#and you know mike has feelings for will while still dating el

[brionysea]

karen deciding against cheating on her husband who she's never loved romantically because she saw him being cute with holly and she would feel bad being that dishonest is so mike-coded

[bylertruth3r]

Mike and Will literally share shoes (and Will might be sleeping in Mike's room) and might not be dating yet when they start dating they're gonna share a whole closet and flirt with each other about how good they look in each other's clothes and just being obnoxious (I will rewatch those scenes so many times) what if they're sharing/swapping shoes because it's the 80's and they're in a really homophobic and conservative town and if they want to give little hints that they're dating and want to openly show it (to at least their friends) they have to be subtle about it? and maybe when they're at home they share clothes without feeling like they have to be careful with how they act around each other and can be openly affectionate (like them in s2)

Thank you for pointing it out @cler1csfink

you can read my twitter thread about Mike being gay and in love with Will here

blue sky account here

tik tok account here

Finn's gay Mike playlist here (STurn)

Mike had an unrequited gay puppy crush on Eddie

"Mike was always super protective of Will and Will always leaned on him, and you could never really tell if it was something romantic or just a really special friendship"

Finn said that they costume made the jacket so them putting a triangle on Mike's jacket was intentional (triangles are a queer symbol), the costume designer said that they put triangles on Robin's shirt to represent her queerness (she's a lesbian), Mike is gay

Mike is wearing Will's shoes in s5 and they're sharing clothes which is a thing couples do

Confirmation that they're the same shoes and they're both size 10 so yeah they're sharing shoes

and Mike brought these shoes from Hawkins which means the puma suede belong to Will

and in a leaked footage El and Mike broke up/ were already broken up because Mike says "we'll still be friends" and "i wanted to tell you first" which makes me think he might have came out to her (and in that video he was literally wearing his boyfriend's shoes)

video from @nowmemoriees

in s1 during that scene on the train tracks they're friends and in the leaked video they were wearing similar clothes to what they were wearing in that s1 scene where they were friends and could trust each other. i think Mike's gonna come out to her (as gay) there which would explain why El was crying, and why Mike said "i wanted to talk to you first", in s1 Mike said "friends tell the truth" to El and in s5 it's Mike's turn to be honest about himself and maybe he'll tell her he's in love with Will or maybe he'll tell her that he's dating Will

it's the same song that played when Robin came out to Steve, obviously Steve had a crush on Robin but she's a lesbian and can only love him platonically while even though Mike tried to love El romantically he couldn't do it because he's gay and he didn't even bother to close his eyes and kiss her back

plus in a deleted script it says he was mad at himself

and the song playing when Mike and El were kissing in s3 "can't fight this feeling" is about someone being in love with their friend and not knowing what to do about it while already being in a relationship with someone else so it's about Mike being in love with Will and not knowing what to do so he represses it and pushes him away to get over him but then realizing it's not working (which is something he realized at the end of s3) and he's gay and he want on a double date with Will and Lumax after that

and Mike in s4 was trying to be normal and might be into new things (men, because dnd is not new)

and

and in s4 "in the closet at rink o mania" started playing Mike took what Will said "and us?" as romantic and felt the need to clarify that they're friends and Will said they used to be best friends and the camera panned back to Mike plus synth music is his thing since he has "Smalltown Boy" (gay song) as his first song on his spotify playlist, it's a song about a gay man leaving his homophobic town to start a new life and Finn said he wants Mike to leave Hawkins

and he has a "one way" sign pointing to his closet because he's gay and closeted and in his room he has a poster of a shirtless man while the others (Steve, B*lly, and Lucas' "friends") all have women posters because they like women, Mike has all the things he loves the most in his room, a wizard (Will) and buff men <33, and a buff male dragon for some reasons and he has Will's drawings in his room

Mike being obsessed with Superman? and him having a poster of a shirtless man while Steve, B*lly and the tigers all had posters of women in bikinis (because they like girls) Will has a skinny pink panther poster in his room which symbolizes his type in men (Mike) Mike has a shirtless man poster and a buff male dragon poster which symbolizes his type in men (Will) (he's not really buff but he's stronger than Mike) they're each other's type and love each other plus you can see Mike looking at Will's arms during some scenes

also in s3 he was happy about Dustin having a gf and asked him about her but then in s4 when he "finds out" Will has a crush on a "girl" he doesn't ask him about "her" and acts distant (he was pretending he didn't care but he was jealous) and he asked Will about the painting because he was hoping it was for him (it was)

and he realized Will loves him back in the van scene, Mike wants to feel needed and Will needs him, Mike felt lost without Will, Will felt lost without Mike, Will loves him, Mike loves him back, they both think the other doesn't love them, they will prove each other wrong in s5 when Mike finds out Will lied about the painting and loves him back, they love each other the way they want to be loved

and he was so happy to see Will drew a heart on his shield

which is literally an engagement ring, no hands because they'll be more than friends in s5

they've been filming a lot at that farm.. and Ross and his wife said that they enjoyed eyewitness

and Lukas and Mike both have internalized homophobia (Lukas was dating a girl to be normal and then he breaks up with his gf and starts dating Philip,his male best friend)

and if this leak is actually correct there would be another parallel. the episode 2 of s5 is called "the vanishing of ***** Wheeler and if Holly goes missing then Mike and Will are gonna go looking for her in the upside down and maybe they'll kiss there (maybe that's where Mike's gonna get injured)

because in eyewitness Lukas gets injured and his boyfriend stays with him and he kisses his forehead, Lukas' dad sees it (he's ok with it)

and in s2 Mike stayed with Will at the hospital so now it's Will's turn

they've been filming a lot at that farm.. and Ross and his wife said that they enjoyed eyewitness and they filmed at like 3 or 4 different farms (one of them has swings) and they're literally filming at one right now

more s5 leaks and Mike and El staying friends after the break up and Mike being worried for Will <33 and Mike and Robin bonding over their partners being in danger

Will is wearing one of Mike's shirts in s5, Mike wore something similar in s3 it's a gap shirt and Eddie said Mike wears gap shirts and Will has never worn something like this in the previous seasons and he didn't bring that many clothes back to Hawkins so he's gonna have to wear Mike's if he's staying at Mike's (the Wheelers added 2 chairs to their breakfast table and Will's tiger plushie is in Mike's room, it makes me think that they're already dating in the scene because Will is wearing blue yellow and green which are Byler's colors

Noah liking another byler edit? fork found in the kitchen. pic from @iamforbyler from here . there are hints that Mike and Will's first kiss will be in s5 episode 7 (during Jopper's first kiss there were boxes that said MW705, Mike and Will s5 episode 7) they definitely told him to promote Byler again to introduce Byler as boyfriends to the GA and Millie is not promoting mlvn anymore and when they asked her what her favorite pop culture couple was she said the couple from twlight instead of mlvn

Will's wearing Mike's black jeans, the blue shirt looks like something s2 Mike would wear but the undershirt looks like Will's in s4. he's just stealing his boyfriend's clothes atp because Will has never worn black jeans before and he's wearing blue (Mike's color) and Mike's the only one in the party who has worn black jeans and Will might be staying at Mike's because his tiger plushie was in Mike's room and the Wheelers added 2 chairs to their breakfast table plus Will has to stay at Mike's since he doesn't have a house in Hawkins and the cabin is too small for all the Byers to live in.

maybe he's wearing Mike's black jeans from s5 instead of the s4 ones but either way they're still Mike's jeans since Will has never worn black jeans before s5 and Mike has, Will is stealing his boyfriend's clothes, plus Mike is wearing Will's shoes in s5 <33

Byler is so obviously gonna happen even without all those proofs because they gave mlvn the stancy storyline of Nancy not being able to say "I love you" to Steve because she's in love with Jonathan and they didn't give that storyline to Jopper, Lumax and Jancy or even Duzie which are healthy couples who don't lie about who they are to each other and never felt unloved by their partners, and Mike wants to feel needed and Will needs him and El doesn't and Millie said El realized she's her own superhero and that she's gonna figure out who she is without Mike and Millie is not promoting mlvn anymore

Mike and Will spent s3 acting like they were the exes because in s2 Mike was overly affectionate with Will but he stopped doing that when he got a gf because he saw what he did as romantic so in his mind being affectionate with Will even just hugging him or just holding his hand like he did in s2 would be cheating because he's in love with Will and he's gay

Mike becomes less and less interested in El the more feminine she becomes, it becomes more difficult for him to pretend he's straight i mean he "fell in love" with her when she looked like a boy and people kept calling her a boy..

Mike probably thought she was a boy at first, everyone kept calling El the boy with the buzzcut at first in s1 and Mike said "that's not Will" instead of "that's a girl" and interesting thing is the more feminine El becomes the less interested in her Mike becomes, he probably thought El was a boy at first and she was wearing a yellow shirt (Will's color) maybe she reminded him of Will?

I mean Mike being gay aside who would you rather for him to be with?

A, with someone who doesn't understand him and he feels like he has to change himself to be with and who makes him feel insicure?

B, with someone who he feels like he can fully be himself with and who understands him and who puts him on the first place and makes him feel loved? B right? with Will

Jancy had their "we're just friends" moment and they kissed in 2 and Jopper had their "it's just 2 friends getting together for a nice dinner" moment and they kissed in s4 , Lumax had their "she's not my girlfriend" moment and they kissed in s2 and Byler had their "we're friends, we're friends" moment (started by Mike who doesn't know Will is gay) and they'll kiss in s5, there were no moments like these between Dustin and Lucas because they're not in love with each other

Byler's first cameo in a book and they're kissing and holding hands<33 it's about Alina wanting to ask a guy out and she catches the guy (Ben) kissing his boyfriend (Janos), there's carved "W+M" on the tree and a "byler" sign in the second pic, they probably asked permission to Netflix and people who worked on st to add them which makes Byler already canon? the author of the book reversed the arrow on Mike's pocket to point at Will.. and it's close to his heart.. that's adorable

pic from here @sususu34

originally El was supposed to die in s1 (I'm glad they didn't kill her) and they were already planning to make Will in love with Mike since s1? plus if they wanted to make Will move on they would've given him a bf in the previous seasons like with Dustin and Suzie because Max didn't like Dustin back. So basically Mike and Will are gonna get together in s5

JEALOUS MIKE WHEELER WELCOME BACK, Will getting his own love triangle as he should, or maybe it's just Mike since it says "a love interest" not "a new love interest".. I kinda want to see Mike being in pain for a bit tho since I had to witness Will being in pain for 4 seasons, I kinda want a guy to flirt with Will and Will tries to get to know the character to move on from Mike and Mike gets mad and jealous about it, although they did say there were no new characters in it.. and the only new boy is Derek who's Holly's age so maybe the love interest is just Mike, and Mike is gonna be Will's boyfriend, they literally just confirmed Byler because they said Will is getting a boyfriend and they said they won't add any major characters in s5 so that means Mike is gonna be Will's boyfriend

they literally just confirmed Byler is endgame because they said Will is getting a boyfriend and the Duffers said they won't add any major characters in s5 so Mike's gonna be Will's boyfriend since the only new characters are a woman a boy who's 10 and a family with 2 little kids and the Duffers said that Will's emotional arc (his relationship with Mike) is gonna tie up the whole season, if they wanted to give Will another boyfriend they would've done it in the previous seasons (like how they handled Dustin's unrequited love for Max in s2 and gave him a gf in s3) instead of making Will in love with Mike for 4 seasons

Mike is gonna be Will's love interest and boyfriend and they know it that's why they only allowed their subscribers to see this tweet to avoid a lawsuit, leak here, this leaker is really reliable and from Reddit

There's a leak about how Mike and Will are gonna clean each other's wounds in s5 episode 2 like Jancy did in s1, maybe Mike is gonna get hurt while protecting Will from something and Will is probably gonna be there scolding him while cleaning Mike's wounds and Mike is just staring at Will's face and not listening to a single word and blushing

this leaker has a source that was an extra for 2 weeks, take everything as a grain of salt, nothing is confirmed, Mike's gonna kiss Will first (and it's gonna be angsty) after he finds out Will lied about the painting and loves him back, the kiss is gonna happen halfway through the season or later

So according to a leak Mike has finally accepted that he's gay and he's not trying to be normal (straight) anymore, and he's discovering things about himself, he's gonna kiss Will first

So Finn's new st playlist (for s5) is really interesting.. Mike is gay, "it's a passing phase" "give it a hundred years, it won't go away' (from "angst in my pants")"I don't want to be the one whose coming out first" (it's from "don't ask me to explain) Mike wants Will to come out first and to confess first, and "should you need a love that's true, it's me" (from "what you're doing), Will needs Mike and Mike knows it, Mike and Will both have "just what I needed" as the last song in their playlists because they need each other, Mike also has a song about dreaming and thinking about a person they know they're not supposed to, it's his POV of Byler

