#because Mike and El make each other feel bad when they are in a romantic relationship

[will80sbyers]

Mike felt like he lost Will and said the last year was weird for him because he didn't have Will by his side and he said he was worrying too much about his own personal insecurities regarding himself and his relationship with El and that he basically regrets not doing more to stay best friends with Will and we know he even called him a lot... so he tried so hard because he was feeling awful and SPECIFICALLY because he was missing Will...

Mike was missing Will more than he was missing El, and even if he was worrying about her it wasn't only because he was worrying about how she was doing there...

in fact, after she started telling him that everything was great...it was because he was worrying about how her doing good in Lenora while he was being bullied at school was making him feel like he should be more cool if he ever wanted to stay in a relationship with her!

and so he didn't even realize that there was something wrong with her in the past months because he was focused on feeling bad for himself...

their whole relationship was based on lies for those months, all those letters that El sent were her putting up an act with him and at the same time he was feeling like a loser back home and like he had even lost the only person that always made him feel better about himself

wow.

Byler is coming to us next season because that's what Mike needs the most (and even wants the most)

He's gonna realize that soon.

❤️

[thebylertheory]

"If you think El doesn't need to end the show in a relationship and she can be happy without one, then that goes for Will too" here's why you're wrong.

The reason why it's different for Will, whether you like it or not, IS because of his sexuality. Homophobia and Will's belief that he'll never find romantic love because of him being gay is a core part of his character. Romantic love, or the lack thereof, has been an important part of his story for at least the past two seasons. He already has an abundance of love from his friends and family. He's not lacking on that part. But he wants romantic love. That is what he desires. They have made that clear. And they have gone out of their way to show us that he wants that with MIKE. And they have even taken it a step further and shown us why Mike and Will would be good together. They bring out the best in each other and they make one another feel good about themselves. So, for them to do all of that and then end the show by reaffirming Will's belief that he was right and he's never going to find love because he's gay is a very cruel and pointless ending for his character. He has suffered enough. He should be allowed to end the show with the boy he loves and believing that he's worthy of that type of love. He deserves to have the relationship he's always wanted and thought he would never have.

Romantic love has never been an important part of El's story. Since season 1, she has been trying to find a family/home and she has been trying to find out who she is in a world she was isolated from since birth. That is the most important part of her story and character. Her relationship with Mike has never been the main focus. In fact, she does better and she thrives more and she sees the most development as a person when her and Mike are separated. They have shown us that their relationship holds her back and that they're not good for each other. They don't make each other feel loved or good about themselves. Now, that's not to say I don't think El should EVER be in a relationship. She can! But a romantic relationship, especially one with Mike, is not as important to her story as it is to Will's. In fact, a relationship with Mike has done more bad than good for her. She doesn't NEED romantic love or a relationship with Mike for her happy ending. Her happy ending can consist of her just being able to live comfortably with her family and knowing who she is and feeling confident in her identity. That ending is what will be the most fulfilling for her character.

[milevenstancyendgame]

Reasons why Mileven drama/breakup and Byler endgame in ST5 are unlikely

Looking at the whole show, we can see two constants regarding these relationships:

-Mike and El keep overcoming external and internal obstacles, and always end up together again

-Will's homosexuality is hinted at from the start, as well as his deep feelings for Mike.

Regarding the latter, this creates the expectation to have Will accept his own feelings and then his friends do the same.

In S4, it's clear that we got the first. Will's monologue didn't achieve the coming out, but he did express his love for Mike, albeit disguising it as El's feelings. He basically sacrificed himself in order to support Mike, who in turn was able to support El, who then managed to (barely) save Max.

Based on that, I think we have two possible scenarios for S5:

-Will won't confess his love to Mike openly. He has accepted that Mike and El love each other, and we see him having moved on from this right from the beginning of the season. His coming out as gay will still happen though, and Mike's acceptance of that will be crucial for Will.

-Will will confess to Mike that he's in love with him - I'm thinking of the close-up of his face during Mike's monologue in S4, when he says "And somehow I thought telling you how I felt would make that day hurt more." Will clearly feels the same way, but maybe hearing Mike confess this to El gives him the courage to confess it to Mike as well.

No matter which scenario we'll get, I think the focus will be on Mike's acceptance of Will's homosexuality, on him being different, but Mike making him feel better for it. It's possible that Mike might mess it up, not knowing what to say, but no doubt he will be accepting of Will's sexuality, and I think this will give power to Will to be freely himself (and maybe kick some butt).

However, from a storytelling perspective, I really don't see Mike suddenly realising he loves Will and not El. It would be extremely bad writing, because they have been telling us that Mike and El love each other since they first met in S1.

If they had not planned for them to be endgame, they would have sunken the ship already. There were plenty of opportunities. But what we got instead were relationship issues and them being able to work through these issues.

Mike not being very articulate at telling El how he feels about her has also been a constant since S1. However, this finally got resolved at the end of S4.

That's why I think that ST5 will start of with a strenghtened bond between them and their love won't be tested any more.

Mike finally told her how much he loves her, El has no more reason to doubt him. Mike doing a 180 degree turn and realising he lied to El would be equal to creating a new character for Mike. It also would spit on everything they took the pain to show us of Mike and El's love during the whole show.

From a storytelling perspective, this would be total self-sabotage. Why waste a whole series to tell viewers that two characters are in love and then saying "Surprise! It was a lie all along!"? What would be achieved by that?

If it had been their goal to show us that romantic feelings can change, then they would have had to tell a completely different story and would have sowed the seeds for doubt from the very beginning. Instead we got nothing but soulmatism for Mike and Eleven (including their relationship issues, because they overcame those).

Also, remember that this story is about defeating the big evil with love. El is the super-hero. Destroying her biggest source of power (love) would make it impossible for her to win against anyone.

Apart from all this, considering everything that needs to be wrapped up in S5, there simply is not enough time to have Will confess to Mike, Mike figuring out his new feelings, getting up the courage to tell El, the drama of breaking up the main ship of the show, have El get over it, establish Mike and Will as a couple, get all their friends' support, AND defeat Henry.

This is why they resolved Mike and El's conflict in S4. Because there won't even be time for their established relationship to have any drama. This is why they already showed us that Will accepts and supports Mike and El's love, so the love triangle situation has been resolved as well.

The only thing left to resolve is Will's coming out to his friends, which doesn't need to take up a lot of time. It could be one or two scenes.

[sogoodtoheritsvicious]

it’s tiiiiimeee

i haven’t watched this show in full in five years 😵‍💫but it’s october and i was gonna watch thee byeler episode aka 2x02 on halloween anyway so i thought i might as well rewatch the entire show and make it everyone’s problem

forgot about the jumpscare being right at the beginning

baby will <3

they were all BABIES and now they’re all grown and the damn final season still hasn’t premiered lmao

dustin was so adorable

“it was a seven.” “huh?” “the roll, it was a seven. the demogorgon, it got me.” the way will was incapable of lying to mike, GOD, i feel sick

fun fact: will’s adorable little “see you tomorrow!” is immediately what made him my favorite

“kiss your mom ‘night for me!” lmfao

forgot how damn good the jumpscares are

gonna need mike to see will with a gun at least once before this show is over

“damn,you look like hell, chief!” “oh, yeah? well, i looked better than your wife when i left her this morning.” HELP

“lonnie used to call him queer.” “is he?” FUCKING HELL, HOPPER 😭 i completely forgot about that scene lmfao

EL, MY BABY

benny was such a good man :( he didn’t deserve to die

that poor dog was so hated irl 😭

“you think we got a problem here?” my brother in christ, a boy is missing

“i’m the only one that cares about will!” mike loves will so much, i’m gonna cry

i completely forgot about hop’s daughter

mike sneaking out while steve’s sneaking in 😭 this show is also a comedy

winona ryder the actress that you are

chapter 2

maybe i’m going to find out in this ep i can’t remember if they ever investigate benny’s death or link it to everything else that was going on

“stop it, you’re freaking her out!” “she’s freaking ME out!” lucas was the only real one in the beginning

poor baby. el didn’t even know what privacy was before this moment.

