#and so they also can't imagine mike ending up with will

[wheelercurse]

The way I can't imagine Mike and El leaving Hawkins together. It feels wrong, especially for El's ending.

[ziggystardustmybeloved]

How byler doubt made me believe in byler even more

Some time ago I had a byler doubt and I you know the milkvan argument that "Will having a crush on Mike is there only to show that Will is gay" so I started wondering

Is there any other way to show that Will is gay?

And of course there is

They could have given him a love interest in California. This actually could be a cool storyline - Mike struggles to say "I love you" to El bc of his upbringing (or whatever) and Will is not able to say "I love you" to the guy he's in love with bc he's gay and it's 80s. Will understands how precious the relationship between Mike and El is and convinces Mike that keeping feelings to yourself is pointless ect ect. It would work even better if Mike and El were broken up by the end of season 3 but still can't stop writing to each other bc they actually care. And the lying part would make much more sense since they both try to get over each other and fail. They could even fit Will's coming out there, where Mike asks Will about his love life bc he has heard about it from El's letters (and he collects them bc he's in love) and Will explains that he has been pushing Mike to express his feelings bc he can't bc the person he's in love with is a boy... now, in s5 the boy could visit Will in Hawkins or he could go there as a volunteer to help people after the tragedy (and imagine the akward airport hug with Will and that boy here). Well, I think it wouldn't be a terrible storyline, it's still angsty and sad, but we don't torture Will without a reason. And the best thing about it is that... a lot of people came up with similar ideas. It wasn't that hard to think of. Duffers could have done that. But they didn't. FOR A REASON.

Now the second, funny part. I was thinking about Dawson's Creek (which Duffers are fans of). I haven't watched the whole Jack's storyline but I know he's gay and that he dates joey at the begining. He was also the one to initiate their first kiss. So, how about giving Will a girlfriend in s3? It could go like in Dawson's Creek. He could have a girlfriend at first but e.g. he wouldn't be able to express his love for her, bc he's not actually in love. He might have problems with saying "i love you" to her.... and then I was like "oh. OH"

[mozzarella-stickz]

something about being abby's cool, girly babysitter (and eventually mike's gf hehe) is just so personal to me

idk just like imagine mike hires you, sheepishly telling you he can't really pay you yet, and you just smile and tell him not to worry. you can always pick up shifts at your dad's office if you need.

you show up your first day in low rise baggy jeans, a bedazzled tank top, leather jacket, and chunky sneakers. your nails are done in french tips, you have lip gloss slathered on your lips, and silver hoops dangling from your ears. abby is immediately drawn to how cool you look, and mike is lovestruck.

from then on you nearly become abby's big sister. she loves spending time with you. you'll take her for drives, playing 90s hip hop and britney and even some hole and alanis morrisette. sometimes when mike works late, he comes home to find you asleep on the couch, abby and you snuggled up, watching the end of a disney movie. it warms his heart. you also sometimes let abby try your sparkly lipgloss, but never letting her overdo it. you tell her she's too young for it, but you do give in and buy her a couple lip smackers tubes and roll-on flavored lipgloss.

mike loves how much you take care of abby, but feels guilty he can't pay you the way he should. you don't mind. you love hanging out with abby.

she does, however, feel slightly betrayed when she walks into mike's room in the morning, you asleep on his bed, asking why she wasn't invited to their slumber party and demanding they have one that night too.

[miwiheroes]

Dropping Byler evidence Every Day Until Season 5

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ Day 15: Will's 'Love interest' . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

Obviously, as bylers, we have all seen many many people out there constantly saying that Will deserves better, or that Will should have a different love interest, and will have a getting over Mike arc in S5. There are many reasons why these things are not true.

I could easily go on and on and on about this for ages, talking about arcs and why the narrative has not built this up at all but instead here are some simple reasons that don't need much thought on why this would make no sense:

Will is taking 'centre stage' in season 5. Creating a new love interest for this season where he's the main character is stupid, because that means if they want that relationship to be well written, they would need to have A LOT of focus on his love interest too. I understood doing this with Robin (where Vickie is a new character), because she is not one of the main characters and will not have as much impact as Will in S5. No new important characters have been spotted with Will.

Will did not get a love interest in S4. Instead of introducing a new character for Will to fall in love with, they establish that he's in love with Mike instead! In the penultimate season of a show! So that the audience can already have this view that Will may never get the thing that he wants! Just for them to be wrong in the final season after years of waiting, subverting the audience's expectations, which the writers love to do anyways.

Will being in love with Mike has been planned from the beginning. This does not suddenly get dropped after no pay-off. If he is taking centre stage and having his coming of age arc in S5, why would this mean that he gets over Mike? His whole arc is realising that he should be loved instead of settling for being alone???? And he's been planned to be in love with Mike since S1??? So,,,,

They did not have to make Will be in love with Mike. Some people may think that Will's arc only surrounds him being gay and getting acceptance for that. That would make sense! Honestly, that would be a good arc. If he wasn't in love with Mike, when that is clearly a choice that the writers have made. They did not have to make him in love with a boy for years to make it believable that he's got internalised homophobia that he needs to overcome. The writers did not give themselves the easy way out.

Will has stated that he will never stop loving Mike. Will has stated multiple times that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Mike. In the garage in S3 and in the van in S4. This is TWICE and the actors have pointed this out to the viewers to show that Will loves Mike (see Finn and David in that one interview thing pre S4). This seems like enough evidence, but there's still more! He also says he'll never join another party, which, if you don't understand subtext, means that he'll never love someone else. Will then, in the big climax of his arc in S4, states that, in a sign of resignation, he will ALWAYS need Mike no matter what. Is that the face of a man who will suddenly stop loving the guy who he has just sacrificed everything for?

Will has been set up to have his happy ending. We have been shown countless times that Will is selfless. It is an integral part of his character that affects his actions constantly, sometimes hurting himself and other characters in the process. He has also dealt with a lot of pain. Why would a character that feels like he will never fall in love with someone else, whilst still sacrificing himself at every turn, be right about feeling worthless in the end? What? Imagine the message of Will's arc, in a show about outcasts where the theme is that love overpowers hate and that cycles of abuse should be broken, become 'we all need to admit that sometimes we can't have everything we want'.

Will does not 'deserve better'. Hear me out on this one okay? I can't imagine saying that Will deserves better than to have Mike love him back. Mike has been presented as someone that Will loves because Mike is the only one that understands him, the only one that protects him, the only one that doesn't make him feel like a freak, the one who says that making friends with him was the best thing he ever did. Also, also, S5 is definitely going to make Mike seem more likeable to the GA again. It's basically been confirmed at this point, and so, I can't imagine making Mike very lovable all for Will to suddenly deserve better than him again and date someone else.

Will's happy ending is only with Mike. It has been stated many times in interviews that The Duffers are apparently weaving this thread of a storyline where everyone's arcs get completed perfectly and everyone gets their perfect ending. In what universe do people really think that after all this, after Will being selfless and self-sacrificing for years, after Will believing he's a mistake that doesn't deserve love, after Will saying he's going to be in love with Mike forever, he will get a random guy's phone number in a bar or some shit? And that will be his amazing happy ending? That lazy ending will happen to a guy where the whole season will be centred on him? l can't with people on twitter. Take a moment to think.

[princess-glassred]

Imagine the losers club having to do an anti bullying PSA for school. Richie and Bev play the bullies, Eddie is the victim, Stan is the narrator, Bill writes it, Ben directs/edits it, and even though Mike doesn't go to school with them they let him hold the boom mic. Also Georgie begs Bill to let him help out too so he begrudgingly lets him be an extra.

Richie is late to set and nobody can get a hold of him until he saunters onto set in a shitty Henry Bowers cosplay, complete with awful mullet wig that is really just two wigs his mom sewed together for him. Bro walked up to set looking like It the musical Henry.

Everyone's acting is really stitled and bad since they're literal children, Bev is the only one who knows how to emote. It's got all the typical 1980's cheesy video effects and music cues you'd expect. Bill keeps rewriting the ending because he can't decide how to give Richie and Bev's characters comeuppance for picking on Eddie. When they finally do get a good take the camera dies so they gotta do it all over again.

It only gets worse when Henry drops by to be an asshole for no reason and he's so confused by Richie's costume that he just stares at him and abruptly leaves.

[dysfunctionalupsidedown]

Mike Wheeler: Trauma, Insecurity, and "STurn" (Analysis)

In "From the Hair Chair: Finn Wolfhard | Stranger Things", which is available on the official Stranger Things YouTube channel, Finn Wolfhard addresses the question, "What's going on with Mike Wheeler in Season 4?"

Mike Wheeler’s behavior in S4 has confused many, especially general audiences. However, if you look at the bigger picture, his progression (or regression) into the Mike Wheeler we know from S4 does make sense. To get a clear idea of what’s going on with him, we must look at the four seasons sequentially and with a more subtextual eye. We have a few physical puzzle pieces, and for now, we need to fill in the rest with our imagination based on evidence. A Mike point of view isn’t particularly needed to fully understand this, although it would be helpful for the GA and is something I want from S5.

In relation to this particular interview, I’ll examine Stranger Things (2016) for the past and present and “STurn” for the possible future. “STurn” actually does tell us a bit about how Mike’s self-identity arc will potentially continue in S5 and wrap up.

Also, I understand that “STurn” isn’t factual and is not even confirmed to be related to ST5. Though I don’t believe this entire analysis is instantly negated by my use of the playlist, as its only purpose here is to assume a hypothetical future. Aside from the Finn interview, everything else comes straight from the show and holds a reasonable explanation for Mike’s behavior up until the end of S4.

