#elmike povs

[gayofthefae]

Two options:

Mike's speech made her angry and helped

Mike's speech didn't make her angry, Max's choking made her angry and helped. Mike's speech affected nothing and wasted time.

Not looking great, guys.

[gayofthefae]

I think I thought this too and thought he just couldn't get to her or at worst she didn't see him but on my second watch I remember reading the subtext "I don't need your comfort. You don't even love me." Everything is crashing down on her at the same time in this moment I think. And it does so more when she gets more "proof" later with his reaction to Angela but it is right now, too. She can pretend they're relationship is good and secure but she is not feeling good about being vulnerable with him right now because she doesn't trust that his compassion is real, and even so, being close to him may just serve as a reminder of the stress she's associating with him right now.

And that goes along with the lie thing. She doesn't trust him to love her the way she needs right now so she doesn't want to be reminded/confirmed that he can't and she is still, as she has been out of insecurity all day, trying to make the day about "me and you" and ignoring Will in a desperate attempt to CONVINCE him to love her. She isn't actively ignoring Will like Mike is, she just can't afford to focus on anything but giving Mike the perfect day. The perfect day a perfect girlfriend would give him. The kind of girlfriend a person loves.

And yeah, the simplest easiest way to resolve tension in a relationship like this? *Gasp* don't write in the first place! Need a plot conflict for the couple? Make it situational! (S4 Lumax) Systemic! (S3 Jancy) Projecting you past problems! (S3 Jopper). Don't make the couple have problems that come FROM the couple. The whole point is to romanticize it and say that they SOLVE everything together and BY being together. The tension is when they're apart and being together resolves it. If it is ever demonstrated that they are relaxed apart and, because of their conflict, BECOME stressed when together, we will not want them together. At worst, they should be the same apart and together and not be improved by each other. But, out of love and wanting to work things out, THEY ADD STRESS TO EACH OTHER'S LIVES. ESPECIALLY in season 4! Like I said, it's why she doesn't want to see Mike! It would be overwhelming and piling onto her current stress!

Mike and El consistently become more stressed when they're together. They love each other and have good moments in their dating but all of their conflicts are 2 steps back, 2 steps forward aka their relationship itself stresses them out and they fight all season to get to a place where they can be happy together. Sweet, telling of love, love is work, but love shouldn't be THAT much work. And being happy together is the bare minimum. They have not surpassed the bare minimum because they can't even maintain it consistently.

They have said repeatedly now "being together equals stress but when they overcome it, they're okay. Not being together inherently equals being okay."

If they wanted us to think something different they would have shown us El not doing okay as a result of her separation from Mike during season 4 even ONCE. They even managed to bring up Max even though that plotline was almost entirely flashbacks. They mentioned Max to give the reunion more satisfaction. They even showed El thinking of Will as she referenced the mind flayer to Papa. But nothing for Mike. (And Jonathan, she loves you too).

There is so much they COULD have done and didn't. But more importantly, there is SO much they could have NOT done and DID.

the first time i saw this, when i was NOT a byler shipper, i thought el was running TO mike. i thought we were getting a sweet moment where el runs to mike and he puts an arm around her or hugs her.

then i realized she was running away from him. 

and i was like, why?? they're supposed to be the couple why does she not want his comfort??

and even after will calls her out on doing mike wrong by lying to him, even after she sees that mike is attempting to talk to her and comfort her, that he's not angry at her, she still tells angela to lie to mike. more lies. that's how much she cares about keeping up the persona. had angela lied to mike, el would've continued lying to him the entire week. something she knows in her heart is wrong and not fair to mike.

this is a theme in s4. putting who you want to be seen as before being honest with your bf/gf. going above and beyond to preserve your lie, to be seen as who you want to be.

chrissy does that with jason. who she portrays herself as is completely different than who she really is and what she's really going through. jason has absolutely no idea chrissy is struggling and refused to believe chrissy would buy drugs, because chrissy didn't want to tell him. who knows how jason would've reacted if chrissy was honest, we don't know because chrissy didn't trust him enough to tell him. that's not love at all, that's sad.

this is a point in s2 as well. murray calls nancy out for being afraid to be her true self, and she stays with steve because she doesn't have to be her true self around him. she is her true self when she's with jonathan, and that's why they worked together. that's love.