“oh, you can speak!” she gets that a lot 😭

mike and el had so much potential as friends, FUCK the duffers for ruining them by making it romantic. now they don’t even seem like they like each other

i hope s5 focuses on more on will and lucas’ friendship

jonathan was such a good brother

brenner. always at the scene of the fucking crime.

mike naming his dino ‘rory’ because he roars 🥹

FUCK BRENNER ALL MY HOMIES HATE BRENNER

karen was such a good mom in the beginning

i hate lonnie with a passion, he’s an abusive piece of shit who should’ve been killed off

i don’t blame lucas at all for the way he was acting with el at first

“one kid goes missing, the other one runs wild? some real fine parenting right there.”

they kept pointing out so many similarities between will and el, i can’t believe they didn’t go anywhere with it

“can’t ask a corpse a question.” die. just die.

nancy: *losing her virginity*

barb: *losing her life*

chapter 3

“no one breaks in here.” yeah, they just break out

love jonathan but steve wasn’t exactly wrong about the pictures

joyce byers the mother that you are

mike wanted nothing to do with el once they found will’s “body” but we’re supposed to believe that he loved her the second he saw her in the woods.

chapter 4

i can’t believe they showed that mike has all of the drawings will has created and expected us to be normal about it

“screw his funeral!” “what?!” TEARS

jonathan loves joyce and will so much 🥺

steve was such an unbearable asshole

can we PLEASE talk about charlie being able to hold his own with winona in that scene about will’s body? we already know winona’s gonna blow it out of the water but he did just as well

completely forgot about mike doing el’s makeup this episode dkfkgjd

“where are you from, exactly?” “bad place.” 😭

that troy scene still sends

“the kid is dead. end of story.”

they put too much pressure on el. i hope when all this shit is over she’s able to just be a normal kid.

this show used to be so fucking good

i love how hop tries lying to the state trooper and when that doesn’t work he just knocks him the fuck out 😭

I FUCKING HATE LONNIE

i’m so glad they had jonathan realize that joyce was telling the truth about everything that was going on instead of just dragging it all out.

chapter 5

hate lonnie for taking advantage of joyce when she’s clearly in a vulnerable position

“wait until we tell will that jennifer hayes was crying at his funeral” lmao

all this season is showing me is how severely they’ve robbed us of joyce and will scenes in future episodes

“man, these aren’t real nilla wafers.” mr. clark must think they’re horrible friends, i’m crying. dustin is right, though, fake nilla wafers suck.

“it might even swallow us whole.” and that’s exactly what’s happening by the end of s4

“he’s wanted to go to nyu since he was six. years. old!” she should’ve killed lonnie right then & there

can’t prove it but jonathan fell in love with nancy the second she shot that can on her first try

jonathan clocked nancy’s ass BAD in the woods

forgot just how much lucas hated el this season

byeler and jancy have paralleled each other too many times for it to just mean nothing in the end.

chapter 6

the jumpscares in this show are top tier

what i love about this show is how it still has me holding my breath even though i already know what’s going to happen

“i don’t wanna be alone. do you?” “no.” i was gonna say he wouldn’t be alone cause joyce is there but i remembered he doesn’t wanna tell her til it’s all over

early jancy were so awkward, i love them <3

“i could have been killed!” “which is exactly why we need her. she’s a weapon!” but mike loves her at this point, right?

lucas loves will so much, it’s a shame we haven’t seen much more of their friendship

“you’re my best friend, too.” “okay :D” dustin looked so happy 😭

“what’s the weirdest part? me or the bear trap?” “you, definitely you.” pls

jonathan beating the shit out of steve was so satisfying

“only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart.” i’m not even gonna say anything. you all know.

we don’t give mike enough appreciation for being such a selfless person. he did everything he could to find will, he almost killed himself to protect dustin, he let el live in his basement without even knowing her, etc.

“she’s our friend and she’s crazy!” i love dustin with my whole heart

BABIES 🫶🏼

chapter 7

“if anyone asks where i am, i’ve left the country.” this season is really reminding me why mike was my favorite in the beginning

i wanna hug el so bad

“our son with a girl?” ted, to mike:

“a psychotic child broke his arm!” “a little girl, chief. a little one.” “that tone! do you hear that tone?” “honestly, i’m just trying to state a fact. it was a little girl.” this entire exchange is sending me so bad

“you couldn’t take jonathan byers.” get his ass!

it was such a great choice to have joyce be the first one to ever give el comfort because she’s such a soft, comforting person and i can’t think of anyone better

chapter 8

made it to the finale! gonna be honest, i didn’t think i’d get here in only two days but this show sucked me in the exact way it did the first time

“go to hell.” joyce is everything

waiting til this episode to give flashbacks on hop’s daughter was an excellent choice

steve just wanted to apologize to jonathan and now he’s an exasperated mother of seven. life comes at ya quick!!

choosing not to acknowledge that scene beyond this for the sake of my mental health

el is a badass but she shouldn’t have to be

brenner should’ve never made it to season 4

these kids acted their ASSES off in this show

GOD THIS JOYCE, HOPPER AND WILL SCENE

you’d think everything that went down would make nancy and karen care more about mike and pay attention to him but it doesn’t. mike deserves so much better.

will is in a hospital bed worrying about jonathan’s hand. I LOVE THIS KID.

byeler hug <3

they all really wanted to tell will about jennifer hayes crying 😭

“her name’s eleven.” “like the number?” he sounded baffled lmaooo

getting will back must’ve been so bittersweet for nancy

hop keeps throwing away lit cigarettes and all i keep thinking is that he’s gonna start a wildfire eventually

mike’s soft ‘see you, will’ 🥹

the camera!!

“your wife doesn’t have time to cook for me.” pls

the byers family 🫶🏼

my love for this show has officially been revived. rewatching this reminded me why i loved this show so much in the first place. the acting is amazing, especially from the kids, the writing was great, and the fucking jumpscares were incredible. i’m so excited to start season 2!!

[glisten-inthedark]

I broke this into 2 asks because it’s so dang long lol

(Part 1)

Tbh I think the thing that recently really sold me on M/El not being endgame, even if Byler also isn’t endgame (but with more of a chance of being endgame) is the painting & Will’s speech

The writers have to address it in season five. Like that’s straight up non negotiable from writing perspective. Frankly, it would just be bad writing if they don’t bring the painting up in season five because neither Mike nor Eleven know the truth. El has no idea that Will lied about the painting being from her and she doesn’t even know that the painting Will was working on was for Mike. Mike has no idea that Will lied about the painting being commissioned by El and that the words that he said were his, not El’s. They can’t leave this unresolved in season five! It would not make any sense!

Plus, Mike and El need to have a resolving discussion about where they stand since they ended s4 not speaking to each other beyond a couple words. We the audience have that resolution. It’s not something that can happen offscreen, even if they do breakup offscreen prior to the start of s5 we eventually need them to sit down and resolve their relationship for the audience’s sake.

So, what could happen when Mike finally brings up the painting to El? If El took credit for commissioning the painting and the words that Will said, then it’s still an unresolved plot point because El knows that she’s lying and Will would eventually realize that she lied and the audience would know that she lied and we’d be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Plus, I just don’t think El would do that. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to lie that fast lol, her confusion about the painting would shine through.

So, what? She tells Mike that it wasn’t her and yet they still get back together or reaffirm their romantic relationship? And this is where it really gets me. Because either Mike or Eleven or both would have to say something that is more heartfelt, honest, emotional, and affirming than what Will said in the van. And I don’t think Mike should have to! He already gave his I love you speech to El, and it would not make sense to me for them to write another ily speech from Mike to El but this time with better and more personal details of what he loves about her beyond her being a superhero. It would just feel repetitive and make the audience go. “well then why didn’t he say that in s4? Why did they drag this out into s5?” Yeah, every Byler fan knows that Mike’s I love ily speech to Eleven is rather lackluster because he pedestalizes her in it once again, but the general audience doesn’t necessarily realize that. I didn’t realize that until recently! So to the GA, his speech isn’t framed as anything to resolve or fix! So them rehashing it in s5 in order to put M/El back together will feel clunky, especially if they had a subplot of Mike basically needing to figure out how to say I love you “the right way” to El which, just……that poor dead horse, stop beating it please! Even the GA will be annoyed I bet.

ATTENTION!

This answer will get very long, so please be patient with us! I'll add my thoughts under the cut.

Part 2 and 3 of the Anon Ask

Plus—that would place all the onus back onto Mike when we’ve seen that El doesn’t make him feel like more than a loser nerd. She doesn’t mean to make him feel that way (I love El sm, fr) but we see in the van that Mike views her as out of his league, despite the fact they’ve been dating for a while now and have known each other for years, and says some disparaging things about himself. So imo, in s5, it would make more sense for it to be El’s turn to tell Mike how she feels about him beyond “I love you,” all the things she loves and appreciates about him & whatnot, EXCEPT:

1) if Mike doesn’t rehash his ily speech with more personal and less pedestal-y things he loves about El, it’s essentially tell the audience that there was nothing wrong with his OG ily speech and it should be accepted at face value, which, yikes….

2) whatever El says to Mike needs to be just as vulnerable, genuine, lovely, uplifting, and romantic as what Will told him in the van, if not more. Because if it’s not, I think even the GA will be disappointed. If El doesn’t make Mike feel as appreciated and needed and loved as he felt in the van, then why are they even together? It could make even the GA a bit sad that Will loves Mike the way Mike wants to be loved, the way El doesn’t make him feel, (the way Mike will find out, via the painting, Will does) but Mike is with El despite this. It would feel like a strong, genuine love is right out of reach from Mike, and like he’s settling or missing out

3) even if it is “just as, if not more” all those things, it’ll be hard to not make it sound like Will’s speech, especially since what Will said to Mike clearly meant a lot and is likely how Mike wants to be loved, especially the part about being needed. Mike clearly wants to be needed, to feel necessary, useful. Tbh, it was explored more in s1 & s2, but Mike’s a caretaker! And I don’t think El wants a caretaker beyond Hop & Joyce, so I don’t think she’d say what he wants to hear.

