#el is mike's “beard” and closet

[teambyler]

Mike's ridiculous airport outfit was him not being himself, in EL'S COLORS

I don't know if Bylers have caught this yet, but the Airport Scene clearly links yellow and purple to El. Mike gives her flowers and says they're in her two favorite colors, YELLOW and PURPLE:

Meanwhile, Mike's "clearly not being himself" outfit at the airport was a YELLOW shirt over a PURPLE undershirt. The colors exactly match those of the flowers, and are even in the same proportion of 70% yellow to 30% purple!

(EDIT: Also can I add that we hardly get any indication that these actually ARE El's favorite colors? She isn't wearing them here or anywhere this season. This also tells us there's something off in their relationship.)

Then we get Argyle's comment that Mike's shirt is a "shitty knockoff" which is pretty on the nose that Mike is not being himself. (Only seconds after not hugging Will!)

The symbolism couldn't be clearer: the COSTUME he's wearing is El herself. And part of this "not Mike" is for some reason NOT being able to hug Will. Hmm I wonder why...

He's hiding in the closet (using his closet!), and that closet is El. (EDIT: A false idea of El!)

-teambyler

[stellariumcircus]

imo the most homophobic take reddit milkvans have is that mike being gay would mean that he's intentionally using el as a beard and maliciously lying to her.

that viewpoint is so callous and harmful, because a lot of gay people (myself included!) do have straight relationships in their past, especially in their teenage years!

and usually the closeted person isn't just pretending to not be gay, they're trying to be straight. sometimes you're not even aware that you're pretending at first. you just think that if you try hard enough, you can escape the thing that's 'wrong' with you

mike does care about el, he says it himself. it's likely he genuinely thought he did have a crush on her when they met, due to pressure and the general confusion of being literally 12 when they got together. but as time went on, it became apparent that his feelings for el weren't like the feelings he had for will.

him realizing he's gay while in a relationship with el doesn't suddenly mean he led her on, or used her, or intentionally lied to her.

like gay people aren't boogeymen that go around ruining the lives of straight people. we're children and teenagers too at some point, just figuring ourselves out

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

We need more bisexual rep, which is why I headcanon Steve, Eddie, Lucas, Max, and El as bisexual. I'm still unsure about Mike. I think he wouldn't label himself, but I'm not sure. I sometimes lean toward him being gay. Sometimes, I lean towards him being bisexual, and sometimes, I lean towards him being pansexual. I can't get a read on him. He's definitely queer. I also could kind of headcanon him as aromantic like Nancy. I headcanon Dustin as asexual along with El, and I could also see Dustin being pansexual. For me, Argyle is a trans man and pansexual. Hop and Joyce are bi4bi like Steddie. Jonathan is definitely pansexual to me. Scott Clarke is gay to me. Wayne is another question mark to me. He might be one who doesn't like labels like my dad. There's something about Wayne who reminds me of my dad a little bit. Well, a mixture of Wayne and Hopper. Tommy H is gay and Carol is a lesbian. They're beards, okay? Karen Wheeler is a frustrated closeted bisexual (I refuse to believe she lusted after Bully. It didn't happen for me because it didn't add anything to the story.) Jason Carver is a deeply closeted gay man (I still hate him). Yeah, I definitely headcanon Chrissy as bisexual but I can see her being a lesbian or pansexual too. Hell, I could see her being someone who doesn't label herself either. The conservatives hiding behind their religious guilt hate Eddie because he's not afraid of hiding who he is. Anyway, no one in Hawkins is straight. Stranger Things? More like Queerer Things.

Canon: Robin Buckley is a lesbian, Will Byers is gay, and Vickie is bisexual.

I was only going to mention a few people. Whoops, I got carried away.

EDIT: I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT GARETH. Gareth is definitely gay!

I can also see Eddie and Steve being trans as well as Max.

[byersfanclub]

call it controversial, I'm speaking my mind and if you don’t agree with me then so be it, atp idc what ppl may think about my opinion on this matter but as someone who views mike wheeler as a closeted gay person, meaning mlm, he is a boy who likes other boys and that’s it then I’m also someone who believes mike has never had actual romantic feelings for el at ANY point in the show. I don’t sit around and harass people who believe otherwise. 

mike is not even the FIRST person to show el kindness once she escaped the lab, it’s benny hammond. mike is the second person to truly show el some kindness and basic human decency by allowing her into his home and getting her clean, dry clothes. it’s something I hope anyone would do for anyone in that sort of situation BUT don’t forget it’s also mike’s idea to “send her back to pennhurst or wherever she came from” and comes up with the plan on the spot right then and there to have her go out the back door and knock on the front door and his mom will figure out what to do. they never had any plans on keeping el around until they found out she knew who will was, that he was alive and that she had fucking superpowers. I get kinda sick of ppl trying to twist this around. this is factual, it’s not some anti-m1leve3n thing ppl made up, it is canon. to say mike never wanted to get rid of el at first is just a straight up lie, his main priority was finding will, but he wasn’t going to be an asshole and leave a girl outside in the pouring rain.  

all mike cares about in s1 is finding will. I find it odd that some ppl don’t believe this, whether you think he could have grew a crush on el or not. he literally starts to disassociate, begs to help look for him, sneaks out of his home at night, bikes home and sobs into his moms arms when he thinks will is dead, is outright RUDE to el afterwards until she proves that will is still alive. 

