#rink o mania

[wheelerssecret]

Rink-o-mania fight be like

#got me stressed out. it's not even my relationship #my fucking god! these bitches gay! good for them! good for them! #rink o mania #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #byler endgame #byler is canon #mike wheeler i know what you are #byler is endgame #byler nation #byler tumblr #byler s4 #byler s5

[chirpsythismorning]

This being the first time Will talked to or even looked directly at Mike since the airport is hilarious. Like I just know Mike was having heart palpitations as he flip-flopped away afterwards, still processing what just happened, only for him to jump back in with that vomit green sock joke, all confident like now we're cooking! as if it he wasn't about to tell the worst joke ever known to man i'm crying

#byler #rink o mania #this shot is so bizarre love triangle coded #i remember when someone pointed out how mike literally switched to the will voice in this moment when will acknowledges him #and i haven't been the same since #el: Oh i almost forgot you needs socks #mike in his obnoxious teen boy voice: aoh shit? #will: they sell them at the counter #mike in a small ass voice: oh 😳🫣😶 ok

[mikeslawyer]

will said “what about us?” but mike heard “what are we?” and it will never not be hilarious to me.

#he was so panicked #experiencing seven stages of grief all at once #byler #mike wheeler #byler endgame #stranger things #byler is canon #will byers #will x mike #mike x will #byler tumblr #byler s4 #rink o mania

[kiirotoao]

I think my mind is stuck on the Rink O Mania fight right now and I can’t get it to stop so-

A deep dive on the line: “We’re friends. We’re friends.”

Said by none other than Mike “In the closet” Wheeler.

And in order to do this, let’s talk about:

The context

Mike’s tone

The urgency of the reply

The backing track

What could have been Mike’s reply

So first, context.

The moment that Will regrabs Mike’s attention with his “well, what about us?” Mike is hit with more and more thoughts of exactly that: “us.” Him and Will. And Will doesn’t stop. He accuses Mike of being mad, dismissive, uncaring, lacking, all towards Will.

The pressure is on. And look at Mike. He’s upset about it.

But then comes-

The last straw. And what is the last straw? Well, this brings me to my next and most crucial points…

Notice Mike’s tone. You can even see it in the gif alone.

Will just posed the tiniest question “and us?” with the biggest implication: what are we to you? And Mike immediately feels the need to repeat his friendship assertion twice. “We’re friends. We’re friends.”

Mike tends to repeat himself when he’s upset. He’s affected by this. Which, duh, right? But think about it.

Why might Mike be upset by this? Is it just because Will is upset and they’re feeding off of each other? Is it because Mike is annoyed that Will brought up El and compared himself to her? Or could it be something more?

Is Mike perhaps threatened by the fear of the idea of actually being something else to Will? Perhaps he’s worried that Will got the wrong idea? Perhaps it’s something internal to Mike himself that he doesn’t want to breach?

Mike is the one who set that boundary, after all, in making such a strong reply.

So once again, Mike is upset here. That’s pretty clear to see. And throughout the entire time Will brings up their relationship outside of El, he also looks so uncomfortable, if you ask me. Like he doesn’t want to talk about it. Like he doesn’t want to fight with Will lest things hit a little too close to home. Mike seems defensive.

Like his upset repetition, he does back out of the conversation twice, after all.

I think that he’s hiding his true heart. Running away from something. Running away from something because of Will.

Hm.

Next, let’s talk about the urgency. This is not a slow fight. There is barely a moment of pause from the entire fight, start to finish. In fact! It’s after this line that we get a pause to breathe. It’s only after Will retorts, “well, we used to be best friends!” that Mike stops.

As of “We’re friends. We’re friends.” Mike is steamrolling through this without need to stop. Mike doesn’t even need to think of his reply to Will’s, “and us?”

Does Mike just always and readily consider the distinction of Will as a friend as opposed to… something else?

Hm.

And now, briefly, because goddamn this should tell all, I want to bring up the backing track!

The fact is that “In the closet (at Rink O Mania)” starts playing right before Mike successfully backs out of the conversation!! And this needs to be talked about more!

Yeah. That song didn’t start playing while Will was speaking. It started playing while Mike was speaking.

And as the song plays, coupled with his upsetness, Mike deflects blame (“why is this on me?”), something that shows that he… doesn’t want to accept the blame nor the truth.

Once again: hm.

Now, lastly, I wouldn’t be me without at least one good ol’ counter argument, what could have been. I mean, this isn’t really a proper counterpoint as I still am believing that Mike is so gay to try and declare his friendship to his fellow male bestie with urgent and defensive fervency backed by a literal “In the closet” soundtrack but.

Maybe I should just call this an imaginative perspective.

Because seriously, Mike could have reacted in so many other ways than how he did.

Where’s the “what do you mean, ‘us?’” Where’s the simple “what?” for that matter? What about a “you know that’s not the same thing.”

Mike could have defended himself. Backed up. Questioned Will and gotten to the bottom of the emotion right then and there. But he didn’t.

Y’know why?