Remember, this post is for fun and speculation, and "STurn" is the best we have right now. Just keep in mind that I’m going into this analysis assuming it’s related to Mike Wheeler in S5. I could be entirely incorrect. Similarly, this interview isn’t wholly factual either, as it’s not what’s in the show, but it relates enough to what we’ve been shown of Mike for me to comment on.

This might be a lengthier post. Be warned.

If you’re still here and interested, I’ll get right into it.

Trauma

Finn first addresses how each of the characters are dealing with their past trauma, and that is a perfect way to describe Mike’s behavior in S4. I think a lot of people, especially the general audience, forget that, yes, while these are all characters, trauma does have the ability to affect them and change their behavior. There was an entire “Your original character before trauma vs. after trauma” trend on TikTok a minute back, and that wasn’t for nothing. 

Mike, just in S1, witnessed one of his best friends go missing, watched this best friend turn up apparently dead (as well as see his “body”), went to his funeral, jumped off of a ledge, saw his other newfound friend disappear, and so much more. Don't even get me started on the following seasons.

Mike is afraid of losing. That’s what happened to him in S1. He lost. First Will, then El. 

His fear of loss and determination to keep things in his life are significant parts of his character and have been since S1. That’s why he was so intent on finding Will. That's why he checked his walkie for El every night. That’s why he acts out in S3-S4. This isn’t an excuse for his behavior, but an explanation. It’s part of his trauma, and we see this in S4 with his fear of losing Will and El again: “Maybe I feel like I lost you or something,” and “I can't lose you,” respectively. I theorize that he fears being out of control regarding these things.

A lack of control also explains why he was so volatile to Will and El during and after Rink-O-Mania. For Will, Mike addresses this directly to him when he apologizes. It’s made evident to the audience that he acted cold in part because he thought Will was slipping away, but truthfully, he wasn’t aloof. He noticed everything about Will’s behavior and even managed to make the tragedy of that day about their friendship. Now, back to the apology, “About the last few days… You didn’t deserve anything… The truth is, the last year has been weird… Maybe I was worrying too much about El… And, I don’t know, maybe I feel like I lost you or something.” His defensiveness during the argument at the rink seems more like a trauma response than straight-up disinterest, which some people apparently think.

For El, I think this translates into him wanting her to need him. If El needs him, then there’s no way he can lose her, right? We know from the show that she doesn’t need him anymore. Mike also acknowledges this multiple times, and that thought terrifies him. In the last episode, he explains this to her, “... The truth is, El, I don’t know how to live without you… I can’t lose you, okay?”

Before Will shows Mike the painting in the van, Mike explains his dilemma. Will tries reassuring Mike, telling him that El will be fine, and Mike says he understands that. Mike then explains his true concern, “But what if after all this is over, she doesn’t need me anymore?... The truth is, when I stumbled on her in the woods, she just needed someone. It’s not fate, it’s not destiny, it’s just simple dumb luck. And one day, she's gonna realize that I’m just some random nerd that got lucky that Superman landed on his doorstep. I mean, at least Lois Lane is an ace reporter for The Daily Planet.” 

Will continues to comfort him, focusing more on the loss aspect of Mike’s trauma, which is made evident here. But those lines also make it clear that Mike is afraid El will realize his inferiority to her and abandon him. This is a good transition into Mike’s insecurity.

Insecurity

I’ve seen people argue against what Finn says here because Mike is part of the somewhat “outcast” group at school. I don’t think trying to argue that takes away from the fact that Mike did, does, and will continue to try and lead a “normal” lifestyle. He’s a teenage boy with a girlfriend and a friend group he fits into. That’s normal. He’s trying to get by. 

It was the same in S3. Mike was a kid with friends, a girlfriend, and a new want for maturity. It’s not unrealistic that the character is aging out of or into specific behaviors, especially ones that he’s previously exhibited. That leads us to his insecurity. 

We’ve had hints of it starting as far back as S1E3, when Troy injures Mike, and he initially lies about it to El so that he doesn’t seem like a loser. Similarly, these themes pick up with Will in S3E3 during their fight in the rain, “...We’re not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? That we were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?”

Curiously, Mike is shown to be especially “normal” in California. He dresses differently than he does in Hawkins and acts more aloof. As Argyle says, “It’s a shitty knock-off.” Skipping forward to the “... She's gonna realize that I’m just some random nerd that got lucky that Superman landed on his doorstep… at least Lois Lane is an ace reporter for The Daily Planet” line, and we have a good enough view of Mike’s internal conflict.

He is deeply insecure, and it seems particularly so around El. I don’t know if this was addressed in the show, and I wish we had seen some of Mike’s letters, but does El even know about the Hellfire Club? I don’t believe we’re given any indication that she does, which could imply that Mike kept it hidden from her. It wouldn’t be surprising, considering his complete attitude change in California. Also keeping in mind that Mike stopped playing D&D when he was with her in S3 and only continued to play in S4 while El was away.

Mike also displays this insecurity by choosing to distance Will. For what reason, I can’t say for sure, but it’s probably something “abnormal.” 

Regardless, his insecurity ties into his fear of loss. The more normal he is, the more things he can maintain in life and the less he has to lose. Especially when it comes to El. It all stems back to his fear, not genuine malintent, and I see too many viewers misunderstand this. 

It also works the opposite way, to a different and lesser extent. If he’s out of Hellfire Club, he loses his “normal teenage clique.” Aside from losing El completely as someone he profoundly cares about, if he loses El as a partner, he loses his girlfriend. That’s a blow to his normality. 

Will is confusing to me. If he “loses” Will, just like he felt he did at the beginning of S4, he falls more into the pattern of trying to be normal. There’s no impact on his normality. By keeping Will at arms-length, Mike gravitated more towards his “shitty knock-off” version of himself. Something about Will brings out what Mike feels is abnormal in him, so by distancing himself, he could avoid it altogether. That’s likely in part what caused such a conflict at the beginning of S4: Mike’s inability to be “normal” while fully keeping Will in his life and vice versa, his inability to lose Will just to maintain normalcy.

"STurn"

We’ve focused on trauma and insecurity. Now, it’s time for self-identity. I think that's a theme in store for the future. I'll refer back to the “STurn” analysis I previously did.

Many of the songs on this playlist contain themes of a false identity. I’ll start with “Angst In My Pants” first. To quote my "STurn" analysis:

This song is about a person attempting to be someone they're not, suppressing who they really are, and it ultimately leading to dissatisfaction. The lyrics, "You can dress nautical / Learn to tie knots / Take lots of Dramamine / Out on your yacht" describe a faux lifestyle one lives that only serves to hurt them in the end: The idea of putting on a self-harming persona. This could be what Mike is going through in S5.

Next, we have "Substitute":

This track is about an idealized version of someone being put in place of their true self. The narrator describes a scenario in which their partner sees a version of them, "I'm a substitute for another guy / I look pretty tall but my heels are high / The simple things you see are all complicated / I look bloody young, but I'm just back-dated, yeah", that is unrealistic and put on, as seen in the lyrics "Substitute your lies for fact / I see right through your plastic mac / I look all white, but my dad was black / My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack"... The concept of a guise applies well to Mike, as referenced in Angst In My Pants. A recurring theme of hiding oneself really makes me think Mike is going to completely abandon his interests for a different lifestyle. I believe Finn has also mentioned that Mike wants to be as "normal" as possible, so I can't wait to see [how far] they take that idea. It could also be him realizing how he's been acting, and admitting that this "romanticized" version isn't true to him.

Finally, "The Rebel Kind":

Like The Better Side, I couldn't find any lyrics, so I'm doing it by ear. Though, I'm happy to say that this song is about a desire to embrace differences and rebellion. "We'll be free to run with the rebel kind" and "It's not easy, but I don't mind / I just want to run with the rebel kind" establish that. The track appears to tie into Mike's insecurity struggles throughout the playlist. It could be the narrator's struggle to keep up with societal norms before finally giving in to their truth instead of trying to conform, read as "they call us rebels but don't get how hard it is to for us to keep up." On the other hand, it could be the narrator commenting on how society doesn't understand people like them, and, by embracing their true selves, it proves more about who they are than conforming ever would; read as, "you think we're the rebellious ones, but you don't understand that we're more self-secure and strong than you'll ever be." I can see both of these interpretations working for Mike and his connection to the Party. The progression of insecurity in Angst In My Pants and potential realization of this guise in Substitute is wrapped up by Mike's self-acceptance here. I really hope this is how it plays out in S5.

Conclusion

Mike's brewing insecurity, paired with his trauma of loss, seems like it may boil over in S5. I theorize that he’ll drift even more into his “shitty knock-off” self, even if just on the surface, and do whatever he can to maintain normalcy in his life. Whether this leads to more conflict with Will, we’ll have to wait and see.

Besides that, Mike might eventually accept his "differences." He also may be willing to cope with loss for what it is, even if it’s the loss of the normalcy he tries so hard to maintain in certain situations. I can see Mike having a heavy emphasis on self-identity in S5, and as I said earlier, I can’t wait to see where they take that.

Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed!

As is customary with all my posts, if anything here is incorrect or you believe there’s something I should add, feel free to let me know. I’d love to have more conversations about Mike and read all the predictions for S5 I can.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

If a version of Midnight Sun existed for each following instalment of the Twilight series (New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn), what do you think they’d be called/what would you call them and what (new) scenes would be in them?

Anon, you speak my greatest dream. I want this in my life. If no one else does, then I am the sole person who does. If there is not one person who wants this, it means that I have died.

I need this.

But for now, I can only imagine (and no doubt fail miserably to what it would be in actuality).