This is the playlist (STurn), Finn makes playlists for characters he plays for inspiration

Mike tried to lie to himself and pretend that he could love El but he can't (because he's gay and in love with Will), there's a song called "don't ask me anything" in his playlist and the lyrics are "it's so easy to lie to myself and pretend i could love you but i can't" the last lyrics are about a failed relationship with a girl

in s5 episode 4 there will be a flashback with 8 yo Mike and Will and 13 yo Jonathan, the fact that they're spending so much time on Byler (and even giving us Miwi flashbacks) and that we already got confirmation that Will's gonna have a boyfriend (it's Mike) should tell y'all everything (they're gonna get together), they spent s2 and s4 together and they're gonna be a team (jopper parallel) in s5 and spend most of s5 together, they're gonna film the scene in early July, Mike's the only one with lines so the scene is gonna be shot from his POV of Byler

Mike and Will are gonna spend most of s5 together because they're gonna be a team (jopper parallel) and they're gonna have scenes with Rovickie where they're gonna be a group, Mike's obviously gay because otherwise they wouldn't have put him with other queer people, plus El's gonna have a separate arc from Mike (because they're gonna break up and she's gonna be more independent)

we're gonna get a scene of Byler riding a bike with Holly, Holly's gonna have to thirdwheel Mike and Will, good luck to her, Will's gonna spend most of S5 with Mike and they're gonna be a team (jopper parallel) and if Will's boyfriend was gonna be another boy they would've made Will spend most of S5 with that guy so basically Mike's gonna be Will's boyfriend

Pics here

Will's staying at Mike's which would explain the Wheelers adding 2 chairs and it would explain Mike and Will sharing clothes/items and it would explain Will hanging out with Holly, plus the Byers don't have their old house anymore

Now that we know that Will's staying at Mike's house we're gonna get so much domestic content like them sharing clothes/shoes, them sharing Mike's bed, them taking care of Holly together, them kissing, them going to school together .. They're so married

the mlvn make out scene people are talking about is just a kiss at the beginning of s5 which is gonna be their last kiss (a break up kiss?) which is gonna parallel stancy's last kiss in episode 1 s2 before they broke up and Nancy got with Jonathan ,I think they're doing that to compare Byler's first kiss (which is gonna be passionate and desperate) to mlvn's last kiss, also more confirmation that the painting is gonna be really important in both Mike and Will's storylines, a byler got these things confirmed by 2 sources but they said to not worry because this is not bad for Byler, it's actually good for us, production is also trying to keep Byler hidden (they're gonna get together),

Pics here

They're trying to keep Byler hidden because they're gonna date and the painting is gonna be really important to their storylines because that's how they're gonna get together

happy 2 years anniversary to the most obvious foreshadowing ever (making willelmike walk in their love triangle formation and making El walk away from them and picking up the same dead flowers Mike gave her at the airport because their relationship is dead and making Mike stay with Will and putting Byler with other couples and putting them in the center because the're gonna focus on that relationship in s5 and making them breath in sync while the other couples were holding hands, and they made the music pick up while they showed us the couples, Mike and Will are gonna get together in s5)

video of the scene here

so from what we know so far: a guy is gonna hit on Will and Will won't reciprocate, Jonathan hates that guy for hitting on Will and Mike and Will's relationship is gonna be extremely important in s5 and they're gonna be a team, it's kinda obvious what's gonna happen (Mike and Will are gonna get together), what if Will starts dating Chance and starts hanging out with him more to get over Mike and Mike gets mad and jealous about it and they fight about it and then we have another Byler rain fight but this time Mike's the jealous one? btw Jonathan HATES Chance for hitting on Will, he's a Byler shipper fr, pics of the leak here

Mike said he's the only one that CARES about Will because he's in love with him and he said he cares about El because he's trying (and failing) to love her the way he loves Will but when El called him out on him not loving her anymore he got defensive because he's not in love with her ,he's in love with Will and he's gay

Mike only said those things because he thinks El commissioned the painting and he felt like he owed it to El and you can tell that because he only started saying those things after Will said "you're the heart" and they called the soundtrack of the scene "you're the heart" because Mike now thinks the things Will said in the van were from El, in this scene Mike was trying to recreate the shed scene but the difference is no one pushed Mike into saying those things to Will and he didn't repeat any word he heard from others when he spoke to Will, in s5 he's gonna realize Will loves him back and that he lied about the painting and he's gonna kiss him, Mike likes to plagiarize things, pics here

THE OG PARTY IS BACK and so is the Byler height difference <33, Mike and Will being the IT couple in high school <33, Will is sitting in front of Mike during lunch <33 they're gonna be such a cute couple i just know it, they're gonna be the couple who plays footsies under the table, Holly has a gay thing in her room, maybe to support Mike being gay?

only the couples said to each other or about each other that they were "friends" while the actual platonic friends (Dustin and Lucas) never said it because they never felt the need to, and Mike said it about Will while not even knowing that Will is gay and in love with him.. he said it because he was thinking of Will romantically so he said "we're friends, we're friends" to convince himself not Will

the Duffers called Mike and El their E.T and Elliot (which are platonic friends) and the dead flowers El picked up at the end of s4 were the same flowers Mike gave her at the airport, dead flowers represent a dead relationship, hopefully after the break up they'll be able to communicate more and to actually get to know each other and rhat they'll be actual friends, Mike does love El but he loves her platonically even though he's been tryng to force himself into loving her romantically but he can't because he's gay and in love with Will, parallels here

Byler, Jancy and Lumax all held hands in the same episode in s2

Byler's parallels with Jancy: Nancy couldn't love Steve because she's in love with Jonathan, Mike can't love El because he's gay and in love with Will, Nancy talked to Jonathan about Steve on a car after the break up, Mike talked to Will about El on a car after the fight, Jonathan lied and said Steve asked him to bring Nancy home, Will lied about El commissioning the painting, Nancy yelled Jonathan's name in the upside down and he went to save her, Will yelled Mike's name in the upside down and Mike snapped Will out of his episodes

Byler's parallels with Lumax: Mike stayed with Will in the lab, Lucas stayed with Max in the hospital, Will yelled Mike's name during his episode and Mike snapped him out of his episode, Max yelled Lucas' name and Lucas was there for her, they played a song used in a s2 Lumax scene (on the bus) during Mike and Will's heart to heart and used the interruption trope (a romantic trope) in both scenes

Fun fact: they used "heroes" in s3 again but they cut the "and we kissed as though nothing could fall" lyrics that they used in s1 when Mike was hugging his mom and thinking about Will, those lyrics are reserved to Byler and I think they're gonna use this song again during Byler's first kiss, Acid (a leaker) said that Mike's arc in s5 is about self-discovery (which could be Mike understanding who he belongs with, Will) and that he's not gonna try to be normal (straight, Finn said that Mike was trying to be normal in s3 and s4) in s5, plus I think Mike and Will are gonna have another rain fight before the kiss since Shawn Levy hinted at another Byler rain fight, plus s5 is gonna be Will centric and Mike and Will's relationship is gonna be really important in s5

In the first picture Mike is looking at Will (the boy he's in love with) and in the second picture Trevor is looking at Lucky (the girl he has a crush on), Netflix posted this on Instagram

Mike and Will are gonna spend s5 together as a team (Jopper parallel) and their relationship is gonna be really important in s5, also Will is definitely staying at Mike's since he's hanging out with Mike and Holly so much

Mike is filming a lot of scenes with Robin (canon lesbian character) because he's gay, Will is gonna clean his boyfriend's wounds <33, is Robin gonna be Mike and Will's gay mentor and help them get together? i would love that, Mike and Will are sharing two pair of jeans and sharing stuff is a thing for couples

He called El a weapon in s1 and he wanted to send her back to the lab and only changed his mind when he realized she knew where Will was and that she could help him find him, he absolutely DID NOT fall in love with her her at first sight, if he actually loved her he would've chosen a moment where he actually showed that he was in love with her, plus he's gay and in love with Will, He said he fell for El at first sight because he saw Argyle say something similar about Eden and he tried to copy him, he got caught for plagiarizing something at school so it wouldn't be the first time for him doing that, plus he copied what Eddie said about Dustin and said it to El, plus the Duffers said that they don't believe in love at first sight and the first thing Mike said/thought when he first saw El was "that's not Will", he was trying to recreate the shed scene except that in s2 they won and no one lied to him and his words to Will were genuine and sincere while in s4 Will lied to him and made him think El commissioned the painting (which is why he said those things, he didn't know what to say before Will said "you're the heart") and they lost

The actress who plays Suzie ships Byler, Noah and Finn also ship Byler and Brett also ships Byler and Millie ships Byler and the actor who plays younger Henry ships Byler

why did they make Mike say he loved El in s3 and then made him say he forgot he said it and then in s4 he couldn't say it anymore? it makes no sense because he knows El heard him and he just could've just said it again to her face in s3 instead of acting dumb, also in s4 he put the blame on other people instead of on himself and instead of trying to comfort El and he was all defensive and stuff like Nancy when she broke up with Steve, Mike meant it platonically and he's gay

CALEB SAID THEY MADE PLAYLISTS FOR THEIR CHARACTERS, SO STURN (Finn made this playlist) IS ABOUT MIKE AND HE'S GAY (it has lyrics like "it's so easy to lie to myself and pretend that I could love you but I can't" which is about mlvn and "besides I don't want to be the one whose coming out first") which is about Mike wanting Will to come out as gay first because he's scared and it has a song about a milkshake and about how a relationship wasn't built to last (which is also about mlvn since they had milkshakes in s4), and he could also be referring to Mike's bassment beats, which has smalltown boy on it and that song is a gay song about a gay man leaving his homophobic town to find a new life and Finn said he wants Mike to leave Hawkins, or maybe it's the Wheeel playlist, Mike (Wheel)er, Finn made it for Mike, you use the wheel to drive and he put a song called "gay thoughts" in it because Mike is gay

Noah liked a byler edit yesterday (he already knows how the show ends since he's read the last episode script and he knows the endgames, so Mike and Will are gonna date)

Lukas from eyewitness is gay and has internalized homophobia and dated a girl to try and be normal, Mike is gay and has internalized homophobia and he's doing the same thing with El and Lukas has some parallels with Mike

these colors represent El, Will and Mike (i love how Mike is next to his boyfriend instead of in the middle) also i love that Mike wears make up (i have no idea what that thing does), Will is Mike's favorite <33

Will's love interest and boyfriend, they're gonna spend s5 together I can't wait, Mike and Will are still filming together and they're filming the final episodes, they're gonna be a team

Mike thinks he's unlovable but Will loves him like breathing <33, and he makes Mike feel loved instead of insicure and he understands him like no one else could and loves him the way Mike wants to be loved

Mike is wearing Will's clothes again, sharing clothes is a thing for couples

"Mike was always super protective of Will and Will always leaned on him, and you could never really tell if it was something romantic or just a really special friendship, and as it goes on you kinda realize that Will does.. am i allowed to say this?" we already know that Will is in love with Mike, why couldn't he say it? Why is it a spoiler? Because Mike loves him back and he confirmed that Will is still in love with Mike and he's not moving on, reminder that Noah has read the script of the last episode and he knows all the endgames (including Byler)

Mike's monologue made El angry and she knows he was lying to her, does she also know that Mike is gay? She knows Mike doesn't love her in a romantic way even if he tried to in s4

well now that we know that Will is still in love with Mike and that he's not moving on from him.. this leaker basically confirmed that Mike is gonna be Will's boyfriend (they made Will spell "lover" in the words game in the s5 bts pic)

So basically Mike is gonna go on a journey of self-discovery in s5 (accepting that he's gay and in love with Will)

Noah and Finn cried during the final table read , the Duffers said that they put a lot of time in the show to have a proper pay off and the fact that Finn said that the van scene will pay off in the end??