both Lucas and Nancy say things that try to allude to mike liking el, which literally has nothing to fucking do with the plot of s1 AT ALL and they literally have no scenes that I can genuinely go back and look at and be like “aww that's so cute and romantic, I hope they’ll kiss and end up together” 

their kiss was never scripted and it wasn’t even meant to happen, it was something millie suggested and its funny that they chose to do it right after she asks if mike will be like her fucking BROTHER and he goes “no, well, I guess it’s sort of the same” like my brother in christ in what world is a date/boyfriend the same as a brother? he’s not stupid, even 12 year olds know the difference between a brother and a boyfriend. I genuinely think it’s because mike has never CARED about that sort of thing before, because he’s just a kid who wants to play games with his friends, uninterested in girls and dating in general. 

so, when I say that mike unintentionally uses el as his “beard” it’s not meant to be insulting towards el, because el is also using mike to try and be a normal girl. they are both just trying to be normal when both of them know they AREN’T. 

el is the first girl not immediately grossed out by mike, it’s because she doesn’t view him as anything other than a person, she’s not thinking about him romantically at all, she’s a 12 yr old girl that just escaped being in a scientific lab her whole life, romance isn’t going to be on the forefront of her mind, she probably doesn’t even know wtf romantic love even is. you think they’re showing Casablanca in the Hawkins national lab? I don’t think so. 

s2 shows mikes lack of interest in girls even more, and ppl using the reasoning that its because he “loves el” like idk how to tell you this, he knew her FOR ONE WEEK and she barely spoke the entire time and mike was focused on will all of s1. be so for real. really. his lack of interest in girls comes in the form of things more subtle like the dragons lair scene, which has mike and will off to the side, blank faced as dustin and lucas sort of duel for princess daphne. then there’s more upfront moments like mike being completely uninterested in max, while even will seems to be at least a little curious about her (ofc not romantically like dustin and lucas) 

don't even get me started on mikes monologue to will in s2 being 10x more romantic than mike’s “love confession” monologue in s4 which fell flat on 90% of the audience (on purpose, I see u duffers)

the snowball scene isn’t meant to be a romantic scene for m1lev3n but it gets interpreted as one because of they way they film it, and it’s literally done that way ON PURPOSE. they are tricking you, me, the entire audience into believing mike is so upset because el isn’t there. but his reactions to will getting asked to dance and afterwards (with dustin also being upset over Lucas and max) are clear. then they show us Nancy asking dustin to dance along with el showing up to the snowball to dance with mike? 

The ending of s2 solidified mike using el as a cover for his queerness, to be normal, because he was aware that he was DIFFERENT. this is why m1lev3n is so insufferable to people in s3 because its written to be insufferable. they don’t want you to like it. to finally see mike and el as a couple? it’s annoying, ppl don’t like it, the characters themselves are over it and even el herself. 

then there’s will and mikes fight scene which is 10x more breakup coded than m1lev3ns ACTUAL breakup? bro had mike sobbing and throwing up as he biked across town in the pouring rain to apologize, meanwhile all mike did was eat Doritos and burp while complaining abt el breaking up with him, calling her a different species and such. he didn’t actually care deep down, it was more annoying and frustrating that she broke up with him than emotional because he didn’t love her romantically, he’s just mad that he lost his cover that keeps him appearing as normal as possible. 

the ending of s3 solidifies to me that el is ALSO using mike to be and feel normal, because they’d been broken up for months at this point and she suddenly feels the need to kiss him and tell him she loves him too? while mike literally tries to avoid remembering the shit he said earlier in the season, because he didn’t mean it and if he did, he wouldn’t have acted the way he fucking did in s4. BFFR. el only wanted mike back because she lost hopper. 

hoppers letter is meant to be familiar love between el and hopper and it’s meant to allude to the growing romantic tension between mike and will as well, in stranger things, there’s double, triple, quadruple meanings to everything and this is one of them. mike KNOWS he does not love el, he knows this in s2, he knows this during s3, he knows this coming into s4. mike is desperate to not lose her as his cover because as much as mike is “himself” back in Hawkins, he still can’t stop thinking about will because Hawkins isn’t the same without him. he knows he’s thinking about will too much, that he worries about el so much because he’s unable to face his true feelings that he has for will and not her and mike believes that el genuinely loves him (she doesn’t). 

this brings me to believe their official split is going to be a lot more mutual than ppl believe. el has come to terms that her and mike are over during nina, I believe el suspects/knows that mike is gay/likes will. their sbp talk paralleling jack and joey from Dawsons creek is almost too spot on for it not to mean something, especially to know will still pining and jealous over them right after it. 

in conclusion, im tired of pretending I ever thought mike and el were ever a cute ship, they weren’t. there was no spark between them for me and many others. it was like they were being forced into my face and I think the duffers did this with so much intention. not only did they straightbait robin and steve so well, but them “shoving” a straight ship into our face in the way mainstreams shows get criticized by homophobes for gay ships. it’s no wonder one of their favorite shows is Dawsons creek. 

mike wheeler is gay and never liked el. el hopper got caught up in mike’s internal conflict and also latched onto him for a sense of security and to feel like a normal teenage girl. 

fin. 

