reason why she doesn’t is not because she realizes that she loves Ted, but because she doesn’t want to put her children in a difficult situation of divorce. Children pick up on these things at a young age, and I do believe that Nancy is aware of her father and mother’s situation, but that does not stop the influences that they have on Mike and her. 

Nancy and Stancy as a whole reflected her parent’s loveless marriage in Season 2. Nancy, like Mike, was unable to say I love you. It wasn’t because she was afraid that Steve “wouldn’t need her”, it was because she didn’t love Steve but felt like she had to, similarly to her parents. She mirrored their loveless marriage because that is what she thought was correct. I believe that Nancy’s arc had toned down in Season 3 because of Jonathan, and I honestly don’t know what they’re doing with it now, but I truly believe that she will never love Steve Harrington (fingers crossed cause my bone to pick with Stancy could be a whole other post). Because Stancy parallels Mileven so heavily, and the Wheelers show time and time again how similar their reactions are to highly emotional situations (I can even argue that Nancy was quite repressed, but that’s for another time), it is fair to say that Mike Wheeler’s attempt to be ‘normal’ (thanks Finn Wolfhard) ties into his attempt to mirror his parents within his relationship with Eleven.

Mike was raised to believe that love is what his parent’s relationship looks like, which caused him to reflect that view onto El. The start of Mike’s cycle is at the root of what his family is, loveless. Mike’s major flaw is repression of who he is, which is very similar to Will, but Mike has not accepted this part of himself. We can see Mike repress himself emotionally throughout the seasons, such as resorting to anger and feeling personally attacked when he is called out on poor behavior (rink-o-mania, you don’t say I love you, the rain fight). Anger is a secondary emotion to a separate feeling, and because he cannot feel his emotions properly, anger is what he expresses out of the repression. Why was Mike so angry when Will was hurt by his lack of contact? Why was Mike so defensive when El said that he doesn’t say I love you? Why was Mike so mad at Will for saying that he doesn’t spend time with him anymore in Season 3? These are things that we have to ask when we are attempting to understand Mike’s character, because all of these instances are ones where emotion and tension is high, so his truer self is revealed. Now, let’s dig deeper into those former questions. Why didn’t Mike keep contact with Will, his best friend? Why is Mike so unable to meet his girlfriend’s emotional needs, when she is directly stating what she needs? Why is Mike ignoring his childhood best friend and acting like an asshole because of it? Because he is repressed. Mike has been unable to say I love you since Season 3, and opts to saying it when he’s scared for El’s safety. Mike has always only been able to say I love you when he is pushed to say it (high tension situations, his best friend encouraging him to). If all of these situations are where he is not rational, not himself, where someone is in danger and he feels the need to save them, how can we trust to believe that this is how he truly feels? The love that he states he has for El is not stated or clear when she is safe, it is stated when Mike believes that El is in danger. It is stated as a last resort, and therefore it is not clear on if he actually feels that way romantically or if he feels like he has to, because he is repressed. Mike’s cycle has been prevalent throughout all seasons, but the newest addition to it (not being able to say things his loved ones need) started in Season 3. I think that because it has gone for two seasons, it will resolve in Season 5, and to discuss the full picture, I now present my overall idea.

We have established that cycles are commonplace in Stranger Things, and that characters have bite-sized arcs in every season that will attach to an overall story because they are all linked as of now. But how does this relate to Byler? Well, I believe that to stop Will’s cycle of abuse and shame, and to stop Mike’s cycle of repression, Byler has to happen as the logical outcome of both of those things. We see throughout the seasons that Mike and Will see the most growth within each other, which is just a fact when you look at it from a full-picture perspective. Will is able to tell Mike how he feels, Mike is able to tell Will how he feels. The repression-shame cycle is removed from the equation when they are together. We also know that Mike and Will have ‘shared looks’ that are specifically added into the story to create a feeling in the viewer. These shared looks are completely purposeful in their characters, because it proves that they don’t have to say anything to understand how each other feels. It removes the expectation of having to explain themselves, after feeling like they’ve had to their entire lives. Their cycles not only complement each other, with themes of shame, but they complete each other. Their bite-sized arcs are cohesively paired together every season because of how ‘on the same page’ they are. An example is in Season 3, where we see a lot of Byler’s conflict. Will doesn’t understand why Mike doesn’t want to spend time with him, Will has basically accepted himself, and Mike is afraid of himself which is why he chooses to push Will aside. Mike in Season 3 did not accept himself, and repressed who he was, whilst Will was finally figuring out who he is. These arcs are inherently complementary to each other, because it shows growth and an olive branch on one side and hesitance for the same reasons on the other. And again in Season 4, we see Mike finally being himself with Will again, slowly opening himself up, which is complementary to Will’s arc, which was telling Mike how he’s been feeling. Though I am showing two examples, one with conflict and one where they are on the same page, they are still both complementary to each other because El’s arc is indifferent to Will and Mike’s. El’s arc is not opposing or complementing Will or Mike’s, it is simply redirecting her character. Therefore, if her arc and what she needs to do is indifferent to other character’s, those characters are not involved in her arc or her needs. 

I’m very excited to see where this show leads and it is the longest interest I’ve ever had in my life. Remember that this is all in good fun. Sorry if this is kind of bad lol I am a little scrambled cause I wrote this in one day and I got excited. I didn't even scrape the surface of the crazy amount of parallels in this show !!! I'm excited to write more about what I think.

#byler endgame #we ride at dawn RAAAHH #byler #byler study #stranger things study #byler theories

[enemyoflactose]

I finished rewatching season 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh. My redemption arc is 1/5 complete. (I have to watch the dub because I don't wanna support Crunchyroll and I don't know where else to watch the sub)

My main thoughts are about voice acting since of all the arcs, Duelist Kingdom and Domino City side stories make me the least angry.

So to start off, a comparison between Dub and Sub acting and which voice I like more as of now.

Yami: His sub voice in season 1 is honestly so cute. He just sounds like he's having a constant blast.

His dub voice on the other hand, sounds so hot 🥵. And Dub Yami is what's keeping me from doing drugs.

Overall, I like both a lot. I do however think Dan just makes the character.

Little Yugi: similar thing as Yami, only his dub voice doesn't sound hot. Just cute. I love both voices and honestly can't pick between them.

Joey Wheeler: I like his dub voice more. That's where the personality is. His sub voice just sounds generic.

Tristan: For the first few episodes of the dub, Tristan has this really stupid voice that I just don't like, so for that alone I like his sub voice more.

But then from the Rex duel and onward it's Greg Abby, and then I like both his sub and dub voice.

Téa: I think I prefer her sub voice. Just a little less grating. (I still love you Téa)

Ryou: He sounds like Gachapoid in the sub 🥺. I love Gachapoid!

His british accent tho 😩

Yami Bakura: Gachapoid doesn't suit him unfortunately. I like his dub voice more.

Pegasus: stunning. Both of them. The performance is impeccable. But Dub Pegasus never said "Jesus Christ".

Seto Kaiba: a hard one. In the sub he screams so much, but in the dub he doesn't sound like he's one insult away from killing himself... I can't decide.

Mokuba: they both sound the same.

Mai: I think I prefer dub. Just sounds deeper idk.

Weevil: I love him and his voices.

Rex: I prefer his sub voice. Just less grating and he doesn't sound like he has bronchitis.

Everyone else: meh. Could go either way.

Now to talk about the characters, and if I relearned anything:

Téa's friendship speeches are so sweet and cheesey I can't believe people don't like them. She is always there for her friends and clearly cares so much. I will never forgive Téa bashers for what they did to her during the great Yaoi Revolution.

Joey isn't as stupid as I remember him being, just a beginner at Duel Monsters. Nothing wrong with that. He's trying. His utter determination to get that money for his sister's operation is seriously so heart warming. I love whenever he says "Time roulette go!"

Tristan threw a dead body at Satan. And grabbed Ryou's leg while climbing the tower because he was getting impatient.

Yugi being uncertain of Yami until the Bakura duel is crazy. Like he wasn't even having memory issues. Bro huh? He's also so supportive! Like baby boy was the one to suggest he and Yami fight PaniK for Mai. He told Yami not to attack Kaiba and send him falling to his death. He gave Joey Time Wizard! Yugi is a bro.

Yami is such a good friend. Helping Joey out with duels, got Mai her star chips back, freed both Mokuba and Kaiba's souls because Mokuba asked, tried getting pink shirt his star chips back, and never believing that Joey couldn't duel by himself.

Ryou was, certainly there. Honestly his impact doesn't really matter. He just explains Duel Monsters to Tristan and Téa whenever Yugi is dueling. His first appearance isn't even that impressive because instead of killing himself to save everyone like in the manga, Yami switches the places of Ryou and Yami Bakura. So even if he tries to help, someone else always helps way more.

Yami Bakura is so hot. I'd suck his dick if he asked. I also just love how his deck can not only do tarot readings, but is also really annoying to go up against. Like boy had 3 morphing jars, an electric lizard, a man eater bug, and change of heart. Those cards were fucking devastating back in the day. He also would have won that duel if he used Just Desserts one turn later, but oh well. Why did he lick the millennium eye tho? I get the tarot reading, but why did he lick the eye?

Mokuba. Oh sweet Mokuba. He just wants to help his brother, but he suffers so much.

Kaiba is awesome. He hacks into Industrial Illusions and causes a satellite to crash into an office. Killing people. He helps Yami win a duel. He rips a Blue Eyes. He annihilates with Crush Card Virus. My man uses Saggi the Dark Clown. His devotion to rescuing Mokuba is amazing and is really what has me start caring for him when I first watched the series 5 years ago. His comebacks and sheer distaste for the Yugi gang are fun and amazing to watch.

Pegasus, the star of season 1. He's in my top 5 favorite characters list. I absolutely love eccentric villains, especially when they love cartoons and are actually threatening. Pegasus is a beast. If we ignore his millennium eye for now, he's a fantastic and fun duelist! His deck is interesting and entertaining to watch, neither of his duels were boring, and the man is so funny. "Do I spin it like a top, or roll it like a ball!" I love him. He's also (so far) the only villain I feel genuine empathy towards. Y'all, I'm a sap. If a villain's reason is being evil because they lost their Significant other than I'm sorry I'm crying. My poor guy.

Grandpa: he trained Joey and Yugi, he gave Yugi his deck, he appeared in dream sequences to help Yugi beat his opponents, and he gave Yugi the puzzle. If this man didn't exist, Yu-Gi-Oh wouldn't happen.

Duke Devlin: I forgot how much I hated him when I first watched his dumbass Dungeon Dice Monster 4 episode showdown. He's so fucking mean.

Rebecca: not much to say other than I like her.

The duels:

Seto vs Yami (first duel of the series): a fantastic way to start off the series. Kaiba finds out Yugi's grandpa has the Blue Eyes White Dragon card he's been searching for, he steals it, rips it, and Yugi challenges him to a duel.

Yami takes control and is surprised by Kaiba's duel arena having the ability to make life-like holograms of the monsters on the cards.

The duel begins and for the entire thing, it's honestly pretty equal. Yami summons a monster, Kaiba destroys it. Kaiba summons a monster, Yami destroys it.

