#comp het mike

[lalallalas-posts]

aww he's trying to convince himself

[hypoclericalcunt]

Comp het and internalised homophobia is very real. I knew that people could be gay, i had many queer friends, i would always think of myself as an ally, I always thought women were hot, it was always i support gay people, people can be gay, women are hot, but IM not gay. Definitely. Very straight. This is why I sympathise with Mike so much, I am so fucking gay, and it's not even the 80s so there's not as much homophobia as there used to be. My own friends had randomly asked me if I was gay I was like WHAT ? NO ! i used to have a MASSIVE crush on a friend of mine and she herself was bi and STILL i thought I was straight. lt feels so good to be true to myself and stop pushing that part of me away, I live in a conservative place with a conservative family, but my brother is a huge liberal, and STILL i felt unsafe. I knew about byler, I knew about MIKE'S comp het plot, and STILL I was like, he's gay, but IM not. No way.

Anyway I made this post because Mike's storyline means so much to me and to so many others. This is another reason why byler becoming canon would be huge and help SO many people.

[sunflowerbyler]

When you make up a curfew for you and your gf and your friends think it’s cause your sweet and romantic but really you spend hours kissing your girlfriend to convince yourself that you like her because you know if you spent any more time with your best friend there would be issues

[willthecleric]

I love how Milevens ignore that Mike literally told Max El was dead shortly before she came back. 💀 He can bs he ‘never gave up’ as much as he wants, but it doesn’t change facts. He didn’t go out looking for her. He thought she was dead and he was seeing things whenever something pointed to her being alive. And if anyone tries to argue with that he literally told Max she was ‘like Bob’ after Bob died.

They established a deliberate contrast between Byler and Mileven with S1 and S2. They’ve contrasted the two ships throughout the series. And if you watch this show with your eyes open and your heteronormative goggles off it’s obvious who Mike is in love with and can’t live with out.

i'll do you one better

when will disappeared mike ACTUALLY FUCKING WENT OUT AND TRIED TO FIND HIM EVEN THOUGH ALL AUTHORITY WAS TELLING HIM NOT TO AND HE LITERALLY SAW WILL'S DEAD BODY YOU ABSOLUTE MORON

"held onto every bit of hope he had for her"

mind you this ^ is mike when he literally SAW HER. he did not hold onto every bit of hope as you say, he thought he was going crazy. which is OKAY, it does not make mike a bad friend or person, but it's just insane to me how mlvns will say ANYTHING THEY WANT and pretend it's true even if it contradicts canon😭 they want mlvn to be way more than it actually is. he did not latch onto every tiny sign that el was alive and launch a calculated plan to find and bring her back, he did that for WILL. IN CANON.

my top 3 most hated online communities:

1. r/strangerthings

2. mlvn twitter

3. mlvn tiktok

[dapperapple]

Mike's crush on El does not necessarily contradict him being gay rather than bi

I wanna start off by clarifying that if you see Mike Wheeler as bisexual rather than gay, THAT'S 1000% VALID don't let anyone take that from you babe

this is just my perspective as a lesbian who thought she was definitely straight until the end of 10th grade (age 16, a bit older than Mike and Will are in canon)

I was rewatching a lot of scenes from the show, mainly s2 and s3, to see if I thought that Mike's feelings for El came across as weird/forced or if their relationship felt off

and honestly it left me (a Byler shipper) pretty confused at first

because YES there are a lot of odd things about his feelings and their relationship

BUT ALSO

there are a few moments that are so cute and feel so genuine I didn't know what to do with them for a sec

mainly all the scenes where they're together at the Snowball dance

because that shit seems real to me, it's cute as fuck, that is a Mileven win right there if there ever was one

and honestly, the forehead touch when she and the Byers are about to leave, and again when they reunite in s4

dude that shit is so sweet okay

(Mileven shippers are valid even if I disagree with it for the narrative)

ANYWAYS here's where my personal experience comes in to help out with my confusion over this

Mike in s1 feels the most obviously comp-het to me

because I had a big crush on a boy in kindergarten, another in gr2/3

I didn't even know what gay people were, I knew girls liked boys, so if a boy was my friendly, and nice to me instead of mean, I probably would've liked him or thought I liked him

Mike in seasons 2-4 reminds me of myself in gr7/8

the most intense crush I had on a guy was in gr7/8

I was more used to being friendly with guys at this point but this guy was becoming a close friend of mine

a cute confident guy who was nice, funny, and taking an active interest in me as a person was like wooaahh