the exact same thing happens with chrissy. the first time we see her genuinely smile is when she's with eddie. she's sweet and charismatic, and had she lived she totally would've gone to eddie's show, something you never would've expected from her, something her boyfriend, the person she pretends to love, would NEVER do.

robin and steve reinforce this too

you fall in love with the person who makes you feel accepted, the person who makes you feel like you can be who you are. the person you trust with your true self.

mike and el don't trust each other enough, they don't understand each other well enough.

they would have to change their behavior towards each other by leaps and bounds, and we're already at the last season. there is no time for that. stranger things isn't a multi season show about the complexity of romantic relationships and the healthy way to resolve problems. there is no time for that in just about any movie or show, especially a sci-fi show. you know what's way easier and way more likable? pairing your character with someone they naturally click with, who bring out the best in each other and for some reason can't help but be their authentic selves when they're with each other.

did it with jancy, like i said earlier

did it with lumax. when lucas and max talked on the bus max found herself spewing about things she'd never even said out loud before, and she had to stop herself. something about lucas just made her feel comfortable, like she could be herself and tell the truth. she trusted him.

"You're nothing like your brother, okay? You're cool and different, you're super smart, and you're like, totally tubular."

jopper too! joyce constantly had to hide things from bob, she was insecure about their family not being normal.

"This is not a normal family."

"It could be."

though bob had good intentions, the message of the show is not trying to be normal when you aren't. whatever it is about you that makes you weird or different, whatever you've been through that changed you, stay true to it. dont bottle it up and try to be someone else. all of vecnas victims in s4 were doing this, and it didn't end well for them.

they even did it with dustin and suzie. dustin constantly tries to impress max with his teeth, then in season 3 he says suzie thinks kissing is better without teeth. he doesn't have to be insecure about that or try to impress her. she likes him for him.

mike isn't comfortable being his true self around el either. he's insecure about his interests, he feels like he has to act older and cooler to impress her.

you shouldn't be with the person you feel you have to impress. you should be with the person who relieves that pressure, who makes you feel like being the authentic you is enough.

jonathan and nancy, lucas and max, joyce and hopper, dustin and suzie,

cough WILL AND MIKE cough...

[chirpsythismorning]

The Bizarre Love Triangle playlist is finally here!

📝 ☎️ 🎨 🛼 🌈⏮️ 🫀 💡

I've been working on this playlist for almost a year now, sharing piece by piece slowly with gifs accompanied by lyrics, which are meant to encapsulate what I think each of these characters were feeling at the time. This playlist goes in order narratively, so if you want the full experience, be sure to click start below to see where it all begins!

START ▶️

Tracklist

You're the Inspiration

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

This Is the Day

The Great Pretender

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

Who Can It Be Now?

I Need You

Bizarre Love Triangle

You've Really Got a Hold of Me

I'm Not In Love

Words

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Dust in the Wind

I've Been Losing You

I Want to Break Free

Enjoy the Silence

Secret

Always on My Mind

The Chain

It's Too Late

How Can I Be Sure?

Alone Again (Naturally)

Alone

Just the Two of Us

The Promise

Never My Love

At Your Best (You Are Love)

Landslide

Wouldn't It Be Nice

The Flame

Is This Love

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?) - BONUS TRACK

I Know There's Something Going On

Slippin' Through My Fingers

More Than Words

If I Can't Have You

What You Won't Do for Love

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Time For Me To Fly

I Will Survive

Blue Moon

If You Leave

Somebody to Love

Don't Dream It's Over

[theyaregayyourhonor]

The love triangle only exist in Mike's pov

El doesn't know Will is gay or in love with Mike, we know that thanks to the s4 letter and her assumption of Will painting for a girl

Will doesn't view himself as a potential love interest for Mike (even do he is treated such. Like can we talk about s1 treating El as Mike's love interest and s2 treating Will as Mike's love interest? Can we?) to him his best friend and sister are more important than his own feelings or happiness.

Also:

Willel: No van, No Mike, just the two of them

Elmike: Van, Argyle, Will

They don't see the love triangle, from El and Will's pov there is no love triangle. They are both pretty sure where they stand with Mike. (Until Mike muddies the water)

So why is so many shot have love triangle imagery in both s3 and 4?

Mike! Mike is the one who sees them both as a choice. Mike feels like he has to decide and that is on Mike. Not on El or Will, they are pretty clear on what role they intend on taking up.