[hessolivagant]

In depth analysis to explain mikes behavior in rinko-mania :)

“what about us?:(“

“us?”

i can’t really tell the expression on his face, either it’s longing or some sort of like “wait WHAT.. what does he mean us??” But the reaction definitely tells me that this has been a thought for him.

“and us?”

“RRHSGA HSGAGAGA AHAGDGHENW AMAGSGA SHDGSA”

“WE’RE FRIENDS WE’RE FRIENDS☹️”

Will was just trying to ask if they were still best friends because of how distant they were over the past year and mike took it romantically. Mike, why did your brain go to THAT immediately. Will meant it platonically you silly goose😘😘

Bro projected his problems onto will twice😭 it’s his fault that they have gotten so distant from each other because mike has been so focused on being something he is not(straight) And it’s making him miserable, el miserable and will miserable. They’re all unhappy because mike is using el as his beard, which is resulting mike to push everyone away, including his best friend he’s known since pretty much forever.

This shit started playing AS SOON as mike started projecting. This song in the scene has a double meaning, el is hiding away in a closet(physically) and mike is in the closet(figuratively)

Mike was just upset the whole day because of the painting he heard about from el, he was jealous. Hence the awkward reunion, they were fine when will left but mike was upset and tried to push it deep down and repress his feelings. Resulting in mike ignoring will because he’s hurt, and mike ignoring will causes will to be distant from mike because will is jealous and is literally a whole ass third wheel, which made mike think will was ignoring him.

Mike was paying attention to will the entire time though, he was listing little things will did the entire day which means mike was looking at will. And that will ignoring mike “practically sabotaged the whole day” even though it was angela bullying el, mike seemed to pay more attention to wills body language instead of els facial turmoil when angela went over to their table.

Also

I definitely feel like this kiss was to make Will jealous, which it most definitely did. Mike was doing everything wrong, but i really don’t blame him. This is what internalized homophobia can do to a mf. I relate to mike because of this, as someone with internalized homophobia i did the exact same thing.

The poor boys just need some support, will got it from his brother but mike hasn’t been validated about his feelings yet and i really want him to accept himself and go back to who he really was(s1 + s2)

Will and mike need each other <3 <3

[aemiron-main]

guy who is so normal about the track called ‘the cure’ from the s4 ost sounding very similar to ‘in the closet (at rink o mania)’. staring directly at the imagery of people like Henry being referred to as needing to be ‘cured,’ and El being called ‘sick,’ and the aids imagery in ST and queerness as a whole being seen seen as a disease and the ‘cure’ for it being to stay in the closet (at rink o mania) but the reality is that it’s not actually a disease at all and doesn’t need to be cured. staring directly at Will’s ‘the cure’ poster.

this also ties into my thoughts regarding an analysis im working on about that includes discussion of how Mike has been trying to DIY conversion therapy himself via his relationship with El- I don’t think he’s always known he was gay/I don’t think he got into a relationship with El for the sake of trying to change himself or use her as a beard, but I DO think he tried really hard to make himself love her/love girls esp because that’s what was expected of him (look at lucss and Nancy pushing him towards it in s1) and esp after realizing more about his feelings for will and lack of attraction to girls in s3 and so that’s the diy conversion therapy aspect of it, he’s not simply pretending to like girls for a large portion of the show, instead he’s trying to change himself to force himself to like girls. I think part of it is Mike realizing what romantic love/attraction actually IS and what it feels like & initially assuming that what he felt for El must be romantic attraction & that’s just what it feels like (especially considering Ted and Karen’s relationship) and then part of it is Mike realizing that what he feels for El isn’t l romantic attraction but trying to change himself and force himself to be attracted to her and to stay in the closet and there’s so much to be said for how Mike starts to realize that he can’t change/‘cure’ himself and that’s why he’s so weird in parts of s4, because he’s realizing that he can’t change his sexuality so he’s trying to hide it/pretend. Like there’s the realization for Mike that he needs to be cured/that’s there’s something wrong with him (at least in his mind he thinks he needs to be) then the realization that he can’t be cured/can’t change his sexuality and then the realization that he doesn’t actually need to be cured/there’s nothing wrong with being gay.

[nadia-zahra]

The Rain Fight and my new take on it

while rereading my analysis on st3 Mike and the rain fight I had a lil "oh shit I have a different view on this now" moment.

In my analysis, I said it was miscommunication, and to some extent, it is... just not in the way I've explained previously.

My og take was that it was Mike taking Will's, "you're ruining everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?!" as 'you're ruining everything because you like making out with El who is stupid' instead of what Will really meant: you're ruining everything because you're straight. And then I wrote off Mike's response of "El's not stupid and it's not my fault you don't like girls" as him trying to say 'it's not my fault you haven't grown up yet' instead of 'it's not my fault you're gay'

But nowadays I'm like 95% sure that this fight was in fact "you're ruining everything because you like girls" "it's not my fault you're gay".

First off, MIKE IS GAY (imo) and, atp in the show, he was battling against internalized homophobia. His response of "...it's not my fault you don't like girls" sounds like hardcore projecting; especially when we know it's in response to Will taking a stab at Mike's sexuality.

Here's where I think the miscommunication lies: neither Mike nor Will know they are both 1) in the closet 2) into each other. Both of them just think the other is straight, and are alone in their feelings for the other.