I really do believe that Mike unintenionally idolized El, putting her up on this pedestal, with his self esteem all wrapped up in her liking him back

but I also don't think that's his fault, when you're young you don't know any better

the pressure to date starts to increase a bit, and low self esteem is kicking your ass

I did the exact same thing with the guy I liked, I had this whole other version of him in my head and I started liking him less and less the more he didn't act like that ideal

(insert Mike's behavior towards El after she assaulted Angela)

even after I figured out that the kind of person and the kind of connection I wanted in a relationship was something I was far more likely to find with a girl, I still thought I was straight, so it just made me kind of sad

like- I had resigned myself to the fact that I would struggle to find a guy that I TRULY liked

maybe it was lingering internalized homophobia, idk, I had lots of gay friends, but I just hadn't felt that way about any girl at all before, I didn't think I was capable of being attracted to girls

and then there was her

we became very close friends, she was such a kind person, so fucking funny, an incredibly skilled artist, and absolutely gorgeous

and it finally clicked

finally my mind registered the fact that I COULD be attracted to girls

I still consider her my first love

and then there was no turning back

WHICH IS WHY

I wouldn't be surprised AT ALL if it takes Will coming out to Mike/the party in order for him to consider Will romantically

not because he isn't already in love with him subconsciously

but because I don't think he has registered it as a possibility for EITHER of them

moral of the story:

COMPULSIVE HETEROSEXUALITY IS REAL GUYS AND IT CAN FEEL MORE REAL THAN YOU'D EXPECT

especially since when you're young, the differences between boys and girls (both physically and how we're socialized) are much less apparent

MIKE WHEELER I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE (because me too!!)

[cloudycleric]

tl;dr for my bi vs gay mike truthers video

basically, summarized, through my own research ive concluded... mike wheeler is....

unlabeled!!

i don't think the whole bi vs gay mike truthers thing needs to be a thing. like i dont get why it was ever as controversial as it was. you can very much interpret the first few seasons of stranger things through the lens that mike wheeler did in fact have a crush on el. or, you can support the theory that neither of them had a crush on each other, but mike felt a sort of comp-het impulse to have a crush on el. whichever theory you support is fine.

but, (if you believe this) just because mike never had a crush on el doesn't mean he can't be bisexual, mike could very well be gay as well & only experience attraction to men, but honestly, who cares! i don't think we need to force a label onto mike if the show doesn't want to give him one (yet, if they do in s5, i will update this).

being a bi mike truther doesn't erase mike's obvious queerness, & being a gay mike truther doesn't make you biphobic. it's just not how it works. at the end of the day, mike wheeler is queer in some way shape or form whether he chooses to identify as gay, bisexual, unlabeled, or whatever the fuck he wants.

i'm learning different styles of literary theory & criticism in my english classes right now, & i think something that they said in the class about criticism & theory about writing (& various forms of media, it doesn't just have to apply to writing) is that criticism & theory helps us see stories & interpret things in an infinite number of ways, & i think that's really nice. the only problem is when people start declaring their theories as true.

i've fallen into this, i'm sure a lot of bylers have, into the over analysis train. as much as i love theorizing about byler, looking at the cinematography & writing & editing & lighting & whatever, at the end of the day, we're all just theorizing based on the evidence that is presented to us. just because a light shines on will doesn't necessarily mean that mike sees him as his sunshine & true love, but we can definitely theorize that that's what it means! & after byler is confirmed canon in s5, (or god forbid it's not), we can finally have a resting answer to our theories. but again, a story is a story, you can still have theories about it even if the show is over.

it's your choice whether or not you want bi/gay mike truthers to interact with your page, it's your social media experience & you should be able to tailor it to how you see fit. the only thing i get upset about is the fighting over it. i just think the whole super heated debate about it is a bit silly.

anyway, that's my two cents. this was longer than what i thought it was gonna be & honestly more comprehensive than the video, so. i hope this makes sense. if you're a gay mike truther, you're valid. if you're a bi mike truther, you're valid. if you're an unlabeled mike truther, your valid. if you're using your analysis & theories as facts & as justification to be mean to others over the internet, you are in fact NOT valid.