El is his girlfriend, Will is his friend, it should be easy as El isn't jealous of Will and we don't see her having any problem with them spending time together and Will is content with being Mike's friend (the heart you have)

Will and El didn't blur the line between them until the 4th season and they did it without noticing! Mike has been doing it since he kissed El in s1 and spent the next season on Will's floor in a sleeping bag

[gayofthefae]

Totally agree. Their relationship plot and breakup is unrelated at its core to his feelings for Will. He can't prevent his queerness but at the end of the day, he wouldn't have developed feelings for Will if there were no cracks in his relationship with El.

The Eleven of it All

One thing I think gets left out of the Mileven/Byler discourse is Eleven herself? Maybe I'm wrong and just haven't seen it, but, hear me out on this one.

We talk about what Will obviously wants (to be with Mike). There's a lot of discourse about what and who Mike wants (is it Will? is it Eleven?). But to me it seems obvious that El is starting to realize she doesn't really want Mike.

Season 2 is a big one for establishing the romances that carry through the show. Mike and Eleven become a "thing" at the end. Will and Mike have ridiculous synergy and chemistry that season (I've thought something was up with them since then and I'm an OG Season 1 fan). There are hints of Hopper and Joyce, and then you have Lucas and Max—you get my point.

A lot of El's conceptions of romance and what she's supposed to want from it come from these cheesy romance flicks she watched while waiting for Hop to come home. And I feel like she foisted a lot of these unrealistic expectations on Mike.

In one of the films, if you listen to it in the background, you can even hear the couple wanting to tie the knot instantly, without ceremony, in their house. So I don't find it at all surprising that she threw herself at Mike in a really unhealthy way (for both of them) in between S2 and S3.

And it's clear Mike is both not ready for her expectations and doesn't meet them.

He cuts his friends off. He starts spending time exclusively at Hop's cabin. He can't define his feelings for her (later in S3)—after all, that's the first time he's unable to even say the word "love." And he's confused by why he seems to only be fucking things up with her.

Meanwhile, El goes to Max, who quickly shows her that boys (aka Mike) do not have to be her entire identity that she can be herself and want things independent of romance. Max sort of divorced her from those unrealistic romance films she was watching the year before.

Since then?

El has become a lot more independent.

She's started spending time away from Mike—mostly because the story has forced her to, she literally moved. But in that time apart, even she notices he can't tell her how he feels, or that he even loves her.

He avoids her when she acts out. He reacts poorly whenever she scares him (he's done this since Season 1). He constantly reduces her down to just a "superhero" when all she ever wanted to be was a person. And I think, in Season 4, we finally see the illusion shatter for her. I think that's why she avoids him after his little speech in the tub fight.

She's realized that being his girlfriend isn't what she wants anymore.

I think she'll always love Mike and he'll always love her. But I don't think their love is or ever was romantic. It was a bunch of misplaced expectations that caused them both more trouble than it was worth.

I think El figured this out in S3-S4. I think Mike is going to come to this same realization in Season 5, regardless of what also happens between him and Will.

Sorry. Long one. But what do you guys think?

[wibble-wobbegong]

mmmm not to be a blubbery little bitch or anything but “my life started that day i found you in the woods” being the thing mike jumps to to try and convince el that he genuinely loves her is because that’s what he did with will in s2 and it worked even though mike was holding back his deepest feelings. he’s lying in both scenes by pretending he loves will and el in different ways than he actually does

[bylerisc4non]

nah cuz mike isn't actually that oblivious. he knew damn well he loved will, at least in the back of his head. will was always different than everyone else, in his own category. he was someone mike relied on more than anyone else. someone he cherished and loved more than anyone else, because will made mike himself feel cherished and loved. like he wasn't a mistake. he just convinced himself it was platonic love because of compulsory heterosexuality.

just like how he convinced himself his connection to el was romantic, when, in reality, it was a friendship connection. a trauma bond. elmike will always be better platonic. they connected like friends. they helped one another like siblings who support each other through tough times. ('would i be like your sister?') but they were never more than that. el showed up in a time that mike was panicking, a time that he'd lost the one person he could rely on entirely. his best friend. and then she was there and (after he tried to get rid of her) he latched onto her. it felt comfortable because she was like will. or at least, he made her to be. he projected his best friend onto her and found comfort there while will was missing.

it wasn't real though. el and mike connected merely because she made him feel needed and loved when the one person who had made him feel that prior was out of the picture, possibly for good. el latched onto mike because all she'd ever had was brenner, who was abusive. so, when mike showed her all this kindest and love, being the first person to do that, it felt good. it was all new to her. and she immediately wanted that feeling more than anything, so she stuck around. thus, mike and el trying to fulfill themselves through their shallow, toxic, unhealthy relationship started.

and as for will and mike? mike said it best: 'it was the best thing i've ever done.' will was the best choice he ever made. they are the epitome of true love. soulmates. will was never platonic for mike, he just got confused along the way. understandably. but as i said earlier, he's not all that oblivious, especially in st4. he's finally deciphering the difference between his feelings for el (strictly platonic) and his feelings for will (romantic love and interest).