It's a back and forth kind of deal until Kaiba pulls out his own Blue Eyes White Dragon card, shocking Yami. He surprises Yami again by summoning another Blue Eyes, but then gets hit with swords of revealing light.

Kaiba summons Judge Man, and it gets Destroyed by the Dark Magician.

During this, Yugi is having his doubts about winning because of Kaiba's Blue Eyes and can't seem to draw cards. Especially when Kaiba summons his third Blue Eyes White Dragon and destroys the Dark Magician.

This leads into Yami and Yugi having an inter monologue with Grandpa about Exodia. How Exodia is split into pieces. Pieces like a puzzle.

Yami gains the courage to draw and he gets all five pieces of Exodia! Instantly winning the duel!

Kaiba is then given a mind crush and starts to question all his life choices.

Rex vs Weevil (half a duel): in this not really a duel, we are introduced to two characters. Since they have names they are obviously important to the plot.

The duel starts with Rex summoning King Rex and instantly getting vortexed. Then Weevil summons his Basic Insect and equips it with Insect Lazer Cannon. This lets him wipe out all of Rex's Life Points.

Weevil is then named Regional Champion, and Rex is the runner up.

Yugi vs Pegasus (second real duel): this is where we are introduced to Pegasus as a villain.

He makes Yugi duel him on a 15 min time lock.

During this duel, Pegasus is cheating. Not just with his millennium eye, but he's sending subliminal messages to Yami. It's not mentioned in the dub, but it still happens.

Yami finds out that duel monsters was created in ancient Egypt and Pegasus starts talking up a storm so he can waste time.

Pegasus wins the duel due to the time limit and steals Grandpa's soul.

Weevil vs Yami (the third duel): This duel was initiated because Weevil decided to be a little dick and threw Exodia off the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Yami bets his deck and star chip, Weevil bets both his star chips.

The duel begins, and we find out about field power bonuses. Insects get lower from the forest, warriors get theirs from the meadow, dragons and winged beasts get theirs from the mountains, zombies get them from the wastelands, and fiends get theirs during night time.

Unfortunately, Yami doesn't get many bonuses.

During the duel, Weevil summons a full board of monsters. He gets mirror forced.

Then he plays his Petite Moth and Cocoon of Evolution combo. He gets Burning Landed.

He then summons his Great Moth. He gets Makiyued and Summoned Skulled.

This is a simple explanation of what happened, but Yami wasn't met without struggle.

A lot of his monsters that he summoned got destroyed. They usually only lasted one turn.

Anyways, Yami won and has three star chips. Joey steals Weevil's dueling glove.

Joey vs Mai (Duel 4): this is Joey's first duel! Hooray!

He doesn't understand that his land monsters can't attack flying monsters, and gets demolished.

Mai adds several equip spells and uses Elegant Egotist to multiply her Harpie lady card.

Joey finds out Mai is cheating with perfume.

Joey then summons Baby Dragon and the Time Wizard and uses them to win the duel.

He got a star chip and his first rival!

Mako vs Yami (duel 5): Yami duels Mako Tsunami.

Mako's monsters are in the water and can't be attacked.

Yami attacks the moon and then uses his Burning Land card.

Yami wins

Mokuba vs Yami (half duel): Mokuba is trying to keep Yami from dueling Pegasus because he wants to save his brother's company.

He loses the duel.

Yami vs Ghost Kaiba (duel 6): Kaiba jumped off a cliff and died. Now his ghost is dueling Yami.

He's psychology tormenting everyone except Tristan. Mokuba quickly became distraught.

Ghost Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes one at a time, and they all get destroyed.

The first one is destroyed by the real Kaiba because OH MY! He ain't dead! That's just some fat ass pretending to be Kaiba! (Or he's Kaiba's dark half)

The second Blue Eyes gets destroyed because Yami summoned Mystical Elf and Raised the Attack points of the Blue eyes he stole from the graveyard.

Yami wins the duel!

Mokuba got rekidnapped tho.

Joey vs Rex (duel 7): Rex is dueling Joey because he wants to duel Mai, but Mai will only duel him if he beats Joey.

Joey again gets his ass beat and is saved by Time Wizard.

His spoils are some chips and the Red Eyes Black Dragon!!!!

Yami Bakura vs Yami (duel 8): in this duel we are introduced to two new characters. Ryou Bakura and Yami Bakura.

Before the duel, the gang and Ryou are talking about their favorite cards (important). Then Ryou challenges Yugi to a duel, Yami Bakura appears, takes them to the Shadow Realm, puts the squads souls in their favorite cards, then tries to steal the puzzle.

Yami challenges Yami Bakura to a duel and when he summons the Cyber Commander, he finds out that all of his have had their souls placed inside their favorite cards.

Tristan dies to the white magical hat or some shit and Joey Flame Swordsman gets summoned. Then Tristan Cyber Commander gets resurrected, then Yugi Dark Magician gets summoned, then Téa Magician of Faith gets places face down. (She's a flip monster)

Throughout this whole ass duel Yami and the gang are getting their ass handed to them.

Yami gets Morphing Jared like 3 times, had Man Eater Bug eat Joey, had Just Desserts taking life points from him, and Yami Bakura was looking at him like

(𓁹‿ 𓁹)

The whole time.

Anyway, Yami Bakura plays the Change of Heart card and we get to see Ryou in a dress.

We get to see Ryou in another dress because he betrays Yami Bakura and takes control of his Lady of Faith and tells Yugi to attack him.

Yami then thinks about how Yami Bakura took the souls of his friends out of their bodies and put them in the cards and then wonders if he can do the same. He can he does.

We then see Yami Bakura in a dress but he doesn't slay as hard as Ryou.

Yami Bakura is defeated but he took a page out of William Afton's book because he comes back instantly.

Yami vs PaniK (duel 9): This duel starts immediately after Mai gets defeated by PaniK.

Yugi calls this fucking giant of a man a bully, PaniK tries to kill him with fire, and the duel starts.

PaniK is hiding in the dark and Yami calls him a pussy multiple times.

PaniK sure is a duelist. He loses his temper easily and doesn't think about the opponent's strategy. This Leads his Reaper of The Cards to get caught in a Magic Circle (I can't remember the name) and destroyed by his monster.

PaniK gets Swords of Revealing Lighted and his Castle of Dark Illusions has its floatation ring knocked off. His monsters get destroyed and he loses.

Mai got her star chips back :D

Joey vs Kaiba (duel 10? Does this one even count?): the entire duel is Joey getting annihilated. He loses. Badly.

And Kaiba gets insulted.

Joey vs Bonz (duel 11): This duel happened because Joey got kidnapped.

We also get introduced to Bonz, Sid, Zygor, and Bandit Keith.

Bandit Keith used to be the intercontinental champion, and he hates Pegasus.

Bonz is just a little guy who doesn't really like Bandit Keith, but he wants to duel with his zombie cards. Keith is helping him out. So they just gotta work together.

Sid and Zygor are Bonz's friends. They're just kinda there.

During this duel, they are in a cave and Joey is getting scared because Bonz is ugly (no he's not 😤) and zombies are spooky.

Joey is managing pretty alright for the first half because Keith keeps making Bonz play not zombies and they keep getting destroyed.

However, Keith wanted this. Because he put a Call of the Haunted in Bonz's deck. This means that Bonz can bring his monsters back from the graveyard as zombies, they're indestructible, get stronger each time they come back, and they keep destroying Joey's monsters.

Bonz then summons his Pumpking and makes his zombies stronger, but it gets destroyed by the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Then Red Eyes gets destroyed by ways I don't remember.

Now all Joey has left is his Battle Warrior and Sword and Shield.

He summons Battle Warrior , uses Sword and Shield, wins the duel!

The Yugi gang are now trapped in a cave and Bonz and his friends get their shit rocked by Bandit Keith.

Joey and Yami vs the Paradox brothers (duel 12): Ryou leads the gang here.

We meet the Paradox brothers. A pair of eccentric twins who can't shut up and keep rhyming.

The duel is a tag duel. Meaning they take turns, if one opponent loses all of their life points that team loses, and they can help each other out.

The duel is in a maze. Each card can move up a space for as many levels as it is.

Beaver Warrior gets destroyed instantly by the Wall Shadow, which gets destroyed by KUNAI WITH CHAIN.

Some other shit happen, Yami and Joey gotta face some tank and a worm and spider.

Don't know what happened to the tank, the spider got stabbed with Mystic Box, and the worm had something something Magical Hats.

Gate Guardian is a thing and Yami says it's in the class of Exodia even tho it's not an instant win. (Shout out Gate Guardian for getting support 😔✊)

Yami and Joey won the duel with Black Skull Dragon and make it out of the maze with some coins.

Yami vs Kaiba ( Duel 13): this duel starts after Pegasus told Kaiba that dueling him was a privilege, not a right.

Yami and Kaiba duel with the new Duel Disk system. They're using the advanced rules, that's why it's one monster at a time.

With the duel system, you can recall your monsters and replace them with a different one.

Yami falls for the Crush Card Virus trap and can now only use weak monsters.

He makes his Kuriboh wall, and Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to try and get past it. He doesn't.

Yami then uses his stupid fucking arrow card that I can never remember the name of because it's so stupid and dumb to fuse his Mammoth Graveyard to the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

The dragon starts to decay, Kaiba has a panic attack and threatens to kill himself, Yami says "Bet", Yugi stops him, Kaiba wins.

Téa vs Mai ( duel 14): Téa wants to get Yugi his star chips back and challenges Mai to a duel.

During this duel Téa summons a bunch of wimpy cards like Petite Angel and most of them get destroyed by Mai's Harpie Lady.

Mai has a bunch of equip spells on her Harpie and Téa Wabokued her once.

Shining Friendship gets summoned, gets an equip spell, and Téa activates De-spell to remove Mai's equips.

Mai surrenders and Téa gives Yugi some chips.

Pegasus vs Kaiba (duel 15): in this duel Kaiba is trying to get his brother back.

Kaiba tries to get Pegasus to use his new Duel Disk system, but it doesn't go well.

The duel begins and Kaiba destroys some of Pegasus's monsters, but then Pegasus steals a Blue eyes and turns it into an Ugly Ass Toon.

Kaiba starts losing.

We learn that toon monsters are hard to destroy because they hide in a book.

Also Kaiba falls for his own Crush Card Virus trap and loses.

Mai vs Yami (duel 16): I'm pretty sure Yami was originally being sexist, but I watched the dub so Yugi is the one actually doing most of the dueling here. He doesn't want Mai getting hurt.

Yugi and Yami keep falling for the stupid Mirror Wall thing and their monsters keep getting wrecked.

Then we see Harpies Pet Dragon.

Yugi Mind Controls it and puts it on a catapult to destroy the Mirror Wall (shit looked epic).

Harpies Pet Dragon comes back and we get three Harpie Ladies.

Yugi let's Yami help and they do the Black Luster Soldier ritual and win.

Joey vs Bandit Keith (duel 17): I love this duel.

Joey gets his entry card stolen and Mai gives him hers, so wholesome.

During the duel Joey is fucking shit up. He's doing so good.

Then Keith starts cheating. But Joey prevails.

He uses trap hole, kunai with chain, time wizard, baby dragon, red eyes black metal dragon, and time machine!

Bandit Keith is using Machines and everyone is wondering why. Like bro, machines are a good monster type with a lotta cards.