New Moon

The thing is that Meyer would also want to call this New Moon for the reason that she called it New Moon for Bella: this is a book about hopelessness. Edward leaves, Bella's soulmate, she literally cannot survive without him and this book is her discovering "oh, yeah, I literally cannot survive without him" (and making friends with Jacob but let's be real Meyer was never that into that).

It's a book where the moon, the light, is gone.

For Edward, we have the same narrative, he tries to leave Bella for her own good, fails, has a miserable time, and comes crawling back only to find that he's made everything worse.

But because Edward is more dramatic, and to thematically work with Midnight Sun (named thus as Bella is the unexpected sunlight in what should be the darkest of Edward's nights) we have Polar Night which is the phenomenon opposite of Midnight Sun where instead of the sun never setting at all we have the night never ending.

As for what would be in it. My friend, my beautiful friend, everything would be in it.

We'd get the scene where Edward bullies his family into leaving, many of them having reservations, and then steals all Bella's photographs and tries and fails to steal the stereo out of her car. We'd get scenes of Edward fantasizing about Bella marrying and holding hands with MiKe NEWtoN and it being entirely too much for him. We get all of the birthday party, period, which from Edward's point of view would no doubt be insane.

We have Edward so fucking depressed that he feels he's bringing the family down and chooses to leave on the vague pretext of catching Victoria. Then he doesn't catch Victoria and loses her in Mexico but is so depressed he just keeps going south until he hits Brazil.

Where he stays, and per what he says to Bella (which is undoubtedly not the entire truth) he was fucking miserable and did nothing for months. Did he have a Hallucination Bella who told him not to eat human food because it'd make him sick? Did he write a rock opera about Bella Swan only to realize it didn't live up to real life and burn it in a fit of despair and anger? What about the family calling to check in? We know that happened, Rosalie could reach Edward and he answered, so did they just call and quietly try to ask if Edward's coming back home or not? You know? Anytime? Edward?

And then of course his pleading for death with the Volturi, being told no, planning his elaborate massacre-suicide before settling on good old suicide without any murder and Bella being alive and that whole debacle from his point of view including "OH NO OTHER MAN MOVED IN" when he realizes Jacob's... kind of... a thing...

Everything would be new in part because we see so little of Edward and given the insanity in Midnight Sun that was never in Twilight I can't even guess to what Edward got up to for months in Rio.

It could be fucking anything.

Eclipse

Or "Edward did a bad thing and is now very nervous" the novel. As for what it's call, this is less clear as we have to go with the sun/moon themes here, and Eclipse is already taken. If we're allowed weather related events maybe "Eye of the Hurricane" as there's a storm out there and this book is about Edward barely holding his shit together. This is his nightmare scenario in every way.

Bella has a new love interest, a friend she believes is platonic who is very interested in her, and worse, Edward actually does admire and is hands down in Edward's opinion the better man for her to be with. Bella's changed when he was gone and is now an adrenaline junky, what else about her has changed? How much did he miss? She's involved in werewolves who all hate Edward, for good reason, and want her to leave him, for good reason. Edward has discovered that he actually can't leave Bella, Alice was right, even though he wants to be that strong desperately. Bella got the family to agree to turn her and they'll do it, Edward's barely gotten her to agree to be turned by him instead, but she's hemming and hawing about marrying and committing to him and she wants him to bang him (which will likely lead to her death)

Edward is straight up not having a good time, bro.

So, we'd get Edward's insane plans to keep Bella and Jacob apart, his meeting Bella in the road after her looking like he'd love nothing more than to pull The Terminator where he chases her car down. We get Edward's increasing nervousness that Bella "wants to be with him forever" but "doesn't want to marry him" (which for Edward, understandably as he doesn't have Bella's background, is something that just doesn't compute). And there's Jacob, kissing Bella, warming her up at night, thinking very dirty things when Edward's sitting right there internally screaming.

And of course, offscreen things with the family, likely venting about the Denali who are leaving them to die because they won't let them kill the children Native Americans, wondering if they're all going to die in this fight, even more of the tent scene with Jacob (which I'm sure, somehow, I'm sure, got very homoerotic in there). Probably sobbing to Alice "I fucked up" and then hating Rosalie BECAUSE THIS IS ALL HER FAULT HISS HISS.

And of course, what we know he sees from Bree and perhaps the discussion with the family that Bella never got to be privy to.

And I imagine a lot of fantasies of Bella pregnant with Jacob's beautiful babies.

Breaking Dawn

I'm going to bow out for this one too, Meyer would want to name it that. Maybe we get "Hailey's Comet" or something, in that Edward has related Bella to a comet streaking across the bleak sky of his life and this is him learning to accept to be happy and perhaps good things are allowed to happen to him.

But anyways.

I mean.

We get Breaking Dawn.

We get Edward gearing himself up for sex and asking the family how to bang a woman. We know he did this. Canonically he confesses to Bella, in the weirdest manner possible, that he asked his entire family how to do it (and it made it clear that Carlisle didn't really approve and was pretty :/ and "don't do it" about all of it). We get the family probably watching Alice like hawks because they're waiting for her to tell them if Bella lived or died through intercourse. We get Edward interrogating the maid in Portuguese and god knows what they even said to one another but it had to be wild.

We get Edward planning Bella's abortion, the betrayal by Rosalie yet again, and then more planning of her forced abortion with Jacob and his opinion on Jacob turning from "respected rival" into "my only friend".

Then we get Edward's complete flip on Renesmee which must have been... I don't even know. But he'd be thinking she's the spawn of Satan before that (in the most Edward manner possible) and then that she's Jesus after that (in the most Edward manner possible).

Then of course there's "my son, Jacob" and honestly probably fantasizing about an adult Renesmee pregnant with Jacob's beautiful babies. Let's be real here. and just...

Look.

I can't predict this.

What we saw of Breaking Dawn was already insane and this would only be more so because it's Edward. There's so much we don't see as Bella pays 0 attention to the other vampires and to the family at large and Edward would just...

I have no idea.

It would just be madness.

TL;DR

I need this.

[chirpsythismorning]

Mike's character regression can be explained in large part by one emotion in particular: guilt

Just want to preface this by saying that, this is not Mike slander. I love this dude. In fact, I think what makes Mike such an interesting character is that a lot of his behavior throughout the series can be explained in part by previous moments, and after really looking at all these moments together, what you end up with is a pretty fucked up story.

So while some might want to take this as Mike slander, these points I'm making are a part of Mike and things he has done and said and whether they were intentionally harmful or not, it's Mike. It's all shaped him and his role in the story. The fact that we're seeing a visible shift in his behavior at all, with plenty of moments from the show to back up what brought us here, makes it compelling enough to talk about.

So, without further ado, back to our roots:

Ah yes, the infamous canon proof disputing Mike's I think my life started that day we found you in the woods, claim during his monologue. Not only that, but in this original scene from 1x02, it turns out Mike actually intended to send her away the next day (all of which El could hear Mike saying from the open bathroom door).

Mike outright calling El a weapon, again telling the others they need her because they stand no chance at getting Will back otherwise.

I wont elaborate on this now, because there is way too much to unpack that'll honestly be more worthwhile discussing further on.

For now, this is a secret tool that will help us later.

These next couple scenes right here though, are pretty painful if I'm being completely honest. The way its shot, specifically El's very visible exhaustion, accompanied by the varying priorities of others around her, leaves me feeling pretty unsettled upon rewatches.

I obviously can't remember how I felt when I watched these scenes for the first time, but I imagine I viewed them as this huge romantic moment for Mike and El (I was tricked by heteronormativity, okay?). But, again, upon rewatching them since then, I've realized I get this sort of sad feeling by the end. You'll see what I mean.

El obviously just went through something extremely traumatic. She tried to go find Will and Barb in the void, only to find Barb dead and Will presumably alive, but then slipping through her fingers at the last second (no, literally).

We then got a moment where Joyce held El while the others sat by quietly because she clearly needed a moment of comfort given what she just endured.

Then in this scene shortly after, everyone is leaving to get ready for their final attempt at saving Will.

Now, notice how not only Lucas, but also Dustin make the effort to reach out to El to comfort her affectionately after that traumatic event, with those twos' actions specifically being showcased in sequence?

Lucas, who spent the better part of the season being critical of El, is now ending the season rubbing El's shoulder to warm her up, literally soothing her to make her feel better.

Then there's Dustin, who right after Lucas' gesture makes a gesture of his own, putting his hand on her knee reassuringly, to show her he's there and he's happy she's okay.

And lastly there's Mike, who is so kindly allowing El to rest her head on his shoulder. This placement of Mike and El here is definitely a testament to the fact that Mike has vouched for El this whole time in contrast to the others and so, understandably, she put her head on his shoulder for reassurance, because out of the three of them, he's the one whose been looking out for her the most. (Right?)

Now you might be thinking that this sequence's only purpose was to show Lucas and Dustin's development with El, and that it wasn't intentional that they focused on Lucas and Dustins' priorities in this moment in contrast to Mikes'. And I raise you, this next scene.

Here we have a focus on Mike looking on to where everyone left, while the others beside him are presumably just processing what went down and taking a rest (and boy oh boy do they (El) need one).

Mike on the other-hand decides to take this moment of rest to display the most cliche and universal forms of distracted unrest known to man: he checks his watch.

Mike then stands up abruptly, causing El to fall without his shoulder there for her to rest on anymore, all while her and Dustin are looking on after him, sort of like... Okay?

It's small. It might seem insignificant. But if you actually pay attention to what this scene is trying to make you feel, after really looking at it for what it is, it's kind of sad.

In a moment that chooses to highlight the other boys' acknowledgment of El after what just happened, and not only that, but at the tale end of their final battle of the season, Mike is... distracted?