[gayofthefae]

I LOVE THIS OP YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND LIKE I SEE SUCH LITTLE CONSIDERATION OF EL’S INNER MONOLOGUE IN THESE POSTS BESIDES HOW IT RELATES AND REACTS TO MIKE’S.

Also, to add to the Stobin parallels. This makes so much sense, I see SO many parallels between El and Robin’s facial journeys in reaction to the speeches down to how MISCONSTRUED they are on a first watch. As a boy they love tell them he is in love with them when that is not how they feel it, they sink and feel nervous and pained at the idea of now having to crush this person they love.

(But a reminder that Steve actually took it very well)

I have another take on the monologue. Walk with me.

And I’m not saying that my interpretation is the correct one, but rather, I’d like to look at it from ankther angle and consider another possibility.

With the script coming out and the monologue recieving all of this renewed attention, I’m starting to think that maybe El did believe Mike’s monologue.

And this isn’t just me looking at the script as proof. And while yes, the script did say that she believed it, you can’t take what’s on the page as cold hard proof versus what is on the screen, BUT I do think that what we do see on screen supports this idea.

Oh, I still think that Mike was lying out of his ass, and many have already elaborated on that idea so I don’t really want to rehash it here. We as the audience know that Mike is lying because we get a much clearer view of everything, but El does not get that view. We heard Mike say in the van that meeting her was just dumb luck, El did not.

While we also know that Mike’s reasoning for not saying “I love you” comes from his internal struggles, El’s belief as to why Mike couldn’t say comes from her own inner turmoil. She believed that Mike couldn’t say it because she saw herself as a monster. She has no idea about Mike’s personal struggles and doesn’t really consider it a possibility just because she is too in her head. I elaborate more in this post about El’s dichotomous thinking and how it drives her in this season.

It might be different if, say, El questioned Mike if there was someone else, that would definitely send a different message. But this isn’t El believing that Mike is love with someone else. This is El believing that she is unlovable.

But if she did believe him, shouldn’t she have looked happy? Wouldn’t she be closer with him and not giving him the cold shoulder? Wouldn’t they have a conversation after to reconcile their feelings?

And I agree. This is not the face of someone who is happy to finally hear “I love you” from her boyfriend.

But it’s not because she didn’t believe him. It’s because she realized it’s not what she wants to hear because she is not in love with him.

I talked about it more in this post where I discuss some Elmike and Stobin parallels. Here’s the main point I want to draw attention to:

I don’t think El is intentionally lieing about her feelings. I think she felt this hole ever since Hopper left, and believed that Mike’s love was supposed to fix everything. That Mike’s love is what she wants to hear. And then she finally hears it, and realizes it’s not what she wants. So maybe the face she is making during the monologue isn’t out of dissapointment, maybe it’s out of realization and guilt.

This would be a perfect parallel to the end of season 3, which I talk about here—

—and I pretty much agree with everything I said before.

And think about it, if El did believe what Mike was saying, that would make this line—

—so much worse than it already was.

Maybe El believed Mike in that moment, and maybe it did give her enough strength to break free of Vecna’s grasp, but the important thing is that she fails.

And what does El’s dichotomous thinking tell us about how she’s thinking afterward? If she’s not a superhero, then she must be a monster. She got her powers back, her boyfriend loves her, and yet she’s still a monster. Everything that she believed would solve her problems, didn’t. So what can she now?

I think when El side eyes Mike in the cabin it can be read through this lens of guilt as well. How can she bring herself to tell the guy that fell madly in love with her at first sight, that she doesn’t feel the same way? Especially when this guy sees her as a superhero, the thing that El wants her to be? Would breaking up mean losing the superhero title along with the girlfriend title?