Anyway Keith is pulling cards out of his wrist band, tries to use Shield and Sword to wipe out Joey, it doesn't work, Keith loses.

Then Keith tries to say that Joey didn't use his own tournament entry card, but Joey shuts that down

Then Keith gets accused of cheating and is sent falling to not at all death.

Yami vs Joey (duel 18): we have to sit through a long ass montage.

Joey throws some cards away, Yami wonders why.

Yami falls for a few traps, then Joey falls for some traps, this whole time Ryou is explaining the birth of the universe to Téa while Tristan kinda stares off into space.

Joey uses his last Time Wizard of the season to bring out his Thousand Dragon, but Yami planned this.

Yami's Dark Magician has become the Dark Sage and he uses Makiyu to stop Joey's attack and wipe out Joey's life points.

Yami wins and I cried the first time I saw this duel.

Pegasus vs Yami (duel 19): the final duel of the arc.

Pegasus tells Yami that if he wins he gets whatever he wants, but if Pegasus wins he gets his soul and the puzzle.

Yami says he wants Mokuba, Kaiba, and Grandpa's souls to be released and Pegasus says "Damn I thought you hated Kaiba", but Yami just doing that for Mokuba.

The duel starts, and Yami is immediately having trouble. He can't destroy the rooms and the Gorgon's Eye is keeping him from defending.

Pegasus also turned Summoned Skull into a toon and it's being creepy.

Yami keeps getting his mind read and Yugi comes in like "what if we switch places?" And Yami says they should.

This gives Pegasus some trouble. It gives him so much trouble that the toon world gets destroyed and he takes the duel to the Shadow Realm.

Yugi dies.

The Yugi gang feel this and send him some good vibes.

This means Pegasus still can't read Yami's mind.

Pegasus does some shit with Relinquish and Yami tries his Kuriboh stunt and his Magician of Black Chaos is there.

Yami wins and gets the souls back.

Pegasus does like 10 minutes later.

Other shit that happened that was interesting/Important:

During the Pegasus and Yami duel, Tristan and Yami Bakura go off on an adventure to find Mokuba's body. This leads to the ring getting thrown in the forest.

The ring goes back to Ryou because love or something.

In the sub Mai offered Rex anything he wanted during their first encounter. This was changed in the dub.

We still don't know how Ryou snuck in the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Shadi doesn't even try to find Yami Bakura. He just goes to one person (Yugi) and gives up.

I'll never forgive 4kids for editing out Yami Bakura sexily licking the Millennium Eye.

If Joey had a Magic Jammer he would have won his duel with Yami.

Domino City side stories:

Rebecca's cool. I like her.

Rebecca vs Yami (duel 20): this duel happened because Grandpa got accused of stealing Rebecca's Blue Eyes White Dragon card.

Rebecca's strategy is also pretty good for the time. Her deck is centered around milling cards to power up her Shadow Goul, and she uses cards like Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan to do this.

During the duel Grandpa is having flashbacks because he had a duel go exactly like this. We find out Rebecca is the granddaughter of Grandpa's friend, Arthur.

Yugi drew Soul Release, but didn't use it because... I don't know. We find out that's how the duel between Arthur and Grandpa ended.

Arthur appears, says some shit, and we never see Rebecca again.

That dumbass game thing:

I wasn't paying attention to this because there weren't any actual duels and I didn't like this part.

Duke Devlin:

This bitch really gonna say Yugi cheats in his duels and steal all the girls. Bro.

Duke vs Joey (duel 21): Joey almost wins, But Duke does an ass pull and wins at 50 life points.

Duke vs Yami (Dungeon Dice Monsters): Duke doesn't explain shit because Yami is King Of Games and should know how to play a game he's never heard of.

Duke makes fun of Yami for not knowing how to play the game he never explained, gets angry when Yami figures stuff out, and is just an ass this whole game.

I wasn't really paying attention, until shit actually started to happen because there was just a whole lotta nothing.

Eventually both players have monsters on the field, some are doing magic, others are just standing there.

Orgoth the Relentless is certainly a thing. He gets beat by the Dark Magician.

Yami wins.

Other thoughts on the Domino City stories:

I laughed when Joey told Duke "I like ya game, just not you."

More characters gotta duel like Rebecca.

The existence of Adina is weird. If Kaiba made her, ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ. If the Big Five Made her, then fine I get it. Mokuba is like a damsel in distress. I just don't like it.

I hope you enjoy this long ass wall of text. My redemption is going steady. I have noticed no change other than being slightly more unhinged.

Imma do this every time I finish a season.

#yugioh #yami bakura #ryou bakura #personal post #weevil underwood #rex raptor #yami yugi #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #maximillion pegasus #mai valentine #bonz yugioh #my own redemption arc

[demadogs]

would love to hear more about your S5 Mike arc take

HELL YES!!! happy to share!!!! so some of these are genuine predictions with evidence from what ive seen in the show, but some of it is more of a fanficy kinda vibe of scenarios that are plausible but not influenced by genuine predictions i have. for those that i am confident in, i will link my posts explaining the evidence that supports my prediction. the first few parts are more genuine predictions and the later parts are just my brain making shit up.

also this isnt gonna be one of my “why i think this will happen” posts, im just going to write out mikes entire s5 story arc the way i see it in my head.

how it starts

so s5 starts out where we left off. mike and el still together but a little distant. theyre not fighting or anything but theyre not anything like s3 when they were constantly ditching their friends to makeout. people around them dont see an issue in their relationship but they both know its not what either of them want. (if youve read carry on i see them as how agatha and simon were portrayed at the beginning of the book).

the byers need housing back in hawkins and el wants to stay with hopper in his trailer while they work to fix up the cabin. the rest of the byers stay at the wheelers. jonathans sleeping in nancys room and will is sleeping in mikes.

mike and will have a couple more moments like we saw in s4 that could make it obvious that something might be up with both of them. maybe a conversation similar to the “hawkins isnt the same without you” scene. a scene of them both getting ready for bed talking about what they think is gonna happen next with vecna and everything. not the first night, but eventually maybe mike tells him to sleep in bed with him if will has a nightmare or something. little things like that.

the supernatural plot escalates and will and vecna have a deeper connection than anyone else. vecna is going to torture will in some way so im thinking maybe one of vecna’s methods of torturing will is to torture mike. vecna and will would have different interactions and conflict but mike would be vecna’d in the same style that max was.

how the audience and el learn mike is gay:

(this ones a genuine prediction. heres a post talking about why i think so but read it after you read this)

so now mike is cursed. no one knows including mike. everyones so caught up on protecting will because they all believe he is in the most danger so no one is looking after mike. then mike falls into that trance. (this is maybe 4 episodes in.) the whole partys there when it happens. el immediately puts on a blindfold and static noise and tries to piggyback into mikes mind to fight vecna the way she did with max.

mike doesnt know el is there while hes tranced. he doesnt see el the way max did. maybe el tries to touch him and mike feels a weird phantom feeling on his arm and he looks at it in confusion but he doesnt see el at all.

mike is in the mind lair and hes calling for will. he hears vecnas voice saying his full name. then he sees vecna and he starts saying shit about “friends dont lie” hes asking what happened to that motto and wasnt he the one who insisted that friends dont lie in the first place? “but youve been lying to everyone havent you michael”.

mike is shaking his head and vecna has him cornered and hes denying it but obviously terrified and he says he doesnt know what hes talking about and vecna says “you know exactly what im talking about. its not my fault you dont like girls”. and THATS the line that reveals to the audience that hes gay.

then maybe mike is able to run away but then he starts seeing shit. he ends up in his own basement and sees will and believes hes out of the trance and hugs will but he shrugs him off and tells him “dont touch me”. his eyes are all wrong and hes realizing hes not awake yet. vecna will starts calling him out on his feelings, telling him he would never love him back, that he doesnt even wanna be friends anymore. mike runs away and he just keeps seeing visions like this of everyone he loves. his family not accepting him. his friends not accepting him. el being mad at him for lying.

we are seeing els reactions to all of this too. shes been trying to use her powers to stop vecna this whole time. eventually in her pov everything goes completely black and shes in that weird void thing meaning that mike must be out of the trance. she hears mike panting and crying and takes off her blindfold and sees him awake with will holding his hand or shoulder and him looking at the ground.

eventually he looks up and sees el and at first his face doesnt change but then he sees her holding the blindfold and a pile of tissues with blood on them next to her and he connects the dots and starts to panic. will tries to reassuringly tell him that el was piggybacking trying to save him not realizing thats why hes freaking out. el says his name and tries to calm him down but he just gets up and locks himself alone in a room.

little pause for a second… listen. MIKE IS OVERDUE FOR A FULL ON PANIC ATTACK OK!!!!! we see will express his emotions every single season!! the last time we saw mike completely break down was in s2 when he was yelling at hopper. ever since then hes been trying so hard to bury his feelings and be someone hes not and make sure NO ONE finds out about him and now hes been outed to his girlfriend. he would completely break down. like full on sobbing, maybe throwing up. I WANT HIM TO EXPRESS EMOTIONS EVEN IF THEYRE TERRIBLE ONES!!!!!

el and mikes final breakup/ mikes first coming out:

mike is having a full on panic attack. hes on the floor crying and el is outside of it. he locked the door but el needs to see him so she tells him shes coming in and she uses her powers and opens the door. she closes it and sits next to mike on the floor. at this point hes silently crying and his hands are shaking but hes not as bad he was a few minutes ago. theyre both silent for a bit. mike speaks first and he whispers “did you see all of it?” el says yes.

mike starts to cry more and just starts apologizing profusely and el stops him by just pulling him into tight hug and he hugs her back for a long time. he starts telling her that he never wanted to hurt her. el tries to tell him shes not hurt right now but mike argues and tells her that hes hurt her so much in the past. he tells her that he made her feel like she was unlovable and that she was the issue when he knew deep down that it was him. that there was something fundamentally wrong with him. el tries to tell him theres nothing wrong with him but he insists that there is.

then el admits that she doesnt think she ever was truly in love with him either. she tells him that they both were just trying to do what everyone expected them to do. she didnt know any better because she had just left the lab and was still figuring out how to be a person, let alone a girlfriend. and people expected mike to like her just because she was a girl so he just went with it even after he realized he didnt feel that way. neither of them have ever been true to themselves for as long as theyve known each other. she tells him that he taught her what a friend was. and she missed her friend mike and wants to go back to that. mike tells her he wants that too and they hug again. (i want this scene to be the sweetest most wholesome breakup ever).

theyd also have a conversation of el being confused on whats wrong with him liking a boy. i think it would be really beneficial for mike to hear from someone who was never taught to hate people like him. it would give him so much relief to see potentially the number one person he never wanted to know just be absolutely baffled on why its a bad thing.

while theyre still hugging el says “for what its worth i think he likes you back” mike denies it and el insists that the way he looks at him says everything but mike wont even listen hes convinced he could never love him back.

then mike remembers something and asks a question. “what about the painting?”. els confused. she asks what hes talking about he tells her that will said she commissioned him a painting for her. “if you really didnt love me then whyd you have will paint me that?” she tells him she never told will to paint anything. mike is confused and telling her everything will said in the van. that he gives her the courage to fight on and he needs her. he asks what all that was about if she didnt feel that way and shes just confused. “he wouldnt even show me what he was working on. i told you i thought it was for someone he likes.”