Because despite the variety of choices, if Mike didn’t spell clearly that they were just “friends,” he’d be so much more vulnerable to getting outed. Will could have easily parried by repeating himself and flustering Mike. Or Mike could have risked the potential continued questions from Will about what if they could be more? So logically, Mike took the safest route he could.

Angrily. And defensively. Not confusedly. He knew what he was saying and not saying.

Yeah, I just can’t not see Mike as someone trying to hide himself, here.

I find it so upsettingly fascinating overall how neither of the two seem to stop and question what each other actually means. They never ask for certain clarification or hesitate. Well, Mike does, once -

- but then things keep spiraling and they don’t get to stop and think twice again. Everything else seemingly comes out in quick anger and frustration. And it’s so easy for them to miss things when they’re also so rushed by the need to find El. Truly, did you leave this Rink O Mania fight feeling like it was satisfying and that Mike and Will said all that they wanted to towards each other? I know that I didn’t.

The only way I can see people thinking that Mike is genuinely and completely and utterly straight is if they think he’s arguing at face value and plainly had nothing else to say to Will. So really, it’s up to how you as a viewer see him.

But if Mike is actually just friends with Will, why do these same types of intimate one-on-one fights often happen between established couples? Why is Mike’s story interwoven with Will’s so deeply like this, enough to hit on the tension of romance versus friendship? Why is Mike even a main character if he’s supposed to only be taken at face value? How come Mike is able to smile again the moment that Will brings up them and only them two again a day later - even though this all happens before Mike apologizes for the Rink O Mania fight and their relationship hasn’t been fully mended yet??

“We’re friends. We’re friends.” is a cry to me across the screen that Mike is trying to state the facts and keep his head on straight (haha) despite everything that Will meant and continued to mean to him. It’s been half a year since Mike and Will spoke, and so they’d also had plenty of time to internalize their ideas of each other and ignore a number of thoughts without the other around. We know that Will kept his feelings at bay by painting them.

What do we certainly and canonically know about Mike and what he personally did away from Will specifically? That’s right!

Nothing.

But I choose to believe that he surely thought about Will while he was gone, right? And missed him during at least one Hellfire game? And potentially considered who Will was to him? And maybe told himself to stop if he imagined anything too deep because they were just friends? Or is that too much to assume?

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #byler analysis #byler brainrot #mike wheeler is gay #mike wheeler i know what you are #I am sick and apparently in my thinking about rink o mania hours lmao #rink o mania #byler is endgame

[henrysglock]

I love how rink-o-mania can literally just be summed up in

will: *sigh* 🙄 😔 🛼 👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 😐🫡 🫥

mike: 👁👁 🤨 🤔 ??? *visibly shaking because he hasn't filled his daily quota of William Byers Interactions and Affection*

#like sir. SIR. your girlfriend is being harassed? and you're too busy '👁👁 🤨 🤔 ???'-ing at your homie?? #that's kinda fruity. I'm just gonna say it. that's kinda fruity. #byler #rink o mania #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things

[will80sbyers]

STRANGER THINGS 4 Chapter Two: Vecna's curse

#byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #stedit #st4 #st 4x02 #byler fight #byler rink o mania fight #rink o mania #mike x will #will x mike #byler tumblr #will80sbyersgifs

[thatgaymood]

Mike Wheeler is easily distracted.

(insp.)

#he really saw jake and said 👁️👄👁️ #sorry will #he has a weakness #stranger things #stranger things 4 #mike wheeler is gay #byler #mike wheeler x jake #st4 #rink o mania #logan allen #video edit

[lunabug2004]

Why the Troy and Angela Situations Should Not Be Compared (+ Why Mike's Reaction Is Valid)

One of the things that gets my blood boiling as a Mike defender is when people try to compare the bullying/El's reaction to said bullying between the Troy and Angela scenes. They are not the same thing, not even close! Yes, they're both cases of bullying, but two very different levels of extreme.

Yes, I understand that words can hurt just as much, if not more, than a physical weapon, and Mike understands this too, that's why he tries to connect with El the morning after. But in the real world, one without monsters or powers, the one they believe they're living in at the time, violence is almost never the answer, it only makes things worse, as it did. Mike also understand this. Now, yes, it took him a minute to figure out that El didn't quite understand this yet, but he works to fix his mistakes as soon as he does.

Now, let's look at season 1's incident. Troy is threatening to cut Dustin with a knife if Mike doesn't jump off the quarry cliff. Two lives are in immediate and direct danger in this situation. El, literally at the last second, saves Mike as he's falling, so that's one problem fixed and one less life at stake. By this time, yes, Troy has moved away from Dustin, but he is still holding the knife! And then he aggressively steps towards El, threatening her with it, so she snaps his arm and makes him drop it. This is self defense, as well as defending her friends from a dangerous situation.