I guess I like this interpretation because it shifts the focus to both Mike and El’s internal conflicts, rather than placing their relationship faults on the other person. Mike isn’t a nerd who is hopelessly in love with someone who is disinterested because she is way cooler than him, and El isn’t hopelessly in love with a gay guy who can’t love her back (even though he is a gay guy imo). They are both not in love with each other, and it has nothing to do with the other person.

And what great irony would that be if they were in the exact same position. They both believed that what they wanted from the other person was their love, and it wasn’t until they got it when that cold hard truth would hit them across the face. Now they are in this awkward position where they believe the other person is in love with them, and they both care too much to actually break the truth to the other person. It’s perfect.

[evil-ontheinside]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if we had a scene in s5e1 where Mike clearly tells El that he loves her and then it cuts away to another scene only to reveal one or two ep later (or maybe in the same ep, I don't want a repeat of august) that it was followed by a but and actually the moment they broke up?

[gayofthefae]

Thinking again about "you're my superhero" and how powers use anger and sadness, not love, and how there were two words used with spite in that note, not one

"Dear Mike,

I have gone to become a superhero again.

From,

El"

She put "superhero" on the same plane as *"From"*. OH, She did not like that shit at all.

[rotisseries]

this is so elmike coded

[runupthathillgirl]

sad beautiful tragic is such an elmike song holy shitballs

[chirpsythismorning]

☎️🎲 🤼‍♂️ ✈️🚪 ➡️ 🫀🎮⌛️

Slipping Through My Fingers by ABBA

previous ⏮️ now playing ⏭️ next back to playlist

[elekinetic]

i'm el/ella (name, not pronouns en español). here's some stuff i've made. enjoy!

fics.

please say i'm young enough — will is gay. robin knows. or, robin and will go on a supply run. set in post-season 4 apocalyptic hawkins. afraid of what might be — max is going to die. she says her piece. or, max's season 4 letters. letter to el. letter to mike. <- tumblr links (bonus: el's letter to max) ficlet: three words — mike struggles to write a simple sentence. ficlet: happy birthday will — a letter from mike's pocket

scripts.

episode 3 opening scene — season 5 mike & will - medbay — season 5 mike, will & joyce - lovers' lake — season 5 teens + the party argue — season 5 el and mike: painting — season 5 steve & eddie at a bar — AU mike & will in the upside down — season 5 mike and lucas fight — season 5 byers' lenora morning — pre-season 4 master of puppets — season 5 christmas 1988: the party — post-canon will's birthday, 1987 — post-canon mike & will, early morning nightmares — season 5 will & max bond — season 5 mike and will - motel — season 4 el's new friend — season 5/AU mike & el argue — season 5 mike & will, high in the desert — season 4 jancy storms out — season 5 jonathan and robin bonding + extra — season 5

lucas’ vecna vision - season 5

edits.

god, it's brutal out here (party + teens) nothing more than that (byler)

misc.

writing advice (how i outline for scripts & prose)

what your assigned stranger things fave means about you quiz (brutally honest) moodboards stranger things dnd classes

spotify: ella, maybe.

elcore (el) (bonus: el's driving mixtape) dnd books in the donation box (will) four letter words (mike) madmax (max)

i heard the tore down the old swing-set. please help me build a new one. (byler) l&m (lumax) i like presents too (elmike)

pov: you're the music supervisor for stranger things 5 spring break 86 (non-evil version)

[ven0moir]

Top 5 reasons why I firmly believe Byler is endgame.

This is just my opinion, I’m not saying these are THE most compelling reasons as a whole. 

01. Will’s painting + the way it was set up and used. 

As is, we know that Will’s feelings in the van 100% represent what he feels about Mike, with some of it applying to Eleven. But the painting was Will’s, those were his feelings, that was his effort, his gift. If the writers wanted it to feel like these were El’s feelings, with some of them applying to Will, then THE PAINTING WOULD’VE BEEN FROM HER. 

We ASSUME those are somewhat El’s feelings as well because that’s what Will implied to both Mike AND the audience, aka his POV of their relationship. This narrative REMOVES El’s perspective on the matter. We don’t truly know what her stance in her own romance is at this point anymore, and we got no interactions between her and Mike in the end to confirm that what Will said still applies to her or if it ever truly did to begin with. Why permit WILL to help solve their relationship issues, at the cost of his own feelings and heart, instead of giving Mike and Eleven a say in their own romance, to make the decision themselves and solidify them as a powerful romance? It was left open-ended for a reason. Because Mileven is the safe/obvious option. A red herring. 