“but it was for me.” el smiles and mike is still not convinced but hes kinda going crazy.

so now mike and el are broken up in the most wholesome way ever and theyre on better terms than theyve ever been but everyone thinks theyre still together. and mike for the first time thinks theres a chance will loves him back and he doesnt know how to act or ask him about it.

mike and will in the upside down:

(the only thing that led me to believe mike and will would be stuck in the upside down together was the upside down couch they sat on in the cabin. other than that this is entirely just what my brain came up with, not an actual prediction)

so skipping ahead, the vecna/upside down plot is getting spicier. shits going down. honestly im WAY better at imagining/predicting gay plots than scifi plots so i have no fucking clue whats going on with vecna and shit its just wild rn thats all you need to know.

i imagine almost all of them having to be in the upside down for some reason. then theres a scenario with some kinda monster like a demodog where they have to sprint to the gate back to real hawkins to be safe but the gate is closing back up. it would look like max’s running up that hill scene. theyre all getting closer and closer but then mike falls (classic) and will sees and goes back to him. the gate is closing more. he helps him up and they both start sprinting again but they dont make it. the whole gate closes up right when they get there and now theyre completely separated from all the friends and family and are alone in the upside down.

theyre able to defeat whatever was after them (will with a gun 👀) but now theyre stuck. maybe they get in a little argument where mike says “i told you to go on without me!!” and wills like “you think i would just leave you here!!!???” they both sit down against the wall the gate was on (like a brick wall or something). they try to come up with a plan and will brings up that maybe el help them some way and he mentions her being mikes girlfriend and mike tells him they broke up. wills very surprised about this. he asks if hes ok and mike tells him its better this way and he means it. (its now been a couple days since they broke up). they hear distant sounds of a monster and tells mike they shouldnt be here. theyre too exposed. (keep in mind mike is being kinda awkward because hes still thinking about the painting and what will said in the van that day and wondering if el was right and that will does love him back but he hasnt brought it up to him yet.)

they get up and make their way to the upside down wheelers house. they enter through the basement and its the same that it looked the day will went missing. the table is set up with the dnd campaign they were playing on november 6th 1983. mike tries to get comfortable on the couch but will just cant stop looking at the table. then he sees the dice on the floor with a 7 pointed up and they flashback to s1 of will telling mike it was a 7.

mike says his name and will remembers hes there and kinda startles and mike asks if hes okay and he just tells him that its just weird seeing everything from that day again. mike agrees. they get more quiet and tense thinking about that night will went missing.

mike brings up that they never finished the campaign. that he was begging his mom for the him and lucas and dustin to stay for 20 more minutes. he tells will he wonders if everything wouldve been different if he had stay. if vecna wouldve grabbed some other kid and they wouldve never known about this other world beneath them.

theyre thinking about that first night will went missing and mike asks if wills ok being back here again. he tells him its not as bad this time around because hes not alone. mike starts to get emotional thinking about when will was missing and he opens up to will about it. he tells him about how they all were there at the quarry when they found his “body”. will didnt know they were all there. he tells him that it was the worst night of his life because he thought he lost him forever. then he goes into talking about when the mindflayer had him and he thought he was losing him again, and then how will moved away. hes starting to cry because he has a deep fear of losing will for good and hes at a huge risk with vecna right now and hes so scared something will happen to him. will reassures him and tells him “im right here” and mike is silently crying and will just pulls him into a hug and they stay hugging for a long time. will tells him “im not going anywhere” while still hugging him.

they separate from the hug but still have their arms around each other and dont let go. its kinda awkward. mike is the one making it awkward. he looks like he wants to say something but isnt and is looking wills lips a lot and theyre so close to each other. will thinks he knows what hes thinking but doesnt dare say anything to ruin it so he just lightly nods his head as if to give mike permission if whats hes thinking is true. and then mike leans in and kisses him.

(IT HAS TO BE A SOFT TENDER KISS I DONT LIKE ALL THE MAKEOUT SESSION HEADCANONS I JUST WANT IT TO BE SWEET!!!!)

mike pulls back and at first he looks like hes about to panic but wills just looking at him with the biggest smile and it immediately puts him at ease. mike says “the painting was from you” and will doesnt know what hes talking about at first so mike continues “you said it was from el but it was from you” will confirms that it was. “and everything you said after…” “yes it was all from me” and mike kisses him again. (i also am imagining this as like the second to last episode)

(another more dramatic first kiss i have in mind is during a huge supernatural conflict and its just them and they completely believe theres no way theyre making it out alive and will is telling him that this is it and mike just kisses him right before all hell breaks loose)

post kiss byler

but of course we cant have nice things right away so theres a bit more angst before theyre a completely established couple. they fall asleep on the couch together in the upside down and in the morning they wake up and something chaotic upsidedown related is happening. again, i truly cannot even begin to guess/predict any of the actual scifi plot of the show so dont ask me what this is but its SOMETHING OK.

they dont even have time to acknowledge the kiss the night before or the fact that they woke up in each others arms. they have to fight whatever the conflict is in the upside down.

eventually they are able to escape the upside down and reunite with everyone. once theyre back with all their friends and family but mikes acting a little different again. hes shutting will out again and will is so confused.

(this is loosely inspired by the show the wilds. shelby whos very closeted and comes from an extremely homophobic family is on a deserted island with a bunch of girls and she falls for one of them whos out and she basically tells her “youre FREE here you dont have all that family trauma youre literally on a deserted island” so she kisses her. then later she sees a boat in the distance and she hesitates to make a signal with the fire because shes so scared to go back to her normal life with her homophobic family. mike is kinda experiencing that here. hes back in the “normal” world and is going back to trying to be who they want him to be, not who he just was with will.)

mike is kind of ignoring will when theyre around everyone. he deliberately doesnt sit next to him, he only talks to him when will talks first, hes basically scared that everyone can tell what they did. then will finally finds him alone and talks to him. at first hes hopeful and trying to be kinda flirty and make him laugh and mike barely has a reaction and then will confronts him.

“did that kiss mean nothing to you” mike immediately looks up from what hes doing and makes sure no one else is in the room and will notices. “what?” will tells him hes been different since they got back and hes acting like nothing happened and hes barely acting like theyre friends let alone anything more. and theyre both silent and will says “are we anything more?” and mike thinks before he speaks and then tells him that he did that in a world where there were no other humans. no laws, no expectations, no people to say that what they did was wrong. “thats not the case here.” and will gets mad at this and says something like “so what are you just gonna drop everything and be what everyone else says you should be?” mike doesnt answer and then will asks again “did it mean nothing to you?” and then theyre interrupted before mike could answer.

then later maybe the same day, mike is going somewhere to tell one of the older kids something or to get something related to what their big battle plan is and he sees robin and vickie through a window in a different room kissing and being super happy and flirty with each other. he stops in his tracks and just watches them and hes in total shock because he felt like there was no one like him his whole life and people like him couldnt be as happy as what hes seeing right now. he just continues watching them laugh while holding each other. i also think it would be great if steve was also there and he sees this former asshole douche being supportive of his best friend and letting them just be themselves so freely. he starts to tear up watching them. (this ones inspired by the book i’ll give you the sun this exact scene happens at a party).

that night mike and will are getting ready to go to bed in mikes room again not talking. will gets ready to sleep on the floor, a set back from when they were sleeping in the same bed. the lights are off and wills pretending to try to fall asleep and then mike whispers “it didnt mean nothing.” will turns and face mikes bed and then mike asks him to come up and will hesitantly joins him and mike sits up and faces him.

then this is potentially mikes most venerable scene in the whole show. he tells will absolutely everything. that when he and el moved he realized he was missing him the way he shouldve been missing el and it gave him the worst panic attack of his life when he figured out why. he stopped caring about himself and everything and everyone. he hated who he was. he didnt have the energy to hang out with his friends, to do his hw, to clean his room, to shower, to eat, and he stopped calling will. he just stopped doing everything. but what he continued to do was keep his relationship with el, and the more he did it the more guilty he felt. he didnt want to break up through a letter but he also didnt have the guts to do it in california and then when el confronted him about never saying he loves her he felt so much worse. he wanted nothing more than to actually love her. he hated that he loved will instead.

he tells will that he remembers how his dad would act when he went to wills house as a kid. how they overheard lonnie talking to joyce about them being “too close” one time and neither of them quite knew what he meant by that until later. he has so many little moments like this in his life of people letting him know that its wrong. that he is wrong. and he never ever thought will would be the same way and he never thought any boy could feel that way about him. mike whispers “i just want to be normal” and will says “since when are our lives normal?” and mike kinda laughs but hes also crying. wills holding his hands and tells him “mike, youve been through so much worse than being in love.” and then mike kisses him again!!! yes they have to kiss at least twice this is my mike arc and i make the rules. i could be more detailed in this whole scene but this has been in my drafts for weeks and i need to finally post it.

established byler/mike coming out:

then i really want mike to have a coming out scene with nancy or his mom but honestly id prefer nancy. i just think theres such a lack of wheeler sibling content and id really love if there was a scene like will and jonathan but for mike and nancy. i imagine them both being in the car on their way to somewhere related to the scifi plot and mike tells her that he and el broke up and they talk about that for a bit. and nancy asks if hes happy and mike says yes. and then mike starts to tell her why hes happy and eventually comes out to her but hes still terrified as hes doing it nancy pulls over just to hug him and its very emotional and sweet.

i also really want a scene of them coming out to the party but honestly im not sure if they will just because now there will have to be like 3 coming out scenes already. they might do the party instead of nancy or karen which id be ok with but they also might skip ahead and have them both already be out.

during the epilogue-ish scene they usually have at the end of a season after the supernatural plot has died i want another sweet byler scene. i love the concept of them going to prom with the whole party as a group but just mike and will find their own room to dance in and be themselves and feel safe. i need some fluff before the season ends.

AND THATS IT I DID IT IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO FUCKING LONG!!!!!

#this is whats been living in my brain for months #this whole thing #i love taking inspo from other shows and books and making it byler #byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #eden answers #byler predictions

[wheelercurse]

Incredible how we have the main villain in the show give a whole speech about how he despises the made-up rules and the oppressive structure of the world and hates the people who adjust to these rules pretending, lying, “all while performing in a silly terrible play.” 

One of the main themes in the show is conformity. 

Then we have the Wheelers, who looks like a perfect normal suburban family; we know since season 1 that the marriage started not because of love but because they needed to start their nuclear family. That’s why Nancy also got an arc about pretending to be someone else and falling into a relationship in which she didn’t truly love her partner, but it was the safest option; it was what everyone would expect of her. 

And in s4, Mike is going through a similar arc in which his big fight with his girlfriend was because he couldn’t say “I love you.” 

But some people don’t see the full picture and reduce his arc to “he has to gain the courage to say ILY to his girlfriend.” Just connect the dots, for god sake. 

Why won’t the arc of one of the main characters be related to the main themes of the show? 