Mike, who has been presumably looking out for El more than the others in the party this whole time, is conveniently out of commission? And right now when El is looking for his reassurance the most? Mike doesn't even have a moment to say, 'Hey I'll be right back, I just want to check something. Can one of you?--', asking Lucas or Dustin to sit next to her in his place. No. Dude just stands up without even acknowledging her.

If it was any other moment in the show, under less post-traumatic circumstances for El, then I wouldn't even think much of it. But it's at this point in the story when El is essentially at her most exhausted and quite literally seeking out support from others, specifically Mike, that makes his distractedness so eery.

Again, you might still be thinking that this isn't that deep. However, I think based on the events leading up to this, and what follows right here, could quite literally hold the answer to the guilt Mike is still keeping to himself to this day.

So... How are we feeling?

Are we feeling like Mike None of you are thinking about El's wellbeing right now! She could get brain damage from using her powers too much! She's not a weapon!* Wheeler is a little bit of a hypocrite? (I told you that tool would come in handy!)

It's actually quite terrifying how similar this scene is framed to the scene in Hopper's cabin in s3, where Mike pretty much says the exact opposite. In s1 Mike goes from being one of the first people to refer to El as a weapon within the context of them using her powers to find Will, with him being completely un-attuned to the fact that she is exhausted in this moment while the others are saying El's rest and safety is the most important, to then in s3 completely flipping script and saying El was using her powers for nothing, blaming the others for treating her like a weapon and not taking her wellbeing into consideration.

It would be one thing if Mike had a little arc where he acknowledged this script flip. Because that's what it is. It is them having Mike use a word in s1 to describe El, that being weapon, only to say the others are treating her like that with that same word being used. It is them having Mike not agknowledge El's well being after overusing her powers, only to say the others aren't taking her wellbeing into consideration for overusing her powers.

And it would be one thing if Mike had spoke to El or literally anyone about how he felt like he wronged El for planning on sending her away the next day after they found her so that they could go back to looking for Will, or how he said she was a weapon that they needed in order to find Will, essentially being no better than the people she just escaped from, who also used her for her powers. But we don't get that (actually we do.. but it's not acknowledged for what it is aka survivor's guilt. It's instead seen as romantic... another tool for later...)

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think any of Mike's behavior takes away from what Mike did do for El, because yes he was kind and accepting when the others weren't. But even despite all of that, at the end of the day, he was often at the forefront of expecting El to risk her life for them, even if he wasn't outright asking that of her.

Before you freak out, No. I don't think Mike, a literal child, was capable of fathoming that El was going into these situations risking her life. She's a superhero. El's alternative was literally going back to the lab, running, or staying with Mike. This was her safest option.

After a bunch of rewatches and putting together a lot of these moments as a whole, I've come to a point where I believe that Mike's behavior throughout s1 was him thinking that because of who El was, she's already in danger at all times. That is a constant reality for her. And so why not have her help them find Will, because she is able to, all while he can also help her. And El clearly wanted to help them, because she wanted to help good people and finally do something meaningful with her powers for a change. Unfortunately, she also had to endure PTSD flashbacks almost every single time Mike and the boys had her use her powers to help find Will.

Speaking of Will, he is currently missing and possibly dead. Will also, in contrast to El (for now...), does not have any sort of superpowers.

Mike's concern over the threat of Will's livelihood is much greater than Mike's acknowledgement to the true risks El is exposing herself to each time she uses her powers to help them. That is s1 canon.

Is there times when Mike is focused on El and her well being. Absolutely! But is there also times when Mike is not showing any display of concern to El's well being in the moment, in complete contrast to the other characters around him... Also yes.

And so the events happening the way they did, with Mike himself not fully comprehending the severity of what's been going on during these high stake situations going on around him, makes sense.

And that's what makes it all the more sad that when Mike finally does realize what he's truly been asking of El this whole time, which is to risk her life for them, it's too late.

This whole scene is obviously very emotional. All of the boys are crying, but the focus on Mike calling out for El painfully is heartbreaking.

But what's even more sad to me, is that El has been sort of used to mistreatment her whole life. She's used to having to find any comfort she could get from people in her life, all the while they were using her for her powers. I mean even despite Brenner being who he was and doing what he did, she still showed these signs of wanting to love him despite it. Which is very very fucked up. But knowing what she's gone through, makes sense.

Mike on the other-hand does greatly contrast Brenner because he was one of the first people to actually treat her with genuine kindness right from the start (before he even knew she had powers), making it a lot easier for her to care for him even despite that pesky trait of using her for her powers being almost synonymous with Brenner's very similar trait.

So when she looks back at Mike, and points him out specifically before sacrificing herself, it feels like a few things at once.

It feels like her acknowledging the fact that she appreciated him specifically for taking her in and supporting her more genuinely than anyone has in her entire life.

And yet it also feels like her, either intentionally or unintentionally, acknowledging the unfortunate side affect caused by days of Mike leading the efforts to find Will, with the expectation of her to do things to achieve that, which could have all lead to her demise technically. And so now when it all comes down to it and the stakes are at their highest yet, same as the risk, she's got to a point where she believes there is no other choice but to do just that, risk her life, especially if it means saving them.

While this is happening, Mike is backtracking in real time. He is trying to get El to stop and it's because he doesn't want her to die. Obviously.

But that's the fucked up part isn't it? When he finally realized what he's been asking of her this whole time, it's too late.

Which takes us to S2 Mike Wheeler, known by many for being a boy whose been calling his true love everyday for almost a year now because he's just so in love, but is actually in fact a boy suffering the most intense form of survivors guilt, one that involves a person who genuinely feels responsible for the persons death...

But that will probably take at least another 2,000 words so I'm thinking maybe I better split this into multiple parts.

I will tease that the next part involves one specific detail in particular that I never see anyone talk about, a detail that I think, in combination with what's discussed in this post, is so important to understanding Mike's breakdown for what it truly was at the end of season 2. I will also probably do more posts beyond that for s3-4, to delve into the impacts these moments from the first two seasons have basically put in place a perfect recipe for what is currently going down.

So feel free to stay tuned for those nonsense updates.

Continued

[noctivagant-corvid]

went insane thinking abt hideduo bc one year confession anniversary but like. listen ok.

i know, logically, that the reason c!hideduo ended the way it did was bc the server abruptly shut down. however. i think they have tragedy potential.

to reiterate what i said in the tags of my original post: q!fit is a character from the cruelest place you can imagine. a place that- in fanon (*cough cough* they're facists but they'll respect your pronouns *cough cough*)- is ripe with homophobia. he has been placed in an enviorment that is not only safe and warm but also homonormative. and when his body relaxes from the constant fight or flight he's lived in for the past twenty some years, he starts to think about things he's had buried for a longgg time. he meets a beautiful man who's kind to his son and he goes oh. and then he shoves that oh down again- or tries to- but this place is so nice and there's nothing really to be scared of, not here, and it keeps bubbling back up again and one night he's sitting in his bed thinking "oh god, i'm in love with him." and then, a few minutes later, whispered like a confessional- "i'm in love with a man." (it takes him a few more weeks to say 'gay'. he gets there, though.)

q!pac might not be stuggling with his queerness, but he's struggling with just about everything else. he's stranded on an island with the man who ate his leg and he doesn't know when he's going to snap again- because it's a when, not an if- and so he lives in this state of fear. he knows he won't win that fight. he knows he's the weakest, the most pathetic, the easiest to manipulate. his brother is missing. his son is missing practically every other week. and he has his friends, sure, but he knows they'll leave him. if given the chance, they'd all leave him. but then there's fit. fit doesn't leave. even in purgatory, fit doesn't leave. he calls pac strong, and it doesn't sound like a lie, not coming out of fit's mouth. he fights to bring pac back from the pills, promises to keep him safe, and pac finds himself relaxing around him-despite his better judgement. he's cute, too- gets all stuttery and red when pac flirts with him.

fit stumbles through "gosto de voce" like a nervous teenage girl and pac laughs and they're both stammering, smiling, bright red, and it isn't perfect all of a sudden- fit still has to tell him about the quest, mike's still missing, and they both still have their issues- but it's good. it's so, so good.

for a moment, fit and pac get to live in a blissful world. a world with a sweet and quiet and beautiful family that fits in all the right ways and leaves them both with constant dopey grins. a family that has both of their jaws unclenching and laughter coming easier than ever and everything seems that much brighter, that much warmer. there is a very brief moment in time that fit and pac get everything they've ever wanted.

it's like a collison course. two lines that intersect once. there is one moment where everything is perfect and then nothing but sobbing by the moonlight when your children hopefully can't hear because ramon's already having a hard enough time he doesn't need to hear pac sobbing his eyes out. nothing but cold detachment, a deep cavern filled with faceless corpses- or have you just been staring at them so long their faces have blurred together? who knows. who knows. here's what you do know: in every universe, there is a brief moment where everything is good. everything goes downhill from there. it's quicker everytime-only a day in arkanis. only a few hours hour in the realm. there is a brief moment. you have to treasure it.

[castlebyersafterdark]

yes mikes an ass guy, but he's also very much a thigh guy

(A day at the lake. And later that night.)

Mike can't believe his luck sometimes, as he watches Will from across the grass. That's his best friend, the love of his life. Sweet. With the capacity to snap a cutting remark, to tease and twist words with an ease, an art. He always says Mike's the one good with words, but so often Will leaves him speechless, breathless. Now is one of those moments. He can't get over it. Will's standing by the picnic table, leaned over the old wood as he flips through his sketch book, glancing through his work from the morning so far. The pages are full of interesting trees along the lake and some sketches of the old abandoned dock, but mostly Mike. All of his sketchbooks are littered with Mike. He's wearing his green shorts. Tight, lined with yellow piping. Barely covering the curve of his ass. Showing off the thickness of his tanned thighs. They're a little shorter than he'd normally wear, but this section of the lake is isolated. They're alone. That's the point. And Will likes to tease. He knows Mike loves to watch him.