So, what? Do Mike & El reaffirm their relationship, have a resolving discussion where they get back together, and THEN the painting gets brought up? And then, what—Mike realizes El didn’t say or think those things about him? How would that not sour their relationship once again? Because Will told him, “You’re the heart!” which implies to the audience that part of why Mike felt he could say ily was Will’s speech. Like, “This is how she feels about me, I need to tell her I love her!” except that wasn’t how she felt/thought about him. In order to not sour their relationship again, #2 would need to apply, or else Mike may question how El even feels/what she thinks about him

Worst case scenario would be that Mike finding out the truth somehow results in M/El staying together and Mike going to let Will down easy, but…….literally how do M/El stay together after all this? And why end s4 with them not speaking if Mike supposedly did everything right with his speech? It would just be bad writing, plain & simple

Unfortunately I still think there’s a possibility of an outcome where neither Byler nor M/El are endgame, but bc of all this pointing toward M/El not being endgame, I think there’s a strong chance Byler will be—waaaayyyyy moreso than M/El, for sure.

oh and I realized I didn’t make it clear, parts 1 & 2 were all speculation regarding how M/El could possibly get back/stay together in s5 & why I don’t think route where M/El is endgame makes sense, writing-wise

In terms of actual predictions, I think, with all that considered, the most likely scenarios to happen in s5 are:

Mike & El talk about their relationship, Mike brings up the painting, they realize what happened, they amicably break up, Byler endgame

All of that except the order is switched, where they amicably break up and then Mike brings up the painting, thanking El for it, bam truth, bam clarity, Byler endgame

Either of those except Mike lets Will down easy instead, Mike ends the season single & Will is either also single or gets a random, half-assed love interest as an unsatisfying consolation prize (this outcome would still devastate me but it’s not impossible, sadly)

My thoughts

About the painting: They will definitely bring it up, not only for all the reasons you've mentioned but because it has been pivotal to the story as a whole.

Because this is what we have: Will loves Mike > Will makes a painting for Mike > Will assumes Mike doesn't and will never love him so attributes his own feelings to El > Mike may or may not believe that the painting is indeed from El > If Mike has feelings for Will and understands what he meant, he's elated but also working through what that means for them > If then Will tells him "he's the heart" as a way to get Mike to confess his feelings, Mike is disappointed but he does nonetheless because he does love El, but not like that > But it doesn't work and El loses, as we saw.

The very existence of Will's love informs his actions but also informs where the story goes.

It's not just that it'd be bad writing, it's that the fact that Will's feelings for Mike exist to create a painting is pivotal to the story, without them, everything would've been different.

As to a discussion between El and Mike: One important thing to note is that before leaving, El signs her note to Mike as "From El", in a clear callback to the fact he doesn't sign Love, Mike. This alone tells us everything we need to know. So El isn't going to lie, not only because she's against it, but because she would also be confused but she isn't stupid, it won't take much for her to put the pieces together and figure out what's going on.

And the thing about them reaffirming their romantic relationship, it doesn't seem to be their intention. The writers make it clear with every couple that two people don't need to say that they love each other for the feeling to be real or for it to be noticeable.

Jancy doesn't say I love you, Jopper doesn't say it, Lumax doesn't say it because they don't have to. (I didn't say it, you didn't have to). When you love someone, you show them with body language, with actions, in everyday actions, but Mike clearly doesn't because needs to beg for him to say it.

The fact that El didn't even speak with Mike for two days when she had ample opportunity to do so shows us a little bit of where her head is at. I don't think she wants to get back together with Mike, and as you said, them staying together only for the painting to be brought up

And to add to your points about El and Mike being together, another thing: If they wanted that to happen, they could have found a way of having Mike with El at the Nina Project. And beyond that, they wouldn't have made Will fall in love in the first place.

All your points about the painting are spot on, and honestly, they could've addressed it already because a lot is going on already without adding this to the mix.

I already said this before, but the choice of Will loving Mike means something will be sacrificed, whether is Will's happiness or Mike's relationship with El.

Because honestly, Will doesn't have a crush on Mike, he doesn't just like Mike. No, he's ready to push Mike towards El, to sacrifice his chance at even a friendship with Mike for his sake. Will is ready to cut himself open and watch himself bleed for Mike.

This isn't someone that can just "get over" Mike and the curious thing is that I don't have to tell you that, Will did. " El (I) need you, and she (I) always will". The writers made him say that, we didn't make it up.

But yeas, all of your points are valid about Mike and El, because even on the 0.00001% chance of Byler not being endgame, neither should Mil*ven.

[emblazons]

Thinking about that post that said Will had to be 'written out' of some of the S3 narrative because so much of it was about performing heteronormative relationships…& as an emotionally intelligent gay kid he quite literally stands entirely outside of both of those things.

Like. The Duffers said the premise of S3 was puberty, but in truth it's more like kids trying to act more mature than they are, not only by pretending they’re not into “childish” things but also emulating the relationships of the adults around them (for good & bad).

In S3, Lucas is literally just parroting his dad (and whoever else) when it comes to explaining relationships to Mike, and Max is projecting her displeasure/fear of divorce (because of her own parents) by repeatedly breaking up with Lucas and encouraging El to do the same while quoting Cosmo to her. El has her own streak of performative influence from her time watching all those soaps while locked up for a year—and Mike is just doing the best he can to keep up, seeing as (as we see with the Karen considering but then never actually cheating with Billy plot) Wheelers are often motivated by responsibility and duty to their relationships more than actual feelings or depth with their partners.

From the very first episode though…Will literally says “I’m not gonna fall in love," and while I know a lot of people like to talk about how that's kind of a sign he’s already falling in love with Mike, it’s also showing us that he stands apart from all the other people and “couples” we see this season…because he’s not performing social rituals trying to emulate the relationships of the adults around him.

Will is the only character outside of Dustin (who also comments on this tendency to be fake in love to Steve, ironically enough) who is refusing to take part in the ritualistic gambits of "dating" with his friends, on top of embracing his desire to continue doing the things he enjoys even as we are learning he is genuinely in love with Mike.

Will is the only one being genuine about his interests and desires rather than performing normativity (social and heteronormative) like the rest of his friends--the only one who is in love with his chosen interest because he enjoys being around him, and its that dissonance from the "play"/ sandbox narrative of S3 that makes it seem like The Duffers "forgot" about him (which, given the fact that S5 is confirmed as Will's Coming of Age season, obviously isn't true).

...I just think it's interesting that the season where everyone starts being shallow (because...thats the word for it. We should bring that word back lmao) is the season where it feels like Will gets neglected the most—not because he isn't important to the story, but because Season 3 was when The Duffers introduced dishonesty and ongoing romantic relationships as a concept for their "kid" characters, and Will's heartfelt affection for Mike and unwillingness to lie to anyone stands apart from that.

-

Bonus Thought: If you really want to get into it, you can also pull on how watching Will lie to Mike in Season 4 about the painting hurts all that much more because its the first time he's betrayed his character to "match the energy" of his peers—him "ripping off the bandaid" was him not only choosing to save Mike & El's relationship by sacrificing his own feelings, but also him choosing move into the same kind of dishonesty and shallowness he's been watching everyone around him get away with for two seasons now, even though it was going to break his heart to do so.

S4 got Lucas and Max back to the honesty and closeness they hadn't been mature enough to manage in S3...but that's not something Will got to see for himself. Getting us back to honesty for El, Mike and now Will (who have also been lying to themselves and each other in their performances of normalcy) will be a critical part of the "repair" that happens in Season 5.

[faelorelia]

Deciphering the Will-El-Mike Love Triangle: A Personal Perspective

I stopped liking Mileven as a couple way before I started shipping Byler, and the reason had nothing to do with Will, actually.

As someone who appreciates both El’s and Mike’s characters, I firmly believe they were always meant to be friends. They care deeply about each other, but their relationship has felt forced for a very long time. The main reason I stopped liking them as a couple is that I didn’t like how Mike treated El at the beginning of S3, which led El to “dump his ass.” Subconsciously, Mike believed he knew what was better for her and, without realizing it, hindered her from developing her own personality. Also, he wasn’t always good to her in S1 when he used her to find Will and snapped at her a few times. Don’t get me wrong – Mike is not a bad person, and he did many good things for El, but they simply didn’t seem to work as a couple. All they did when things went well was kiss and make out. They didn’t have any common interests or things to talk about, only the Upside Down-related adventures. This is one of the reasons I find their couple boring: when physical attraction is the only thing keeping you romantically interested in someone, it won’t last.

I watched all four seasons as a GA member, and my opinion is based on what I saw from this show. I didn’t even think about Will when considering El and Mike initially – this is just something I noticed when watching the show. Yes, I suspected Will had feelings for Mike since S3 came out but didn’t think they could possibly be reciprocated at that time. My initial thought was, “Aww, poor Will, I feel bad for him.” This thought only strengthened after watching S4. My love for Will as a character grew, and I felt a protective instinct towards him (much like Joyce, haha), but he is not the reason I think Mileven doesn’t work. Observing El and Mike’s relationship in S4 only made me like them as a couple even less. I don’t think Mike was scared of saying “I love you” just because he felt worthless and was afraid of losing her. I think there’s something deeper than that. Otherwise, why did the season finish with El being annoyed at him after his “brilliant” monologue? And let's not forget the reason why Mike finally said he loved El and who pushed him to do that.