The painting having been from Eleven would’ve confirmed to the audience that Eleven still needed and wanted Mike romantically after all. That their relationship could still be saved and that it was up to Mike now. 

This whole set up, as painful as it is right now, was necessary to move the three character arcs forward in a way that felt natural. Elmike (platonic) + Byler (romantic) is the only conclusion that leads all three parties to find balance and harmony with each other.

02. The Unreliable Narrator theory. 

The unreliable narrator technique was applied in s4 to conceal a big reveal. 

Victor Creel was an unreliable narrator.

When we first learn about Henry and his family, we do so through the lens of his father Victor. He had some answers, but not all of them, and since he did not know his son was a murderer, we as the audience were led to not suspect him. The general audience relies on Victor’s narration fully and doesn’t question anything. However, a more observant audience would have noted that something about Henry felt off, particularly when his mother was killed. He was just sitting there showing no emotion in a context where he should have. 

Not only was Victor Creel an unreliable narrator, the story was incomplete without Henry’s perspective and his re-telling of the SAME story. 

Flip Victor with Will, and Henry with Mike. We saw s4 from Will’s POV as a way to make us sympathize with him, meaning the story is incomplete without Mike’s POV. An example of this technique being present in their dynamic is in Rink-O-Mania. Will felt ignored and we did not once see Mike look at him, but during their fight we learnt that Mike WAS paying attention to him and noticing the little details about his behavior. Will leads us to believe this isn’t a big deal, and so the audience learns what he learns, and believes what he believes. At face value, we’re supposed to take Will’s POV and just assume Mike’s in his own head/worrying about his own problems. But an observant audience would pick up on Mike’s strange behavior around Will. Mike’s POV will reveal the TRUTH once we finally get it in S5, and Will’s expectations, along with the audience’s, will be subverted: Mike was acting strange around Will because his feelings are requited. Because a rejection is already expected. 

03. The airport scene.

This is basically self explanatory. If Mike doesn’t know Will is in love with him, as CONFIRMED by the Duffers and Finn, WHY does he act so awkward around him? It cannot be that he’s grown shy of physical contact with his friends, because we literally saw him hug Dustin in episode 1. It cannot be that it’s been THAT long he feels awkward around Will now, because it’s only been 6 months and they hugged fine when they last saw each other. 

But most importantly, if Mike wanted to act cool and like everything was normal, HE WOULD’VE HUGGED WILL. He’d have hugged his bestie without a problem to keep on the facade that he’s NORMAL and this cool guy, but instead he went the route of pretending he didn’t care … because he was jealous. And then spent the whole season seeming nervous around Will. 

Will was there when Mike said he loved Eleven that one time. And has no idea now that their entire problem was him being unable to say it again. Once again, this entire thing seems confusing because it is MEANT to be until they unravel the truth in S5. 

04. Try before you deny. The pineapple on pizza analogy.

Call me delusional all you want, but it is NOT the first time they use this type of foreshadowing to hint at a character’s sexuality IN THE SHOW. 

‘Blasphemous. Putting FRUIT on pizza?’ 

The pineapple on pizza thing is a debate irl but in the context of the show IT IS QUEER CODING. The writers know that. And when Mike goes ‘No, you’re right. It’s good!’ the camera is on Will. This isn’t ‘proof that Mike is gay’ this is a HINT, an ANALOGY. The pineapple represents ‘boys’, specifically, Will. The question now is if this analogy does end up meaning something in the end. And in my opinion, it will. 

And to any audience (that isn’t homophobic), it will be quite ironic and humorous upon rewatch seeing Mike being told to ‘try before you deny’ something knowing he ended up with Will. It’s very on brand with the show, it’s not delusion. 

05. The type of show Stranger Things is. 

Having one of the main couples get together at the end while they had been developed SINCE S1 RIGHT UNDER PEOPLE’S NOSES feels extremely on brand, especially having it be one of the final surprises of the entire series. It would also increase rewatch times, as if you did not notice it the first time, you’d HAVE to watch it again with the thought of Mike being queer in mind. It all falls into place then and it is sincerely GENIUS. Duffers have said they know the most ‘popular’ option isn’t always the best one, and as it stands, Mileven being the endgame would be the most predictable and expected outcome. 

There are MANY more, but these are basically the ones that just bring it home to me.