He's well aware that he's being observed as Mike struggles to set up their tent for their impromptu camping trip. It's nice to sneak away, find time for themselves. A little hidden slice of the world, away from crowded houses and an escape from basements and bedrooms and the cramped backseat of Mike's car. None without merit, but none provide freedom. It'll be different when they leave for college at the end of the summer. For now, the lake. Will leans further against the slightly broken wood of the picnic table and imagines the eyes that are burning into the back of his legs. He shifts his hips. He never used to feel this confident. Everything about being with Mike leaves little room for anything else lately. It's addicting. Will hums and chuckles to himself, not having heard the hammer against tent peg for a while now. How long until Mike snaps?

Not long.

Mike's on him moments later, arms around his waist, lifting Will off the ground breifly in a somewhat possessive hug before dropping him back down. Will adores when he does that, makes him feel wanted and loved. Mike laughs into his neck and presses kisses where the sound touches first. Firm, but soft. Humming into his slightly sweaty skin from the summer heat. It's the reason why he's wearing so very little to begin with. Mike lost his shirt first, and his bare chest presses against Will's own slick back as wandering hands trail from hips up his sides, fingers gentle before they fall dramatically to his ass, giving him a rough squeeze as he bites at the back of his neck. Will involuntarily squeaks from the sudden motion and spins around, pinching Mike in the side in retaliation. Mike squirms but then brackets Will against the table once more, hips pinned to hips.

"You are ridiculous," Will chides with a fondness so deep from within, and leans up to steal a kiss. Can't really steal what's freely given, but he steals another, too.

"Hmm, title belongs to you. These shorts, Will. I swear you do this on purpose."

"Of course, I do. What am I doing, though?"

Mike hopes he doesn't fuck this up, and take the risk. He scoops Will up, arms under his legs, and deposits him on the table. The old table groans under his added weight. Will immediately winds his arms around Mike's neck, legs around his body, and draws him back in, mouth hot against his own.

"Distracting me," Mike says into his mouth, kissing him open and biting, bottom lip between his teeth, pulling away to press several small kisses to his upper lip and the mole that resides right above it. "Tent's never gonna get built at this rate."

"We have time."

Will wraps his legs around Mike's hips tighter and traps him close. Not needed. In no world would Mike try to get away. He places his hands on those thighs and feels the smooth skin under his palms, drags his fingers through downy hair and teases along that yellow edge of the flimsy fabric.

"Maybe if you'd help me," he squeezes the supple flesh, like his large hands are mapping and molding it to his satisfaction, "it would get done quicker."

"I wouldn't really know what I'm doing," Will adds with a flirtatious lilt, and scoots closer, barely contained on the edge of the table.

Mike's weight keeps him sitting, pressed together from chest to groin. His feet are crossed at the ankle, behind Mike's own legs. His thighs clench around Mike's body and he gets another deep, lingering kiss for his efforts. Sitting like that, Will still has to look up a few inches to see Mike eye to eye. They pull apart with a wet noise, and Will beams, chin on Mike's chest as he squints up. The sun is behind Mike's head. It's hard to look at him directly. Will nuzzles into his chest, kisses a slow line down the center of his pecs until he can't lower his head further. His mouth drags lightly up the path in reverse. Mike's breath catches. Will's thighs tense again as Mike slips his hands briefly down the back of his shorts, kneading once and bring him closer still.

"You know what you're doing. You absolutely know what you're doing."

"Fine. Have it your way." Will pushes forwards suddenly and lands on the grass, bare feet hitting the ground. "Let's build it."

He trots over to the half dilapidated tent and shoots a look over his shoulder to Mike, left standing with whiplash.

---

An hour or so later, full of bickering and little arguments laced with laughter, and more distracted bouts of handsy grab-ass and traded kisses - the tent was secure along the tree line. One less thing to worry about. Mike's next worry is finding the self control to not immediately pounce on his tempting, unfairly hot boyfriend currently tanning by the water's edge. He's laying on his towel, fresh from a quick dip in the lake. He'd neglected to change into swimwear and the green shorts are dark with water and cling to every curve, leaving nothing to the imagination, basically painted onto his skin. Will's head is pillowed on his arms and his satisfied grin rivals the laziest cat, stretched along a cherished sun spot. Mike shakes his head. Ridiculous. Genuinely ridiculous. How is this his life?

He's recruited to help apply sunscreen as Will tans and the game continues. Doesn't know what he's doing, psssh. He knows. He's cruel. He's so fucking sweet. Mike gets to run his hands freely over Will's body and he wants nothing more to pull the shorts off entirely, press him into the grass and dirt and embrace the primal side that flares up from deep within from time to time. Take what he wants, given willingly. Will feigns innocence but he shifts against the ground and spreads his legs just enough to make Mike's voice catch in his throat at the sight. When Mike's finished with his back, he turns to Will's legs. Traces the toned length of them with his hands again, rubbing in the white lotion until it blends into his skin, leaving them shiny and smooth and so nice to map, again and again. He doesn't need that much sunscreen, the sun's on the descent anyway. Doesn't stop Mike from applying more lotion to his hands and passing across the smooth backs of Will's thighs again, tracing the soft inner portions that the sun wouldn't even hit, carding up the flesh that's slightly clammy from the cool lake water, ass perky and softer still under the edges of those shorts. Will adjusts yet again and dips his back slightly, an exaggerated curve as he lifts back against Mike's wandering hands. Will moans into his arms and Mike flops down next to him.

"Mmmm, Mike. Why'd you stop? Felt really nice." His gentle complaint is borderline a whine.

"Because I don't think I could stop myself if I kept going." Mike stretches out, and mimics his position. "Rain check for later."

"What happens later?" Will teased. He loved riling Mike up. It was so easy. He faked a yawn, not his best performance but it did the trick. "Feeling kinda sleepy. Might turn in early tonight."

"Are you kidding!? That's the whole reason we came out here!"

Will let out a laugh at Mike's gentle outrage. Like he genuinely could resist him, either.

"The whole reason? Maybe I just wanted to work on my tan. Mission accomplished."

"Oh, that's right. Of course. And having me put the tent up was just for your sick amusement to watch me struggle."

"I needed something to entertain me."

"I love you but I'll throw you back in the lake. No hesitation."

Will cracks an eye open and smiles, expression a challenge, a dare. It's not taken. Mike moves close, sides pressed together as he inches across the edge of the towel that Will's hogging. Their feet kick together as they lay on their stomachs next to the lake, soaking up the remaining sun rays in late afternoon. Will pouts, not unhappy, but willing Mike to read his mind instead of genuinely asking for a kiss. He's too content to make the effort to move and strain his neck. Mike complies immediately and cranes over, gives him a wet peck before falling back onto his own arms.

They tease each other and lay close until the cicadas start singing, having talked through the early stages of sunset. Times like that, they forget how easy it is to lose track of time and get lost in one other, conversation flowing as easy as the summer breeze. There was no rush. Not for the moment.

---

Will's back arches as Mike touches him again, hand dipped under the hem of his shorts, slightly uncoordinated as he groped at his clothed cock while he mouths hungrily and presses kisses to the inside of his thighs. Theyre spread out inside the tent, sprawled over sleeping bags and illuminated by lantern light. Will gasps as Mike's teeth graze his skin again, biting and kissing and biting again, sucking bruises into the soft, pale parts of Will's inner thighs. He loves marking him up, seeing the reminders bloomed under his skin the next time he buries his face between Will's thighs. Hickies rarely have enough time to fade before Mike revisits them. Will's the artist out of the two of them but Mike takes pride in the colors he paints on such beautiful skin.

"Mike, Mike. Please. Here," Will begs and guides Mike's hand from out of the bottom of his shorts to where he's shoved them slightly down and pulled himself out, hot and hard and leaking with needy attention.

He loves the teasing, the harsh kisses and teeth embedded in his skin, but he's been pent up since the picnic table. Worse off than Mike's desperation. Mike needs no further instruction and seals his lips around Will's exposed length and sucks him down, bobbing and moaning as Will whines high and breathy underneath him. He slides his hands under Will's shorts again, both palms splayed wide against his cheeks, tugging his body closer as he sucks him. Will's thighs tighten as he feels the pleasure building, pressure threatening sooner than he'd like. It had been a long, teasing day. And Mike was relentless. Will comes down his throat, thighs so tight around Mike's head at the peak that the sounds he makes are muffled as plush muscles hold tight to his ears. Mike loves how Will sounds lost in pleasure and misses them. But, the night's still young.

"Holy shit, Mike. Get up here."

Mike crawls over his body, hovering above as they exchange a kiss, sloppy presses of tongue and lips as they share the taste of Will's release. Will inclines on his elbows and pulls away, smirking as he reaches a hand down to palm at the pronounced bulge in Mike's underwear.

"Loved that, but I meant bring me this," he teases, stroking the shape of him through the fabric, fingers lingering on the outline of the head where he's so wet and sensitive. Mike groans, mouth falling open at the feeling, eyes fluttering shut as Will tries to work down the boxer briefs one handed.

"Will. God, hmm, fuck. Ok." He takes a breath, takes the plunge, and asks, "Can I try something else?"

"What do you want to do?"

Blushing in the low light, he asks Will to turn over. He complies, allows himself to be moved and positioned how Mike wants him. Face pillowed on elbows, chest flat, ass raised. It's still a little weird, still a little vulnerable when Mike asks him to turn over like this, but he trusts him. He always makes him feel good, feel wanted. They've been trying a few things, explored with tongue and fingers a few times. He's still so shy, almost embarrassed by his pleasure. But Mike gets him through it. Mike always takes care of him.