I also believe that both El and Mike are incredible characters and their own heroes, but they just don’t bring out the best in each other. El does need someone to care for her and make her feel loved, but she needs a familial kind of love much more than a romantic one. And she has always needed people who would love her no matter what and wouldn’t make her feel like she can only be loved if she’s a “superhero.” She needs someone who would love her regardless of whether she has her powers or not. And she needs someone with whom she would still be independent and her own person. And I don’t think Mike is right for her in this respect.

Likewise, I don’t think El can give Mike what he needs. He doesn’t just want someone to kiss and make out with; he needs more than that. He needs someone who would share his hobbies and interests; someone who would understand him without saying a word; someone who is simply there for him and is always willing to support him; someone who makes him feel loved no matter what. I don’t think that El and Mike can love each other romantically under any circumstances. I think they started a relationship with their ideal images of each other in mind but later struggled because they felt they both didn’t live up to each other’s perfect images of themselves. And that’s what makes this relationship doomed to fail.

And then, you know what happened? It suddenly dawned on me, shedding light on many things I hadn’t quite understood at the beginning. It was that kind of moment when you think, “Oh, so that’s why! It has always been there but it took me so long to figure it out!”

There is exactly the kind of person in the series that can make Mike feel loved the way he wants to. The character that shares his interests and hobbies and is always there for him. The one that loves Mike unconditionally and is always ready to sacrifice his own feelings just to make his love feel better about himself, feel worthy and needed. This character has been there all along, and this character’s name is – you guessed it right – Will. And I wouldn’t be saying all of this if I believed Mike was totally straight, and could never love Will the way the latter loves him.

From the very first season, the show makes it clear that Mike and Will’s relationship is not the same as the one boys their age usually have (compare it to Lucas and Dustin’s, for example). We are both told and shown that Mike cares about Will much deeper than anyone else in their circle of friends, and he’s the one who was losing his mind, thinking he had lost Will but nevertheless never stopped looking. Mike is someone who’s always been ready to do anything for Will, to be there for him when he had nightmares and was possessed, and bike to him through the storm just to apologize for hurting his feelings. Mike has always cared about Will very deeply, and even though with time the societal pressures forced him to set some boundaries of what is allowed between two male friends, Mike often “slipped” and demonstrated his gentleness and attentiveness towards Will. The way he often looks at Will and the things he says to him when they’re alone make me believe he has feelings for him even more. He may not fully realize them yet, he may be confused about those feelings, and he may certainly convince the GA that he’s straight, but those feelings are there and just haven’t come out yet. He needs time to understand himself better and feel ready to acknowledge his feelings.

And returning to El, I strongly believe that her arc is leaning towards independence. She desperately needs to break free from everything and everyone that has been holding her back, to start living for herself at last and become her own person. This is how she can finally get her happy ending. And I think that Mike-friend can help her achieve that much better than Mike-boyfriend. As Max implied, El needs to discover herself without thinking about what her loved ones want her to be, and this is the right way for her character to develop. El is amazing and deserves happiness, as do Will and Mike.

Please note that this is my personal opinion and the impression I got from watching the show. You’re completely free to disagree with me and have a totally different perspective. If you ship Mileven or dislike Byler, simply move on. I’m sharing my thoughts here for those who I know will support them, and I’m not here to engage in ship wars. I’m not going to interact with you if you’re here to spit bile and troll those who don’t have the same opinion as you. Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk. :)

[thestrangestthing89]

I really don't like how terms meant for adult relationships keep getting applied to children. It happens a lot with the Mike/Will/El dynamic. I think it's often being done by really young parts of the fandom trying to sound more mature or trying to legitimize the Mike/El relationship. But it's really problematic and overlooks a lot of what's going on here. Some of it is obviously absurd - like calling Will a home wrecker. This term is for married couples and they are fresh out of middle school. Mike and El don't have a home to wreck. But some of it just simplifies the issue at hand - like saying Mike and Will are emotionally cheating. This implies there is an affair happening and they are young teens so it just sounds silly. Affairs are for adults. Not to mention that Mike and El's relationship is not deep. It's a silly middle school relationship that basically only qualifies as a relationship because they say that's what it is. They don't have the dynamics of a romantic relationship. No one is cheating here. Mike and Will are two scared kids who have heard their whole lives that being gay is bad and wrong. We know Will at least got bullied his whole life for this, both at school and by his father. It's likely Mike was too, but if he wasn't he still heard Will getting abused for this through their whole childhood. They've been taught their feelings are wrong. So they are pretending not to have them or trying very hard to ignore them. Mike and El are only together because they both think they are supposed to and they are trying to be normal. They want to fit in with the other kids. This doesn't mean they don't care about each other but there is a big difference between that and having a serious relationship. Mike and Will have known each other since childhood and have always had an emotional bond and close relationship. It didn't just start suddenly when El came into the picture. It's just how their relationship is. So Mike isn't suddenly emotionally cheating on El. He's acting the same way he's always acted with Will. Nothing about their dynamic has changed. There are a lot of implications when terms like this are used but my main problem is the one that says El's feelings are the only one's that matter. As if Mike and Will are horrible people for having feelings when El exists. They aren't and Mike isn't using her any more than she's using him. They both want to feel normal and use this relationship to accomplish that. There is this outcry of "what about El" whenever people bring up Byler and it's not ok. El's feelings are important but they aren't the only ones that are and no one is required to suffer to make her happy. She also doesn't love Mike or want to be in a relationship with him so it doesn't even matter. But Mike and Will are allowed to have feelings for each other even when Mike and El are together. There is this idea that they can't because it will somehow ruin the "purity" of Mike and Will's dynamic and this is so, so problematic. There aren't always clear lines drawn when one relationship ends and another starts. It in no way means that peoples feelings in the second relationship are less legitimate. No relationship is perfect and expecting them to be is unfair and unrealistic. It doesn't make their relationship less serious because Mike was in another one first (I would argue he was with Will first anyway just because he's known him longer).

A label doesn't need to be attached to this dynamic at all. They can just be confused and scared kids who are figuring out how to navigate their feelings. That's all it is. There is no need to judge them for not navigating this perfectly. No one ever does.

[kiirotoao]

Thinking about how Mileven could break up. I don't see how Mike can be the one to do it. Mainly because it has to be done in a way where El isn't the victim of heartbreak, otherwise it makes Mike look really bad to the audience and the audience needs to root for Mike and (Byler's) success. (At least to those who are not already there).

If she's the one to break things off, however, it could make Mike the sympathetic character. As long as he is simultaneously having gay realizations, that way it's not as if he's just choosing Will as a back up plan. (obviously Will isn't but it needs to feel organic and independent from his relationship with El)

Does that mean the break up has to be El driven or just mutual? (Mutual at least seems to have the least amount of breakup "negativity").

The other factor is Mike or El finding out about the painting. But I would argue that if El finds out and decides to leave Mike for the sake of Will happiness.... doesn't that just make her even more the sympathetic party and Mike is the one she loves.

If season 5 Eleven starts to move away from Mike romantically, I guess that wouldn't be an issue anymore

It all depends of how it's written. I want Byler to happen but for me it still needs to be executed well. The multiple time jumps could also help with giving more Byler/Mileven space to play out.

Thats it! Thanks

Thanks for the thoroughly written ask, dear anon! I love having some content to gnaw on 👌

So, yes, the question of how would Mike and El break up. I really hope that it’s mutual and that they both realize that they simply aren’t working romantically.

I find it interesting how you factor in sympathy and perception of Mike and El. In the Steve-Nancy-Jonathan triangle, I think that perception is relevant. Nancy is shamed for bringing Jonathan over. Steve and Nancy are the affluent power couple of Hawkins High, and Jonathan enters from a down-to-earth, poor family. It’s the talk of the entire school when Steve and Nancy get together - everyone knows their names. The thing is that I believe that Nancy has romantic chemistry with Steve as well as Jonathan, so for them, emotional bond and sympathy when breaking up is quite felt since choice and weighing options of relationships is highlighted for their dynamic.

But as for the Will-El-Mike triangle, their status isn’t the focus, it’s their interactions. That’s not to say that Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan’s interactions don’t matter, but as kids, Will, El, and Mike are still much more clearly developing and changing. Their concepts of romance are portrayed to us as much more consequential of each other rather than outside influence. Take Nancy and Steve being influenced by Tommy and Carol. Take Nancy and Jonathan being influenced by Murray. Those types of waves in questioning relationships don’t happen between the kids. The only “outside” influence to muddle Mike and El’s relationship is Hopper who doesn’t or at least didn’t like Mike and made him lie to El, but otherwise, the kids are never under scrutiny or peer pressure to do things to/with the person they like.

What also makes Will, El, and Mike unique from Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan is that all three of the youngsters know each other very well. Mike and Will are best friends. Mike and El are bonded after finding Will together. El and Will became sister and brother. They are not mutually exclusive, they exist in each other’s lives very tightly. Meanwhile, Steve and Jonathan haven’t had a proper conversation (besides arguments) in canon. Ever.