#I understand if people who don't pay attention to the show don't understand Mike's arc or well they don't think about what's his arc tbh #but the fans of the show the one who discuss it and rewatch ????? #they have no excuse #byler #mike <3 #forced conformity tag

[blueopinions49]

Healthy/ Unhealthy Type 3

Healthy Social 3

Johnny Cage MK1 (3w4 so/sx)- While obnoxious at first Johnny is a great example of a 3 who's integrated to his 9 perfectly. He doesn't shy away from others and stops indulging in his sense of vanity. Usually tryin to keep the group together

Cordelia Chase (3w2 so/sp)- Outgrew her mean girl status and became a force to be wrecked with. Her development in angel is probably my favorite thing about her. Great example of a E3 moving to E6.

Elektra Abundance (3w4 so/sp)-Yes she's mean, BUT she has always retain a strong voice in helping others out in the later seasons. Her sense of competition has always been about self improvement and becoming a better version of herself.

Unhealthy Social 3

Pearl (3w2 so/sx)- Desire to be accepted and love by the masses paired with her circumstances makes her ideal self a frustration for her eventually lashing out at everyone that reminds her of her failure. In X we see a fully disintegrated 9 Pearl.

Sally Reed (3w4 so/sp)- Oddly similar to Pearl in the sense to have a desire to enter a career in acting HOWEVER Sally sadly gets met with the reality of Hollywood; eventually seeking emotional refuge in Barry. However in the end of the show we see a fully realized Sally.

Draco Malfoy (3w2 so/sp)- Brought up in a life of privilege and bigoted opinions made him on of the most obnoxious charcaters In the series. While we see some remorse In the later books in the majority of the series we see a Draco who would use cruelty in look for validation from his superiors.

Healthy Self Preservation 3

Gary Prince (3w4 sp/so)- I was a bit confused with this typing at first however ive settled for this . Gary's desire to be at a master at his own craft and have his own personal bakery? come into question when he is met with the reality of business. Eventually choosing to stick to his own values.

Nancy Wheeler (3w2 sp/so)- Idk why I ever typed her as an SP1. very clear example of an SP3 who grows in each season wanting to use her profession as a reporter to do good. Rewatching the show I can see how she might look like a SP1 however her core desire was never perfection.

Dick Grayson (3w2 sp/sx)- Ive finally settled...His core desire to separate from being on Batman's shadow gives us one of the most honest arcs about the E3s shame+image conflict. Eventually settling for a new identity as Nightwing. Idk why people type him as an SO2, SO7 or SO6.

Unhealthy Self preservation 3

Molly Carter (3w2 sp/sx)- Love her but sometimes her own personal desires seemed mixed with her view of others specially with Issa. Sometimes being unnecessarily cruel to her because she doesn't have her life together as if she herself has hers together.

Miranda Priestly (3w4 sp/so)-The believe that no one can do her job better than her makes her a menace to whoever crosses her. Yes, Andy wasn't the best at her job however Miranda wasn't a good person either and allot of people seem to ignore that. Even cutting her friends off when it comes between her and her profession.

Mima Kirigoe (3w2 sp/so)- Her struggle to fit into what is expected of her as an idol makes her struggle with her personal image and who she is at her core. In the end of the movie we see a Mima who proclaims she is the real Mima. Asserting her own identity without the outside perspective.

Healthy Sexual 3

Emma Frost (3w4 sx/so)-She does all for her student and finds success through knowing she did something to help them in life. She sometimes dances between villain and hero however when written by someone who understands her character we can see why she is the way she is. Cold but caring.

Hercules (3w2 sx/so)- His desire to find success in relation to others makes him struggle a bit at first however we see him grow out of it as the movie goes on.

Sansa Stark (3w2 sx/so)-When young her desire to find the perfect prince and move away from her culture. I hate what they did to her the series and how she got to her end BUT I do think seeing Sansa as queen and embracing her culture made sense for the most part.

Unhealthy Sexual 3

Lady Dimitrescu (3w2 sx/so)- Her desire to be Mother Miranda's selected favorite makes her own personal goals be ignored. Her view of success is through mother miranda's eyes and no one else's.

Dennis Reynolds (3w2 sx/so)- Identifying through what others deem successful and attractive makes him have an identity crisis every episode.

Azula (3w4 sx/so)- Her desire to fulfill all of her father's wishes and see all of his ambitions met drives her to her own self destruction. Even in the comics we see an Azula who is trying to push Zuko into Becoming a worst version of her father.

Honorable Mentions-

Kung Lao 3w2 so/sx (you aren't anyones #1 but still)

Shiv Roy 3w4 sp/so (Girlfauilres pray to her everyday)

Lestat Di Lioncourt 3w4 sx/so (You are hot but toxic)

#mbti #zodiac #personality types #zodic signs #16 personalities #ennegram #mbti personality types #enneagram #typology #personality typology #enneagram 3 #type 3 #3w2 #3w4 #johnny cage #cordelia chase #elektra abundance #pearl 2022 #draco malfoy #gary prince #nancy wheeler #nightwing #dick grayson #sansa stark #princess azula #alcina dimitrescu #resident evil alcina #miranda priestly #sally reed

[deanismysavior]

What’s your theory for season 5? Like with Will’s arc and all. I’ve been getting lots of hate from Milkvans saying they’re going to laugh at us byler’s when Milkvan is endgame in season 5 and idk why but it kinda put my spirits down. milkvan is already a canon ship, would the duffer’s really end them abruptly in season 5 because the ga doesn’t notice what we do

So, I don't have a fully-formed theory or anything yet, but I've kind of been toying with the idea that the Duffers may have used Plato's Allegory of the Cave as inspiration, and I want to do a full breakdown of WHY I think this applies (based on lighting, dialogue, symbolism of the allegory itself, etc.), but my working hypothesis follows from a few of the hints we get from s4, one being the cabin scene with Mike in the dark and Will in the light, and Nancy's vision about Vecna targeting the Wheelers. So, I believe we will get a Millhouse breakup in the first few episodes (this is clear not just from the monologue, but from the framing of El and Mike post-monologue and El's memory montages featuring Max telling her to be herself; this is setting up El to really step into her power and autonomy independently), but while I think the breakup will be empowering for El, I think Mike is going to feel a lot of confusion, grief, and guilt, maybe even a bit of self-hatred. Point is, he's going to be going THROUGH it, because the breakup will not only give him perspective into his feelings towards El and Will respectively, (and this is likely where we'll get the confirmation from El that she did not commission the painting), it's going to send him into a bit of a spiral because he has defined himself in conjunction with this relationship for a long time. His spiral into confusion and self-worth issues is going to make him an easy target, so I actually think it might be MIKE that is taken into the upside down this season, because he would serve as bait to get to both El and Will. We'll get a similar grouping to s1 with the party (boys + El), but this time, Will will be in the leader role to try to save Mike. We'll get more Willel bonding and maybe we'll see El come to an understanding about how Will feels about Mike. This would also get us the opportunity to see inside Mike's mind, which we haven't been able to get all season, and this would be the perfect opportunity for him to get Vecna'd and to reveal to the GA how Mike really has been feeling this whole time, maybe we get flashbacks to some offhanded comments that Ted said to him and the quarry and the rain fight and some re-contextualization of his relationships with El and Will to make it clear to us what Mike's struggle really is. When El and Will get into the upside down to save Mike, I think we might get to see the power-of-love theme that they attempted to play out in s4 come back, showing to the audience that the power of love didn't work in Mike's monologue because Mike's words were not revealing his real truth, therefore they still lost and Hawkins was cast in darkness, but Will bringing his truth to light, showing that his love for Mike has always been one of his strongest motivators, just as Mike's love for Will is, will be able to break through and make Will powerful enough to stand against Vecna, because the channeling of love and truth is more powerful than the channeling of anger and hatred. Essentially, I think Will deserves and will have his hero arc, proving that Will is the heart.

#byler #byler endgame #byler nation #ask #will byers #mike wheeler #el hopper #stranger things #st #stranger things theory #will byers is gay #mike wheeler i know what you are

[most-canon-non-canon-ship-poll]

literally hoping they break up in the last season

Why Mileven is shit - a submission-based essay, part 2/3

Mileven - a currently canon het ship from the Stranger Things fandom between Michael (Mike) Wheeler and Jane (Eleven) Ives/Hopper/Byers/IDK

they NEED to breakup (AGAIN) in the final season let's start w their character arcs rn. el was born in a lab and was raised VERY strict to be a weapon and shit. she escapes and now her whole arc is finding herself and being who she is separate to what people tell her she is. mike comes from a lowkey conservative family with parents who are married only to fit into the normal, not because they love each other. his arc, similar to his sisters' struggle in earlier seasons, is to not fall into conformity just because you feel like you should. both of these stories line up with the main moral of the show: be who you are even if it isn't "normal" ot whatever now how does mileven go against this? mike, and a bunch of ppl around el, in the earlier seasons keeps telling el what she should do/be. even in the later seasons we see mike refering to el as a "superhero" (which she doesn't like). neither of them feel free to be themselves around the other (shown by el lying to mike and mike being WAY out of character around el, etc). mike literally can't tell el he loves her while not under pressure. mileven sometimes parallels mike's parents' and sta.cy (a failed conformity relationship) and other bad relationships ANYWAYS it also reallyyyy pains will byers (who's been canonically in love with mike for like years, and mike's best friend) to see this. also, milevens keep harassing will/mike shippers on anon even months after the last season. like they have a hate discord server just for it. anyways i love mike and el but ohhh my god there is still SO much i haven't mentioned about how bad they are together (and how bad shippers often are, sometimes being violently homophobic and calling bylers delusional and shit)

OOOH IT FUCKING SUCKS THEY ARE SOOOOOO BAD FOR EACH OTHER JESUS THEY DON'T COMMUNICATE LIKE EVER THEY ARE BOTH CLEARLY IN IT BECAUSE OF THE EXPECTATION OF A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE THEY CAN'T CONFIDE IN EACH OTHER THEY DON'T SHARE ANY INTERESTS THEY'RE HAVING CONFLICT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT THANK *GOD* I AM UTTERLY CONVINCED THEY ARE HEADING FOR A CANONICAL PERMANENT BREAKUP. NOT TO MENTION THEY ARE BOTH GAY AS HELL TO ME. YOU SEEN THAT "THIS SHIP IS SO CANON AND IT'S A LESBIAN AND A GAY MAN" TWEET? YEAH. FUCK THIS STUPID FUCKING SHIP NOT TO MENTION THE SHIPPERS ARE FREQUENTLY OPENLY HOMOPHOBIC. UGHHHHHHH KILLING BITING (this is my fave btw)

they have no chemistry or buildup unlike the other st couples. they kissed season 1 right after she asked if he would be her brother. hes very obviously compensating for something. i think i gagged when they made out in season 3. speaking of. thats all they do. make out. they dont really have meaningful conversations. this also comes from the fact that when mike met her she was fresh out the lab that abused her for like 11 years. she was not socially ready to understand the bounds of a platonic relationship let alone a romantic one. anyway mileven break up s5 will happen i believe it. if nothing else. cross ur fingers gamers

the sheer homophobia and general toxicity that the fans of this ship create is absolutely insane when their perfect (read: mischaracterized) straight (read: homosexually-coded) couple is judged for having toxic or incompatible elements is insane. the only good romantic aspect between these two characters is in a cringefail "wow this really doesn't work at all" i-want-to-put-this-dynamic-under-a-microscope-and-study-it-because-it's-an-absolute-trainwreck" kind of way. el has been abused and cut off from society her whole life and at 12 years old she immediately gets together with this guy at whose earth shattered after his best friend went missing who then has surviors guilt after she almost does which is misconstrued as romantic rather than unhealthy obsession and trauma. and so on and so forth.. there's just so much wrong they lie to each other So Fucking Much despite truthfulness being very important to them and they ignore their friends to make out (which is filmed in a way that is meant to feel uncomfortable btw lmao) and el doesn't understand mike's trauma from bullying and he doesn't understand how she doesn't want to be built up into being a superhero etc etc. and it's just so increasingly bad I want to rub my temples just thinking about them. they're just so bad for each other and their relationship has done nothing but make them worse in general but for some reason their ship is viewed as fluffy or cute or whatever the hell. anyway mike is so heavily coded to be fucking gay and in love with his best friend (and el can be interpreted to be lesbian coded) and I just need to get them out of there amen