So when Will said, "You're ruining everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?!", he wasn't intentionally going below the belt because he genuinely thinks Mike is straight and into El. However, from Mike's pov that was basically getting called out for using El as a beard. Mike got so freaking defensive from Will's words because he wasn't ready to admit to himself that he's gay or selfishly using El.

Mike projects at Will, "It's not my fault you don't like girls," and also unintentionally hits below the belt because he thinks Will is straight and just hasn't gotten past the 'ewww cooties' stage of childhood. Will is canonically gay, so his reaction to this makes sense-- he takes it as 'it's not my fault you're gay' and becomes stunned by the fact his crush/bff (the guy who's protected him from homophobic bullies) is now spewing the same homophobic bullshit.

However, Mike's response to Will's reaction doesn't make sense... unless he's gay and still projecting his true desires, making them seem like ridiculous hypotheticals. *cough* Wanting to spend the rest of their lives together playing dnd and subtly saying they'd live together forever *cough*. And Will's response of "Yeah I guess I did. I really did" thankfully doesn't have any blurred lines to read through and he really is just stating, 'yeah, I really thought we'd be together forever'.

Second off, I think I had that initial perspective on the rain fight because the duffers said (back when this was still a hot topic) that this was supposed to be taken simply as Mike meaning 'it's not my fault you haven't grown up yet' because Will's sexuality was still in the dark atp in time and they've been known to bend the truth in order to not spoil anything. However, with hindsight (and confirmation that Will is gay) we know Will took it as Mike being a homophobe.

So, with that being said, Mike's pov on the rainfight is still kinda in murky waters-- no one fully knows why tf he said what he said or how he took Will's words.

The last thing I'm going to say in this unplanned analysis, so that way I can go back to prepping for my s4 Mike analysis is this: If in st5 when it's revealed Mike has feelings for Will and is gay (or some type of queer person), does this mean that with hindsight we'll be able to know exactly what was being said in the rain fight?

[strangertheories]

Idk if it's the bi in me but there's something special to me about bi mike and the show being about rejecting conformity because if he's gay sure he can choose to get a beard but there's no actual real shot of happiness in that scenario which I assume makes it easier in a way I'm not tryna be spicy or make hot takes or anything if you look at the numbers statistically gay people come out more than bi people and being closeted isn't actually healthy or anything irl or otherwise and I'd say it's actively hurting Mike and the people around him and you can't help who you fall in love with but yeah

I'm very monosexual and I haven't researched the stats so I can't comment on that, but yeah, I prefer bi Mike because it gives Mike more of an active choice between El and Will. Acknowledging his feelings for El were once real but still choosing Will is just more juicy from a plot perspective in my opinion. Obviously others can disagree, but it's good to hear your pov! Thanks for the ask.

[bowlcutbyers]

If mike closed El in his closet wouldn’t that just mean that he’s keeping that closet door shut…. With her???? (Like an unintentional beard)

look its gonna be 12am soon and my brain is rotting but if you mean that el is a cover of mike's actual wants then cool and no theres not a single way i can make that sound nice so sorry

[beepboop358]

sorry if this seems random BUT i was wondering if you had any thoughts about the fandom panic after the noah/millie interview and the potential leaks about mike telling el he loved her, and if you did, do they affect how you think byler will play out in vol. 2/s5?

hi anon!

I haven't been super active the past few days so I don't know which interview you're referring too, I'm sorry :( But my faith in byler being endgame is still very very strong :)

I also haven't seen any possible leaks about Mike telling El he loves her but - I could see it happening in a way that ends M!leven for good. Based on the way Mike was acting with El and Will in the beginning of season 4 (before she gets arrested) he is NOT ready to let go of his beard (El) and whatever realization he had at the end of season 3 pushed him farther back into the closet. The note she gives him that's signed "from", may push him to tell her that he loves her, so he can keep being in a relationship with her because he thinks that's what she wants to hear, and he may think that one word, "love" will be enough to make her stay. But based on the fact that El seems to be more over Mike's bullshit than ever before, calling him out for not saying he loves her and signing her note "from", I think if he did tell her he loves her, she's going to know his words are empty, and she may even be the one reassuring him it's okay if he doesn't love her romantically. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing something like this at all. It would be a pretty clean break for M!leven with El sort of initiating it.

As for vol. 2 byler, I think it will be similar to the development we got in vol. 1, just progressing a bit more, and that Season 5 will have the most byler development and officially make the relationship official.

A while ago I posted something about how if Will gets taken by Vecna or something, that Mike's monologue at the end of season 4 might possibly be a parallel to the shed scene in season 2, when Will was possessed, and that it could be a sort of love confession...and I'm still crossing my fingers for that LOL. I think that would be a really good way to set byler up to happen in s5!

thanks for the ask! I hope you're well! xx

[neonponders]

Head canon time:

Okay okay okay okayokayokay so this post has super cute art, but the reblog comment on it aligned with something that’s been percolating in my brain for a ~while~ now:

Eleven as Steve’s sister.

Obviously neither Steve nor Eleven have any idea. From the time El escapes the lab, they don’t interact much. Even if they’re in the same room, they kind of bounce around each other, because...why else would they? Steve’s at least five years older and she’s still building her social skills/confidence, especially around men.

But then Steve gets his hair cut short, and the back likes to curl very similarly to how El’s did when hers was short. Their hair needs its own weight to pull it straight.

And it’s dark brown. Followed by clear brown eyes.