So, yes, I think that a typical sympathetic break up would blur things for Will, El, and Mike, but the thing is that I also don’t think that that’s how the break up will be handled.

At the crux of it all, they both love Will. They both clearly want him to be happy, too, and I think that that starts at acceptance. If Will comes out to the both of them, I think that they’ll be able understand what he means and sweetly realize that their entire situation works out for the better if Mike and El break up. It won’t be as smooth as that, of course - and, actually, I think that this might be the hardest part of the process as Will would probably feel too guilty to ever come out to either of them and risk changing what he has with them let alone expose his lie to Mike - but I think that all the pieces can clearly fall into place as their loves for each other mix and collide.

I know that Will is a point of contention and consideration, and I think that it wouldn’t feel as complete of a break up if Mike and El don’t address him and what he means for their standing relationship. Will did so much for Mike and El in season 4. He tried to push El to tell the truth about the bullying, and he tried to encourage Mike that he was “the heart” and that El needed him. Although neither of those pushes ended up in full, fleshed-out conversations, that’s not on Will. That’s on Mike and El. And the fact that neither of them could deepen their conversations even with Will’s help says a lot to me. But yeah, we’re here leaning on a break up, I know that I’m not here to argue that. The question is how.

I think that Will’s painting needs to be addressed, and once it is, no matter where Will possibly coming out factors into this, El will realize that her brother has a crush on Mike and not a girl, Mike will realize that he’s fallen in love with Will’s affections and thus him, and they’ll both be able to sort out their circumstances. Of course, it’s not that simple, but I think that they’ve come far enough to discern how to handle the difficulties. El needs to know that she’s not the monster first, and Mike needs to know that he’s worth more than being El’s support first. Then their disagreements about their perceptions will come more fully into view, which will lead to a mutual understanding.

I agree that it would be tough if it was one-sided in either direction. Because in order for it to be one-sided and difficult would mean that either of them haven’t fully grappled with who they are.

But if they do understand who they are, it puts many awkward notions at ease. Because if El is for Will’s happiness, she’s also for her own. She doesn’t have to be against herself. She can see how Mike isn’t the one romantically for her and that she can have someone who is openly affectionate, who writes “love” on every letter and note. He doesn’t see her qualities like a partner but as a confidant, and that’s okay. They can still be great together, they can still be close. And if Mike is able to realize his sexuality and point of affection for Will as romantic, it’s not like he suddenly needs to remove El from his life. Hell, El and Will are siblings now, so whoever he’s with, he’s going to have the other there. I think that El is special to Mike; she always will be. She’s the first person that’s given him this opportunity of a lifetime, and I think that he can love her as fondly as ever, just not as a girlfriend anymore.

Their bond as each other’s protectors and safe places will trump their being exes, if you ask me.

So here’s how I dream it to go: Mike and El talk. It’s casual at first, but they’re both still tense after all the tragedy. They talk about how scared/worried they are, how they just don’t seem to hold each other up. Even though they’re both trying, something is off. They like being together, but if this is love, then it doesn’t feel quite right. They both agree. Mike still genuinely thanks her for the painting to which things shift. El doesn’t know about the painting. It was for him? Mike is now flustered. El realizes that Will is in love with Mike. They piece it together aloud, and she asks how Mike feels about him. All it takes is for Mike to convey that he does like Will. He apologizes. He feels horrible, guilty. But El just puts her hand on his. It’s okay. She didn’t realize it, either. The fault isn’t always on one thing, she’s learned. They hug. Something like that.

I want to close this by saying that I agree that it all comes down to how the break up is written, and I think that the writers have all the pieces to make it pretty lovely. Will, El, and Mike all love each other very much, it’s just a matter of sorting out the displaced romance without losing anything other kind of love for each other.

Basically…

Their central bond of unconditional love doesn’t ever need to change, just the status of their flexible relationships.

[will80sbyers]

What makes you believe that byler is real? I ship Mileven personally, but I'm trying to understand byler shippers' logic, because a lot of the time it feels like it makes no sense.

I personally think there are some scenes in the show and there are some choices that the writers made that are telling us that the plot of the show is going towards Will getting a "pay off", in terms of writing, at the end of the show and Mike and El finding out they are better as friends instead and Mike discovering he has romantic feelings for Will!

The writers have emphasized Will's sadness in relation to Mike and El as a couple both thematically and visually, in the writing & filming of the show there are too many scenes like this especially in season 3 and 4 they have made it clear that he will never be happy if Mike and El are the endgame relationship, even during Mike's love monologue after he supposedly decided that he was ok with El having his own feelings for Mike by saying that the painting was a thoughtful gift from El when it wasn't... They put a shot of Will's sad face in the middle of the monologue, and also he was framed behind Mike when he said "I love you" which in film is a EXTREMELY weird choice unless it means something more is going on that should make us not want El and Mike's relationship to work - the writers have been sabotaging the emotional connection of the fans with mileven by doing this and I don't think that professional filmmakers don't know that, I think it's on purpose!

The writers have shown Mike and Will as having a deeper relationship than all the other relationships Mike has, putting him in the same category of El as one of his possible love interests in the plot, they have multiple scenes bonding in a tender way than Mike has with any other of his friends, they happen in private usually or in emotionally charged moments that they film to make you as a viewer feel like they are in private and show how they have this connection that's more than just friendship

The writers have wrote in the show since season 1 MANY parallels between Mike and Will and other official couples (Mileven too!!!) that are, in my opinion, hinting at them ending up together at the end of the show

You can find the parallels here

The writers have continously shown El and Mike to have some kind of problem in their relationship and made El decide to leave Mike behind multiple times even if to save his life because she loves him, the writers have been showing us how Mike is not her PLOT priority and instead they have put having a romantic relationship with Mike as Will's deepest desire since season 3

The writers are building up El's character to have a coming of age that has recurrent themes of her finding herself without the influence of others around her, her becoming completely free from any kind of influence, and Mike has been represented as having too many internal fears to overcome at the moment about their relationship, especially with the love monologue at the end of season 4, he has beliefs about himself as a person that clash with El's character arc about not having to feel influenced in any way, the end of the show for El should be her having complete freedom in all aspects of her life because of the circumstances of her upbringing... Not saying that Mike is influencing her in a bad way necessarily, I think they both love each other a lot but having a relationship with someone that is that much insecure about his role in your life because you have powers will always be a type of influence

The writers have shown Mike and El as not being a team at the same level by separating them constantly after s1, instead they have shown the other couples that work as working together in the supernatural plot (Jancy, Jopper, Lumax, Byler)

The writers have paralleled Mike and El's relationship to all the ships that are not working for some reasons/are not endgame and have more infatuation than a real "true love" kind of relationship (Steve x Nancy, Karen X Ted, Bob x Joyce)

The writers have wrote in multiple scenes of Mike acting awkward with Will (Mike!!! Not Will) or them having coded conversations about how much they care for each other that have no sense to exist unless there is a pay off at the end

The writers have presented El, Mike and Will as being in a love triangle and have been framing them in a love triangle composition in the framing of multiple scenes, with Mike at the centre

When during season 4 the writers talked about all the movies that have inspired season 4 and 5 they have put multiple movies with love triangles that are almost identical to the situation between Mike, El and Will

Will and Mike have multiple fight scenes that are scenes you give to two possible love interests usually, the way the fight happen is written as two lovers having emotional fights instead of as how you would write two friends fighting

The writers wrote in the show a precise parallel in all the scenes of Vickie and Robin... between them and Will and Mike, paralleling Mike to Vickie specifically... who is a canon bisexual character and even paralleling Steve and Jonathan in that context as observers of the couples!

The directors filmed their scenes how you would film romantic scenes in stuff like Bridgerton or a romcom lol

The whole painting scene was Will making Mike feel so loved that he felt comfortable being vulnerable with El, but this means he was still not comfortable on his own relationship with her, he didn't feel safe enough to open up on his own and needed that talk and needed to believe all of those ideas about him being the heart came from Eleven so that he made the jump and told her how he felt instead of being selfishly silent on it because he was too afraid of her possibly leaving him one day... When you are really deeply in love with someone in the context of movies the characters don't let those type of fears influence them and if what gives him courage is the feelings of another character in the love triangle it means he's the right person for the character

( idk if you saw gossip girl but the was a love triangle situation between Blair, Dan and another character where Dan made Blair believe the other character felt some type of way towards her, she understood that she loved Dan because of this act because she wanted those words to be from him and not from the other guy... The whole painting lie is that same trope)

The writers are obsessed with IT from Stephen King and there are clear parallels with it in the show, the whole plot of s4 about the painting is a reprise of the plot between the romantic relationship of Bev and Ben in IT (with the postcard and the poem) Beverly is supposed to be Mike, Ben is Will and Bill is El.... Mike and El share a kiss at the end of season 3 that is supposed to parallel a kiss between Bill and Bev (they did love each other and liked each other but are not endgame)

Both Will and Mike are queercoded multiple times during the seasons

There are WAYYYY more reasons but this post is becoming too long so I'll leave it as this lol

You should rewatch the show and imagine if Will was a girl, I think many people would be seeing what I'm talking about way more and take it as a sign that Mike is going to choose "Willow" and see how Will is the better love interest for him...