I'm gonna make a list bc the reasons are many: 1) their first casual interaction they get together but in the same conversation she asks him if she can be like a sister to him 2) all their "cute moments" are them making out in the 3rd season with still absolutely no chemistry 3) their only actual cute scene is them dancing at the snowball yet in the same scene they portray the same way two couples that are not romantic 4) mike becomes a terrible person when he's with eleven 5) eleven literally GOT OUT OF A LAB SHE WAS RAISED IN and this is the first guy she dated 6) she can't even say he's a good kisser 7) mike can't tell her that he loves her (bc he doesn't) and the only time he does he makes this whole ugly ass speech up about how she's his "superhero" even though she doesn't want to be seen only for her superpowers 8) in said speech, while listing the things that he loves about her, he only names her superpowers + he lies multiple times 9) EVEN AFTER SAID SPEECH she is still mad at him and won't talk to him (probably bc she saw right through his bs) 10) she spent a whole 6 months lying to him about all of her life 11) mike is clearly gay and is meant to be with his childhood best friend will 12) mike idolizes her and doesn't see her as an actual person 13) eleven needs to be her own person (ffs she just got out of a lab) 14) the ship sucks and even the authors and actors say so

they have NO chemistry. they kissed after one week of knowing each other when they were 12 and eleven didn't even know what a romantic relationship was at the time, given the fact that right before mike kisses her she says "will you be like my brother?". they spent the entirety of season 2 apart with mike calling el on his walkie and el watching romantic movies on the tv for a year (then will is in trouble and mike says 'fuck it' and goes full protective boyfriend mode but this isn't about byler so i digress) and start dating soon after they meet again even though they haven't had a SINGLE conversation and are barely friends. season 3 comes along and the writers do their utmost best to show us how incompatible they are. their makeout scenes are uncomfortable, they break up at the beginning of the season and neither one of them seems particularly bothered that their first relationship is over. in fact, the happiest we see el in the entire series is during the time they're broken up, when she gets close to max (who she actually has chemistry with, by the way) and finally experiences freedom, being a teenage girl and etc since mike had been "keeping her all to himself" for like, a year. aside from that, he doesn't go after her at all after she dumps his ass (literally) but when he and will have a fight, he bikes across town in the rain just to apologize, that boy is GAY. finally, the theme of season 4 is lies and once again, mike and el spend the season apart (once again, mike spends the season with WILL) and right before they part ways, they have a big fight about mike being unable to so much as WRITE "love, mike" on his letters to el, let alone say it, and he bullshits his way through it and refuses to say the actual reason until vol. 2, when he apparently "confesses" that he's afraid he'll lose her if he says it (okay, amigo, you're gonna lose your girlfriend who was literally begging you to say 'i love you' not even a week ago, aham, totally valid excuse). conclusion: they don't know each other and they don't act like themselves when they're together. mike hides his nerdy nature, el feels like she has to be the amazing superhero he's always viewed her as or else he'll lose interest and it just feels like they're both grasping at straws because this relationship has been dragged on for too long that they don't know how to break up permanently. they are afraid of losing each other, but not romantically, as mike was el's first semblance of family after escaping the lab and mike feels like it's his duty to protect and care for el. also, mike is gay. in other words, FREE THEM.

#propaganda #why [ship name] is shit #the (s)hit list #not a poll #anti milkvan #anti mileven #again - #byler #kinda?

[theninaproject]

“False Confessions” & “Piggybacking” in ST4: Ask Yourself if We Are Being Encouraged to Pick Apart the Inconsistencies...

So it’s been a little while since Vol 2 aired and since then I’ve watched the “Paradise Lost” documentary that has been heavily pushed by the Duffers when they talk about Season 4. While watching the documentary I felt like I really began to understand the writing philosophy behind Mike’s character arc in particular, and how that ties into his implied struggle with sexuality and romantic feelings for Will (and how those conflict with El being present and external heteronormative pressures)... Most of all, I want to talk about two key points. The idea of “piggybacking” as it is typically defined and how it has been presented in the show (possibly as early as S2), and the practice of getting a false confession as presented in the Paradise Lost HBO series.

TL;DR yes this is basically going to be a long-winded “Mike Wheeler is gay and in love with his best friend Will!!” post...

(Speaking of long-winded, I can already tell this is going to be a long, long-ass post so I’m gonna go ahead and cut it down with a ‘keep reading’ section LOL)

NOT REQUIRED BUT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED WATCHING LIST FOR THIS POST: Paradise Lost The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Stranger Things 2, Stranger Things 4 Vol 1 & Vol 2, Chernobyl (2019)

*Some of the parallels/references to movies I make to Stranger Things 4 are not always implying that these are exact or intentional parallels made by the writers... Sometimes I am simply using other pieces of media to reinforce my arguments about themes/symbolism prevalent in film already or because it helped me to make sense of the story, or my interpretation of it at least!*

Let’s begin with the concept of “piggybacking” what it’s standard definition is and how it has been presented to us so far within the context of the show...

The term piggybacking is most commonly used to refer to the non-malicious act of trying to gain free network access to a Wi-Fi connection. However, this can result in the slowed-down transfer of data for any of the legitimate users of the network. So, in its most simplest terms, it refers to the act of commandeering a wireless connection.

We know that in season 4, El uses this term to describe ‘hijacking’ the battle between Max and Vecna (who are back in Hawkins) by tapping into her connection with Max to try and help Max during the fight.

But this practice has factored into Stranger Things previously as well.

In Season 3 we have the Russians stealing from Hawkin’s power grid in order to power their machine because their machine requires a tremendous amount of energy to operate. They are using this machine to break through a barrier, to open a doorway between worlds...

Now, this can parallels our more character-driven plotline of S3 as well, where we have Mike constantly “swapping spit” with El and acting out the kinds of m/f relationships he has likely seen on TV and in movies. Basically, I believe he is attempting to “open a doorway between worlds” in his own way. This is because he either subconsciously is aware of the fact that he is “different” and so he is using El to attempt to break free from feeling this way and make himself feel normal like his peers who are obsessed with girls (which Mike harshly objects to when Max enters the picture in S2).

However, the insistence from his peers (not maliciously or anything, of course) that he must’ve been harboring romantic feelings for El in S1 must still sit weird with Mike in some way. After all, Eleven arguably looks and acts a lot like Will from the beginning-- which is NOT me saying El “looks like a boy” because I heavily dispute that as solid evidence of Mike/Will-- with her quiet and awkward demeanor, down to her physical attributes like the wide brown eyes and a similar shade of brown hair. I think, because of this, it’s likely that Mike projected a lot of what he missed about Will in Season 1 onto El (since he was stuck in the Upside Down). Which, in the long run, is unfair to her as a character because it doesn’t give her room to discover who she truly is as her own person and what her purpose is in the world.

In his own way, Mike is using El to “piggyback” his romantic feelings for Will. Again, I think El is a very perceptive person and has clued in to the fact that Mike seems to be using her to ‘look for someone else’ (aka somebody he loves) while at this time maybe not being aware that Mike has already found that person and has known who that person is-- but never had that relationship with Will put through the same scrutiny as his relationship with El.

So, again, this is where the part in the “piggybacking” definition that specifies this act as one lacking malicious intent comes into play... Obviously, Mike is a confused and scared teenager living in a town that he knows does not take kindly to anyone who falls outside the typical definition of “normal”. We saw in season one how the bullies described Will in derogatory ways, all while staring right at Mike and therefore implying a similarity there. I’d imagine he very much does not want to go through what he’s seen Will deal with from bullies (since Will has stood out a lot more than Mike since the start... there are some heavy socio-political themes there of Mike/Will’s different class upbringings having an impact on the ways they are able to/feel inclined to present themselves to the world), so he’s trying very hard (AKA using an enormous amount of energy, much like the machine in S3) to repress this part of himself that makes him feel “different” (aka his attraction to men and romantic feelings for Will) and replace it with what he knows is the more socially “accepted” and “normal” (and encouraged) path.

Additionally, another important part of the Russian’s machine being located in Hawkins was stated by Alexi as being because a doorway had already been opened there [in Hawkins] once before... it was still healing, and therefore it was hypothesized that it’d be easier to break through a barrier in Hawkins than continuing their attempts to open a gate in Russia.

I believe this then ties into the character-driven plot in a metaphorical sense with Will. The correlation being: Will has had the ‘floodgates opened’ into gaining this perspective that he’s different from other people based on what kids (and his own father) used to bully him for. This is a painful experience, especially at first, but it also can have this unforeseen benefit of putting a name to what makes you different. Which, again, can be painful at first... but can also eventually be liberating. It becomes liberating when you make more positive associations with being that different thing, which is why a positive (and, ideally, romantic) relationship with Mike would be very beneficial to both Will and Mike’s character arcs if they are indeed aiming for a positive development (which makes the most sense to me currently).

Now that I’ve explained a bit more how I believe this concept has been explored in the more recent Seasons 3 and Season 4... I want to dig into how I also believe the concept of “Piggybacking” could have been foreshadowed as early as Season 2!

In the first episode of Season 2′s opening scene, when we meet back up with The Party via their Walkie-Talkie’s we see that Mike is trying to reach to El on his walkie... completely forgetting that he was meant to be collecting change for the party’s trip to the arcade that night!

Both Dustin and Lucas have already collected their own hauls, Lucas with a much more significant chunk of change than Dustin (foreshadowing him getting together with Max by the end of S2, after both him and Dustin pining over Max), and I believe this represents how both Lucas and Dustin are on track to fit in with the more socially accepted definition of “normal” in Hawkins (at least through Will/Mike’s current perspectives) than Will and Mike are.

I believe this is where Mike decides to really set his heart on this “being in love with El” narrative for himself... and also subsequently deflecting attention from his own sexuality struggle onto Will (who is a bit more obvious) in the meantime. Both Lucas and Dustin “fit in” by being girl-crazy and Mike has picked up on this, so this would be Mike’s easiest shortcut into fitting into that same mould and not sticking out in the same way Will does. It is a survival mechanism, which is also a topic discussed in this season. This is the metaphorical key to keeping himself in that closet of conformity (which, as a result, keeps him safe and protected while he’s in Hawkins because, again, we have to be mindful of the setting) for just a little while longer... but also begins to show us how Mike’s “bond” with El is holding him back from integrating himself back into his own life even when she isn’t back yet. And, even worse, how Mike clinging to his relationship with El being something to help him ‘be normal’, it keeps both of them from being able to really grow up and progress (which is a major theme in their relationship in S3). It’s a sadly symbiotic thing, the further Mike traps himself into the closet-- he only drags El down into the depths with him, even if it’s not a conscious or malicious thing it’s only going to harm them both in the long-run (which we then see brought to fruition in ST4 with the “you think I’m a monster too” conversation).