It’s not enough for anyone to connect the dots, of course, but then El’s “mother” dies. Her mind had been a flickering light for a long time, eventually her heart began to match. But when a heart stops, it stops.

Her sister calls Hopper, in case El wants to know, and they show up, at the very least, to attend the funeral and to help the sister go through dusty boxes. Maybe there’s a picture of El’s mother that she wants...

Instead they find surrogacy papers.

Old bank statements.

Apparently at the time of her involvement with government conspiracy, she had been very down on her luck. She made the mistake of doubling up on volunteering to be a surrogate mother, as well as whatever the hell the Hawkins Library did to her.

But the names on the papers are John and Eliza Harrington.

“Like...Steve?” El asks when he finally has gaped at the papers for too long.

Hopper inhales because he isn’t sure when he did that last and scratches his face. “Yeah...like Steve.”

He has mixed emotions: the empathetic devastation at losing a kid, but also the relief that this involves someone already in the know.

They go over to Steve’s house.

The guy answers the door with a slice of pizza in his hand, still chewing. “Hi, Hop. Ellie.”

She offers a small smile. “Steve.”

“Are your parents home, kid?”

He shook his head and swallowed. “Just left this morning. They have a time-share condo in Mexico.”

“You didn’t go with them?”

Steve scoffs while turning around back into the house. “My idea of a good time isn’t with my parents. What d’you need?”

“Well,” Hopper sighs, feeling too big in the foyer. Eleven stabs his hip with a finger and he begins the tedious process of unlacing his boots. “I need to go through your parents’ papers. You got an attic, a cellar, an office?”

Steve, bless him, looks genuinely clueless. “Uh. Yeah...are we in trouble for something?”

“Not in trouble, no. I just wanna cross reference something.”

Bless him twice, because he actually lets Hopper into his attic. His father’s office. Then his mother’s.

He finds it in his mother’s bedroom. It was just a shot in the dark to try the safe in the closet, but so many people actually keep their safes unlocked for easy access.

Hospital documents. Even ultrasound photos.

“Jane Elizabeth...Harrington?” Steve chirps over his shoulder.

He looks up at the chief, who’s rubbing his beard again. Their heads turn to Eleven sitting on Mrs. Harrington’s bed. “My name’s Jane.”

Those big brown eyes blink between her and Hopper. “How do you know that? I thought you came from a lab?”

Hopper intercepted, “She used her,” he gestured vaguely to his own head, “to find her mother. Or...the surrogate your parents paid for.”

“And where’s she?”

“Dead,” said Eleven.

Hopper reiterated, “She passed about two weeks ago. We found your parents’ names in her paperwork.”

“But - what happened? How does a baby just go missing? Better question: why don’t I have super powers?”

Hopper had already read the hospital’s apology and refund of the Harrington’s funds, insurance, the works. “I think that asshole...Brenner...claimed the baby for his work, early enough that it could be written off as a miscarriage. Whatever they did to El’s mother, whatever went on in that lab, landed her with her abilities. It’s nothing to covet, all right.”

Steve looked winded. He crossed his arms and let himself collapse against the wall. “So...what do we do?”

“Uh...” Hopper fanned his face with the ultrasound pictures. “There isn’t a lot we can do. Telling your parents would open up a lot of closed doors that we can’t really afford to open. Dr. Owens, being the swell guy he is, provided me paperwork that grants El as my kid.

“But.

“You already know each other. You already contributed to saving the world together. So...I think that’s up to the two of you.”

Both of them, for all they’d been through, just looked like kids. They were kids, even if Steve now stood in his twenties. And he stood off the wall, now, to approach his sister.

“Can I, uhm...can I hug you?”

El slid off the high bed, easily falling against his body for arms to wrap tightly around her. They stayed like that for a long moment, then Hopper joined them to rub between their shoulder blades.

“Oh god. You’re dating Mike Wheeler.” El hummed a curious sound and he elaborated, “Am I gonna have to pound on him if he pisses you off?”

“I wish you would,” Hopper confirmed.

Fast forward to Mike being extremely confused at his girlfriend suddenly spending a lot of time with Steve Harrington, of all people.

“Maybe she’s gotten a taste for older men?” Lucas teased, and got punched in the shoulder for it.

Max’s eyes rolled but she didn’t grace that with an answer.

Mike fumed, “She was supposed to be with me today! Then she called and said she had other plans - ”

Max chimed, “Are you sure you had plans? Or that you had a plan but she beat you to it?”

“It doesn’t matter! I see her walking around with Steve Harrington all the time and it’s weird!”

Will said for nobody in particular, “We’re not the ones to judge weird anymore.”

Lucas countered, “Or we’re the experts on weird. Speaking of, where the hell is Dustin?”

“With Steve,” Max grinned right at Mike, and stood up. “Speaking of, my ride’s probably here.”

“Where are you going?” Lucas asked.

“Over to Steve’s.”

The boys looked at each other and ran for their shoes. Sure enough, they left the Wheelers’ basement, circled around the house, and found the blue Camaro waiting in the cul-de-sac. 

“Woah woah woah, what the hell is this?” Billy said hoarsely. He peered over his sunglasses at the teenagers filing into his backseat.

Max shoved a bottle of water towards him. “You’re not drinking enough, again.”

“Don’t bitch at me. Tell your friends to scram.”

“Are you really going over to Steve’s?” Will began.