Maybe it's all just queerbaiting, who knows, but at the moment I believe this is way too much for it to be queerbait!

I personally think Mike is bisexual

Masterpost about it here

and has feelings for both of them, but his feelings for El have always been a "puppy love" type that is growing to become more platonic than romantic with time, and I think he's a best match with Will, I think Will is able to make him be the best he can be, he's capable of making Mike feel worthy in a very natural way unlike the relationship with El does at the moment!

In my fixed post in the blog you can find all these things in more detail if you're interested!!

Thank you if you read all of this, regardless of what I believe I think everybody should be free to ship what ship they like best!! 😊

[ilikegirls-101]

I’m a firm believer that El will be the one who breaks up w mike in s5

ISTG DUDE I ALWAYS SEE MILEVENS SAY “mike isn’t gonna break up with el just for Will” OR “el isn’t gonna sacrifice herself for a mlm relationship” which is just dumb

Like duh ofc they’re not doing that. Like firstly, if either of them break up it’s not going to be because of Will i think (at least not for mike, cause I feel like for him it would have some relation but it wouldn’t be his sole reason) but mike wouldn’t break up with El just for Will, el would break up with mike just so the two of them got together. Also that’d just be BAD story telling

*also tiny lil note: when I say “it’d” I mean “it would” idk some ppl don’t get it when I text like that, also I’m not sure if it’s a real grammar thing soo ye, it’s just easier than saying the whole thing. So just letting ya know. Also another thing: this post was made cuz of right here*

If El broke up with Mike:

El would break up with mike because she realizes that they’re relationship is somewhat toxic and one-sided. She’d do it for herself CUZ MISS GIRL WILL BE INDEPENDENT 😆 but seriously, she would have this self growth yk? Like she’d have a montage of finding herself(like in season 3 kinda) finding her interests, hobbies, etc. she’d learn that she isn’t a monster or just a super hero. She’d learn that she’s just Eleven. And that’d be so good for her. She would learn that she doesn’t need a boyfriend to be deemed “normal” or something. She’d learn that she’s not a freak. She’d learn that she’s more than her powers. She’d be quite literally an independent woman™, not needing a man. (Honestly she never needed one before either🤷🏽‍♀️) that’s her arc for s5 (as well as the defeat of vecna duh💀). While all that’s happening, Mike n Will are gonna have their relationship act. Yk the whole sh-bang. their internal conflict within themselves(Will’s self hate, Mike’s self discovery), the social conflict with society/friends/family(homophobia, approval or denial), the conflict they have with each other(mike n will’s friendship, their romantic love for each other, their miscommunication) that’s Mike’s(and Will’s) arcs for s5. (As well as whatever happens outside of their relationship duh).

If Mike broke up with El:

Mike would break with el because he’d realize “woah I don’t love her like she needs me to” (I do believe he loves her, but not in a romantic sense tho). It’d go like this: him realizing he doesn’t have those feelings for her, or for any woman, then he’d learn to accept that and then he’d break up w her. He’d keep learning abt himself and his sexuality. I do think eventually he would acknowledge his feelings for Will and then the whole sh-bang will start 😝 I mean honestly it’s not much different from if El broke up with him. Maybe the perspectives would change or something, idk I’m not the duffers 🤷🏽‍♀️😭 but el maybe would still have epiphany of “I’m actually a human person”

ACTUALLY WE WOULD BE SHOWN THE STUFF HAPPENING BACKWARDS. Like if El broke up with him, we’d see her character development first then his. But if Mike broke up first, we’d see his character development first. If mike broke up first it’d be: break up, then Mike’s first phase of his character development, then El’s first phase, then Mike’s, then El’s, etc.

Or if El broke up first it’d be: break up, then El’s first phase of her character development, then mike’s first phase, then El’s, then Mike’s, etc.

Ofc it’s not gonna be like that all the time, I mean u gotta have cuts in between it happening. Like in s4 the Cali gang were having their story development while El’s was going on so kinda like that I think. Kinda like it’s always been in this show🤷🏽‍♀️ atp I’m just yapping BUT YEA I think I’m going in circles and not making sense at all but in my defense is 1:27 am and I couldn’t stop thinking abt Byler and El soooooo ye

Conclusion: I hope El breaks up with him first cuz girl power and I just love her

A LOT

and this post is kinda pointless ngl😭 but it’s late and I’m tired so it’s fine

What a beautiful girl 😭❤️

[pinkeoni]

El has only worn a dress and makeup three times in the show, and each time Mike is involved, as well as a lie.

The first time is of course in season one, when the boys dress her up in a disguise so they can sneak her into school.

Mike also does her makeup. Now maybe this is just meant to be seen as a sweet romantic moment, but it’s also important that Mike is the one putting makeup on her, he’s the one dressing her up as something she’s not.

The point is that eventually the wig and the makeup come off, and the dress gets dirty. ‘Cause it’s not her. There’s even a moment where she looks at her reflection and rips the wig off, because it’s not her.

(The buzzcut isn’t her either, but that’s because she hasn’t ever had the chance to be herself)

The dress and makeup is also when El lies to the boys about the location of the gate.

But it’s when the outfit gets dirtied that she confesses her secret.

I should mention that I don’t think the show is trying to say that dresses and makeup is a bad thing, it’s just not El’s thing. Nancy wears makeup and dresses, and it’s not shown as a bad thing. But that’s Nancy’s style, El’s style tends to lean more androgynously. When she picks out her own clothes at the mall it’s mostly suspenders, collared shirt and pants/shorts, with splashes on femininity like scrunchies and bold pops of color. (And these clothes fit her form better too, because they fit her better.)

El is also wearing a dress and makeup in episode 4x02. We first see it at the airport when they’re picking up Mike.

When I first noticed this it struck me as a little… odd. Not that she doesn’t look good, but it feels out of character. It looks very grown up, especially compared to the makeup that we see any of the other girls wearing. Take Angela and Chrissy for example, who both wear makeup that feels much more age appropriate. (If anything I’m willing to bet that El asked Joyce to do her makeup that morning)

She’s also wearing this makeup and dress at Rink-O-Mania, where she continually lies to Mike.

But she gets caught up in her lie, and this dress get’s dirty too. (Not to mention the dress is very loose on her)

Now the odd one out seems to be her Snow Ball outfit when she dances with Mike.

The dress looks a little more like something she would have picked out (albeit it still looks a little loose on her) and the makeup is bright and more age appropriate. Plus, the dress does not get dirty.

Which makes sense, she wants to go to the Snow Ball. She’s happy to be there! And I think that’s all true, but it’s still interesting that the other two times she wears a dress it’s associated with a lie, so this is just a break in the pattern?

Unless, there is something that she’s being dishonest about, that the audience has not been explicitly told yet.

[wistfulenchantress]

i'm going to talk about el now, because i always talk about mike and he is just a gay loser, meanwhile she's a bamf.

I want to start by saying that in the same way that Mike doesn't actually hold any initial romantic feelings towards El, she doesn't hold any towards him.

Of course, he is the second ever person to show her kindness and she cares about him as such, but beyond that, nothing.

we see her want to be pretty LIKE NANCY, and getting that reassurance from mike. we see her open up to physical contact and learn to trust people, but this does not imply romantic feelings for mike.

she also is just now learning what familial love is from joyce, and what friendship is from dustin and lucas.

then... it gets fucked up (i know lucas and nancy didn't have bad intentions but also i lowkey blame them because elmike is the loml) because mike wheeler is now convinced that he has a crush on this girl

"would you be like my brother?" speaks for itself because she does NOT KNOW what romantic love is.

she doesn't seem to dislike it when mike kisses her, but that doesn't mean she is ready for a romantic relationship that she doesn't understand the implications of. plus, it's not a very romantic kiss. it's messy, and mike doesn't look super pleased afterward

then she sacrifices herself for her friends NOT ROMANTIC, and is missing for ages.

she also believes that mike might turn her in, although she still (obviously) misses the person that housed and fed her after she was trapped in a thunderstorm.

now, her jealousy with max. at this point she has been watching tv with hopper, and has a sense of what a romantic relationship is supposed to look like. she is also pent up and misses her friends, and the concept of interacting with other people.

so she is jealous that max gets to talk to people IN GENERAL, and it's not just about Mike.

when she finds mike, their initial reunion is NOT ROMANTIC OML THEY HUG THATS IT.

then, mike is worried about her because she literally sacrificed herself for him and he seems to have been blaming himself, this is not the point, she thinks that this is the time for a kiss. now, she doesn't know that she likes mike (she doesn't know how to know what she likes at ALL), she just knows that he likes her (allegedly, but i digress). so she tries to kiss him.

they say goodbye, and she goes and does badass motherfucker things and closes the gate.

fast forward to the snow ball. in all of this i am not saying that el doesn't have romantic feelings for mike. she does look happy, truly, in this scene (he doesn't, or less so, but, again, i digress). and at this point the relationship isn't problematic.

but let's fast forward to season three.

el and mike are together constantly, and all they seem to do is kiss. like hopper constantly said, it is UNNATURAL. jancy and lumax both have balanced relationships, but mike and el don't.

el seems to be taking all her cues from mike and 'this works let's just to this' mentality, while mike is taking all of his cues from lucas but also entirely misunderstanding them the entire fucking time

then, when hopper finally puts his foot down, she has to figure out something else to do (this is a good thing, btw)

so she goes to max. she develops a positive relationship with another girl who actually understands romantic relationships, although it is a rather teenage understanding.