Noah saying: "Mike was always super protective of Will and Will always leaned on him, and you could never really tell if it was something romantic or just a really special friendship" Cara Buono saying: "Mike goes on his journey in s5" (self discovery, accepting that he's gay and in love with Wll), Millie dodging the monologue question, her becoming a byler after reading the s5 scripts, Noah and Finn both crying at the final table read, Finn saying that the van scene will pay off in the end (the Duffers told him that), the Duffers saying that they put a lot of time in the show to have a proper pay off, Mike and Will sharing clothes and Will's shoes in s5, Finn making that STurn gay playlist about Mike and Caleb confirming that they made s5 playlists for their characters

"Mike was always super protective of Will and Will always leaned on him, and you could never really tell if it was something romantic or just a really special friendship"

"bye Will, see you Will🥰"

THIS MIKE WAS ALREADY IN LOVE WITH WILL :(

THIS Mike realized he was in love with Will, this part of the letter matches with Mike's thoughts so well, he wants things to go back to how they were in s2 when things weren't awkward and he didn't know he was in love with Will

THEY'RE IN LOVE

"only love makes you that crazy sweetheart"

"crazy together"

THIS Mike was already in love with Will and he thought he lost him forever without being able to confess to him :(

"Mike was always super protective of Will and Will always leaned on him, and you could never really tell if it was something romantic or just a really special friendship" this scene was always supposed to have romantic undertones because they're in love with each other

them playing "every smile you fake" while Will was faking a smile while dancing with a girl (he's canonically in love with Mike) them playing "and we kissed as though nothing could fall" while Mike hugging his mom while thinking about Will (because he's in love with Will), them using these lyrics was intentional

Karen Wheeler wanted to read lines for Joyce's play with Patty so she could kiss her, she's bisexual, she's queer like Mike

Byler looking at each other's lips <33 also Mike noticed something was wrong with Will before Will touched his neck because he was already looking at Will instead of watching the movie <33 i love the Byler and Lumax double date sm and Mike being a protective and worried boyfriend over Will

happy 7 years of this scene which was basically a love confession <33 in "st the first shadow" Henry was possessed by the Mindflayer (like Will) and Patty used the "power of love" (like Mike) to help Henry, and Will used the hand Mike held to communicate to the others to close the gate so basically gay love saved Hawkins <33

Mike has all the things he loves the most in his room, a wizard (Will) and buff men <33, and a buff male dragon for some reasons and he has Will's drawings in his room

the Duffers put "the Birdcage" on the s4 DNA board which is about a GAY MAN pretending to be straight in the same season where Finn said that Mike was trying to be as NORMAL as possible and where he was acting awkward around Will and in the season where he kept staring at Will's lips and where they played a song called "in the closet at rink o mania" when the camera panned to Mike and he started talking again", the closet is thin air atp, he's so gay

in s5 Mike is gonna go on a journey of self-discovery (accepting that he's gay and in love with Will),and he's not gonna try to be normal anymore Finn said that Mike was trying to be normal in s3 and s4 (he was trying to be straight), "he might be into some new things" (men), dnd is not new for him so the Hellfire Club was not new for him, the word "normal" has only been associated to the queer characters of st

the fact that Mike was trying to make things less gay but he made it gayer by acting weird around his "best friend" who he has "no feelings" for... like all Will wanted was a hug from his best friend of a decade.. homotron 7000 can't even hug his "best friend" anymore who may i remind you has NO IDEA WIll is gay and literally thought Will had a crush on a girl and made the painting for her and Mike got jealous and petty about it... oh and in s2 and s3 he had no problems with hugging Will or being physical with him..

if it was because they drifted away they would've made Will act awkward around Mike too but they didn't, It was confirmed by Finn twice that Mike has no idea Will is gay and he thought Will had a crush on a girl so why was he acting like that? Cuz he was jealous of the girl and gay panicking about Will's glow up

Mike uses his Will voice in Dustin's book and he's afraid of losing Will (and El), Dustin mentions all the things in his healthy relationship with Suzie (like having things in common and being honest with each other) and Mike can't relate to that (they spent s3 and s4 lying to each other) and he doesn't know what to talk to El about, this book was made by a professional writer who's a Byler shipper

in s2 in the shed scene they showed Byler while the lyrics said "if you say that you are mine" "i'll be here till the end of time" , they're the only fully romantic lyrics in the song

THIS was Mike's pov not Will's which is why Will is blurred out but after this Mike turns to Will and he looks happy but then Mike looks back at El and he looks sad and i think there are 2 reasons for that

1 he was scared of how El would react to the truth (he's gay and in love with Will)

2 he was trying to make Will jealous (cuz he knew Will was in love with him during that moment) but then he noticed that it didn't work and he got sad about it, at the airport he was also trying to make Will jealous by kissing El's cheek after he learned that Angela would be at rink o mania (and he thought Will had a crush on Angela), the parallels with Rovickie were intentional cuz we're gonna have 2 queer couples instead of one

they called the van scene the most heartfelt scene in s4? heartfelt means: from the heart, sincere, genuine, which means Mike lied during the monologue cuz they could've called that scene the most heartfelt scene of s4 but they didn't

Holly is gonna go missing but at least Mike and Will are gonna look for her together in the upside down <33 (and maybe that's where they're gonna confess and kiss?), they posted Byler, Jancy and Jopper for st day (and Robin and Vickie's chairs)

maybe we'll get a Byler rain kiss? because in August Noah posted a picture of Byler and a bts picture of him sitting on a chair wrapped in a towel and Shawn acknowledged a post that said that they wanted another angsty Byler scene like the s3 rain fight, hopefully they'll play heroes during Byler's first kiss

Mike said "I didn't know what to say" about his fight with El as if she wasn't literally begging him to say the words "I love you" AND Mike relating and nodding to Will saying "what if they don't like the truth?" Why wouldn't El like Mike "loving" her? She literally heard Mike saying it in s3 and she liked it, so why was Mike so scared of the truth? Because he's gay and in love with Will and he has abandonment issues AND internalized homophobia and he's depressed, the El scene has another meaning behind it: Nina waiting for her lover to come back but he doesn't come back and Nina leaving the station= Mike not being able to love El the way she wants to be loved and her breaking up with Mike in s5 (tho i think it will be a mutual break up)

in s4 Mike bit his lip while checking Will out, because he's gay and in love with Will

Mike listened to his boyfriend's heart in s1, he was so happy to see Will<3, I hope we'll get a scene where Will listens to Mike's heart instead, maybe while they're cuddling in s5?

all the s5 couples were next to each other at the end of s4 <33 (Byler, Rovickie, Jancy, Lumax and Jopper)

Mike used his Will voice a lot in s2, the Will voice is a softer voice he only uses with Will/ when something is about Will

Mike was trying to love El the way he loves Will (romantically) but it didn't work cuz he's gay and then he got all defensive cuz he's not actually in love with her but he's in love with Will, like with the "crazy together" thing and the "blank makes you crazy" and the shed monologue (which actually worked) and the s4 monologue (which didn't work)

the leaker (my time to shine hello) who said that Mike is gonna be Will's love interest got a thing right from Agatha all along that they said would happen (Billy dressing up as Maleficent) so this leaker is reliable and Mike is gonna be Will's love interest and boyfriend

one of the guys Mike was looking at had a rainbow flag on his book, just a funny little detail, and the clock was ticking (Vecna detail?), maybe the fact that he only likes boys will be what gets him Vecna'd?, Mike has been associated with rainbows before (and Will has drawns a rainbow spaceship when he was younger, he's canonically gay)

Mike caressing Will's drawings was so gay, new headcanon: Mike caresses Will's drawings while imagining it's Will's face, oh and i NEED to see people use this scene to transition to Mike stroking Will's cheek in s5 after/before the kiss

"I love you on your bad days" no he doesn't..

*cuts to Mike not even trying to comfort El at rink o mania and sitting close to Will even after they had a fight*

*cuts to all three of them looking upset in the van and Mike only looking at Will while El was crying*

*cuts to Mike comforting Will while he was possessed in s2, him taking care of Will, him being super protective of Will, him literally saying they'd go crazy together, him staying overnight with Will at the lab to make sure he was ok, him acting and talking softer around Will*

*Mike telling El he was already in love with her in the woods*

*cuts to Mike saying "that's not Will" in the trailer when he first sees El* (which is what he was thinking in the show)

*cuts to El listening to Mike wanting to send her back to the lab in s1 (and only changed his mind when he realized she knew where Will was), Mike calling El a weapon and saying "we're no use to Will if we're dead"*

*cuts to s4 Mike saying meeting El was simple dumb luck*

"I love you without your powers"

*cuts to Mike only focusing on her powers and calling her a superhero (superman) has he ever complimented something about her that weren't her powers or her looks? No, why? Because they don't communicate and aren't honest with each other*

like he was literally lying to her face bffr, stfu gay boy in denial, what a hypocrite..

Not to mention that Finn made a face he makes when his character lies before saying "i love you"

Imagine Will teaching Mike how to use a gun in st5 and their faces are really close to each other and he notices that Will's voice has really gone deeper over the years and he starts blushing and gay panicking about it (I want this to happen before they start dating), and then they start leaning in and they're about to kiss but Jonathan interrupts them and we have a Byler almost kiss before their first kiss and imagine Will trying to get closer the guy who hits on him in s5 and he starts bringing him to their party hang outs and the guy starts getting protective of Will and Mike starts getting jealous about it so they have a fight in the rain and Mike says "what? You don't need me anymore?" And that's how it's revealed that Mike knows Will lied about the painting and then Mike kisses Will and Will is shocked and at first he doesn't kiss him back so Mike panics and says he's sorry and has soon as he's about to leave Will grabs his arm and pulls him into a passionate kiss and imagine Will changing in Mike's room and Mike walks in on shirtless Will and he blushes and starts gay panicking about it, imagine this.. st5 starts and we get a Byler kiss but then it turns out it was just a dream but then we see Mike suddenly wake up and he sits up and he's sweating cuz he was the one who has dreaming of that and then Will asks if he's ok and we find out that Will is next to him in bed and we get a parallel to the s2 Miwi scene

#let Mike see his boyfriend's muscles, because Mike likes muscly men or men who are stronger than him (Will)

imagine this.. st5 starts and we get a Byler kiss but then it turns out it was just a dream but then we see Mike suddenly wake up and he sits up and he's sweating cuz he was the one who has dreaming of that and then Will asks if he's ok and we find out that Will is next to him in bed and we get a parallel to the s2 Miwi scene

Ted was cheating on Karen in the play, Karen was emotionally cheating on Ted with Billy, Nancy was emotionally cheating on Steve with Jonathan, Mike is emotionally cheating on El with Will

It runs in the family

The Wheelers are a family of cheaters/emotiona cheaters and Karen and Ted don't like each other and in the play they were just making out and didn't communicate at all (like mlvn)

i do think Murray was talking about Mike and Will but i think he meant it like experiment in a gay way (romantically) like Mike kissing Will, and it's so funny how he clocked them being gay within a second, he mentioned playing nintendo and Will in the van said he wanted to play nintendo with Mike

does this count as Byler getting Murray'd?

El's words "i think there is someone he likes cuz he has been acting weird" relate more to Mike cuz he was the one acting weird around Will while Will was just happy his best friend was there with him and this scene parallels Hermione acting weird around Ron cuz she likes him and they're an endgame couple, "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets" was on the s4 inspiration board

the pineapple pizza scene was so queercoded for both Mike and El like Mike calling fruit on pizza blasphemous (against God) and not wanting to try it because he grew up in a homophobic and conservative town and he has internalized homophobia and prejudice but then when he tried it he said it was good (while the camera was on Will) while El grew up in a lab and obviously she doesn't have any prejudice or bias against things so she just tried it without complaining because Max told her that to understand what you like you have to try things on and she said it was good and they already used food to indicate queerness like Vickie with peanut butter (putting peanut butter on both slices of bread and called it a peanu butter monstrosity and she had a boyfriend who broke up with her and she likes Robin and will be her girlfriend in s5 and Mike's been paralleled to her and he's in love with Will) and she's bisexual, so basically Mike's gonna kiss Will first (and Will's gonna kiss him back), i also think Max is bisexual because she said "there's more to life than stupid boys" while Will said "a day free of girls" because he's gay and Mike said "i have an idea, boys only" because he's gay, they already used food for symbolism, Mike wants to feel needed, Will needs him and El doesn't

Noah's switch up is crazy cuz now he knows that Mike and Will are gonna get together since he's read the final s5 script "you guys are gonna get me in trouble" "am i allowed to say this?" and he used to say things like "BYLERBYLERBYLER" on Tik Tok and "yes, something went right for him" (for Will) he was definitely talking about Mike loving Will back

can we talk about Finn saying "yeah i'm super excited to see my gf in California but deep down there's some trauma but that doesn't came out"? why would having a gf give Mike trauma? and it's the same season where he said Mike was trying to be as normal as possible.. (he's gay and in love with Will)

when Joyce said "you're not gonna think it's gross when you fall in love" she meant " when you find a bf" but she didn't want Will to realize that she knows that he's gay and when Will said this he meant "i'm not gonna find a bf" (Will's boyfriend is gonna be Mike), if Byler wasn't gonna be a thing they would've given Will a boyfriend in s2 since Will was already in love with Mike in s1 but they didn't, while with Dustin they gave him a gf in s3 cuz Max liked Lucas instead of him and they made him move on from Max, they didn't do this with Will cuz Mike loves him back, Will's character arc is about getting romantic love even though he thinks he doesn't deserve it cuz he's gay andh he's gonna get proved wrong in s5