In season 4, Angela publicly humiliates El. Yes, it's awful, and yes, she deserves the smack that she gets for it, but it's nowhere near as bad as what Troy was doing. Angela isn't putting any lives in immediate danger, she's not brandishing a weapon! Legally, El smacking Angela is assault, because at the point of the roller-scate-smack, the ordeal is done with, and there was no physical harm done. I'd like to add that I'm aware of El falling, and that she may have been hurt, but technically no one touched her, so it still isn't technically self-defense (I may be wrong here, pls correct me if so). This is a very unfortunate situation, and I feel terrible for El, as should everyone, but I'm a firm believer that when it comes to bullies, you shouldn't fight fire with fire, and Mike seems to carry this belief as well, as he repeatedly tells the boys to just ignore their bullies in s1. @foodiewithdahoodie has an old post (can't find it irl, but it's stuck in my brain) in which they say El treats Angela, a normal girl who is not a serious threat, with the same extreme hostility she shows the UD monsters, and I completely agree with this. El is flawed, and Mike's not a bad person for reacting to those flaws, that just happen to include unnecessary violence, the way a normal person would.

Anyways, what I'm getting at here is that these two situations are completely different (again, Troy has a literal weapon, two peoples' lives were being actively threatened!) and Mike's reaction in both circumstances were completely valid! In season one, he was seconds away from death, and so when El saved him and made the threat go away, he was eternally grateful for her defense. In season 4, he tries so hard to get to her when he realizes what's going on despite having just found out she'd been lying to him for months, and he was even completely on El's side, trying to find and comfort her, until she hit Angela, then he believed she went too far (she did), so he made that known. He's never been one to sugarcoat when he disagrees with certain behaviors, and he doesn't start here, he tells it like it is: Angela doesn't look fine. It also is just a lot to process, so it doesn't surprise me that it takes an overnight thought-session for him to figure out where he went wrong, and again, he tries to make it up to her! To connect with her, bringing down some of his walls in the process! She just disregards his experiences, then brings up him not saying ILY, so he gets defensive and puts back up his walls, and they never get to continue this conversation! (This is an analysis for another day in and of itself tbh)

To reiterate, it just irks me when people compare these scenes to try and make Mike out to be a bad person, when they are nowhere near the same situation! His reactions being different makes total sense, esp when adding the shock-factor of it all! I'll stop talking now cuz this could go on forever and I lowkey feel like I'm just repeating myself now.

Pls tell me your thoughts on this!

#i hope this made sense #cuz i spent way too much time on it #mike wheeler #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things 1 #troy walsh #dustin henderson #rink o mania #el hopper #anti mileven #but also i love them so kinda not #byler #<— target audience #mike wheeler defender #mike wheeler defense squad #mike wheeler analysis #mike wheeler appreciation #mike wheeler needs a hug #mike wheeler deserves better #Jay's saying stuff :) #Jay's talking ST &lt;3

[starmanbyler]

literally all the songs at rink o mania are gay….

#byler #rink o mania #in the closet (at rink o mania)

[willthespy]

in the closet (at rink-o-mania)

#byler #i drew this like last week #i rushed it but i’m posting it because it’s funny #will byers #mike wheeler #byler endgame #stranger things #stranger things 4 #byler proof #byler s4 #rink o mania #byler art #mike x will #byler nation #ermmmm #idk what other tags to add pls like and subscribe and hit that follow button #st fanart #byler fanart

[howtobecomeadragon]

Sapphic double date at Rink O Mania 🥰🏳️‍🌈

#byler #rink o mania

[wheelerssecret]

They're playing heroes they're playing heroes THEY'RE PLAYING HEROOOOES 💙💛

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #rink o mania #stranger things #tudum #tudum 2023 #netflix tudum #netflix #byler tumblr

[chirpsythismorning]

MIKE WAS LOOKING AT WILL AS THEY GOT OUT OF THE SURFER BOY VAN AT RINK-O-MANIA?!?!

#stranger things #byler #rink o mania #4x02 #me @ mike in the closet: IM GONNA GET YOU OUTTA THERE

[mikeslawyer]

mike: she’s my girlfriend, will !

will: and us?!

dozens of completely forgotten customers of the very public place they unpacked this at behind them:

#byler #byler endgame #mike wheeler #stranger things #byler is canon #will x mike #mike x will #will byers #byler tumblr #byler s4 #rink o mania

[jaegerisim]

Will is such a girl boss.

Like imagine third wheeling on your bday and your crush literally saying “yeah, whatever’’ so you man up and say “and what about us?” and promptly ruin that man’s whole life lmao

#rink o mania #byler #byler brainrot #will byers #mike wheeler #byler endgame #mike x will

[sandinmybed]

well, what about us?

--

pencil drawing from August! i actually drew this in a hostel lol, i love how emotional he looks in this screencap. you may have seen this on my twitter a few months ago but I realised I never posted it here. enjoy some more mike wheeler <3

#mike wheeler #my art #mike wheeler fanart #stranger things fanart #pencil drawing #pencil sketch #stranger things #mike wheeler i know what you are #rink o mania #traditional drawing #traditional art #stranger things s4 #finn wolfhard #byler fanart #st fanart