"how do i know what i like?"

Max teaches el about being herself and actually making decisions, and is such a positive influence on her. she dumps mike (yes girlboss) (and he doesn't even give a shit but i digress [i love the word digress]). she gets to know max more, and learns about other ways of enjoying life. of course then the mindflayer gets involved and everything goes to shit again.

now, addressing the love confession. i want to note that i think mike and el love each other. but it is NOT romantic.

that is the issue. mike does love her, but when he says it out loud he suddenly perceives it romantically (AND IS LITERALLY HORRIFIED)

i don’t think el can really tell the difference at this point. (note that joyce and hopper are clearly in love, but act just friends, and same with mike and will. meanwhile the wheeler parents aren't in love and are a couple. her and mike's perceptions of love are both kind of weird, but this isn't super relevant)

but she pretends not to hear it.

and i think she takes mikes apology to heart, he follows lucas's advice (essentially a script) well, although he physically can't say the word love.

now, her love confession at the end. remember that they've been in Lenora, so she's had some time to think. she is also struggling with the loss of her father and her powers (how she has defined her worth. partially because of mike.)

she almost doesn't do it. they are seemingly just friends at this point, nothing has established them as together until her "i love you, too."

she doesn't seem to bothered by the fact that he doesn't say it, or kiss her back, or close his eyes, although it may be something that she internalizes - JUST LIKE THE FROM MIKE STUFF

i think that, despite the 'from mike' thing, it is easy to romanticize mike when she is so far away from him. we see this through her little shrine in her room.

we see her start to come into herself, despite the bullying, loss of hopper, max, and her other friends, and moving, and lack of powers. she tries to find her own identity.

but the other point about her romanization of mike. it is based in lies. she is lying to him about her friendships, and being popular, and all of it.

we see her illusions, the happy little move romance she has been trying to maintain, collapse throughout the beginning of mike's visit. the bullying from angela, the lack of support and fear from mike, and, of course, 'who said that i didn't'

now, i could talk for ages about the things that drive her back to the lab, but i want to keep the focus on the romance right now bc that is what this specific post is about.

when she reunites with mike, it is not romantic. she greets will and jonathan with even more emotion and relief.

now, the pizza scene. mike has his comedian guise on, and is trying to cheer her up. and it seems to be working.

here is where i am torn. mike is NOT about to say i love you, he just isn't. i think he would've tried to break up with her, but that's not the point. i think that you can interpret HER as still expecting a love confession OR ready for a breakup.

i'm not sure what the intention it, but art is in the eye of the beholder and i think it can be seen either way.

of course, argyle interrupts and they are all having fun again (sort of)

now, she is trying to save max. and i want to emphasize that it is seeing max being hurt by vecna that pushes her to fight (go watch the scene if you don't believe me)

she generally looks sort of miserable throughout mikes confession. and she doesn't run to his arms, later. she is distancing herself from him. ALLEGEDLY. so, she does not think that this fixed their relationship, and isn't happy.

[runninguplenorahills]

Another smaller rant incoming as addition to my rant from a couple of days ago:

Another thing that annoys me so much is when people project their distorted perception of Mike onto all the other characters! This is genuinely such a frustrating thing because some of you act like Dustin, Lucas, Max and El think little of Mike while the exact opposite is true!

Have you seen how happy Dustin was when Mike told him in s1 that he’s his best friend too? And Dustin tells Will, Lucas and Mike that scoops troop could’ve really used their help in s3! Lucas is jealous in s1 that Mike is averting his attention to El and not to him, and while he doesn’t trust Mike with his plan about including El at first, he comes to trust him later on and from then on trusts him with all his plans (setting the tunnels on fire, sauna test etc.). Max is literally trying throughout all of s2 to get Mike’s approval and that one time she impressed Mike with her skateboard literally made it into her most cherished memories! If we just take a slightly deeper look into the scene of El’s and Mike’s fight in s4 we see that El is afraid of losing Mike and it being her fault! It’s like, exactly how Mike feels. El thinks she drove Mike away because he finally saw “the monster” in her! Yes, El and Mike have never loved each other romantically but they still love each other platonically! All of the party members love Mike so much and it’s ridiculous to claim otherwise! They all know that he’s amazing, capable, intelligent and an awesome leader which is why they listen to him!! And I’m telling you, while none of the others would’ve drawn a heart on Mike’s shield, they all would’ve depicted him as a knight with a sword, leading the party, nonetheless!! Because that is who Mike is and his friends see him as exactly that!!! And NO! The party’s dynamic is not making fun of Mike affectionately!! In s3 Lucas was specifically making fun of Mike abandoning them for El but overall no one ridicules or undermines Mike for fun! That is not their dynamic and it never has been!

I’ve had enough of all of these incredibly bad takes about the party telling Will that he could do better than Mike!! I’ve had enough of people pretending like the party sees Mike as a loser and an idiot! That is literally the complete opposite of how they actually see him! And Dustin, Lucas, Max and El would be the first people to tell Will that he’s lucky to have Mike!! And Jonathan would tell him that too!!!

This bizarre fanon version of Mike Wheeler that lives in some of your minds is NOT CANON!!!!! None of the characters would even only think about describing Mike as a loser! They all know how great he is and they appreciate and love him so so so so much!! And I’m so done with people saying otherwise.

[purpleshadow-star]

Here's the actual analysis as to why El is just as bad of a romantic partner to Mike as Mike is to her (and why they just don’t work romantically in general).

(this is going to include both reasons why El is not a good romantic partner and just general observations as to why Mike and El don’t work romantically)

Relationships work two ways. Mike and El don't work not only because Mike can't love El the way she wants to be loved but also because El hasn't ever proved that Mike can confide in her and be vulnerable with her, which is important for a relationship. We have literally never seen El comfort Mike about anything, or even ask if he’s okay or how he’s doing. We've seen Mike try to comfort El in S4, but we've never seen it the other way, not even in the slightest.

Let's start at the beginning.

This lack of mutual trust and this weariness to be vulnerable with each other stems from the fact that Mike and El never established a proper friendship before getting together. Friendship is where people get to know each other and learn to trust each other. Friendship is the foundation to any good romantic relationship.

Mike has proved that he can be there for El from the beginning. He took her in when they found her, he gave her a place to stay, and he protected her, despite the fact that it was dangerous for him to do any of this.

Mike and El met, knew each other for a week, and then were separated. During that week, Mike did his part to establish the beginning of a friendship. El didn't even know what it was to have friends, so obviously, she was slower in reciprocating the friendship completely.

El was able to establish the beginnings of a true friendship with everyone in the party, so they all considered her their friend, and she considered them her friends, but they never really got to know each other. Mike and El in particular were torn apart before they could get to know each other well enough to develop true romantic feelings, and it didn't help that people such as Lucas and Nancy gave Mike the idea that he should be interested in El romantically. The fact that Mike kissed El was a major setback for their platonic relationship.

Because they were never able to establish a good, strong, platonic relationship first, and since they never really go to know each other, this set up a very shaky foundation for any other relationship they tried to build.

During their year apart, El watched a lot of romance shows and movies, to the point where she could quote the TV. She gained this idea of love that isn't realistic, but since she and Mike kissed, and the people in love on the TV kissed, and she cared for Mike, she probably rationalized that her positive feelings for him must be romantic, just like the people on TV.

Because of this, when they reunited in season 2, El already had it in her mind that their relationship should be romantic. She wasn’t trying to be his friend anymore, not like with the rest of the party. She thought that they should be romantic. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Like the people on TV. This is shown when she tried to kiss him before she left with Hopper to go to the lab in season 2. El made that move, not Mike. Mike didn’t even lean forward. And then the Snowball happened, and Mike kissed El once again, and (presumably) that night, they established their romantic relationship.

(It is important to note that Max and Lucas also got together at the Snowball, and they had the same amount of time to get to know each other (About a week and the one month time skip at the end of season 2). The only difference is that we saw Lucas and Max actually talking about themselves and getting to know each other. We didn’t see that with Mike and El in season 1)

We really start to see the result of that shaky foundation in season 3. In the beginning, we saw Mike and El make out and seemingly have a good time together. Mike left, and then we saw that their make-out session caused Mike to be late to meet up with the rest of the party.

As the season went on, we saw how Mike and El’s relationship affected everyone else. We learn that they’d been ditching their friends (causing Will and Dustin to be noticeably upset), and they’re being disrespectful to Hopper.

We also saw that El didn’t really like Mike’s idea of fun. He tried to be silly and have fun in the first make-out scene, and she stopped him and pulled him back into making out. We learned through Will that they hadn't played DnD in a while, and he implied that they hadn’t really been doing anything fun lately. Mike had essentially given up the things he liked to do in order to hang out with El.