“What do you know about Steve hanging out with my girlfriend?” Mike joined.

“Steve’s got a pool, right?” Lucas directed at Max.

Billy revved his engine with a sharp right turn, throwing all of them to one side of the car. Max held her head from where it had hit the window. “Cool it, you shouldn’t even be driving in the first place.”

“My blood did not turn black for this bullshit.”

The kids in the back stared out of the windows like Loch Nora was a safari tour. At the sound of the Camaro’s engine, Steve trotted down the slope of the lawn in swimming trunks with a towel around his shoulders, waving them through the gate.

Will and Lucas sprinted after him. Mike followed at a skeptical pace while Max lingered for Billy’s sake. No one noticed that Billy wore pink and turquoise swimming trunks that fit more to Steve’s taste.

Mike sure as hell noticed the red and purple, woven friendship bracelets that El and Steve wore, though. The pale, skinny nerd just stared, dumbfounded between Hopper floating contently over the pool, El laughing in a one-piece covered in hibiscus flowers, and Steve sitting at the foot of Billy’s lounge chair.

Then Robin strolled through the gate with a stack of pizza and chicken wing boxes. “All right, we ready? What are you doing, dweeb? It’s a 101 degrees out. Get wet.”

And shoved Mike Wheeler right into the pool.

[general-kj]

Are you really so sure of Byler’s endgame? I’m asking this sincerely, not maliciously.

It’s just… I’ve seen this before in multiple fandoms. People read deeper and deeper into the “subtext” that just actually isn’t really there, when it’s all said and done. These ultra subtle clues that the creators are theoretically leaving just… don’t make a lot of sense. TV isn’t that subtle. The Duffers aren’t that deep.

They literally had Mike say he loves Eleven, in front of everyone. Pretty bold for this type of drama. He tried to tell her directly in the grocery store. And Eleven said I love you… and then kissed him. It’s romantic love.

I guess I just worry about people’s disappointment because while it’s fine to ship Byler, I think it’s likely going to remain a crack ship.

Hmm I cant tell whether you are actually being sincere or not because I've seen people acting like this before to try and get rid of my hope but I'm going to answer like your being sincere. I'm not a theorist so I'm not going to explain this as eloquently as others but I'm going to give it my best shot.

I'm not going to deny the fact that queer baits have been a problem in media for a very long time. But I've never been invested in those ships nearly as much as Byler because there is just something different about it. The duffers are very supportive of the LGBT community so I sincerely doubt they would do a queer bait. If anything Mileven is a straight bait, the duffers already done it once with Stobin, why cant they do it again?

This is actually a very deep show, if you've seen Kaypieces theories on things like the DID system you would know this. There is so much going on behind every action. There has to be a first time for everything and this is it. As soon as you look behind the surface level Mileven its all Byler. You could call it coincidence if we had only a few proofs but we have literally hundreds.

Lets talk about specifics now for a bit. In s3 I believe Mike uses El as a beard, he may not be aware he's doing it but he is. Mileven start of the season by kissing to cant fight this feeling anymore which is about someone falling for their friend, El wasn't his friend as they jumped into romance too quickly. Hes only known her properly for a few months and in those few months all they have done is make out. How can you fall in love with someone if you never talk to them? Its also awfully suspicious how he removes her hands from his shoulders when she tries to touch him whilst they kissing.

Throughout s3 Mike seems to be annoyed at her, there is a large compilation of pictures of Mike pulling weird expressions at her. If that's what love is I don't want it. When the mileven breakup happened Mike again seemed more annoyed than upset and the whole scene was framed as a joke whilst the garage sequence with Will was easily the most heart breaking scene of the season. Mike didn't chase after El but he did chase after Will.

I don't think El loves Mike either. She liked the idea of him she formed whilst sitting alone in Hops cabin watching soap operas but she doesn't like the real him. She gets annoyed when Mike starts singing and shows no interest in any of his hobbies. The only interest she shows in him is the fact that he's male and was kind to her. Within minutes of breaking up with Mike she was thinking of new boyfriends. She showed more interest in the karate kid than she did in Mike. At the end of s3 she went back to Mike because she needed the stability of a relationship after losing her father figure not because she actually loved him.

At the end of s3 Mileven kissed after presumably being separated for 3 months. Mike was taken completely by surprise because he had accepted it was over as the only reason he said what he did in the cabin because he was trying to win the argument he was having and just spat it out. Mike made no effort to kiss back and kept his eyes open the entire time, they even kissed in front of a open closet whilst Wills stuffed toy was in the background for goodness sakes. Meanwhile the scene with Will was arguably more romantic with Mike worrying about Will finding another party and at the end of the season I believe Mike makes his full realisation that he's in love with Will when he cries in his mothers arms.

Mike and Will were giving each other heart eyes from the first scene of s1, they might not of realised at the time they were doing it but they were. Mike constantly considered El a weapon he could use to find Will throughout s1 and only got the idea to kiss her because Lucas kept suggesting it. In s2 he stopped calling El the second Will needed help again and he was calling El out of guilt, he made no attempt to search for her like he had Will even when he thought he saw her. The crazy together scene is iconic and I don't think I even need to go into how much of a I love you scene that is. Then there's the best thing I've ever done and the you said yes scene which sounds an awful lot like a marriage proposal.