Now, let’s talk about symbols! Because in this opening sequence we then see Mike aggressively shaking Nancy’s piggybank when he cannot collect his own funds for the arcade so last minute.

I think this is a metaphor for how Mike, instead of being true to himself, has no option but to steal from Nancy (aka “piggyback”) which manifests as Mike and El’s ‘relationship problems’ echoing a lot of the same problems that Nancy had in her forced relationship with Steve (which then continues into both S3 and S4)... This allows him enough pocket change to get him through an arcade trip with his friends.

The arcade seems to be a metaphor for the kind of ‘adolescent fun’ both Mike/Will see their friends Dustin/Lucas participating in and desperately wanting to feel apart of that, even though they inherently feel more alienated than Dustin/Lucas *in regards to the whole ‘crushes’ and relationship aspect of things* (which is shown by how Mike/Will are pushed off more to the side and paired together, than Dustin/Lucas when they’re all gathered around the machine) Because consider how at the arcade, both Dustin and Lucas are the ones most invested in winning the heart of Princess Daphne in Dragon's Lair... and, again, this obviously foreshadows the arrival of Max, who captivates both Dustin and Lucas and sets up a “love triangle” between the three of them that pokes fun at the ‘love at first sight’/’adorable stalker’ tropes prevalent in the romantic subplots of many mainstream movies/tv shows.

Throughout S2, we see how Will and Mike are both decidedly uninterested in Max in any romantic (or even friendly, in Mike’s case) capacity. So here’s where the concept of “piggybacking” comes back in... This whole season, it’s probably easier for Mike to convince himself (and the general audience) that he just doesn’t like Max because he already has El. But upon closer inspection, it would seem that Mike is unfairly projecting his own frustrations about his inability to obsess over any girl he sees like Lucas and Dustin (and he assumes even Will is) onto Max, much like how he projected what he missed about having Will around onto El in S1.

As I’ve pointed out in this post, there’s a lot of similarities between Steve/Nancy and Mike/El’s relationship woes... Nancy can’t tell Steve she loves him because she loves another boy, and Mike can’t tell El he loves her because he also loves a boy... But, of course, this situation is fundamentally more challenging for Mike because the complicated factor of being a closeted homosexual in the 1980′s comes with its own unique set of challenges. Most of all, it is harder for Mike’s peers to pinpoint exactly what’s going on with him because in the 1980′s there was practically no public awareness of homosexuality as anything other than a taboo/blasphemy/a “cancer”.

(As an aside, this is also why-- though I think the sentiment is generally made with good intentions and all in good fun-- I don’t think Will/Mike could be “Murray’d” in the same way we’ve seen with Jancy and Jopper... Because the whole point is that because there was so little representation or even awareness of gay people, and especially gay people who got a happy ending or found themselves in a requited love story, made it much more difficult to have that kind of ‘epiphany’ moment as a young queer person the way Mike/Will are struggling with)

So, back to the point (LOL), I believe that moment with the piggybank does indeed foreshadow how Mike will repeat Nancy’s own relationship problems by continuing to deny accepting himself for who he really is (and who he’s really in love with), and instead retreat back to the safety of El (”Oh, [El]... We like [El]”) even though he is in love with Will (”but we don’t love [El]...”). And even in Murrays phrasing of things, you can see how Mike might feel at odds with his own feelings and get very confused-- cuz what he feels for El sure feels like a kind of love, but the only kind of love people are telling him he could feel for a girl who isn’t his biological sister is a romantic type of love. When, in reality, a lot of the ways Mike acts with El is the way an older brother might with his sister-- which is reinforced in ST4 as a lot of Mike&El scenes parallel Will&Jonathan scenes.. But, because he gets so confused, he just goes with the idea it must be a ‘romantic love’ because he cannot find a way to put his feelings into words (because there is very little representation of it at this time in the media!)

We can even see this idea of Mike/El being a “shitty knockoff” of Nancy and Steve’s doomed S2 romantic relationship enforced visually in ST4 when Mike comes in a silly Californian Costume (with the same sunglasses) that reminds me of Steve’s “Risky Business” Halloween costume in ST2.

* I read this interaction between Mike/Argyle as a meta-joke about how Mike hasn’t really found himself yet and is just doing what he thinks a straight boy would do for his girlfriend... and that last screencap is implying it will be especially important for Mike to figure this stuff out (and possibly foreshadowing that he will) if he wants to move forward and break this cycle of unhappy relationships that has plagued his parents and his sister before.

So, Mike/El is the “shitty knockoff” version of Steve/Nancy because (whereas Nancy was capable of feeling romantic attraction to Steve, she just wasn’t in love with him) Mike cannot even feel genuine romantic love for girls at all... because he’s gay!!

When Argyle takes the awkward moment to grab the tag from Mike’s shirt and read into that small detail... it’s another meta-joke for how Mike’s emotionally-constipated behavior with El may seem to broader audiences like he’s just struggling to say how he feels, rather than reading into the possibility that it may be because he does not feel the kind of love for El that everyone has been telling him (both in-universe and audience-wise) he’s been feeling since S1. This is all just a consequence of his ability and luxury of being able to be better at ‘blending in’ than Will (for example: Mike has a mom who will buy his clothing for him, unlike Will who probably wears mostly hand-me-downs from Jonathan and Joyce). Instead of blending in, because he knows he can’t, Will tends to resort to letting himself fade into the background as a way to stay safe from scrutiny and abuse. But, in the end, this doesn’t make him feel any better.

We have seen this decline of Will as a character who was willing to risk everything to protect the party in these bold and theatrical ways in their D&D campaigns, which fades into something sadder as we see his symptoms of PTSD beginning to shape him. Nowadays, Will just risks his own well being because he believes (or, rather, his traumatized brain tells him) that is his best defense for protecting his friends. Will no longer sees it as battling external threats with his friends, but in his time away from Hawkins where he was not in contact with Mike he began seeing himself as the threat. But we see that drastic change (and then have it stated for us by Will himself) that being with Mike makes Will feel like he’s special for being different, rather than feeling alienated or monstrous (which is what contributed to Will’s FOIL character Henry becoming so monstrous himself because he consistently rejected or killed the people in his life who wanted to help him). Once again, this show illustrates for us how trauma can so easily muddle the line between what is true/based in evidential fact (and how just because something is all in someone’s head doesn’t mean it can’t have dangerous consequences to anyone else.. again, Henry is an example of this) and what is assumed to be true... think about how the framing in the van has Will immediately cutting himself off from Mike by turning away, immediately assuming he is going to be rejected by Mike without even giving Mike a chance to really work things out for himself. This doesn’t mean Will is being malicious or cruel or uncaring towards Mike in general, but again he is traumatized and assumes the worst in most given situations anymore-- and that’s also how most gay ‘coming of age’ stories have been written even up until this point. But it’s also unfair because, imo, if we sift through the seasons we can see just how clearly Mike does seem to reciprocate Will’s feelings as he’s been heavily queer-coded since S1. He just does not understand himself as fully yet as Will does.

All throughout the writing as early as S1, Mike is clearly motivated by his love for Will in his actions. Just think about the parallels between Jonathan and Mike that first season, when Jonathan throws a punch at Steve for saying he’s not surprised Will turned up missing (like Lonnie had said) and then how Mike pushes Troy to the ground for insulting Will repeatedly at the assembly and how that’s followed by Flo saying “only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart. And that damn stupid.”... Both Jonathan and Mike, since the beginning, have been two of the people who know Will on such an inherent level and want to defend him. In different ways (Jonathan on the familial level and Mike on the friendly/romantic level), but all the same, they have been consistently motivated by their love for Will since the beginning!

I feel like the writing of Mike Wheeler has always relied more heavily on subtext rather than being more overt like Will’s situation is. But even then his coding is a lot more overt than other cases I’ve seen, again consider a scene like Karen telling Mike “I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me..” all the while Mike is hiding a very big secret (both literally, El, and metaphorically, his sexuality) in his bedroom closet upstairs.

A lot of Mike’s dialogue about both Max and Dart in S2 is supposed to show how hypocritical he is with his double standards for El in S1 and Max in S2. (for example: “[she’s] awesome? you haven’t even spoken a word to her!” // “that’s like saying just because someone’s from the Death Star [as a metaphor for Dart being from the Upside Down] doesn’t make them bad!”) All Mike winds up doing, in the end, is proving just how right Lucas was that Mike becomes blind to the main objective of finding Will (and this still remains relevant in a more developed sense in ST4) because he liked that girl wasn’t grossed out by him. This also pokes holes in my own ability to believe with a strong conviction that Mike is straight and in love with El.

In S2, when Mike starts “piggybacking” his love for Will onto El, the writing begins to show us how, over time, the subtle perpetuation of these typical heteronormative standards build up to a point where they only hurt people and their ability to have healthy relationships with others (this applies to both Will/Mike and Mike/El, of course). Think about this quote that was used as the opening lines for HBO’s 2019 limited series on Chernobyl (which definitely inspired a lot of the coloring, visuals, and that ending shot etc. for ST4 just as much as the event itself has been woven into the themes of the seedy underbelly of the 1980′s nostalgia from the start)...

“What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we’ll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.”

- Valery Legasov

Now, this statement can apply to both to more insidious situations, such as government coverups (Hawkins Lab) and can apply on a more interpersonal and character-driven scale (Mike’s situation).

But, in ST4 we really begin to see those cracks in the metaphorical dam that Mike has tried to build to protect himself... We can see firsthand as the pressure really begin to build.

We see it both on some of the more explosive levels, such as the “you never say it” scene between Mike and El in S4 E3... But it’s there even on the subtler levels as well.

For example, the airport scene has another interesting piece of dialogue when Mike talks about the flower arrangement he gives to El... He talks about how he thinks he may have “picked a little too much yellow” (yellow usually being the color associated with friendship in flower arrangements) and the rest is purple... which, again, is interesting as a color choice. Mostly because purple/lavender has been stereotypically ‘gay’ colors as well as being the color Will chooses for his D&D character’s wizard robes.

But color choices aside, Mike describing the bouquet as a “70/30 Split type of thing” struck me the second time around because it reminded me (and is only one digit off with both 7 and 3) of what is called the 80/20 Rule... Which is the idea that you will never be 100% satisfied in your romantic relationship. This concept was made popular by the movie Why Did I Get Married where it is described in this scene... “You will be mostly (aka 80%) satisfied with what you have, but there will always be something that might seem better (aka 20%)”. Especially when you pair this idea with the order in which Mike greets El and then Will at the airport, it compels me... 

The scene where Mike awkwardly side hugs Will has also been smartly compared to this scene from Harry Potter where one of the top comments had this to say.

And audience reactions aside, it is confirmed by the director that this was in fact the intention behind that interaction.

And I’d imagine, given the likely age range of everyone in the writers' room starting at least millennial and older, that this is a scene that stuck out fairly well in their memories and was the main reason they chose to have Mike and Will greet each other in such a similar manner.