Mike's got his hands on him again, always grabbing him like he doesn't quite know what to do with all that skin, with the permission to feel up all that pliable flesh. Will's heart races as he let's himself be played with, still finding it thrilling that Mike desires his body in such a way that he doesn't even know where to start with him. He jolts as a hand comes down hard on him, palm loud against his right cheek. The sting is lessened by the fabric, but with little recovery as Mike follows with his mouth, delovering a moan and a bite. Will can't help but giggle into his arms as Mike traces down the seam of the shorts, dragging his finger over his approximation of his hole, lingering a moment. He's correct and Will whimpers. Mike doesnt know what he wants, but he wants. They haven't done that yet but he wants to. They haven't really talked about it yet. Not in detail.

"You look so good like this, baby. So good. Don't even know," Mike begins to ramble as he gets up on his knees and presses his aching cock to the clothed swell of Will's ass, sliding fabric to fabric.

The friction is nice. Skin would be better. Being inside would be otherworldly, he knows it. Not yet. Not tonight. His mind swirls with ideas, though. He works them down and pulls off his briefs, completely bare while Will remains in those tight green shorts. Mike pushes at the fabric, watches as it clings to skin as he moves it higher and exposes the bottom curves of Will's ass, so incredibly soft. He presses forward, cock hard and hot against the inside of Will's bare thighs. Will doesn’t know if he wants to close his thighs or spread them. He doesn't know what Mike's thinking.

"Wanna fuck you. So bad, baby." Will's voice catches in his throat at the deep reverb of the statement, unsure how to respond. There's the clarification. He doesn't know what to say. It's the first time he's heard it so blatantly from Mike. "Can I? You can keep these on."

He snaps the elastic band of the shorts against Will's waist, where he's pushed them to ride up in want of exposing more ass and thigh. Will groans in confused arousal as Mike's cock slips against him again, barely more than a passing caress against his own trapped dick, rapidly filling up again under the intense attention.

"Mike? What? I don't... I'm not sure I'm ready to, you know. Go all the way right now?"

He feels embarrassed as he says it, red faced buried in his own arms. Mike leans over his back, presses reassuring kisses to his heated face and neck, the parts he can reach, and wraps his arms around him in a soothing, grounding embrace.

"I know. Me either. I kinda want to try something. I don't even know if it'll work." He kisses Will on parted lips once he turns his head to the side. The angle's awkward but he can't move away until he really kissed him. "Do you trust me?"

"I do."

"Cool. Here." He hold his hand out, under Will's mouth. "Spit."

Will does it without really questioning it, something deep within him churning with strange arousal at complying immediately to the odd request. Mike does the same, lets his saliva join before wrapping his wet hand around his cock, spreading his palm along his length. It's all he's got to ease the way, but he doesn't think he'll need much.

He presses forward, cock sliding between the channel of Will's thighs. As he moves, he pushes them closer together, trapping his cock between the supple skin, thrusting slowly to test, in and out. He moans low in his throat. It's so fucking good. Oh. Will understands with a thrill, and instinctively closes his thighs tighter, muscles tense as Mike fucks him, clock slipping hot between his skin slick with sweat and spit. Not what he was expecting. But he likes this. A lot. Mike's hands seem enormous as they grip his hips and alternate between holding him firm and steady, or slamming him back harder to meet careful thrusts.

"You could have taken my shorts off. I'm ok with it," Will says as Mike holds his hips even tighter. The band is digging in his skin, sure to leave a deep impression from the sheer strength of the grip Mike has on him. He hopes it bruises.

"That's okay. Like them on you."

"What is it with you and these shorts?"

"You've seen yourself. No way you're this clueless. Haunted me for years, ohhh."

The word years rattles around in his brain as Mike falters in rhythm, barely registering as he's pushed further into the sleeping bags, shoved flat as Mike pulls out of his thighs and finishes hot against his back with a strained, stuttering moan. Another first. Will liked that, too.

Mike flops down beside him, a repeat of their positions earlier by the lake. Out of breath and feeling a little awkward, Mike watches Will's expression, unsure what to say after his little adventure.

"Was that ok? I don't know what came over me. Kinda weird, I guess."

"Well," Will started with a light sigh, mirth quirking the corner of his lips. He brushes the sweaty strings of hair from Mike's forehead. "At least I know who came over me, though."

Mike stared at him, mouth agape, as Will turned his face into his arm and laughed quietly with embarrassed glee.

"Holy shit, Will. Wow. Wow." Will continued to laugh, but turned in his arms, exposing one eye to take in Mike's expression, full of fond disbelief. "Uncalled for, hate you so much."

"No you don't," Will sing-songed.

Mike leaned in and pressed a loud, smacking kiss to his equally sweaty forehead. "Yup. Guilty. Huuuuge liar. I fucking love you. You're incredible. Are you... sure that was ok? I mean -"

"Mike. It was great. Kinda loved it, to be honest. And I love you, too. We should lose the shorts next time, though."

"Fine. I guess."

"Can you maybe take them off me now? You didn't, um, didn't get it all on me."

"Yeah. I know," Mike admitted with the audacity to appear bashful at the admittance.

"Gross."

"Yeah well, you liked it."

"True." He sat up, grimacing at the feeling of cooled, drying come on his back, and was struck with an idea. "Hey. The lake's right there. If you want to..."

"Yes. Hell yes. Bucket list item!"

"Skinny dipping is a bucket list item?"

"Totally. Let's go."

He was out of tent and half way to the lake before Will could even ditch the shorts quickly enough for him to finally see him out of them.

✅️ ✅️ ✅️

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

My byler headcanons

Both are HUGE lotr fans (hehe). Will more, but mike would fight you on it.

Both are pretty good at maths and are science nerds

Will has cowritten a dnd campaign with mike at least once. They argued over plot holes and minor details. Maybe to make it funnier they didn't tell dustin and lucas that will actually knew all the plot (cause he helped create it), just revealed towards the end that will the wise had been secretly a spy to the big bad all along (since the beginning, will had been leaving little clues. "Guys we shouldn't do that", *knows things it doesn't really make sense for him to know*, *some of his decisions ended up harming them, oops*). The gasps and feelings of betrayal were genuine.

More of the party than byler, but they all definitely went into the woods behind will's house with plastic swords and pretended to fight. Cmon they 100% did. Bonus if while wearing costumes. Maybe they even recorded themselves if they got ahold of a camera (if Jonathan had one at that point). I keep imagining the party as babies recording themselves. Will is the one carrying the camera (he's the most careful), you have mike saying "today is tuesday, third of June of 1980, and we are going on an adventure" or smth to the camera (which is pretty wobbly), etc. Mike is the one that kept the recordings in his basement. He doesn't watch them, but he can't bring himself to throw them out.

About lotr, again. Will likes Aragorn but he isn't like, obsessed, meanwhile Mike doesn't know if he wants to BE Aragorn or be WITH him.

Mike loves star wars. Will doesn't particularly care about it (he doesn't dislike it, it's more, he enjoys it, he finds it entertaining, but he also thinks it's forgettable).

Will is a film snob, Mike is a book snob.

"Smalltown boy when Mike gets vecna'd" "should I stay or should I go when Mike gets vecna'd" wrong. Sweet Child O' Mine as mike's song when he gets vecnad. It's so byler from mike's pov.

"Gawain is the best knight out of the round table" "I have never in my life heard such an incorrect opinion".

Eachother's moms absolutely love them.

They hung out at castle byers, a lot. Also mike’s basement.

Mike never apologized for the "it's not my fault you don't like girls", mostly cause 1) he didn't mean it like that, and didn't think will took it that way and 2) when his parents get mad (at each other or at his sisters and him) they never apologize afterwards, just ignore it. That's what mike's used to. Will kinda wishes he did apologise, but he also doesn't want to bring it up again. At least before they started dating. That doesn’t take away from the fact that he hurt him, but he know fully understands he didn’t mean it like that.

Mike is also a star trek fan, will has watched some episodes out of pure love, cause he finds it SO boring.

Mike has read SO many epic poems and medieval fantasy novels it's insane.

So many sleepovers as kids, specially when Lonnie was still around. Will slept at the wheeler's once a week at LEAST.

Notice how will barely rides his bike after s1? Mike rides, and will sits behind.

Will is so intrigued about mike's relationship with nancy, and so is mike about will's with jonathan. "You guys don't even act like brothers but like friends!!" "What do you mean you don't know what books Nancy reads? She doesn't give you recommendations and talks with you about them?"

Jonathan babysat mike, 100%. When his family had to go and he was younger, they called Jonathan to babysit and paid him like 10 dollars (they called Jonathan cause they knew he was a responsible kid, and he was also Joyce's son so way better than a stranger). Will has also 100% babysat holly. Same reasons as Jonathan, responsible and familiar,

Nancy is like, intimidated by Will, a little. Listen, he's her boyfriend's beloved brother so she really wants him to like her + she just can't figure him out. Between will's quiet nature and all that happened regarding the upside down and him that they still have no idea about (how did will survive so long? What happened to him there (he never talks about it)? How did he communicate with the lights? Why him?) he's just an enigma to her. Will on the other hand is pretty comfortable around her, he has known her most of his life and thinks she's pretty cool. When Nancy saw will knew how to use a gun she thought she found an opportunity to bond with him and began talking to him a little. Will was wobbly out of lack of practice, "keep your aim straighter and firmer" “...okay". Nancy's nervousness around Will was taken from this fic Imao.