"and the guns shot above our heads and we kissed as though nothing could fall" they're SO gonna use heroes during Byler's first kiss in s5 (hopefully Bowie's version?), also Mike being protective of Will. he loves him so much <33 they played these lyrics while Mike was thinking about Will in s1 and when they used this song again in s3 they didn't use these lyrics cuz they're reserved to Byler

this video by teambyler explains Mike and Will's relationship really well

AIDS mentions in the show/ in the bts (mentioned in scenes with Mike and Will who are gay)

MIKE AND WILL ARE GONNA GRADUATE TOGETHER AS A TEAM (COUPLE) <33, this means that they're not gonna die and they're getting their happy ending together btw and Noah and Finn said that Will is getting his happy ending (which includes his boyfriend's being alive) and the Duffers said that they won't kill Mike because it would be too sad, Mike and Will are gonna leave Hawkins together after the graduation and Smalltown Boy is gonna play during that scene #trust (Finn said he wants Mike to leave Hawkins), hopefully we'll see Byler together at senior prom? obviously they can't dance together but i would love to see them go there as a secret couple or idk maybe they could go dance in a classroom just the two of them? Like the two boys dancing in a classroom she sees (it's from Rebel Robin), according to Rebel Robin Byler is gonna be the second gay couple she's ever seen <33 i hope they'll come out to her because they're gonna have scenes together, i hope her gaydar works

purple is a gay color (this is about s5 Mike wearing purple, he's gay), Will's also gonna survive in 1989 and Will's costume was purple in s3, he's also gay)

David Harbour talks about Stranger Things 5: “There are a lot of relationships that they (the Duffer Brothers) know they need to tie up, and I think they're doing a very good job at that. I think you'll be very satisfied when you watch it.” same season where Finn said that Mike being clueless about Will's feelings in the van scene will pay off in the end and Noah said that "Mike was always super protective of Will and Will always leaned on him, and you could never really tell if it was something romantic or just a really special friendship" btw, reminder that the Ross Duffer said that Will's emotional arc is what ties up the whole series and s5 is centered around Will (and his relationship with Mike), and Finn said that the painting will pay off in s5 and Noah said that you can't tell if Byler is romantic or platonic, and Will's emotional arc is based on romantic love and him thinking he doesn't deserve it cuz he's gay (he's gonna get proved wrong in s5 when he starts dating Mike)

This post was very sweet it was a draft that he was supposed to post when he actually wraps up and that's why he deleted it and didn't post it again, not all the s5 Will Byers scenes have been filmed yet, he's scheduled in Atlanta until December 20th, what if he was talking about Byler when he mentioned the Duffers? "creative progress takes time, and it's ok to be meticulous about creating perfect moments " Byler is a slow burn that took 5 seasons and he's a Byler

really funny that Mike wore converse in s4 (which are really gay shoes) because he thought Eddie (his unrequited gay puppy crush) would wear them (the costume designer said it), before y'all start saying stuff i'm just gonna say that Dustin had a puppy crush on Nancy in s1 and Max checked Steve out in s4, also Mike was looking at Eddie like this and fever was playing in the background and the costume designer said that Mike was influenced by Eddie in s4 and i think Mike grew his hair out because of Eddie and he was staring at Jake (he didn't know he was a bully) and accidentally said "El" instead of "Jane" because he was distracted ,isn't it funny that they showed Mike showing attraction for multiple boys (Will, Eddie and Jake) but they only showed Mike having "attraction" for only one girl while he was disgusted by all the other girls? Dustin and Lucas (who are straight) have shown attraction to multiple girls

Finn said that they costume made the jacket so them putting a triangle on Mike's jacket was intentional (triangles are a queer symbol), the costume designer said that they put triangles on Robin's shirt to represent her queerness (she's a lesbian), Mike is gay

in the script it says that El was supposed to draw on the map but they changed it in the show to foreshadow Mike and Will getting together and El being happy about it and they made Milie draw the figures multiple times to allign them with Mike and Will

i think Mike is gonna say "let's start a new party, you and me" to Will as a way of asking him out after he tells him about the Hellfire Club cuz yk they're nerds and maybe he's gonna say to Will "you know what? no more joining other parties (double meaning: relationships), let's start a new party, you and me" (a relationship with Will), because Mike said "what if you wanna join another party?" and Will said "not possible" and on the cover of that book there are a paladin and a cleric (Mike and Will's dnd characters)

1987 Byler riding bikes with Holly, 1987 Byler on a field together, 1989 Byler graduating together and going to college together and maybe living together, 90's Byler going to a bar together, now all we need is 90's Byler at a gay bar together and dancing with each other

[imfinereallyy]

“Dad is going to be very angry,” El says with wide eyes taking in the scene before them.

“You think Hop will kill him?” Steve says as he leans against the doorway, eating a Twizzler.

El looks at Steve momentarily, sticking her hand out for some candy. Steve hands her one without hesitation. El rips a piece off before speaking. “Oh yes. He might ask you to help hide the body.”

Steve nods solemnly, “I’ll do what needs to be done. Mikes’s my least favorite child anyway.”

“Hey!” Mike yells, gaining the duo's attention. It brings them back to the scene they walked in on. Mike and Will, with the door closed (no three inches in sight) on top of each other, making out.

Steve doesn't think he’ll ever get that image out of his brain.

“Chill, Wheeler, I'm joking,” Steve says pointedly before turning to El and mouthing no, I'm not.

El giggles, and Steve can't help but feel like he won a prize at the sound.

“I'm sorry, El.” Will blushes with shame, like he is betraying his sister somehow.

El just shrugs, “I do not care. But Dad might. He hates Mike.”

Steve snorts, “That's the understatement of the century. I don't think Hop has ever hated someone’s partner like he has Mike. Honestly, I was surprised he liked Eddie. I mean like is a strong word. But he tolerates him.”

Will pipes up, “I think he does mostly because he knows you'll move out, and he only just got you to agree to stay here.”

Steve shrugs, “I’ll take what I can get. At least he doesn't walk on me having sex.”

“We weren't having sex!” Mike practically screams. Hands up exasperated. “And don't talk about you and Eddie; it's gross.”

Will blushes deeply with head in his hands, “Oh, God.” El pats him on the shoulder in sympathy.

“Also, this wouldn't have happened if you weren't an idiot and just knocked!” Mike stomps. Jesus, this kid is 15 acting 6.

“I was the one who walked in, Mike. I wanted to know if Will wanted to watch a movie.” El says coldly, getting defensive of her brother.

Mike clams up, Steve can't help but feel smug.

“Who’s having sex?!?” A distinct Hopper-like voice echoes through the house.

Will and Mike share a panicked look while Steve and El take more Twizzlers from the bag.

“Oh no. Mike! What are we going to do?”

Mike sputters, “He doesn't have to know it was us! And we weren't having sex!”

Will looks at him like Mike is the biggest moron he's ever met. Steve loves the kid (despite early protest) but has to agree. “Oh gee Mike, I wonder who he will think it was about. Steve? Who is dating a man who isn't here and keep in mind, it's Steve. Who is our brother, and five years older than us? And in a relationship? And let's not forget..is Steve?!”

“This is fair.” Steve agrees. If anyone but Baby Byers had attempted to say that, Steve would have been pissed. But it's Will, so it's coming from a good place.

“Also! Also! The other person here is El! Who is my sister! Not to mention your ex—”

“—well it could have been—”

“Micheal Steven Wheeler, if the next words out of your mouth are it could have been you and El, I will never be kissing you again.” Will uses a deathly tone. Steve isn't convinced he didn't get from El.

“Your middle name is Steven?” Steve fills giddy.

“Shut up Steve!”

Will pinches his brows, “And you idiot, if it were you and El, you would still he toast.”

Steve whistles, “Shit, Will. Next time I need to win an argument against Eddie. I'm coming to you.”

“How long does it take for dad to get upstairs?” El interrupts.

All of them look down the hall. “Huh, maybe we are in the clear,” Mike whispers.

“I said who is having sex?!?” Hopper comes thundering up the stairs.

“I think this is what Max calls a jinx.” El looks at Mike unphased.

Steve can't help but feel a little bad for Will. He looks panicked around the room, probably looking for a hiding place. Steve knows that it isn't that same fear Will once had of Lenny, Hop wouldn't hurt them ever, but he can't help but feel a little protective of him. Steve knows all too well how the fears of biological fathers can sneak up on you, even if you know you're safe. “Don’t worry, Will. I'll make sure Hop takes it easy.”

Will relaxes, “Thanks Steve.”

“What about me?” Mike asks, eyes wide.

El shares a look with Steve. Spending as much time as they have lately has allowed them to talk without speaking most of the time. It freaks everyone but Robin out (she gets it). Seconds go by before they both nod in agreement.

Steve and El both wip their heads towards Mike, and Steve says, “You were grossed out by my relationship and called me stupid. Suffer.”

Mike's outcry is in synch with Hop breaking through screaming, “There better be three inches!”

[opossumprints]

I'm Your Guy part 1

Mike Wheeler and Steve Harrington have a complicated relationship. Most people assume that they only barely tolerate each other because of Steve’s past relationship with Nancy. Most of the party assume they reluctantly get along because of the Upsidedown; trauma bonds forged in Hell and a need to survive. 

The truth runs deeper than that. 

Steve knew Mike long before any Demogorgon sunk its claws into Hawkins. Before Steve was Nancy’s boyfriend, he was Mike's babysitter. 

At first, Mike really did hate Steve. He hated Steve for being there instead of his parents, or even Nancy. He hated Steve for the rumors he had heard about the older boy. But mostly he hated Steve for needing Steve. 

The Wheeler parents spent very little time in their own house, leaving several hours when their children would be home by themselves. For a while, it wasn't a problem because Nancy was there but Nancy joined as many after-school clubs as she could on the literal first day of her freshman year.  That meant Mike needed a babysitter. 

He tried to argue that he could take care of himself even though he knew that wasn't true. Even if it was, there was still one problem. Mike couldn't take care of Holly. 

So Ted Wheeler grabbed the first decently responsible-looking high schooler he could find and that was that. 

Mike couldn't hate Steve for long though. Not when Steve would actually play with Mike and Holly, not when he would cook on nights when Mike's parents would be out late and Nancy couldn't bother to be home, especially not when Steve bought Mike The Dungeon Masters guide despite knowing nothing about the game just because mike wanted it and was 4 bucks short. 

So it's complicated.

He gets really annoyed with Steve, like all the time, and sure it pisses him off that his babysitter started dating his sister only to dump her and be a complete asshole. But he hasn't hated Steve for a long time. 

On the other hand, they're not friends. 

Mike isn't really nice to Steve and Steve doesn't really hang out with Mike one on one anymore. Mike doesn't treat Steve like one of his friends either.

Mike cares about his friends, there is nothing he wouldn't do for the people he cares about and there is a lot he wouldn't do for Steve. 

Mike knows he gets jealous pretty easily (and deep down he knows he's a bit too possessive of his friends) but he's working on it.

It's been forever since he snapped at one of The Party for doing something without him. He didn't even complain when Holly, El, and Max had a sleepover and he wasn't allowed in his own damn basement. 

But right now even he can tell all his progress has flown out the window.

Because right now he's glaring daggers across the room where Steve and Eddie are sitting cross-legged hunched over the Wheelers' coffee table, Eddie is Teaching Steve how to play DnD...that's supposed to be Mike's job. 

For the first hour, he rationalized it as having always been the guy to teach people how to play DnD. But if he’s honest, for the first time since he’s met the guy, Mike feels possessive about Steve, Mike's jealous That Eddie and Steve are doing this without him, He is angry that this is happening.

Because it's not just about Eddie Stealing Mike's job--It's not just about Mike.

You see, Steve asks a lot of questions about a lot of stuff and everyone in the party is Steve’s guy for something or other; Dustin is the science guy, Lucas is the comics guy, Will and El are the Upsidedown guys, Max is the movie/videogames guy.

And Mike? Mike is the fantasy guy.  

Mike has always been Steve’s fantasy guy, he's always the one Steve asks about how magic works or what Moradoor is.

Mike should have been the guy Steve asked to teach him how to play. 

It's not fair that after everything they've been through together, Eddie gets to swoop in and be Steve’s new go-to fantasy guy just like that.

What if it doesn't stop there? Now that the Party is officially in Highschool Steve does have much reason to hang out with any of the party just by themselves besides them being Steve’s guys. What if Eddie becomes Steve’s guy for everything? 

Mike can't let that happen.

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about the little moments. The little unnecessary inclusions that tell us something. The little scripted moments in passing.

"Just please stop talking dude". So Lucas starts teasing about El. It doesn't lighten him like you'd think. He is not humored. "Yeah, real mature, Lucas".

It's reminiscent of season 1 to me, albeit Lucas' tone in it is different. Why doesn't he want to think about it?