[strawberrybyers]

found this rant in my drafts from last year and i believe it still applies so here it is:

i sometimes cannot handle the mental gymnastics of trying deny will has been gay from the start. will being gay didn’t come out from nowhere. will being in love with mike didn’t come out from nowhere. i’ve been saying it and i will say it again: if will was a girl, then everybody would be rooting for byler. none of the bullshit that has been said would be said and i full heartedly believe that. this is why byler becoming canon would be historic. enough with the stereotypical queer characters. enough with putting queer characters in their death beds after experiencing trauma after trauma. we need will and mike to become canon because they break the mould of what hollywood and society has been trying to say is acceptable in films/tv shows in regards to queer characters. like the progression of will’s character with his sexuality is very relatable to a lot of people. and if we are right about mike being queer, then him being repressed, dealing with internalized homophobia, dealing with comp het, like all of that is also very relatable for a lot of people!! and all of this would be written in one of the most popular tv shows in the world. mike and will’s story is important and if you can’t see that, then please just leave queer people alone, go find another show to watch where everyone’s straight (trust me that won’t be hard to do!), and kindly fuck all the way off.

[kuumara]

Im sorry... but i dont see mike being bi a possibility... like at first when i saw st and byler i didnt care what they were as long as they were together, but then i rewatched all the eps and thought hm,, every "main" character (that is in the show for more than 1szn) seems to show attraction to the gender theyre attracted to (since this is a show at the end of the day)

steve likes women, nancy men (steve nd jon), max men (steve nd lucas), hopper women (joyce and that one woman he was with in s1) ...and mike men (eddie and just look at the posters in his room bro. also lil details in scenes like how he generally went to guys when looking for a dnd player etcetc, theres tons of analysis on that)

sure they might be bi or pan but i dont think in s5 there will be much time to, like, expand their attractions yk

sure mike called el pretty and beautiful in s1 and s2 but he prob just did it bc he isnt a bitch.. like if u see ur date or wtvr u would compliment them, bc i imagine he prob knew it would be nice to tell el that since she cared ab it in s1. and when he called her pretty in s1 for the first time he was just like "yeah u look nice😐". not showing us if he said it in a attracted-to-her way but instead showing us its more in a casual way. like how id compliment my friend's dress or shirt or smth. then the second time he could see she was sad and he ofc wanted to comfort her, again bc hes not a bitch

ig u can say "he still kissed her" but oh god thats a whole other story about comp het and his child brain not understanding the heteronormative society, he just thought "yeah its just like that". ig u can say he smiled after that, but that could also be from him feeling proud or smth bc he just had his first kiss and the heteronormative society tells him thats the goal - kissing and getting a gf (he def thought if u kiss a girl shes automatically ur gf or smth. again child brain)

kissing in s3? he's in too deep, he's not a mean bitch so he doesn't want to break el's heart bc hey, atleast she seems to like it!! the first ACTUAL, EXPLICIT reaction to kissing girls (in my theory atleast, if u think in s1 he liked it go off queen) we get is negative, in the last ep of s3. poor guy he genuinely seemed happy as friends with el, and even relieved, dare i say, but as soon as she kissed him i don't think we saw him smile for a loong time (till eddie's cafeteria speech in s4 (a guy))

anyway... in short i jst think he's nice and doesn't want to hurt el's feelings (contrary to popular belief) and also is scared bc yk. it's the 80s and he has queer feelings and allat

IN CONCLUSION POOR KID! :(

[threebooksoneplot]

Episode 32 - "Son-Zoned" (Show Notes)

listen along here

General New Moon content warning for ongoing discussions of suicide!

[00:05:44] Wikipedia's article on "comp het"

[00:06:14] Brokeback Twilight

[00:08:06] Maggie Stiefvater's substack about page-to-screen adaptation from an author's POV (spot the Catherine Hardwicke mention. And oh quelle coincidence, I wonder what happened to that adaptation of the Raven Cycle?)

[00:13:10] Donate to the Quileute tribe's Move To Higher Ground project here!

[00:20:30] M references Gravity Falls season 1 episode 04 (Bella be like)

[00:30:33] “Carpe Diem. Stand on your desk”

[00:32:51] Sweethearts candy, for the rest of our not-so-tragically deprived international listeners

[00:33:19] vs. Sweetarts

[00:34:37] M is correct, it’s “Kim, there’s people that are dying”

[00:35:54] Face Punch

[00:36:01] The irl Crosshairs movie (yeah it looks bad)

[00:39:06] Tomorrow is Forever

[00:41:51] I can only assume M is referencing this moment of Bob's Burgers

[00:44:24] “Like that Predator gif” (Jacob and Mike be like)

[00:46:26] - A glimpse of M’s new “Jacob’s music” playlist

[00:50:47] The movie theater non-handholding scene from G’s tumblr header

[00:58:25] The Julia Cudney video where she reads all the Bridgerton books and discusses misogyny