So in conclusion, both El and Mike are using each other in different ways whilst Mike is in love with Will. There is so much more I can talk about but I will save it for now. There are so many instances that have no hetero explanation like Mike and Wills reaction to the lingerie store and the sauna compared to Lucas's. The only things Milevens can come up with in return is that they kissed and said I love you. If you think that equals love god help you. Mileven is a toxic relationship and I'm glad the duffers aren't romanticising toxic relationships like other tv shows have in the past.

[azaleadynasty]

why is that most m*leven shippers are trying to push the “m*leven is the most popular ship the duffers won’t get rid of it” and “mike is straight, he’s with el” and bla bla bla.

like i don’t know whether byler is fr gna happen, but you can’t ignore the blatant queercoding of both characters! also the idea that because mike is with el he’s straight(i personally think he’s gay) when it was very common for, in this context, gay men to have a so-called “beard” in an attempt to potray heterosexual.

another thing that rlly annoys me with most m*leven is that they don’t actually analysis the show and then go around claiming their ship is endgame without any other evidence besides “they’re popular” or “they’re relationship has been built up throught s1-3,” the latter even being wrong!

s1 - will goes missing, mike proposes that him & the party go out looking for them, they come across some random girl in the woods, who throughout s1 is mention as appearing “boy-ish” and similar to will. mike calls her a “weapon” to the party, and sees as a chance of finding will, so he is nice to her. when the idea of will being dead occurs, once his “body” was found, he immediately lashed out at her, however, as soon as el gave him back the hope that will was alive, he goes back to being nice to her! of course we have the m*leven kiss, but again we have the connotations of el being similar to a “boy” and “will”, she’s also not considered attractive to the rest of the party bar mike, and we know both karen & nancy wheeler thought mike was acting strange because will, also to point where we had karen basically tell mike that she supports no matter what (because she thinks he likes will!!) when will is saved and is in the hospital, mike is the only one in the party to stay awake to wait for will to wake, and when he does he is immediately up and running to give him a great hug! ( i may have missed something but oh well) basically it was always about will, not el!!

s2 - do i really need to explain? the whole season showed byler, probably my fav season so far (maybe s4 will change that 😏) and in comparison to s1 where mike was obsessed with finding will even after his body was found! when he had the suspicion that el was still alive, he ignored it and didn’t look for her. you can probably find more in depth (is that the right way of saying it) explanations and what not but like im not writing all of the stuff that you can find anywhere on the byler tag or even yt. also the “crazy together” scene comparing to the “only love makes you that crazy” with canon ship j*ncy, and then further in s3 we have the m*leven scene in the mall where mike cannot even say it and even says that it is what old people do (in movies & with his parents who aren’t shown to be in love?!?)

s3 - the only season where m*leven are actually in a relationship, which is basically in crumbles throughout the season, the only thing they do together is kiss basically. i do love them together, platonically that is. mike not being able to apologise to eleven the girl he’s with, but being able to easily apologise to will. mikes “because i love her” scene sounding very rehearsed, with a certain lucas sinclair being quite cheerful over it. the mall scene i mentioned before. the m*leven kiss being awkward at the end (all of them really) mike being confused/ shocked because he thought it was over and not being able to reciprocate els feelings of romantic love, whilst he’s stood in wills room, with the closet open and el i believe with wills teddy-thing. the scene with byler abt d&d, where mike is very happy.

more could probably be said, but you’d have to look into others posts(?) abt that. also i didn’t mention a lot of mikes (&wills) queercoding in this besides in s1 where i mentioned elevens appearance. but er oh well, just sorta did this as a slight rant out of annoyance for m*leven stans being annoying on byler posts

[kaypeace21]

Wow... I have to laugh. The Duffers never made it a secret what movies (and even books) inspired them. But what about shows? ( Show’s name is ’eyewitness’). One of the central plot points of the show is about 2 boys in love who live in a small conservative town-and are in the closet because of it . The blonde guy (Lukas) paralleled to mike (has a gf as a cover ) and  is dealing with A LOT of internalized homophobia /self hate. And despite being gay and even initiating the kiss with philip/Will (who is more open about being gay and who is also very poor)... says shit to Philip like “I’M NOT GAY LIKE YOU!”  Which was a lie.XD

He’s just like Mike who has a beard (El) , initiates all byler scenes, and also says to the boy he loves (who is also poor) -“It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” Deflecting and lashing out cause he knows he’s gay too (but is too scared to admit it). And staying in the closet because of fear of being outed in a small conservative town.

Haven’t watched it since it first aired, years ago ,but that’s just what I remember (... prob going to watch again , just because it may be inspiration for ST ) XD

@jyrus2267​ sent this instagram post to me.

[willthecleric]

This just occured to me, Mike wasn’t there to hear the rendition of The Never Ending Story when Dustin and Suzie were singing, but he was there when Lumax was singing it and I think that may be hinting. In the song there is the line ‘and there upon a rainbow is the answer to a never ending story’. The rainbow part is about Byler (it is the key). The first time it was sang, Mike was still playing comp het, and he was with El (and Max). But three months later, things were different. Mike seemed over using El as a beard and was more his old self. Lumax sang the song loudly as Mike was in the kitchen and had a romantically coded D&D chat with Will (followed by Mike giving Will heart eyes). Then shortly after there was that awkward Mileven scene with an awful kiss in front of Will’s closet with Will’s bear between them. And then that very Byler ending where Mike realized that he is definitely gay and was in love with Will the entire time.