As far as we saw, Mike and El spend most of their time making out and not actually doing anything else that the two of them enjoy together, such as listening to music (to enjoy it, not just as background noise while making out), playing games (like El and Max do later), reading comics (also like El and Max do later), watching TV together, or even just talking. It’s almost like making out is the only thing they both know the other likes to do.

(Also note that a lot of this has to do with their age. For the most part, dating is the stage to get to know someone before making it official, but because Mike and El are so young, they don’t know this. They have a set idea of what dating and relationships means in their minds, and they don’t have the life experience to know that dating means getting to know one another, not just spending all your time together making out (especially El, who was in a lab for almost her whole life and mostly learned about other people and the world through romance TV). Usually, you go on dates, then, if you like each other, you enter a relationship. Dating people who you didn’t know before is basically the “being friends” stage. They seem to skip the dating part entirely, and they go straight into a relationship. For anyone, but especially kids that young, a good relationship needs to be built on a good friendship)

When Mike lied to El, she broke up with him, which was completely fair since he kept on lying. Then, she went on with Max and didn’t think about him too much after that. We saw that the breakup didn’t really affect her. 

During the rest of the season, we saw Mike in danger multiple times. We saw Mike get concerned for El, but we never once saw El ask Mike how he was doing. We never saw El check up on Mike. Not like how Jonathan checked up on Nancy after she was attacked by the Mind Flayer, despite him having been injured to the point that he almost passed out only a few minutes prior. Not like how Joyce was concerned about and took care of Hopper after he was beat up by the Russian soldier.

At the end of season 3, El told Mike that she loved him and it was heavily implied that she said this because she overheard Mike say it in the other room earlier in the season, but Mike didn’t say it back.

Mike never told El he loved her to her face. She was the first (and only) one to say it face-to-face.

Remember that.

In season 4, we learn from El’s letter that she was lying to Mike. She was completely lying, not just leaving out the bad parts of her life in California. When Mike arrived in California, we saw that El was a bit upset with Mike for writing “From Mike” on the flowers instead of “Love Mike,” but she brushed it off. Then, the roller rink happened, and El’s lies were exposed. Instead of coming clean, she even tried to convince Angela to play it off as a joke. Then, later that night, she retreated, and she isolated herself.

The next day, we saw Mike try to comfort El. He didn’t get upset about the fact that she had lied to him. He simply asked for an explanation. He tried to help her feel more comfortable telling the truth by reminding her that he’s been bullied his whole life. He told her he understood, and he opened up to her and reminded her about his own traumatic memories, only for her to tell him that he didn’t understand. She disregarded his experiences and said that he didn't understand, even though she literally watched him almost kill himself because of a bully.

And still, even after she dismissed his experiences with bullying, he didn’t get mad. He asked for her to explain. Then, she opened up about her own insecurities, and she said that she thought everyone, including him, looked at her like she’s a monster. When Mike tried to reassure her, when he told her he cared for her, El decided to move the conversation off of herself and onto Mike.

Mike is understandably taken off guard by this. El then proceeds to insist that, just because Mike didn’t write the word “love” in his letters, that meant he didn’t love her, despite his reassurances.

Now, obviously, Mike is also in the wrong in this conversation. He lied and said that he did say that he loved her when he didn’t, and he really didn’t handle the situation well after they moved onto the topic of him loving her (ex: saying she was being ridiculous, etc.), but that doesn’t change the fact that El continued pushing this topic that he clearly wasn’t comfortable with. She never considered that maybe he wasn’t ready to say it yet. Again, remember, Mike hadn’t actually said he loved her to her face yet, so really, there should not be any expectation that he should be saying it to her face, or even writing it, right now.

All in all, so far, we’ve seen El lie to Mike, not apologize for lying for months, invalidate his bullying experiences, and get upset with him for not saying something that really shouldn’t have been an expectation yet.

None of this got resolved.

El got arrested. Then, when they reunited, there was no time to really talk about the fight until they made it to Surfer Boy’s Pizza. That little talk they had before Argyle came with the pizza would have been the perfect time for El to apologize for lying and for what she said about his bullying during the fight, but that didn’t happen. So, El never apologized for lying, even after Mike apologized for not saying he loved her more.

None of this means that El is a bad person. El and Mike just don't work romantically because they aren't able to be vulnerable around each other. The one time they talk about how they feel with each other, they end up with a fight that never truly gets resolved. It wasn't resolved with the monologue, not only because Mike’s truthfulness in the monologue was questionable, but also because the argument started with the fact that El lied to Mike, not the issue of Mike not saying he loved her, and that never got resolved.

El hasn’t once shown Mike that he can confide in her, and that, along with many other factors, is why their relationship isn’t going to work out. They needed to establish that platonic bond first. They needed to establish a friendship to fall back on when things in the romantic aspect of their relationship got shaky. If they had established that friendship first, they would be more comfortable going to each other and opening up about their troubles.

With a more solid friendship, they would have been able to go to each other for comfort or reassurance, the same way Mike was able to go to Will, his best friend first and foremost, and talk to him when he was upset and feeling insecure. Also, the same way Max went to Dustin, her friend, when she was worried about the Eddie/Chrissy situation instead of trying to go to Lucas.

Max and Lucas had the same amount of friendship time as Mike and El, and even though they had a better pre-romance friendship, it ultimately wasn't enough to save their relationship. The difference is that Max and Lucas spent season 4 building their friendship back up and solidifying that foundation so that when they do get back together, they’ll be stronger than ever. Mike and El (well, mostly Mike) spent season 4 trying to save their romantic relationship, which is why it still isn’t very strong, even at the end of the season.

Again, this doesn’t make either of them awful people. This all just shows that they are not good for each other romantically, and they never really have been.

So, to conclude my long rambling, as much as Mike idolizes El and her powers, as much as Mike can’t tell El he loves her to her face or without being prompted, as much as Mike can’t show El that he loves her and make her feel loved, El also is completely uninterested in the things that make Mike happy, El never apologized for lying to Mike for months, El invalidated Mike’s traumatic experiences with bullying, and El has never shown Mike that he can go to her for comfort and reassurance.

[gayofthefae]

"El should have had a response to the speech so we know how she feels about it!" No. El should have had a response to the speech so Mike knows she loves him. Really loves him. We heard what he said in that van. We heard what he said to her. When she says it, he doesn't fully believe it. In a Milkvan endgame world, Mike has told us that he believes he loves El more than El loves him and that is going to get him hurt.

That isn't just the resolution to El's feelings in 4x03. It's a recreation of them. El told Mike she didn't feel like enough, now he's telling her she is. But in it, he's telling her he doesn't feel like enough. If they really wanted this romance to resolve everyone's issues, she would have told him he is. At some point, find a time. Or make the speech be in a point it can be a dialogue in the first place. Yes, we're curious what she thinks, but even if she's simply happy and nothing else, he still needs it. He deserves it.

He deserves the van speech. Straight from her mouth. And I guess that's what it is. The only reason it works that he doesn't get it from her is that while before, he was saying he didn't feel like enough. Now, he's saying "I want you to know I didn't tell you because I didn't feel like enough. But Will told me that wasn't true so now I know better and can tell you this." Yeah, super romantic. Bring up your other love interest in your speech, that's not threatening to your girlfriend at all. He doesn't actually do that, obviously, but that is the meaning behind the words and why it (sort of) resolves for us.

Mike feels feels like enough now. But El had nothing to do with it. My point stands. Poor El she's so sad about Mike and he needs to fix it. But we were so focused on that, we forgot: Mike is sad about El too. And she needs to fix it. He did his part, she didn't do hers. In her defense, it was solved before she got there, which that being possible is another rant I kinda just gave and will also be cutting the rest of off for another time.

They said "El deserves to feel loved by Mike" and had Mike love her. Then they said "Mike deserves to feel loved" and left it there. It does not matter that it was fulfilled by El indirectly. Will fixed it. Whatever you say, if you lie to your friend to comfort them, so long as it works, you still fixed it. If my friend says he's scared his girlfriend doesn't love him enough and I say "yes she does she told me firsthand" I'll send him off smiling and someone saying "wow it's so nice of his girlfriend to cheer him up" is fuckin rude tbh.

Mike deserved love too. El's could only be fulfilled by Mike or herself. They pretended the second one wasn't true so for the purposes of this post, we will too, and in that case, Mike fulfilled it for her. But more importantly, no one else did. No outside person but Mike at that tie could have fulfilled that for her. Or maybe they could, but they made sure to not let us ever know for sure. They told us for sure with Mike. All these romantic moments with El are actually just further inherent proof of his relationship with Will. What Will did worked. That is a bad. sign. He succeeded in getting Mike to tell El he loves her, yes, but break it down and you get: Mike needed to feel like enough to tell El. El did not succeed in that, Will did. AND more importantly, that was enough.

That being enough tells us it did not have to be El. El deserves to be loved by Mike. Mike deserves to be loved. That's what they said. El deserves better than Mike but Mike deserves better than El too. That's why they literally already did, and actually had to for the plot to work, give him better.

Yeah. Mike and El and receiving the solutions they need to the sadness over each other from other people before each other gets to it and being completely fulfilled and able to move on without the other just fine now.