He isn't even defensive in a being-teased way here, he just seems irritated and genuinely wanting to shut down the conversation. It's a contrasts from Lucas in season 1 that he's now trying to support and engage with their relationship, but Mike still isn't having it - so his irritability in season 1 then wasn't about Lucas' tone either. Here, it's like he comes here after making out with her and this is his time to not think about that. To distract from it. Don't bring that into this. I'm decompressing.

We know Mike's tone on the walkie while biking is weird. But we don't talk enough about how he shows up to the movies irritable.

"We're gonna miss the opening" "If you guys keep whining about it"

"Just please stop talking dude" "Real mature, Lucas"

The others have a reason to be grumpy, he left them waiting and they were anxious about missing it. He doesn't. He dismisses that anxiety and says 'Told you' when they make it. He was never worried they'd be late.

Another classic case of we have a point A, a point B, and one event in the middle. We can decipher what happen. Coming from making out with El made Mike irritable.

Which is especially odd, given we're directly shown how that exact event should have left a lovestruck teen:

(another case of matching energy. why does he match Will's romantic energy in season 4 in scenes but not even El's when they're dating? He's CONTRASTED even)

And it doesn't play as privacy. It doesn't play as "that's just between me and her <3". It plays as wanting to get his mind off it.

He's not annoyed by the teasing. He's irritable when he shows up and can't handle the additional reminder. This is where he goes to avoid that.

And it's also illogical given his other behavior this season that he not want to talk about her. His whole thing this season is that he pays attention to only El so much that it's a problem...but when she's not around he doesn't want to talk about her at all? It is a textbook smitten-sign to have someone talk non-stop about their partner. It's even a way in many shows that the friends will realize the character has feelings for someone. He doesn't feel that way. When he was grieving, it made sense, but now, he has no excuse. If he were smitten, he would want to talk about her. If the REASON he spends all his time with her and not the others were because he were smitten, he would want to talk about all his time with her. He would WANT to talk about *her*.

He should have shown up loopy like El was. Just like every time something in Mike about El is called out, we should have been shown it before it was mentioned. He should have shown up in a lovestruck daze to be commented on. He should have showed up how we last saw El.

He shows up in a lovestruck daze. They're irritated because it's clear exactly why he was late and that he wasn't worried about them being late while they were busy waiting. Lucas teases him about it. Mike responds with even just a much lighter delivery of the same line, some laughter to it. Instead?

He showed up irritable.

And we see the exact moment of shift. Because he found Hop's anger hilarious. We watched him laughing. He looks carefree.

She reminded him they'd do this all again tomorrow

His face hardened. And he showed up irritable. No events in between.

Looking through these gifs, actually, what used to seem like Mike wanting nothing to do with anyone but El now seems like irritability from her romantic presence. Especially given we see him be fine once they get into the movies with just the four of them.

The others beside him are both still interested and engaging to some extent. I'm making sure to emphasize that El, notably very smitten, is not behaving this way.

But look at the difference. It isn't the party he's irritable around. It isn't that he's irritated NOT to be alone with her. He's fine here.

it's quite the opposite. The idea of it is what MAKES him upset. Consistently throughout the season even. Here is him when Lucas takes action to get them back together and tells him he'll give him an opening to be alone with her.

He only relaxes once they actually talk and it's her to him again, not the concept of romance. He relaxes when they talk and it doesn't end in them getting back together. Because those are the two things he dreaded. Not being with her...and being with her. The m&m scene is sweet because he's in his perfect medium.

We need platonic Elmike because they deserve a relationship without resentment or anxiety. Because he doesn't resent her. He doesn't want to avoid seeing her. But there are associations to it that he dreads, and that's hurtful to both of them.

[toobusybeingdelulu]

anyway can’t stop thinking again about how nothing about billy hargrove is stereotypical, not even his “bullying”. Like, we don’t know if he was the classical “steal-your-lunch-money” kind of high school bully, and we probably never will.

What we know, though, is that on the show, in canon, we have only seen billy react violently and rudely towards people who represented a potential danger to him.

Max: well, that’s easy. Unstable homelife. Adopted little sister. He has to pay for every single one of her mistakes. Her potentially dating lucas might represent a real danger for his safety because of their father’s beliefs, most likely. (“Something you learn” means that he had experimented that ‘lesson’ in first person. Maybe he had a black friend/lover growing up, and that cost him.)

Steve: we don’t see billy being actively cruel to him before the Byers, do we? ‘Oh and what about that time he shoved Steve to the ground instead of helping him up?’ Compensating. He had just given him advice, good advice, but Steve still couldn’t think they were on the same side. And also, that’s a competitive sport. While they are under the shower he is much more amiable, considering that he could have easily found a good reason to instigate a fight in steve (such as taking part in Tommy’s charade). Which he didn’t do. The only time we see billy being incredibly violent towards Steve is when he thought he represented a threat to him and max, after having found her alone with him in a stranger’s house. Also they are equals. Rivals, which is very different from one-sided bullying.

Lucas: yeah, same reason described in Max’s paragraph. He feels threatened by this poor kid whose only “fault” is being in love with his sister. But that’s a problem for billy. So he had to resort to threats (again, this is not excusing, but describing.)

That kid at the pool; yeah, he yelled at him. Rudely, too. But also, whose fault would have been if the kid had fallen while running and broken something while billy was on duty? Exactly. Once again, that innocent kid was indirectly threatening him and his job.

El/Mike/Dustin/etc.: he was possessed. Next.

That time he “was about to” run over the kids? Actually yes, that might me be only time we see him doing something reckless and dangerous for others just for the sake of it. But to think that he would have actually run them over is laughable, considering the way he acted during his possession.

[byerseason]

my personal opinions on byler & mike’s character

most people believe mike is clueless or at least he just suspects will’s feelings. well, sometimes i agree with that but in general i think mike knows. actually he always knew. let’s look at everything from the beginning.

both mike and will always lived in a small town full of homophobia. we know will personally experienced homophobia from his dad and other people in hawkins. mike and will are friends since kindergarten and mike obviously witnessed all of these homophobia will went through. maybe mike experienced it too, we know ted said “see what happens?” for a reason. especially with lonnie, mike witnessed everything he did to will, we all know will shares everything with mike. so from their point of view, this thing called “homosexuality” is something really bad and all it causes is harm and hate. it’s something forbidden.

now let’s see what happened in all seasons. in season 1, a cool girl magically comes into mike’s life and shows interest in him. “you’re blind, because a girl is not grossed out by you” now mike has a chance to be normal like people expect him to be. and he’s a child, it’s not that deep. he can try. no deep feelings, no love, just be normal.

in season 2 this chance is taken away from mike leaving a trauma to him. after all, el was special and he cares for her so much. and the fact that she sacrificed herself just to save him and his friends is not something we can overlook. and adding to this trauma, something really bad is happening to will and they don’t even know what is it and how to fix it. he does his best, he never leaves his side because it’s something a good friend would do right? it wasn’t that forbidden thing the adults get angry about and it shouldn’t be. after el’s return and will being safe, mike had this chance again. el was here, she was incredible, a superhero who saved will and the world, and she was ready to be in a relationship with him. snowball scene was mike telling will “i’m moving on, you should move on too or we will get hurt by this.” because you know, these things always hurt will and nothing else.

in season 3, mike continues to this “moving on” as we can clearly see. this time a little bit grown up, or at least trying to grow up. distancing himself from will and all his friends, focusing on el all the time and for some reason not being able to maintain a friendship with will while dating el. this speaks volumes actually. it’s both him trying to be normal as expected and distancing himself from will to make sure he is normal too. to me that’s all the “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” scene. while mike is fighting back, will makes it harder for both of them without realizing it. i think -like everyone- the ending of season 3 was mike realizing it’s not working and it’s getting serious. he’s growing up, they’re growing up and everything is becoming clearer.

will and el moving to california was a new chance for mike. he ignored will, well at least he tried even though it’s clear he felt his absence especially in school, he didn’t reach out to him thinking maybe this is the chance for both of them to move on. and then el’s letter happened. mike thought will really did it, he moved on, he was able to move on while mike isn’t. if we think deeper, he is even working on a painting for her, something he used to do with mike. so yeah, will is normal, it worked for will, while mike is still dealing with this. when they reunite i think it was much more than just jealousy. disappointment, anger maybe? especially after he saw he brought the painting to the airport. apparently will wasn’t planning on giving all his attention to mike, who was visiting him after months, but he was planning to give the painting to the girl he likes, it was probably the reason of his excitement, not mike. so this is what makes mike want to focus on el more and ignore will during rinkomania scenes. when el mentions angela and will gives a reaction to this, mike is sure he was right and this day is about angela for will.

but he finds out he was wrong. well, the painting is still for a girl but at least he was wrong about angela. will was just upset because mike was being lied to, and he was hurt by mike being distant from him. this is what leads mike to sincerely apologize to will, as always. he always does that, if will says “where is dustin right now?” mike realizes his mistake and tries to fix it. if will says “we used to be best friends” mike realizes his mistake and offers to be best friends again. that’s all their dynamic about.

after mike and el’s fight, mike comes and explains what happened to will but it’s more like he is asking for an advice, he wants will to understand him. “it was a fight that you can’t come back from.” he wants will to agree but he doesn’t, this is when we start to understand mike’s inner struggles. he brings up this topic to will three times. none of these conversations are like two best friends giving each other relationship advices because mike never tells will what is the problem. for some reason he doesn’t want will to know he can’t tell her girlfriend that he loves her. we all know will and mike are sincere enough to tell these things to each other, they always do. but if he can’t, there must be a reason. maybe mike himself doesn’t know the answer either, maybe he doesn’t want will to understand his situation because he thinks will successfully moved on, who knows?

in the desert scene, he brings the topic up again, without mentioning what is “that thing”, but this time will seems like he understands. “sometimes, i think it’s just scary to open up like that, to say how you really feel, especially to the people you care about the most.” mike never mentioned he is struggling to say how he feels but will understand, he always did. this conversation would continue with mike opening up to will if it wasn’t interrupted, so mike brings it up once again for the third time, in the van scene.

this time he is being more open but he is still struggling to say one thing, which will completes for him “you’re scared of losing her.” well, mike was wrong. will wasn’t getting it until.. the painting scene. mike is not stupid, he knows will spent days working on it. he knows eleven doesn’t know about what this painting is about. he knows he doesn’t make el feel like “she is not a mistake at all” especially after their fight, remember that line from the script “she’s already beginning to understand she doesn’t need me, i saw it in her eyes” he knows el doesn’t need him, he knows will well enough to understand he is lying. the way he looks at will admiringly is him thinking “he didn’t move on, we’re still the same.” and also him being aware of what will is doing for him, breaking his own heart and sacrificing himself just to make mike feel better. also, he notices will is sobbing, he looks at him and even if he didn’t how could he not? he had tears in his eyes during all the monologue and he was sobbing right next to him. so is there any reason for mike to not say anything to his best friend sobbing next to him if he didn’t know the reason? the mike i know would immediately ask what was wrong if he was clueless. he knows why will is crying but he doesn’t know what to do about it. mike’s situation is pretty sad when you think about it, he probably feels like he’s stuck.

then we have the desert reunion scene. this time we clearly can see how stuck he feels between el and will, he doesn’t know how to get out of this without hurting any of them, and also himself. the way he looks at them looks like also him being afraid of damaging their bond.

then the monologue scene.. this scene may mean lots of different things, i am not sure either.

it may be mike being aware of what will is doing, how he is sacrificing himself once again, how mike is gonna have to lie and hurt everyone in the end, how the things are gonna be way more complicated or mike realizing he was wrong about thinking will has feelings for him.

my season 5 expectation is seeing a mike wheeler who stops fighting back and embraces his feelings, without hurting both of them.

that’s my point of view that changes almost everyday lol. i don’t know if there are many people who believes mike isn’t clueless so i wanted to share my thoughts. 💛

[doriandrifting]

Everytime I remember that the three memories associated with getting Will out of his Vecna trance have been ruined, I lose it a little.

His birthday? Either everyone forgot or its been affected by the weird Upside Down time stuff, because there’s way too many references to birthdays, forgotten birthdays, or forgetting in general this season, along with them showing a birthday party at Rink o Mania and pointedly telling us the exact date. Not to mention the writers tweeting a joke about forgetting Will’s birthday while they were writing the season four scripts.

Castle Byers? Not only was it destroyed in the Upside Down leading to Will being taken to the library and dying, but the last time Will was at the real one, he was taking a bat to it after the rain fight.

Meeting Will on the swings being the best thing Mike has ever done? While we know Mike was bullshitting, all Will heard was Mike telling El, “I feel like my life started that day I met you in the woods.”

Even Will’s favorite song is now technically associated with his time singing it repeatedly to himself in the Upside Down. —> “What if, by listening to it over and over, I get sick of it, and suddenly it's not my favorite song anymore? Will it still work?”