Jonathan and Mike have a pretty stable relationship. No, Jonathan doesn't hate mike, he just looks at him and sees a little kid trying to act older that his age and hopes he stops soon. Mike trusts Jonathan so much, like, they could be in a life or death situation but as long as Jonathan is there he feels safer, Jonathan will handle it, there's nothing to worry about. Mike also hates Steve. When he found out Jonathan beat him up once (and won!) his respect for him multiplied four times.

Will learnt morse code after s1, because he was afraid he would get kidnapped again. If that was the case, his mom wouldn't need to write the alphabet on the wall, he would be able to properly communicate through the lights with morse code. Mike doesn't know this.

Will was NOT thrilled about living with el after s3 at first Imao. He grew to like her but the first weeks were rough. He didn't hate her, not at all, he just didn't really know her much and was jealous of her (and her relationship with Mike).

"What if they are talking about me right now?" Mike, about Will and El, after they moved to cali. They are not talking about him.

Max hangs out with Will in his room, Mike really doesn't get it.

Will likes cuddles, and Mike is super clingy.

Robin enjoys annoying Mike so much she finds it so funny. Mike reminds her a lot of Nancy, and he has got such a judgy stare, she loves to provoke him. She thinks he's a nice kid, a little nervous, with eyes she can sometimes recognize (since she wore them too). She asks Nancy about him, Nancy finds herself unable to answer specific questions due to lack of knowledge, and frowns and presses her lips together. Robin notices similar gestures between both siblings, and the same nail biting habit. He seems a bit sad, and Robin doesn't know what to do with that.

With Will she vibes, she feels a bit bad for him after learning about all that happened (Will can tell, he hates it) and he also reminds her a bit of herself, she was quieter in high school, more drawn to herself. Sure, she wasn't fighting monsters neither did she have more than 1 friend but still, something felt familiar (eventually she learnt another similitude they had, she began talking about girls and such around Will without fear. Will didn't know how to react at first, robin did it on purpose, to show him "see, l'm talking normally, you can aswell, I'm not saying anything wrong". Will likes her. She was energetic and funny and a bit strange, it felt weird to find someone else, and he could see something closed in her eves every once in a while, a secret, a locked door. Will decided they were more alike that he thought). They bonded over cinema and shared movie and music recs. She puts her arm around his shoulders a lot.

Horrible runners, both of them. They can run in life or death situations, but don't ask them to run in a race cause they'Il die after 3 steps.

All the party falls asleep on each other since forever, including mike and will.

No pet names, unless you include "dude"

They were each other's first kiss, and I really do believe that.

Will definitely makes fun of Mike for not smiling in photos.

Mike never calls Will William, but Will does call him Michael sometimes (he's the only out out of the party allowed to because Mike hates it, however Will told him years ago that he like the way Michael sounded like, so Mike relented)

As kids, their tables were next to the other's in class, if they weren't allowed to be in pairs, it slowly became a game of "how closer we can slowly get our tables to be before the teacher notices".

(Baby byler) I think that as far as mike's friends go, Will might be Ted's favorite. Sure, he makes subtle homophobic comments (you see Michael, see what happens) but like, Will is a quiet, clean kid who can take his cue to leave (unlike Dustin) and who, instead of making mike more agitated (he was definitely a kid with lots of energy), manages to somehow calm him down. Hell, he barely even notices he's home anymore, and that's if he is, sometimes they're out in the woods or god knows where. Finally some quiet.

[cotardspringtrap]

I'm gonna say it and sure i'll eat my own words if it happens, but I'm gonna say it now. I don't want movie Vanessa to become Vanny.

My reasoning? She already redeemed herself in the first one, and needs a long journy to complete that redemption. She already got hurt, she doesn't need to be more hurt and more traumatized.

Also for new fans or people who easily get confused ( which is understandable, being confused is not a bad thing ) it would be horrible. Truthfully i do not believe game Vanessa is also an Afton. Do i think she is a Metaphor for one? Yeah. And to be frank if Scott or Steel Wool made her an Afton i would ignore it entirely.

But anyways. I'm not saying it isn't a cool or good concept, i just don't want it because i think it 1. Kinda sucks because she already did so much for her father, and deserves to heal and help fix things. 2. It would be confusing. I genuinely believe Game Vanessa and Movie Vanessa are two different characters entirely and just so happen to be blonde and named Vanessa. Just like theres multiple Jeremy's and Mikes.

I'm not saying the two Vanessas can't mirror each other either.

I wouldn't have minded if maybe she hadn't already went up against William, but she has and i feel like for her to turn out to be mind controlled would be. Eh.. kinda predictable?

I'm not saying i'll hate it because even if i don't like something i warm up to it. The Mimic for example.

However that brings me to my true fear:

[ID: its the no fear one fear meme and in the middle it says "The FNAF movies are just the Mimics imagination on what happened in the games". End of ID]

[horror130]

hellooooooo, first of all i wanted to say that i really like your work(also i am new here so i hope i am.doing this correctly). i wanted to request a yandere losers club where they kidnap the reader and like she escapes. maybe she vould even get hurt before theyfind her but only if you want to

thank xou so much, youre super duper awesomeeeee

RUN,RABBIT,RUN,RABBIT

(Thank you dear, I really appreciate it💘)

Pairing:Romantic

Warning: Abusive relationship, kidnapping, captivity.

🎈 In my humble opinion, I don't think it would be an impossible mission to escape from the losers club, difficult? Yes, but not much, I would say you would have a 60% chance of escaping... at least in the beginning.

🎈 Of course in the beginning, like the classic Yanderes that they are, they left you tied up, locked in the club house. Over time, you would gradually gain their trust, until finally they let you free yourself from the bonds. Even if they trust you enough not to be tied up, you will still have to stay locked in the club house with someone accompanying you.

🎈 Most of the time all the losers club would be together with you, but obviously they all have their own lives to take care of so even if they wanted to they can't be with you all the time, but they always make sure that someone, at least ONE person , stay with you to take care of you and also of course to keep you company.

🎈 so let's go to a hypothetical story, on a day when almost the entire losers club is busy and unfortunately for them, they won't be able to stay with you, they talk among themselves and decide to leave Richie taking care of you since then he was the only one I I was free that day.

🎈 Now let's imagine that you found something heavy like a big stick, a lamp or something, and when Richie got distracted you hit him in the head with this heavy thing.

🎈 Congratulations, you have a passed out Richie, and luckily they left the club house with the door open, now you can escape wonderful!, right?, now you can escape from there and go in search of help, right?.

🎈 Well...... no, unfortunately for you, most of the Losers Club had come back early from their tasks, and caught you running away, you obviously ran, and ran, and ran, as if you were a little animal running from hunters,it's no use.

🎈 In the end Bill manages to catch you and knock you to the ground, and the rest of the Losers Club hold you to the ground (like in Yandere Simulator when the students see Ayano with a body and they all hold her), but in short you were captured and taken back to Club house.

🎈 You had to listen to several sermons from Bill, Eddie, and Beverly.

🎈 "What the hell were you thinking, idiot?!" ,"We trust you!" ,"I know this place isn't the best place to stay, but we're doing everything we can to please you!".

🎈 Mike and Ben are very hurt by you, Richie is holding an ice pack on his head and also very hurt by you.

🎈 you hurt them all and broke the trust they had in you, now you have lost all your privileges, you will have to be tied up all the time, and you will have to be accompanied by more than one person.

🎈 you don't really receive a punishment, since none of them have the courage to hurt you or let you go hungry and thirsty, so the most punishment you would receive were temporary looks of hurt and disappointment. And remember I said it wasn't so It was difficult to escape from the Losers Club at the beginning?, well forget that, now the difficulty level has increased and to escape from them again you will have to have a flawless plan.

[paleprincessturtle]

Hiii I saw your post and I couldn't agree more, the world definitely needs more Harvey Specter in it. I've only recently started to watch suits but I'm absolutely in love! Do you think you could write one where the reader is an associate who is nervous about the mock trials because she's shy/soft spoken and doesn't want to have to go against Mike or thinks that Lewis has something out for her maybe? I'd love to see a softer side of Harvey.

Hi you! Thank you for the request. Hope it can capture your imagination :) Feel free to send more requests. Enjoy!

The Sun is Going Down

Pairing: Harvey Specter x Female Reader

Harvey walked past the bullpen when Louis stood in the middle of gathered associates. Harvey stopped dead in his tracks when he realized what actually happened there. It was Louis, who stood so close, too close, to his girl. Harvey seethed. "What's the matter, little mouse? You don't think you can't take down Jeremy here in a mock trial? Maybe you should just pack your things now and sell hotdogs in Central Park." She looked down, shook her head vigorously. "I can do it, Louis," she said, just above a whisper. "Can anyone hear what she said?" Louis spun around, granting laughs from other associates. Mike stood at the far end of the group, pity visible on his face.

"Louis," Harvey's voice boomed even in the midst of laughter.

Upon hearing Harvey's voice, Louis stopped laughing and tried his best to compose himself. No matter how hard Harvey tried to hide his anger, everyone there saw anger very much visible in his eyes. "What's wrong?" Louis asked, worry etched in his voice. "Just go," Harvey gestured with his head and Louis scurried away. Harvey looked at each one of the associates there. He caught the eyes of his girl. The sadness, oh Harvey was sure he could actually feel a physical pain in his chest. "What you looking at? Go back to work," Harvey commanded and everyone rushed to go back to their cubicle. Harvey stole another glance at his girl, who happened to also looking at him. Harvey smiled subtly at her as he walked away from the bullpen.

It was late that day when Mike strolled inside Harvey's office. The firm is now quiet, the dimmed light illuminated the corridor. Mike leaned by his door, "Go see her, she was quite shaken." Harvey just looked up at him, no words needed to be spoken. They both knew who was Mike referring to. "She's always been shy, so soft. To think again, I never thought a lawyer was a good career for her." Mike was shocked at Harvey's honest answer. Harvey always had her back, being all positive. "You should talk to her, guide her. She just needs to come out of her shell. You've seen her works, it was meticulous." Harvey sighed and glanced at his watch. "She's at the library," Mike said before leaving. Harvey rubbed his eyes before finally left his office.