Basically what I’m saying is that the song goes along with the shift in Mike. Originally he didn’t hear it because he wasn’t ready to, but at the end he was.

[lollercakesff]

Time & Again 2

A bit more Jopper that I can’t get out of my mind…  AO3

Hopper wakes up to the smell of her, his mind fuzzy as he looks around his sparse room for Joyce. She isn’t there. He knows she never was. But still his dream had convinced him that she had been here lying next to him.

It was like a memory of another time when they had been thick as thieves, waking up after a night of debauchery in their last year of school. He’d been preparing to leave for Vietnam, trying to get his living out of the way before his draft came due when he and a few friends had run into Joyce out on the town. He didn’t remember how it had happened, but he’d woken up with her hair in his face and instead of pulling away he’d tucked in closer.

When she’d finally come to with her head spinning from the hangover, he’d held that same mop of hair back from her face as she prayed to the porcelain gods. Then he’d drove her home and she started seeing Lonnie a week later.

They never really spoke about that night and he wasn’t even sure if she even remembered it, but every so often he woke up to the familiar feeling and felt the loss of what never really was all over again.

The knock on his door has him rolling to sit on the side of the bed, his hands grasping for the rumpled shirt at the base of his bedside table. “Yeah, one sec,” he calls out as he pulls the shirt on. When he opens the door, El is there with her backpack, her quiet stare focused on him.

“School,” she states forcefully, her fingers playing with the sleeves of her plaid shirt and giving away her nerves. Hopper looks towards the clock and rubs his face.

“Yeah, I know. But kid, it’s six in the morning, school isn’t for a couple hours yet,” he says, sighing and turning back into his room to start gathering his uniform pieces.

“Late. I don’t want to be late,” she adds awkwardly.

“Don’t worry - we’ll be on time. Now can you close the - “ The door clicks shut and he smiles to himself while grabbing a clean shirt from the closet.

He knew she’d be excited for today, he should have expected it. After more than a year of being hidden away, he had finally registered her in school using her new birth certificate and an excuse about how she’d been living with her mother until now. They’d worked hard with Nancy to try to bring her closer to the knowledge level she’d need in class, though it was still an uphill battle ahead of them. But he was confident she’d pick it up quickly with the help of Mike and the gang, as long as they could keep her real identity secret.

Exiting his room, he finds El perched on the arm of the couch with her backpack held tightly in her arms. “Now can we go? Flo has already messaged twice.”

“Did you eat breakfast? Most important meal of the day, you know.” He nods as he moves towards the cabin’s kitchen, ignoring her question purposely. He can feel her eyes on him, watching his every move as her anxiety builds. “El, come on, trust me. We’ll eat breakfast and then we’ll go. You want Eggos?”

That seems to do the trick, distracting her enough so that he’s able to have his coffee and eat without much of a rush before he finally loads them into the truck to go. Pulling up to the school, he barely gets a chance to say goodbye before Mike is pulling open the door and rambling on about how he’d expected her sooner. He watches with his stomach in his throat as she lifts her hand to him before disappearing into the school.

The feeling that rushes in takes him by surprise and he has to press his knuckles into his forehead to keep it contained. In a swift moment the loss of Sara and the missed chances to watch her grow up flood his mind and fill up the space leftover from concern for El’s identity. The emotion blocks out everything else and he’s overwhelmed by the force of it.

“Hop?” Joyce’s voice cuts through to him and he looks up from where he’d hid his face against the steering wheel. Without warning, she rounds to the passenger side and climbs in, her hand coming to rest on his cheek. “What’s wrong?” She prods, angst tightly wound up within her.

Shaking his head he sniffs and feels her hand brush the wetness from his tears away. “God Joyce, sorry,” he groans, reaching for a handkerchief he keeps between the seats.

“Is everything okay?” She tries again, angling herself to be in his line of sight. He chuckles in between shakes of his head and smiles weakly.

“Yeah, just first day jitters, I guess,” he adds lamely and pulls her hand away from where it rests on his beard. He doesn’t let go of it though.

“Oh, I get that. The first day back after we found Will I was a wreck…” She laughs tightly and shrugs. “You’ll get used to it. Maybe even look forward to it, sometimes.”

“Yeah, I know. You caught me by surprise is all. Are we still on for dinner on Wednesday?” He was desperate to steer the conversation away from his ghosts, by any means, and while he knew the dinner would be on - they hadn’t missed family dinner since the Snowball dance a few months ago - he felt like it was a neutral middle ground between them that would give him time to recover.

“Of course! Will wants to try to make lasagna, so if you and El want to bring some garlic bread or something,” she says, shifting until she’s leaning back against the door window with her hands clasped in her lap.

“Hopper - you there? Come in Hop - “ Flo’s voice fills the car, the police radio turned up loudly to be heard over his usual driving music.

“I guess I’ll see you later,” Joyce nods, her eyes darting away as that rare blinding smile breaks across her face. He tries not to stare. Tries.

“Yeah, I’ll see you,” he pauses as she turns to slide out of the truck. “Hey Joyce - “

“Yeah Hop?”

“Thanks.” He smiles, leaning down so he can see her for one more minute. The flare of colour in her cheeks fills him with warmth that lasts even after she shuts the door with a snap.