[phoebebuggers]

modern party high school/college headcanons that will maybe kind of end up in my text au if i ever go back to it

mike is a tote bag user and a letterboxd fanatic!! he listens to alternative rock especially weezer but he's not a music elitist he likes pop and stuff too. he still plays dnd and i feel like he probably reads like classic fantasy book bro books u know (brandon sanderson, GOT, LOTR, prolly also like steven king and stuff which the rest of the party also like.) cat person. he is such a film bro it's obnoxious and he has to shove his letterboxd account down your throat every 5 minutes after meeting you. says he's bitter and evil but would do anything for his friends (canon.) video essay watcher. dirty-ass pair of falling apart converse at the end of their life begging for mercy that he refuses to replace. ADHD diagnosis.

will loves thrifting and coffee shops and museums but not in a performative pinteresty way he just genuinely likes these things. had an art hoe aesthetic phase around 2020 and will never live it down. subverting all gay stereotypes by not knowing anything about gay/stan twitter and being happier for it. kind of a music elitist ('can i see your spotify wrapped??') but not as much as jonathan who he learned from. still loves the smiths, the cure, etc but i think he would also be into modern indie nowadays. i feel like he would have a huge chapsticks/lip balm collection bc his lips are chapped all the time and it's just like a running joke atp. major art kid draws all the time we been knew listens to podcasts while he does art. goes to therapy

lucas is still kind of a jock but i'm kinda anti jock lucas because he will never truly fit in with them he will always be a nerd first!!!! still plays basketball tho and runs cross country (all men who run cross country are a little bit unhinged and free.) wears a hairtie on his wrist in case max needs one. kind of matches will's evil music complex from the other side with objectively good music def likes tyler, brent, frank, SZA (max likes the same their music taste kind of bled into each others.) very good social media presence like color coded feed, highlights, pinterest worthy pics etc (digital camera user.) likes to cook. chronic notes app list user. wanted to be a youtuber as a kid. type of guy to say "um, guys, that was awkward!" etc etc and everyone clocks him for it

dustin is a reddit user but not in a weird incel way in a genuinely helpful and knowledgable way. he also wanted to be a youtuber because he fucking loved matpat as a kid. he also would love the green brothers. a sneakerhead. keeps his keys on a carabiner (max tells him he looks like a lesbian.) also very up to date on pop culture like max is, probably quotes that one baron trump suitcase video daily among other things. does a few very good very niche impressions. i feel like everyone in the party is a good student but dustin is definitely the best a genuis future engineer or smth. he's the friend who always has those party games but can't read a cards against humanity card without laughing (max has to read for him)

el knows it's trash but loves reality TV (real housewives) and also glee. probably volunteers a lot. she was probably like the most boy-crazy fictional man/celebrity obsessed tween but ended up being bisexual/questioning lesbian. chronic story liker and responder so everyone thinks she's in love with them but she's actually just really nice and maybe doesn't 100% understand the social cue. she was also in theater because i want her to be her own genre of nerd maybe not in big roles because i don't see her as someone who loves being the center of attention but in ensemble. type of person to make goals like "try a new type of apple every week for a year".

max is up to date on tiktok/internet memes and kind of speaks fluent reference. probably watches real housewives and dance moms with el (will will join in occasionally for glee.) she also thrifts a lot of her clothes and has very cool style in kind of an idgaf what anyone else thinks way. huge flannel collection. does stage crew. i know she skateboards in canon and she still would but i feel like she would also do roller-derby or like speed skating or something. similar music taste to lucas but also a swiftie from a young age. had a panic at the disco phase and did crazy 2020 eyeliner (it's not a phase, mom) and will never live it down. keeps a journal. goes to therapy

bonus:

mike and max never shut the fuck up during class and always have to whisper something objectively hilarious to each other/one of their friends while the teacher is talking

will el and max have a book club where at least someone lies about having read the book every month and they spend the whole meeting gossiping and eating snacks

will forced them all to get airbuds and airbuds reacts mike listening to mcr with mildly disappointed faces and cat emojis

mike and dustin had a phase where they were really into like conspiracy theories and UFOs and cryptids and stuff

lucas bought a stanley cup with no shame because 'it's so functional'

el is an ex-larry

[little-annie]

Okay, so, with Dustin and Robin checked off the list, now they're left to tell the remaining members of The Party.

El, Max, Lucas, Mike and Will.

And truthfully, they aren't that worried anymore.

Although their telling Robin and Dustin didn't go as planned, neither time was traumatic or generally all that eventful. So really, sitting here in the Harrington house once again with five sets of eyes on them, they aren't as nervous as they once figured they'd be. Sure the whole coming out thing is still scary, but they honestly feel like they don't need to be so scared anymore.

Dustin and Robin are sitting there with knowing expressions; impatiently waiting, exuding some form of guard dog energy like they'll pounce if anyone has anything ill mannered to say.

But again, they aren't very concerned about something like that happening.

They're good kids.

They're, their good kids.

So, they're sitting close, thighs touching, Eddie's arm around the back of the couch, occasionally playing with Steve's hair. No one's really paying them any mind. Yeah, maybe they get the occasional glance from Will or the rare one from Mike, but other than that, the boys are just bickering about something D&D related while Max and El whisper and giggle about lord knows what.

Robin's waiting and so is Dustin. They know today's plan and with that they've been occasionally glancing at the pair, waiting for the reveal.

They do actually have a plan for today, believe it or not. It's nothing spectacular but it's a simple action that's sure to get the job done.

See, Steve's not very good with words and well, Eddie tends to be a little too forward, a little too vulgar or a little too animated and in a situation like this, they just need something simple.

And simple is Steve turning to Eddie, nosing against his cheek and placing a gentle peck on his boyfriend's now rosy skin.

The moment it happens the mounting screaming match around them ceases, all bickering is suddenly silent, forgotten, dead quiet.

There's eyes on them now and when Eddie returns the affection with a smiling kiss to Steve's cheek, everyone's jaw drops.

Well, except for Robin's and Dustin's. They're absolutely beaming with pride.

And after a beat, then two, then three, it's an eruption of overlapping questions and statements coming not so quietly from the group in front of them.

"Fucking finally"

"I knew it! Told you Mike, hand it over, ten bucks!"

"You…You can….But Steve dated Nancy…"

"It's called Bi-Sexual you dumbass. You can like both"

"...both"

"Congratulations!"

It's just short of utter chaos in the room. Well, except for two. Will's quiet, very quiet actually and red in the cheeks, glancing between Mike and the pair cuddled up on the couch. Whereas Mike's uncharacteristically quiet, only whispering words, staring down into the carpet, flushing white and looking a little green around the gills.

Then of course, amongst everything else, Max has to pipe up, shouting and cackling from her seat across the room, "Just don't get Steve pregnant!"

Well, and that seems to set the mood.

Once again the room erupts with sheer volume, though this time, in laughter. The kids are all cackling, Robin almost immediately in tears, wiping her eyes, pointing mockingly at Steve as he sits there in horror that that seems to be everyone's reaction to this situation, 'Don't get Steve pregnant.'

"What about Eddie! Huh-" Steve sits upright, hands up in offence, "What about 'don't get Eddie pregnant'?"

The volume in the room dies down, but hardly. Everyone's wiping tears from their eyes, trying to catch their breath or choking back their still bubbling laughter when Robin adds in her two cents, "Steve. Babe, you're obviously the mother in this situation."

"And Eddie's the dad." Dustin plainly states like it's a well known fact… and maybe it is, by the way everyone around them nods in all seriousness.

Mildly offended, brow furrowed, Steve can feel Eddie lean in closer, lips hovering over his ear as he whispers, smirk evident in his tone, "Oh, am I your Daddy, Stevie?"

And good Christ, this isn't the time or the place for shit like this. Steve can feel his cheeks flush and a very unwanted knot coil in his gut before he slaps Eddie away and grumbles through grit teeth, "Shut up, you know we don't do that."

Eddie only snickers, falling back into his previous position on the couch, giving Steve's thigh a quick squeeze in the process.

"I don't care if you two are just fooling around or you're in love, but whatever that,-" Max motions to where Steve has pulled a pillow into his lap and has flushed a deep shade of red," -is, is not happening anywhere around me. Keep it in your pants when you're not in the bedroom. Gross." She grimaces at her own words before adding, "But like, congratulations I guess. We love you both"

Everyone nods along. Mike's still very quiet, nearly burning holes into the side of Will's head with his eyes as everyone carries on with their questioning.

"So like, what is this really? Are you dating?"

"Are you in love?"

"You haven't done it on this chair have you?"

And the questions kept coming, to which the boys answered to the best of their ability before getting interrupted by another stream of inquiries.

It'd been thirty minutes before everyone settled down, resuming their previous conversations like the reveal of Steve and Eddie's relationship wasn't a big deal.

But they suppose, maybe it wasn't. Maybe they did an alright job at parenting these kids part time for them to be actual decent human beings. They're in a safe space, surrounded by people who love and respect them. Maybe they didn't have to be so scared in the first place.

The only thing Steve has to be scared of is his apparent new nickname in the hands of one Dustin Henderson,

"Hey Mom, can we go to the arcade?"

[itsjustbyler]

If the byler actually happens, it will be rushed. The GA won't understand, they should have done this before. They've been building Mileven for so long that they couldn't change everything last season.

Sorry, but it's the truth.

Well hi there... (this is going to be a big one, sorry)

See, I'll never understand this argument that it's going to be rushed and that the last season doesn't have time to build Byler or whatever. You've never seen films or series with a single season in which a couple meets, falls in love and ends up together?

I can give you the example of Eyewitness. Several people in the fandom like to talk about this series and I have to thank the bylers for presenting it to me.

The show has 9 episodes, at the beginning we meet Lukas and Phillip. Lucas suffers from internalized homophobia. This series managed to introduce us to the characters, make us understand them, make us understand the reason for each one's actions with just 9 episodes and still in the middle of a murder plot, with several horrible things happening and other characters developing.

And the series is simply wonderful. I highly recommend it, so that people can learn about internalized homophobia (which we theorize Mike has) and how far it can go. Maybe you even recognize some parallels with Byler. Remembering that eyewitness was on the inspiration board for one of the seasons, i think it was season 4.

"They have been building up mlvn for 4 seasons", well... they also did that with byler. The advantage of Stranger Things over eyewitness is that we already know the characters, we already know the dynamics between them, we know the problems in each relationship, there will be no need to waste time on that. The building up for byler its at its peak by the end of season 4!

The season ended with:

Mike and El not talking to each other after the monologue that was supposed to save the relationship

The truth about Will's painting yet to be revealed

Will confirmed to be in love with Mike

Mike is still oblivious to Will's feelings

Eleven didn't say anything about the monologue and what she thought of it all

Will is already sure that Mike doesn't like him and he tried to help Mike and El's relationship, which didn't work.

Mike doesn't know that Eleven doesn't actually feel what Will said she feels and that those were his words

As I said, we already know these characters. We know Will lied, we know El doesn't feel that way. We know that Mike feels inferior in the relationship because El doesn't seem to like anything he likes and ignores his interests, which is why he thinks he's just a random nerd. Mike only knows how to praise El by associating her with her powers, something El doesn't feel comfortable with. We know about the ambiguous relationship between Mike and Will and that Mike seems to separate Will from all the other members of the party, including El. We know that Will is in love with Mike. Everything is waiting for it's conclusion.

Also, we still have some questions hanging in the air like: Why write Will in love with Mike if he already has a girlfriend? Why not give him a boyfriend in Lenora, which seems to be a freer place with mlm and wlw couples going on public dates in the middle of Rink o Mania? Why not have Mike reject Will in season 3 so Will can move on, like they did with Dustin and Max? Why the painting and the meaning behind it? Why constantly separate Mike and El throughout the seasons while strengthening Mike and Will's bond? Why, instead of having Mike the whole season saying that he needs to find El and telling her that he loves her and that she's amazing, they decided to have Mike complaining about his relationship and how bad he feels about it? Why did this love triangle reach season 5 still without a clear solution?

They just need to pick up the pieces. If you think they can't do that in a single season, remember that St*ncy ended the first season together but we clearly knew something was wrong and in the second season they perfectly managed to end St*ncy's relationship and start J*ncy's even with Jonathan dealing with everything that was happening with his brother and everything else.

And hey... give the GA some credit. I clocked byler without even knowing it was a thing and I had never been in a fandom before. They are not stupid. They just don't engage with fandom disclosure but that doesn't mean they are oblivious to everything that it's happening. They just don't care or have heterormativity blinding them.