[01:04:16] G references the Bible verses about “cutting out your eye,” Matthew 5:29-30, while M references Much Ado About Nothing act IV, scene i

[01:05:26] “Ok A/B/O” (G is alluding to the Omegaverse trope of “claiming”)

[01:15:30] By “it’s her little Pretty Woman moment,” we assume M is alluding to the scene where that movie's sex worker protagonist, Vivian, refuses to be financially "rescued" by her love interest

[01:17:53] “Nemo” is Shannon’s Honda Fit and “Priya[nka Chopra]” is G’s Toyota Prius hatchback

[01:30:57] G is making an extremely unintelligible reference to The Picture of Dorian Gray character Sibyl Vane, an actress who finds fictional romance is ruined for her because it doesn’t compare to the real thing (cw: suicide mention)

[gaysforbyler]

Definitely. Straight people call us delusional because they simply cannot fathom why Mike would date El if he was gay. They have never felt the pressure of society in the way we have, and they assume that if you like men, you would inherently know that. They don’t understand comp het, or even just being wrong.

And this is why I feel like it’s homophobic to be so anti-Byler. Rather than listening to queer people when we say “no, this is actually a valid and common experience,” they brush us off. Because obviously queer people don’t understand their own experiences. That would be crazy

dare I say i think the main reason why a lot people are ANTI BYLER is because they are just STRAIGHT which means they can not conceptualize the concept of interalized homophobia.

[maybanksbabe]

https://www.tumblr.com/maybanksbabe/737347016135458816/unpopular-opinion-alert-i-think-i-dont-really

again, if the showrunners weren’t COWARDS they would explain Kie’s interest in all the boys by comp het, bc even tho she seems to be coming onto all of them at one time or another, she doesn’t seem to really like any of them or anyone else. there’s so much to be done with her character i don’t get why they keep her so boring and surface level. the more i watch the more insensitive she comes off. getting on the boys about using plastic, when they prob don’t have the resources to be all environmentally conscious and the ‘would be so much easier without parents’ like girl..

the person we see her get the realest with is always sarah (imo) and their whole falling out is 110% giving Sarah realizing Kie is lowk crushing on her and she’s crushing on Kie too and panicking. She basically gives John B and Kie the same speech abt running when people get too close, just with a different conclusion. i don’t wanna say queerbaiting but in my head S and K slept together when the boys put them on the boat

-🐝

Yk what? I thought about that too and it just makes more sense, dynamically?? And ESPECIALLY the boat scene the vibes are There and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they had slept together whilst stuck on that boat 🤷🏼‍♀️

And tbh after giving it a bit more thought, Kie probably wouldn't feel comfortable/able to come out, not in a place as small as the island, where everyone talks about everyone and with her (I don't want to say reputation BC that doesn't feel right but I can't think of the actual word) reputation, her parents social standing on the island, she probably couldn't come out even if she wanted to (and Mike and Anna give low-key unsupportive vibes on the front yk?)

There's just so many ways they could've gone about it but instead they gave us what we have now and we're having to do all the leg work lmao 😂

[whynotimtired]

Mike being gay wouldn't cheapen his relationship with El. He wasn't actively using her, he was confused. It's HARD. Figuring out your sexuality is HARD. Especially when everyone you know is pushing you into being in a relationship with a girl and telling you what you should be feeling. And the end of it all you can look at all of their "big moments" and see that they aren't inherently romantic. He loves her, he does. Just not like that.

You'll list the reasons that mike being gay would make him an asshole and then turn around and say that other gay men who dated women before coming out are completely valid when you clearly don't believe that. The 80's were really hard for queer people. A good amount didn't even realize until their 40's after they were married and had kids. Cause they were finally in a safe environment where they could think and self reflect. That doesn't mean they didnt love their spouse. That doesn't mean they were using them.

The same goes for mike. He loves her. Just not like that.

[strangeswift]

(taylor swift music leak)

me: how can i make this about byler.

((wip?))

[karyey]

gay mike wheeler can be forgiven for all his heterosexual crimes

[boldlyvoid]

I need to study Matt and Ross Duffer and find out how they accidentally made over 12 gay people in one small town completely by accident

[nyxi-pixie]

that bit in s4 where els like 'u dont love me anymore >:(' and mike responds 'who said i didnt' is funny enough by itself (rip to el hope u realise ur into women and go date max instead🙏🙏)

but literally anytime i watch it i just remember that tiktok audio abt the dentists reviewing the toothpaste😭😭😭 "so did u like the toothpaste?" "who said i didnt! but who said i did👹" and i cannot hold myself together ASJFJSJDJ