Harvey saw her back. Deep in some books, reports of cases. Harvey walked quietly and put his hands on her shoulders and started rubbing. "Let's go home," Harvey whispered, lips touching her right ear. She shivered and whipped her head around. "Don't worry, everyone left hours ago." She sighed a sigh of relief and slouched in her chair. "Come on," Harvey offered his hand and she took it.

Harvey carefully observed the younger woman on his sofa, a glass of red wine in hand, as she stared blankly at the fireplace. Harvey sighed, prepping himself. He poured himself another glass of wine for him and walked to the sofa. "Wanna talk about it?" Harvey offered. "I'm not supposed to be a lawyer," she said slowly, expression blank. "Baby.." Harvey cooed, he abandoned his glass and took his girl's hand. She pulled her hand away forcefully. "You don't understand, Harvey!" She screamed as she stood up. "You're all successful, everyone opposes you fear the name Harvey Specter. You are born to be a lawyer. But look at me! Louis embarrassed me daily, everyone laughed at me, Mike looked at me with pure pity, and I just stood there because what else am I supposed to do? I know that Louis has something for me in the mock trial. He hates me, Harvey! He'll ruin me." she sobbed and fell to her knees. Harvey knew that Louis roasted her the most because he saw something in her. He needed her to fight, fall, and stand back up. Louis was always like that with associates. But this wasn't about Louis. "My darling sunshine," Harvey sat down in front of her. Her breath rapidly increased, her face red, stained with tears. "Hey, look at me," Harvey ordered gently, oh so gently. She shook her head, looked down at her clenched hands. "Sunshine," Harvey touched her chin with his finger, guiding her to look at him. She finally looked up. Harvey's heart ached at the sight of her forlorn face. "Calm down, okay? Close your eyes," she just looked at him, confused, "close your eyes," Harvey nudged her hands with him. She finally obeyed. "Calm down, imagine. The sun is going down, breath baby. The sun is going down," Harvey guided her slowly. Harvey watched his girl, "the sun is going down, the sun is going down," she whispered slowly. Harvey saw her finally calming down. "Good girl, that's my good girl." Harvey praised her and not long after she opened her eyes. "Thank you," she mouthed. "Anything for you. I'll make Louis an associate again if I have to," Harvey joked and earned a giggle from his girl. With the sound of that, the shadow in Harvey's chest lifted. Harvey lifted her from the floor, he laid them down, spooning her. He pampered the top of her head with kisses as she nuzzled back, closer to him.

They laid down quietly there, enveloped in each other's warmth for some time before Harvey finally spoke. "You know, I wasn't first in my class when I was in law school. Scottie was." Harvey said. "Your ex-girlfriend?" she mocked and Harvey squeezed her tighter in his arms. "You know why I wasn't first in my class?" she shook her head. "I wasn't sure how to hold myself there. Just like you, I was shy," both of them got quiet. Harvey continued, "I was from nowhere, from a mail room yes. And everyone was just so..." Once again Harvey paused. "So poise, so sure about what they were doing." Harvey sighed, no one really knew this story. "What I want to tell you is that I can overcome it. And I believe that you could too," Harvey said softly. She turned her body around. Eyes gazing at each other. "Why you told me that?" She asked not breaking eye contact. "It was always something I'm ashamed of, but if it could help you be the best lawyer that I know you are, then I'll do everything in my might. You're not alone, I'll always help you." He whispered the last few words against his lips. She smiled as Harvey gently kissed her lips.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was just 3 hours before the mock trial when she saw Jeremy and Louis huddled in the corner of the library. "Gentlemen," she greeted them. Louis was about to give her a snarky comment when she raised her finger. "If this is how you two will ruin me in mock trial, please try again." She smirked as she dropped the file to the floor in front of them before walking away. She caught Harvey just outside the library, smirking at him. She walked in his direction, close enough for her to hear him say, "That's my baby girl."

MASTERLIST

[henrysglock]

A Deal With God: Taking Another Look At Max's Song Through A New Lens

Something you may have seen me talking about over the past month-ish is this really obvious (yet easily overlooked) plot armor the Duffers have given Vecna.

Vecna has a hostage. He can't be killed, or rather, can't be allowed to die, until Max has been retrieved. If he loses, so does everyone who loves Max. This means neither El nor the Party can strike any real blows—which also means El and the Party can't allow the military to strike any successful blows. As I've discussed, these are prime circumstances for a possible "setting aside our differences to take on a bigger enemy" moment, even solely for Max's sake.

And I was sitting around last night, doing a whole lot of nothing, when it hit me. This has already been foreshadowed—heavily so, and specifically in regards to saving Max.

It's quite literally in the lyrics of her song:

Do you wanna hear about the deal that I'm making? ... And if I only could I'd make a deal with God And I'd get Him to swap our places ... Oh, there is thunder in our hearts Is there so much hate for the ones we love? Oh, tell me, we both matter, don't we?

In "Running Up That Hill" Kate Bush describes a man and a woman struggling to understand each other—a lack of understanding that leads to mutual harm/loss. If the two could see each other's side of the fight, then the fighting would cease. The woman says she would make a deal with God to swap places with the man so that both sides would finally understand each other and work as a united force.

I've discussed, previously, the heavy-handedness of Vecna's God coding, as well as the barely-hidden soft spot he still seems to have for El, the breadcrumbs of "asking for understanding/trying to tell the story" that are interspersed between the Vecna victims, and hints that someone from the "other side" may already be trying to help under the table. None of this is to mention the fact that even in 4.09, El was still trying to bargain with Vecna. The only thing causing the talks to fall through was her lack of power in the situation. The military is a large source of bargaining power.

A mutually beneficial deal with a God-coded character that puts an end to fighting between a girl and a guy who love each other—even if their relationship has become clouded by hurt and betrayal—is quite literally the theme of Max's "saved from Vecna" song. "A deal with God" is quite literally what was saving her from the fate of the other victims.

It would be an olive branch, another minor plot line that's tied directly to both Max and El (not to mention Max and Billy's tenuous peace between seasons 2 and 3). All Mike had to do was offer El some candy to smooth things over in favor of working as a team against the Mindflayer. All Max had to do was speak Billy's language; safety was the bargaining chip.

Imagine what a bargaining chip like Max could do in terms of solving the situation in Hawkins? What kind of language is this speaking that both parties might understand?

Guaranteed the military won't give two shits about a mostly-dead girl in the face of the literal apocalypse. They're already starting the season off wanting El dead anyway. Even if they change targets, the military is not a trustworthy ally—not like the alliance between someone who has everything to lose in avoiding a war on two fronts (It didn't work for Napoleon at Waterloo, it won't work for Vecna in Hawkins. Not when one side has El and the other has free access to napalm and bombs.) and someone who has everything to lose in terms of loved ones held hostage.

It would also bring the show full-circle to the original ST1 message that the government is the big bad, and that all the weirdos—yes, even the "bad" boys that everyone thinks are creepy—need to band together to protect their own from the government. Any government.

It would also be a really good chance to dig into Will's habit of holding resentment towards people. If his modicum of resentment towards El about Mike was enough to make him lash out verbally, then what is his anger and resentment towards the UD going to push him to do? Especially if there are talks of making deals...who knows?

Has Will healed enough to put his past with the UD aside for Max's sake? Or would he be steadfast in his believe that they need to kill Vecna/One as soon as possible regardless of Max's situation? (Staring at his behavior re: Mrs. Driscoll in ST3)

Which is to say: could Will...reach across the aisle, if need be?

And would Vecna require some kind of insurance? What would he ask for as a placeholder, to ensure that El won't just take Max and turn tail to join up with the military? Because El wouldn't keep up her end without first ensuring that she's really getting Max back, but it would be an illogical and OOC gamble for Vecna to just send them on their way without, as I said, some kind of insurance.

Maybe—and this is pure, pure speculation—someone who isn't in the Party's best graces? Someone who might not have been able to move past "we have to kill him", who may possibly almost mess up the deal because he hasn't worked past blaming Vecna/One for things done by other people (i.e. the Mindflayer). I mean, everyone wants Will to be special. Everyone wants him back in the middle of the supernatural arc. The Duffers have said Will's emotional growth will be important. He very much needs to face and grow through his trauma, and he very much needs to broaden his view of the world beyond himself.

Will and El swapped places in ST1, putting El into the UD and Will into the hospital, fresh out of a coma. All I'm saying is that a swap would be an interesting way to play it out, seeing Will be swapped to save El's friend, who is so coincidentally in a coma in the hospital. Get God to swap our places, and all that jazz.

Alas. I'm rambling. Just needed to get it down on "paper". Lots to say, so little time to say it in!

[bugsbenefit]

doubling down, the way some people on here talk about Mike makes me genuinely question why they even ship byler. if Mike is inferior to Will on every level, how is their relationship something you're rooting for?

and with the mindset that Mike can't even have his own feelings, trauma, or thoughts explored in s5 because it would somehow "take away" from Will's trauma... what do you want him to do in s5? just stand next to Will and look pretty? hold his hand a little bit and then leave so Will can have more character growth? might as well dead wife him in the beginning and bring him back in the finale so Will has a guy to kiss 💀

surely, there has to be some self awareness here that both people in a ship should be fleshed out and interesting characters in order for audiences to end up liking it? and that by wanting Mike to stop being a real character, Will would also look worse by ending in the most boring lifeless relationship imaginable? no?