Now could the writers just ignore everything they had been building up and send it to trash? Damn right they could. However, we will have to wait and see...

ty for the ask, sorry for the big one <3

[byleraddict14]

Hello, my fellow Stranger Things fans. I have unfortunately reread one of my own posts and sent my mind spiraling and needed to recap on this. I will state I am a huge Mike defender simply because there's a lot about his character that tends to get ignored. Now, to begin with his relationships with his fellow party members. First up is El

Now, I have seen over the years a lot of hate for Mike's relationship with El, and I don't just mean the romantic aspect but also the way they function as a couple. In seasons three and four, there was a lot of comparing Mike to Brenner and the controlling her and what she likes. Max told her to find what she likes, not what Hopper or Mike liked, but what I find interesting is Mike never actually forces his likes on her. He doesn't force her to play DnD or dress a certain way. Let's be honest her lack of clothing options are completely on Hopper. He is her guardian and didn't ask what she would want to wear. It was also never specified whose idea it was to lie about curfew it was just assumed El not spending much time with everyone else was on Mike. To be honest, El has a tendency to tear down the things Mike enjoys. El made fun of his singing, and he didn't sing again after that. He also began to believe DnD was childish after they started dating, but that's kinda on him. I have also not once seen El ask Mike what he likes or thinks. Even her letters are all about how she's adjusting and Will acting weird but not a single, How are you and what are you up to. Mike tends to get locked in a box and his wants, thoughts and feelings are ignored.

Next is Lucas, and while I love Lucas, he can be very self obsessed. When he got upset about El joining, he didn't ask Mike why he was keeping her around or what he was thinking he just assumed Mike liked her and wouldn't let it go. What's worse is that after all the trap he gave Mike for letting El join the party, he turned around and did the exact same thing with Max. Lucas completely ignored Mike's feelings or even asked why Mike was so against her joining. Remember, Mike was still dealing with losing El and possibly his mind because he kept seeing her around. What's sad is that Lucas and Dustin both disregard Mike grieving for El. They both behaved like he should just be over it by now without actually talking to him about it. Then, we move on to Lucas volunteering to fix Mike's relationship. Mike was fine with letting it go and moving on until Lucas made a big deal out of getting El back. Mike could have gone against him, but any argument Mike made Lucas just ignored, never actually asking his feelings on the breakup just assuming Mike wanted her back. Then comes Lucas obsession with being popular and taking Mike and Dustin with him despite them stating several times they had no desire to be popular. When the bullying started, Mike tried talking to him about it, but Lucas just brushed him, stating he wouldn't understand. This is one that really irritates me. When people assume just because their not in the exact same situation, someone is incapable of understanding. You don't have to go through an identical situation to know how some feels not to mention. Lucas may not know the extent of Mike's bullying or everything done to him. Therefore could not say Mike wouldn't understand.

Dustin tends to get a little tricker because while he can be observant, he can also be wildly off base. For example, Dustin said he met Mike, Will, and Lucas in the fourth grade, therefore making him not Mike's best friend because Mike knew Lucas longer. Now, what I find funny is Mike and Will met Lucas in the third grade one year prior to meeting Dustin therefore but Dustin's logic of time determines Mike's bestfriend Lucas also doesn't fit the bill. Will however does at having met him in kindergarten, but he is knocked to the bottom of the best friend ranking for some reason. Dustin also points out Mike likes El but doesn't comment on Mike literally knocking her off him when he stood up because he was impatient about getting to Will, for someone so observant he missed something pretty big there. Dustin's smart and comes up with many good ideas but still generally defers to Mike about the life and death stuff until the Russian incident. Dustin and Mike tend to stick together but do clash often in regard to ideas or competition. Dustin becomes even more confident in himself as time goes on while Mike becomes withdrawn, hiding as normal. However, when Dustin is in over his head, he tries to contact Mike first and foremost, probably for a second opinion. They hold a pretty solid relationship, but for the only one who seems to have adjusted well after everything he never considered Mike might not have. Even the incident with Dart. Mike warned him he was dangerous, but Dustin ignored him. Even after Dart ate Dustin's cat and ran off, Mike didn't berate him for hiding though Lucas did. Dustin can become very rapped up in his perception of Mike that he fails to actually see Mike for who he is.

Max is a whole other argument. Max specifically sought out Mike, not backing down when he was mean to her. She did leave Lucas, Dustin, and El alone when they rebuffed her or lied to her, but Mike, she didn't stop until she made him laugh. She also didn't blame Mike for anything over the summer with spending time with El and even defending him until El came to her and she was mad at Lucas. She took her anger with Lucas and boys out on Mike, too. Granted, Mike shouldn't have lied to El, but Max just assumed Mike was being rude or controlling from that point on. She got mad when Mike said boys only but didn't ask why and assumed Mike was trying to stop El from spying because he wanted to control her powers, and sadly, everyone else just accepted what she said. Everyone conveniently forgets Mike was front row for Will's spying turned spy. Mike knew it was dangerous and how it would end. He was the only one not surprised when the meat monster found them. I would have been surprised if Mike didn't argue back and yelled he loved her. He had already watched her die once and then saw the aftermath of spying. Honestly, it was a wonder he didn't have a full-blown meltdown when the monster came after them or even gave an I told you so. I will say their relationship seemed to have improved after all that. Mike doesn't push Max to open up, and she does talk to him, not sarcastic like she did Dustin. She also could have chosen to hide during the assembly but chose to stay close to Mike both in the auditorium and in class. When listing people to go to when Krissy 6 stated she couldn't find Lucas or get ahold of Nancy, so she went to Dustin when Mike was mentioned it wasn't so much last ditch effort and more he wasn't an option from the start. She even calls the Byers house and is also aware Mike calls constantly, not just Dustin. Meaning she spent enough time with Mike to know how much he called. Mike didn't even bother asking her to play DnD because he knew she wouldn't want to. Honestly, the only person she didn't actually talk to directly aside from the adults was Will and Mike. What I find funny is when she hands Lucas the letters, Mike's name is the first she says, and aside from finding someone to relay the story to, he is the first person she lists. Even mentioning Mike's basement, she didn't have to specify it was Mike's she could have said Nancy's or even the Wheelers, but she intentionally said Mike's name. I believe they are closer than we currently know, and some of their friendship will be revealed. Especially with one of her happy memories to fight Vecna, being he teaching Mike to skateboard.

Will is a mess in and of itself. Mike spends most of his time looking after him and keeping him close that having him several states away took a serious toll on him. Also, the fact that Mike was supposed to go to California for Thanksgiving and they were supposed to come down for Christmas, but that seemed to get canceled intrigues me. Mike and Will have been friends for almost a decade, and Mike can always tell when something is off with Will unless he's distracted. Will is also the only person he willingly apologizes, too, and means it. The way Will called him Michael when he was made really shook Mike up, leading to the rain argument, and Mike chasing after him. There are several things Mime shouldn't have said to Will, but I'm pretty sure was nothing but projecting his own inner fight. The way Mike gets mad Will didn't tell him El was being bullied was unfair but given their history was something Will normally would have told him about. The accusation that Mike didn't call Will hit Mike pretty deep and threw him on the defense, turning the question back on Will. Will didn't think there was another explanation decide to take the initiative to call Mike himself, leaving all communication on Mike. Even their fighting only started after they met El and Mike started dating her. Watching Mike and Will being a united front in California and the way back to Hawkins was refreshing. After talking some of their issues out, Mike didn't get distracted by El he solely focused on Will. making them judging everyone funnier. Sadly their nonconcern or freak out about having to bury a body showed some serious red flags and unresolved trauma, I mean, who flirts while burying a body in the desert. Mike's active choice to stay with Will and not run off the talk things out with El was also very telling.

Now, I'll save my view on Nancy and Jonathan later, but they both annoy me in different ways, especially Nancy. Now I get it she's a badass, but she has consistently failed as an older sister to Mike.

Mike's perspective and feelings are strongly missing so far. His trauma, bullying, and dealing with all the death he witnessed have not been addressed once as if it's intentionally being ignored. Also, the fact that he was out of town and contact is the one time they failed, is hilarious to me simply because Nancy and Dustin pride themselves on being able to figure things out and make a plan but it fails. Mike's plans are always the ones that stick and reveal far more crucial information. He is very observant and hits back hard every time, which I believe caused the mindflayer to be far more cautious of Mike.

[bylertruth3r]

idc what anyone says he totally knew Will was talking about himself in the van scene and Finn keeps saying Mike’s totally clueless cuz saying Mike was happy about Will loving him back would be a spoiler( he also said Mike didn’t know Will was crying in the van when we literally see Mike looking at Will while being worried) and here’s why:

In this scene Mike was mad cuz Will barely talked to him but he used El's name to pretend he wasn't mad about Will not paying attention to him

Which is why I think he knew(or suspected) that Will was doing the same thing to mask his feelings for him during the van scene cuz remember he already knew Will's painting was for someone he liked (at first he thought it was for a girl and got jealous(i explained that in another post) also Will used words from their fight at rink o mania and their heart-to-heart scene in the bedroom: “which is why you decided to be a douche to her (me) all day?” “i feel like i lost you or something” "this year has been weird you know? and you know Max, Lucas and Dustin they're great ,they're great it's just it's hawkins it's not the same without you" “and if she (i) was being mean to you or pushing you away was just because she (i) was scared of losing you just like you’re scared of losing her”  “well maybe you should’ve reached out more”  “these past few months she’s (i’ve) been so lost without you”

this is the face of a gay boy who feels loved in the way he wants to and who realized the boy he’s in love with loves him back 

But then when things got really bad Will told him he's the heart and reminded him of what they talked about in the van so now he thinks he got it wrong and that El commissioned the painting and in the script it says Will's words gave him the determination to tell El those things (which was literally the only insight we got of Mike’s feelings during that scene)

also “you’re the heart”(something related to Byler) is the name of the soundtrack of this scene

also them showing Mike when Will says “what if they don’t like the truth?” and Mike nodding cuz he relates to what Will was saying..

why wouldn’t El(his gf) like Mike loving her back? nah this was about the opposite this was about Mike not being able to love her back cuz yk he’s gay and being afraid of hurting her and about Mike being afraid of Will finding out he loves him which was also why he never told Will the reason of his fight with El which ironically happened the same episode of the stancy break up 

and then ofc Jonathan( who’s in love with Nancy) reassured Nancy(who’s in love with Jonathan) about Steve

                            Wheeler                                              Byers

and Will(who’s in love with Mike) reassured Mike(who’s in love with Will) about El

               Wheeler                                                                  Byers

at the end of s1 Nancy got back with Steve but they still had relationship problems and started dating Jonathan in s2

at the end of s4 Mike got back with El but they still have relationship problems (and El is still mad at him) and he’s gonna date Will in s5(?)

[gayofthefae]

Honestly, we should have known

"I've never felt like this with anyone before" then an inability to describe what "this" is when asked.

Much like being unable to describe the difference between a friend/sibling and a crush, or saying "you know what I think of you" or instead of describing how El makes him feel, simply repeating "I love you" over and over again.

Which is ultimately a shorthand we use, by the way. Not a description of feeling.

Mike has never once described how he feels about El. And it was played as cute for a while - like he's too nervous - but now? Having the "pay off" and he still didn't describe it?

He can't. Because he doesn't. know what it. feels like.

Every conversation with her about is:

"I have feelings for you" "Oh? And what do they feel like" "...You know...like when you have feelings for someone" "Which feels like...?" "loving somebody" "which feels like...?" "Like when two people are dating. Or when old people are married they feel that way about each other" "how do they feel about each other" "Like how I feel about you. How I feel about you deeply. How I've felt about you for a long time, since I first met you."

He basically says over and over again "My feelings for you? They're the ones I'm supposed to have. That's what I feel for you."

You go to school dances with someone that you - you know - someone that you...like; I've never felt like this with anyone before -old people say it to each other sometimes; you know what I think of you"

He never defines it relative to himself or what he feels for her. It's what he's supposed to. "I feel for you what boys feel for their dates at school dances". "I feel for you what old married couples feel for each other". "I feel for you what you want me to feel for you"

"what you want me to feel for you" is also his volume 2 speech as it is a direct response to El's previous words, essentially just saying the opposite of what made her cry last time. You can see further beat for beat breakdowns of that here and here

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Honestly the biggest byler proof shouldn’t be the eyewitness parallel, or the little women parallel, or whatever, but just like, the fact than Will canonically is in love with mike

There’s no reason for him to have a crush on Mike if they’re not endgame. Lots of queer people (myself, for example) figured out they were queer before feeling romantic attraction for anyone for the first time. My first crush came after I discovered my queerness. Will has always felt different, always been different, always has been called homophobic slurs by both bullies and his own father.

The duffers could have easily said “Will realized he was gay when all of his friends began dating girls while he found no appeal for it, when the idea of mike kissing el and the fact than it was expected for him to eventually kiss a girl felt gross to him, when all his friends were growing up and becoming teenagers with hormones who liked girls while he just didn’t, when he realized he always liked looking at men more than women, when he thought a man was a hundred times more attractive than a woman, when he found himself not looking away from the men in bathing suits at the pool or the hot actors in tv,” but they didn’t.

