#Mike and el are back together

[chirpsythismorning]

Most underrated byler moment goes to this. Them hugging, only to stand by each other this close, with Will looking at Mike emotionally waiting for him to look back, but all Mike can do is stand there frozen… Both suffering and not feeling like they can comfort each other any more than they already have 😭😭😭

[hellinhawkins]

hot take but I don’t think that lucas or dustin (or anyone, for that matter, other than maybe robin) are going to see what’s going on between mike and will until it happens. they don’t suspect ANYTHING. when they actually get together everyone’s going to be shocked

[kdkdnfuiahuag]

maturing is realising that mike and will are the cringiest mfs in the show and loving them for it

[reineydraws]

i have a soft spot for fics where billy sort of ends up adopting el and will alongside max. like, these are the kids that get dibs for rides in the camaro haha.

also im unfortunately not participating bc prev commitments but #harringrove for turkey is happening right now if yall want to donate to the earthquake relief funds for turkey & syria and get some art/fic back from harringrove fans! :) check out the tag if you're interested!!

[brionysea]

when max is depressed we know something's wrong because lucas says with his words that he knows something's wrong but when mike is depressed we don't think anything of it because will's right next to him rolling his eyes about how stupid straight people are

[euryleli]

We, as a fandom, need to provide more band aus for byler!

I know we do have some but... I don't know about u guys because I could see myself reading a 1000 band aus and never getting tired

It's that serious to me!!

Also, Mike is always the rockstar (which... fair lol Finn has the aesthetic) but why not give Will Byers the chance to be the famous one and for Mike to be the fanboy -> what about two rival bands? Or maybe Mike auditions for a role in Will's band (and vice versa)

We need MORE, SO MUCH MORE!!!

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS

[spookystarfishzombie]

[messrsbyler]

ted 100% meant will when he said "and no sweetie pie" if you even care

[gayofthefae]

If season 2 were about El and Mike fighting to get back to each other they wouldn't have had El almost not come back.

If it were about Mike and El fighting to come back to each other, it wouldn't have been a decision whether or not should we would.

But she almost stayed in Chicago. And they made a point of her saying she went back for all of her friends, not just him, and for Hopper. She went back for Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Hopper. It was played as big and loving. But it wasn't played as romantic. That wasn't her reasoning and missing Mike wasn't enough to bring her back in the first place.

In the first few episodes of the season, she fights with Hopper about not being able to see Mike. But as the season progresses, we find it isn't about that. It's about not being able to leave. She goes to Chicago and almost doesn't come back. There is a full stand alone episode about her maybe not coming back and she ALMOST STAYS.

If it were some big romantic payoff of their reunion, they would have simply had an obstacle they had to fight to overcome - like Hopper or the monsters or something. But instead, Mike was hoping she was alive and El was considering letting him come to terms with her death and living out her days with her sister in Chicago.

El almost never saw Mike again. It was a very close decision. She changed her mind last minute. It's valid and it remains loving, but in trope simply put...it isn't romantic.

"I almost never came back to you but I changed my mind" in the context of being separated against your will? Isn't romantic.

And similar is true in their separation in seasons 3 AND 4. She does not reach out after her time with Max. Granted maybe she would have, it was a short time, I will give that. But then she didn't get back together with him until the end of the epilogue to our knowledge. She did not run back to him in grief in need of comfort. She did not get back together with him for the familiarity even in that, she got back together with him to keep a piece of Hawkins. Her priorities would not have been the same of "wait and see if he says it" - and he could have done that in a relationship too, as we saw was an arc for him in season 4. Once again, she waited until the last minute - even almost walking away and leaving for Lenora - before coming back to him at the last possible second.

In season 4, then, she did not include him in her plans when escaping NINA. She only noted Max and her friends. Really, this re-established her priorities from season 2. Her intention was to return to all of her friends, to return to Hawkins, and to help her loved ones out of danger. Not to return specifically to him. When he was out of the equation, he was skipped over. She and Mike had a bad fight. And she still loved him just like she still loved her brothers who were also not mentioned, but her focus was only verbalized as being on Max and Hawkins. The original intention of her leaving was for Owens to take her back to Hawkins. She had zero knowledge that her family and Mike (and Argyle) were coming to get her. She thought they were back at the house in Lenora and that she was going straight to Hawkins and would call them once it was all finished. We have no knowledge that she was going to make a pitstop - unlikely given the stakes and distance between Nevada and Lenora.

In season 2, El almost stayed in Chicago. In season 3, El almost stayed broken up with Mike. In season 4, El almost went back to Hawkins without them - this decision being out of her control when it was changed.

Each and every time they are separated, El only makes the decision to reunite with Mike last minute after seeming to have intended to stay apart from him. Their reunions are always so sweet. But they are never her goal.

She came back for Will.

She came back in her grief over Hopper and leaving Hawkins.

She came back for Max.

The key question ever time she reunites with Mike is: does the story stop there? Or does she do something very important next?

Mike always a sweet stop on her way to her goal. He is never "the point". He is a part of her life as many other people are. But he is not her life and he is not why she comes back.

[bylertruther]

mike accepting, loving, and celebrating will's otherness while rejecting his own is so . it's literally Soooooo like i can't see through my tears rn jgenuinely . he's so......... i can 't do this icant finish the post he's so . MICHAEL.............

[gay-mike-wheeler]

something something the fact that almost all the canon couples are shown to be having issues/arguing in st3.

and you know who else is shown arguing?

will and mike.

[chirpsythismorning]

The way fans on the st sub are almost all in agreement Nancy ending up with neither Jon nor Steve wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and how they can even come up with a sleuth of reasons as to why, honestly pretty valid and fair reasons, but then are absolutely gobsmacked when fans merely speculate something along those lines for El is, quite something.

[post-modern-prometheus]

omgggg literally buffy au !!! with el as the slayer and she’s in these cute little outfits doing backflips and driving stakes into the hearts of vampires and complaining about her homework and the party just finding out one by one about everything. hop as the watcher 😭😭😭 henry is the Big Bad Vampire and RAHHHH will getting turned………. but they do the thing like angel and restore his soul so now he’s their cool vampire friend

[mikesbasementbeets]

we'll be home soon...

[brionysea]

getting some real "finding each other in vecna's mind palace" vibes from these two

[rotisseries]

hey remember that era where every third byler post was about how s5 was gonna end with will and mike leaving hawkins together? yeah I hated that