So uh... I was never a major HP fan anyway and have no interest in it, but had to include that bit as I saw it originally pointed out in this post and haven’t been able to let it go since. So, yeah! That’s all I have to say about that cuz I think it generally speaks loud enough for itself lol.

In season 2, we see how Nancy hurts both Steve and Jonathan by continuing to drag things out and effectively “piggyback” off their relationship to play things safe even though she is aware that she is really in love with Jonathan. This is a difficult decision though because she expects Steve to hate her and cut her off (”and yeah, sometimes [moving forward] is painful, sometimes it’s sad...”), but he doesn’t (”...and sometimes it’s surprising.. happy.”) He tells her it’s okay and encourages her to go with Jonathan (”so you know what? keep on growing up kid.”) because he knows that relationship makes her happy. It even helped Steve realize that he still has some growing up to do himself.

I think it’s easy, as an audience, to assume that because we saw the beginnings of the unlikely bond between Jancy at the same time we saw M!leven growing close means that they’re both these “endgame” love stories... However, we have to keep in mind that in the context of the show’s timeline-- the timing of Mike and El’s relationship lines up more with the relationship between Steve and Nancy than it does with Nancy and Jonathan.

Besides, Nancy and Jonathan kept lying to one another up until the end of ST4 so... Kind of feeling a lot of doubt for the trajectory of their romance as well after that. lol.

In season 2, a lot of the interactions between Lumax and Jancy have dialogue and interactions that are described by the other characters in ways that accurately describe and put words to some of the moments between Mike/Will in that same season. But, of course, no one assumes anything romantic could be happening between them the way it’s happening for Lumax or Jancy because... well... they’re both boys! So there’s this sort of irony to me in the fact that I see that more ‘brotherly’ dynamic between Mike&El than I do between Mike&Will. However, people are quicker to assume that’s what’s going on between the two boys rather than the boy and the girl lmao.

But in S2, Mike/Will and Nancy/Jonathan have a similar structure of how even though the Wheelers spend a lot more quality (and onscreen) time with the Byers Brother, they keeps telling themselves they love the person who they know they are supposed to choose. However, because Murray is able to read Jancy “so clearly” (helped by the fact that there’s generally more visibility for m/f relationships) they are able to have that ‘epiphany’ moment much sooner.

Stranger Things, right from the start, has been a show containing commentary about how everyone uses the media they watch to put words to the experiences they can’t explain, and how it helps us to make sense of the world around us from childhood right up until adulthood. It helps us to understand our past and traumas... And, in the show, when we see the characters (either in the show’s present timeline of the 1980′s, or comparatively how our characters have information that the older characters did not have in the 1950′s) do not have very good examples of what they’re experiencing onscreen, in books, or on the radio-- that is when they really struggle to explain how they feel and how that tends to leads to misunderstandings and that can spiral quickly out of control into full-on conflicts.

I’ll reiterate, the reason Jancy had a much easier and faster timeline of figuring out their feelings for one another is because there’s been representation of that kind of relationship trajectory for a long time. Whereas, for Will and Mike, there isn’t the same kind of guidepost. At least, it was much less accessible information for them to get their hands on. In the 1980′s a lot of your ability to obtain knowledge on queerness depended on who you knew and where you lived, as explained in this great post. If their local library doesn’t have books on that, they didn’t know it existed at all. Even if the library did have those books, consider the kind of paranoia that might ensue as a young teenager still trying to figure themselves out-- things like the books you check out can be documented (or, in the case of ST4, the movies you rent) and could be used against you in an investigation.

So how does the “Piggyback” concept and metaphors in ST4 fit in with our “bizarre love triangle”?... (+Introducing that idea of coercing a “False Confession” from Paradise Lost)

The confession from Mike to El in S4 E9 may have seemed like a deadly blow to Mike being confirmed as gay or Mike/Will ever being a thing... But I personally did not read it that way.

My reason for not being thrown into a state of despair was mainly how much Mike’s “confession” echoed the encouraging talk Jonathan had with Will in the Pizza Parlor... It sounded much less like a ‘love at first sight’ love confession, and more like... an amalgamation of some half-truths (Mike does care for El, even loves her, but re-contextualizes his own experiences into something that fits in with what he thinks El wants to hear from him [aka that he loves her] after he is urged on by Will to be “The Heart”) and putting a sparkly finish over those that echoes some popular romantic sentiments.

So while the circumstances are obviously different in their severity and context— i want to compare Mike’s “confession” to El with the tactics used to draw false confessions from suspects by police as described in Paradise Lost… Again, I am not trying to imply sinister intentions on the part of either Mike nor El-- I am merely drawing parallels between ST which is currently unfinished and lacking resolution, to a case that is still tumultuous but has somewhat of a conclusion and a much clearer concept of “false confessions” in the case’s context.

“You can tell the difference between a real, bona fide, valuable confession and a false confession by looking at how well do the things [the suspect] tells you stack up with the objective facts of [the crime]? And what [Jesse Misskelley] talked about doesn’t stack up to what the evidence shows.”

- an excerpt from Paradise Lost

And already we have seen that many fans have been able to debunk many of the claims made in Mike’s “confession”! Most notably, and what fits pretty neatly with this particular quote, is the detail about how Mike tries to assert this “love at first sight” sentiment when he talks about when he, Lucas, and Dustin found El in the forest in Season 1. 

“I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods. You were wearing that yellow Benny's Burgers T-shirt. And it was so big, it almost swallowed you whole. And I knew right then and there, in that moment, that I loved you. And I've loved you every day since.”

- an excerpt from Mike’s monologue in S4 E9: “The Piggyback”

So, as I said, he tries to re-contextualize it in a way that sounds romantic because he thinks thats what El needs to hear (based on how she said she wants Mike to say he loves her earlier in the season, though she doesn’t even specify that she needs it to be romantic in nature) in order to inspire her to keep fighting in that moment. However, it’s a moment that lacks punch or build-up.

And what makes this suspicious and feels like it’s meant to have holes poked in it... Is the fact that at the very beginning of this same episode, we finally get this big moment of resolution for Jopper where they kiss (while Joyce is dressed in an oversized, yellow t-shirt) and it has all the things it should- build up and tension and flirting and payoff! So rather than this very romantic scene between Jopper meant to parallel or foreshadow a romantic ending for M!leven, I think it is instead contrasting that sentiment. It shows just how much the romance shit has sullied their bond and watered it down.

This is obvious to me in even the subtlest choices... Such as how in Jopper’s scene, the music playing is very soft and quiet... like it’s trying very hard not to disrupt this romantically charged moment between them that is finally happening!

Whereas, with Mike’s monologue scene... the music seems to overpower his own words in this supposedly “monumental monologue” both in volume and in energy. Like the implication there is, imo, that the sentiment of Mike’s monologue is enough for El-- I think she even knows at this point that Mike is telling her what he thinks she needs to hear, and though it may not be as romantic in reality she knows Mike loves her. And that’s an endearing and kind enough sentiment to motivate her. She is not motivated by Mike’s love for her, rather she is motivated by the fact that she is loved. She is motivated by the fact that she is currently surrounded by people (including Mike) who care about her well-being enough to figure out a way to get her whatever she needs and wherever she needs, especially after what she’s been through over the past few days at the lab in Nevada I’m sure that means a lot to her.

I mean, hell, I think Mike’s words could have even reminded her of the things and the effort that’s been gone through by Will&Jonathan and Argyle to get El to where she needed to be without a second thought. The moment El gets carted off by the police, Will and Jonathan are in action mode trying to see if Joyce’s flight has left yet all while Mike just sorta... stands there.

I still think that, in the end, the intention was not to have it implied that Mike and El are back together or that they will (especially with the blocking of that final shot... it seems like El is much more ready to face her own destiny and is more confident knowing she has these people she loves and wants to protect who will back her up and be there for her), rather I think Mike’s comment about El not talking to him much is indicative of them being ‘broken up’... As, I have to say, most of the time-- for TV/Film dialogue the rule of thumb seems to be “never have your characters say what they mean”. So you are less likely to actually see a scene like “I dump your ass” and have something more along the lines of Mike telling Will that El hasn’t talked to her much like he does at the end of EP9 and we’re just supposed to infer. I mean, when you think about it... We never hear Steve or Nancy outright say to each other “I’m breaking up with you” but instead we have Steve tell Nancy he thinks “[she’s] bullshit” after Nancy is unable to tell Steve she loves him after the incident at the Halloween party the night before.

I think El knows that Mike is not in love with her and has no intention of dragging out that romantic pursuit any longer. If anything, it’s actually been framed more that she has romantic feelings for... Max? But at the very least, it does not come off to me that she has any real interest in a romantic relationship with Mike anymore.

Again, that final shot with El at the forefront of her own destiny was very telling to me. If they had gotten back together, it would be the same old Mike piggybacking off his currently unrealized feelings for Will. El is smart enough, especially after all she’s learned in ST4, that she does not need a boyfriend to back her up. She has a family and friends who love her to power and motivate her enough.

A lot of the Mike/El interactions in Vol 2 come across to me as Nancy and Steve did towards the middle/end of S2... Two recently ‘broken up’ people trying to navigate their relationship in a way that feels more comfortable, AKA a friendly one. That’s even more difficult when you’re not even the teens ages in S2 of being around juniors/seniors in HS... Instead we are dealing with two freshmen, so imo it makes perfect sense that it would not be a very eloquent thing. I don’t think Typically Oblivious Mike is even under the impression he is back together with El at the end of Vol 2.

I have a feeling that because El does not know that it’s Will and Mike who have feelings for each other yet in ST4, that it may be something she notices in season 5 between the two of them in their interactions-- whatever those may be. If we are in fact going to get the more S1 core dynamic of Dustin, Lucas, El, Mike, and Will for S5, that’d make sense to me with how close El has become to Mike and Will and with her penchant for ‘love stories’ with all the soaps she liked to watch LOL. I think that’d be kind of a sweet addition to that subplot, as long as it doesn’t take away from El’s own story in order to do so.

In the end, if anyone has decided to drop the show or take a long break after everything... I do not blame you. It’s important to give yourself time to relax and decompress, or even drop something altogether if it is no longer making you happy or fulfilling you in any significant way! It’s not defeat or giving up to take care of yourself. And for the people who are still here, still reading, and still digging... I know it can be easy to get discouraged when things are not handed to us at face value. It especially becomes frustrating when there are so many people who want to disprove the idea of queerness being allowed to exist in popular media or in the minds of children or anyone. It gets exhausting to fight those kinds of people, even on social media.

So decompress... and give yourself some time to stop posting, to just breathe and process and then...

Go back and look at the evidence. Just stop and think. Don’t let your emotions about it all get to your head. Just ... look back at the evidence and look where the evidence does point. And ask yourself, [“Now who do you think really done it?”]

- Jason Baldwin in Paradise Lost

And a lot of really good analysis accounts have popped up even since I originally typed up this post! Check out these two accounts I’ve been enjoying especially lately!

aaand that’s it. I love saying that after rambling on and on and on. lol.

Thank you to anyone who may have taken the time to read this thing to the end, I appreciate your time!!

Tagging (as per request): @will80sbyers​ 

#byler #byeler #silver cat speaks