There’s no need for him to have a crush in his straight best friend, specially because Will is one of the main characters, if not the main character. Specially because they said than he would have a happy ending in s5.

“Oh he doesn’t need a boyfriend for a happy ending, crushes aren’t forever, he can get over mike during the s5 time jump.” True, absolutely true, genuinely, so true. But what’s the point in having him have a crush on mike just to get over him in s5?

“Oh but they made the same thing with Dustin and Max.” It’s nowhere near comparable. Dustin didn’t know Max, max was new, the only thing he knew is than she was from California and really good at videogames, she even beat his record. He found her attractive and most importantly, interesting (a new girl from California, who played videogames and was even better than him??). Mike and Will had known each other for most part of their lives, they were best friends, they probably knew each other better than Dustin and Lucas knew them. It has been shown since the start than their relationship is different, Will doesn’t lie to Mike, Mike is able to tell when Will is quieter than usual, he’s always the one closest to him when he’s having an episode, he slept at the hospital while Will stayed there (we didn’t see Dustin or Lucas do that). And, did Dustin have a whole confession? Was Dustin’s crush built up for 4 seasons?

Plus, I think it really served a purpose. Both Dustin and Lucas being attracted to Max meant than half of the party wanted her to join. Will didn’t care, and Mike was against her joining. Majority won, Max hung out with them. If it was just Lucas who was interested, while Dustin and Will genuinely didn’t care, Mike probably would have won and she wouldn’t have spent big part of the season with them. Sure, Lucas still would have hung out with her because he is his own person, but she wouldn’t have joined the group, at least, initially.

There is no reason to have Will have a crush on mike, a crush building up for four seasons, just for it to get nowhere and for him to get over him during the time jump.

“Oh well, the painting helped mike and el’s relationship.” Debatable (the way they ended s4 was, well, something), but my own opinions aside, sure, yeah. Will used the painting to confess his own feelings which he disguised as El’s to help Mike become more confident in his relationship, and it kinda worked.

However let me ask you this, in what world is using a gay character’s (a gay character than has suffered probably more than everyone else in the story [except El], a gay character who is in love with his best friend, who has suffered homophobic bullying, who feels like a mistake for being different, like he will never be happy or find anyone like him because it is the 80s) feelings as a plot device to further a straight relationship than has supposedly been building up since season 1 (so they shouldn’t need anything else to further it) just to have this gay character’s feeling disappear once they have served their purpose, which is to further and help a straight relationship, something normal or okay to do?? What kind of representation is that?? That’s actually homophobic, and I mean it. Will ending up single isn’t homophobic of course not, but the way than the duffers have used his feelings as a plot device for a straight couple, specially if they are going to disappear after, is. And we know they’ll either disappear or Will will get a boyfriend (whether it’s Mike or some new guy, and we know there are no new male characters Will’s age) since I don’t know what kind of happy ending unrequited love is (and they have promised us a happy ending for Will).

[forabeatofadrum]

El WooWoo Wednesday to y'all. It's been a while since I kicked one of these off, but here I am.

Also, I just posted one of those "Female character poll" polls, so if you're reading this, feel free to vote on it!

A while ago I got a comment on Isolation, a fic from the Dancin' on that bamboo ceiling series, a series that explores adoption and the Asian representation on Glee. After all, that was at time, uh, questionable. Isolation in particular is about the comments Tina and Yu-Jin (OC) get about adoption and this commenter said it resonated with them. On a whim, I decided to reread the entire series and this night, instead of sleeping, a new topic for a fic in this series came to me: names.

This takes place after Tina and Mike started dating.

Mike's mother Julia is an incredibly kind woman and Tina's nerves about meeting Mike's family fly out of the window. "So glad to meet you, Tina," she says warmly as she shakes Tina's hand, "Mike has said so much about you." "All good things, I hope," Tina says back. It's such a cliché line, but she still wants to impress Julia. "Of course, of course," Julia's smile widens, "Mike told me and my husband about how you met in Glee club and then got close on the Asian forum." "Well. We even went to Asian camp together," Tina says through gritted teeth. She still doesn't really understand why her parents sent her to Asian camp. Julia nods happily and then turns to Mike. She says something in Chinese to him and Mike groans, but smile. "Ma!" he says. "I say how it is," Julia continues, and then says another Chinese word that Tina obviously doesn't understand. Mike says something back in Chinese, which makes Julia laugh. "Oh, clever boy. I go to the kitchen now, okay? I made snacks for Tina!" Julia bids them farewell and Tina follows Mike to the living room. "Do I wanna know?" she jokes. Mike sighs. "Ah well, I always know something's up when my mother uses my Chinese name," he says, "But luckily, it was all good. She complimented you." Chinese name?

Ah, Asian camp.

I have A Lot more to say about names, identity, racism in the Glee fandom about this thing, and what not, so I'll put it under a cut.

That being said, I would ideally have some help here. If you speak/read Korean, could you help me out with the hangul of Yu-Jin's name (유진) and Tina's Korean name (Min Ji, 민지)? And also, if you are Asian and you have a Western name on top of your Asian name, like Mike in this snippet, could I ask you some questions?

Anyway, more musings and explanations on those questions under the cut.

The names of the characters that are central to this series are Tina Cohen-Chang, Yu-Jin Danvers, Blaine Anderson, Mike Chang and Wes Montgomery. That's an interesting bunch and lately, in real life, the whole idea of names and identity has come up a lot, cause most of my friends are trans, lol. We have this inside joke that, even though I am cis, I very much am part of the club of "people who use a name not given by their parents", since due to adoption, my parents never named me.

Someone asked me if I wanted to share my feelings about the fact that some adopted parents change the names of the children they adopt. I will delve more into that in this fic when it comes ot Yu-Jin and Tina, since Tina's name was probably changed, but I chose to give Yu-Jin, who is an OC, a Korean name. (Yu-Jin isn't a self-insert, since we differ a lot, but I'd be lying if I told you I didn't base Yu-Jin's name on my own.)

And well, names are powerful. Not only in mythology, but also when it comes to identity. And I realised that all character in this fic, apart from Yu-Jin, use a Western name: Mike, Wes, Tina and Blaine. So this fic idea started forming in my head, since there is a very interesting conversation to be had here.

So as I said, this chapter (or maybe multi-chapter installment) will be about their names.

Yu-Jin and Tina's story will be about the aforementioned discussion, since that has happened several times in my life and I have thoughts. I chose Min Ji as Tina's name pre-adoption, since that is Jenna Ushkowitz's pre-adoption name. I am lazy, I know. That being said, I might change it, since I also made the choice in this fic to not have the characters be exact copies of the actors who play them, which is why Harry's Puerto Rican heritage isn't part of Mike's character and Blaine's dad is Filipino, not his mom. I do like Min Ji, though. It sounds nice.

Anyway, The reason I'd like some help here is because I have zero (0) knowledge of the Korean language, so I have no clue is Yu-Jin and Min Ji also have a meaning in their hangul. If so, I could maybe use that for the fic. Heck, I don't even know if Min Ji is a surname only, or if it's a combination of a first and last name. Again, I'd like some help.

Wes and Mike have Chinese parents, so I am taking a wild guess here and say that they have Chinese names on their passports. That's because basically every Dutch-Chinese person with Chinese parents I know has this. Honestly, apart from adopted Chinese people, I only know Chinese people here under a "Dutch" name. (Although I do know one that has started using her Chinese name in daily life at the age of 27.)

The thing is that I do not fall into that category, obviously, which is why I'd like to hear some thoughts on it. In my life, I've always experienced Chinese names as a secret within the family. My other Dutch-Chinese classmates would go great lenghts to keep their Chinese names hidden. If people were to ask for their Chinese name, they would refuse to say it. I never understood the secrecy, so if someone would "let me in on the secret", I'd appreciate it. I mean, for this chapter I am using a cop-out by having Tina's POV be the POV on Mike's name, and Tina doesn't understand it either, but I would like to give truth to Mike's part of the story.

I could take the Radio Silence route, where Daniel consiously decided to not use Dae-Sun anymore, due to racism. We'll see.

Next, Wes. In canon, Wes's last name is Montgomery.

(EDIT: lol it's not, it is a big fanon name and the mandela effect got me.)

In this series, the explanation for this is that his parents changed their last name when moving to America, in order to better their chances in the job market and what not. This is based on Chloe Bennet, an American actress who once Tweeted that the reason she uses Bennet professionally is "not because I hate being Asian, but because America is racist" (paraphrased here by me, so the exact wording might be a bit off), since her name is actually Chloé Wang, (or Wāng Kěyíng if you will, which ties back to Mike's story). For Wes's story, I'd like to go back to the moment Wes first tells Mike and Tina this story on the forum.

(Side-note, in Myosotis series, Wes's middle name is Xiùlán (秀兰), which is not canon. Maybe I'll bring it back. I am aware it's a feminine name, though.)

And then we have our boy Blaine Devon Anderson. In this fic, I made the wild switch and made his dad Filipino, since again, we're working with canon here and his mum is portrayed by Gina Gershon. (Cooper is also biologically Pam's child, since yes, they're half-brothers here in this fic to explain why Cooper is white.) This raises the question of whether his dad already had the name Anderson, or whether they took the Jake Long American Dragon approach and the husband and kids took the wife's name, which is a reasonable explanation, but I also portray his dad as a conversative man.

That being said, the thing that came back from a deep, buried memory is... ah... fun times... the time people insisted Blaine, as a character, couldn't be a person of colour, because Blaine Anderson was a rich name.

Yeah.

The big rebuttal to that was obviously the fact that richness got immediately equated with whiteness, and that there are many other reasons that could've let to Blaine being named this way, but yeah, this was a thing. God, being in the fandom when Gina Gershon was cast was not a fun moment. The amount of "opinion pieces" I've had to see that basically were long rants on whether Blaine couldn't be Asian was kinda shit. (Shout out to the person who didn't want Blaine to be a person of colour, cause they're a person of colour and they hated Blaine, and they couldn't deal with the fact that they'd be hating a fellow person of colour.)

So anyway, I kinda wanna do something with his part about how assumption are made based on his name, especially coupled with his appearance. Wes Montgomery will still be clocked as Asian, Blaine not. (Darren actually had a very interesting conversation about being white passing with KAYE on her Golden Hour podcast.)

And that's the plan, folks!

There's obviously one big issue looming over me when it comes to names: the Cohen-Chang of it all. I've explained away other things, like Wes's name and Blaine's family situation, but ever since I came up with this series in 2017, Tina's last name being Cohen-Chang has loomed over this series. So far, I've been just ignoring it, but if I am doing a chapter on names... maybe it will come back to haunt me. There is in my eyes no great explanation why Tina's white family has the last name Cohen-Chang.

Since I am very adamant about working within canon, I cannot change it. Heck, the whole point of this series is giving the shitty canon representation of its Asian characters a place. Hence my dig at Asian camp in the snippet.

Well, okay, there have been explanations. Someone once suggested that maybe Tina's family is mixed as well and that would work, since we never meet her parents in canon, so nothing in canon contradicts me. It does contradict literally every other aspect of Tina in this series, since Tina's story focuses on transnational adoption, especially the story of a Korean girl in a white family. I admit I hadn't thought of this when I started this series, and I am afraid I am too far gone to find a way to add it. We can maybe go back even further in Tina's family tree and add an explanation there.

Another explanation, which is what I initially came up with, was that Tina's parents also changed their last name in order to make Tina feel welcome. But here is the thing: why Chang? It is seen as a Chinese surname. I am aware it can also be a romanisation of the Korean last name 장, but again, Glee canon presents it as a Chinese name. I think it is also pronounced differently in Korean, but again, I don't know shit about Korean. Jenna herself has mentioned in the podcast that it bothered her that Tina was given the same Chinese name as Mike since she's not Chinese (and Kevin was also shocked to hear the show never acknowledged that she is Korean). I wrote Tina's parents as being very sensitive about Tina's Korean heritage, so it would go against my fic to have them make this mistake. Again, I could pretend they used Chang as 장, since even though Glee did imply it to be the Chinese 常, it is never actually stated in the show, but hmmmm. Not only that, but 장 is more commonly romanisised as Jang.

Again, if I weren't limited to canon, I would change it. I have changed Tina's name to Cohen-Choi in my unpublished Sense8 fanfic, but in that fanfic, she isn't adopted and I changed multiple characters (shout out to Blaine Sotto and Brittany S. Pearson). Of course, since Glee canon itself is blurry, there is some freedom, but that freedom has limits as well.

Or maybe, again, I keep ignoring the Cohen-Chang of it all.

Well. That's my musings. If you're still reading this, hi!!! Have a puppy:

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