#i may be one of the few people who never shipped milkvan

[ghostlycleric]

I’m pretty sure Mike and El are the only couple in the show that don’t have shared interests.

Lucas and Max: Arcade games

Dustin and Suzie: Science/Technology

Jonathan and Nancy: Documenting life (Through Photography/Journalism)

Joyce and Hopper: Investigation (Hop was a cop, Joyce is Joyce) +caring for their kids

Mike and El are never given any interest that they both have and do together. Their relationship isn’t even given much volume beyond their trauma bonding. They actually went out of their way to have El dismissing Mike’s interests and only have El gain her own when she’s away from Mike.

With every other couple we have scenes of their shared interests adding to their relationship. Scenes that prove that their dynamic is rooted in a real, not-purely-physical connection.

There is one other couple who didn’t have shared interests… (*cough* Steve and Nancy *cough* who are broken up *cough*).

Mike and Will by default have a lot of shared interests. They’d be the only best friends to lovers in the show (which is actually crazy in a show with so many couples and friendships). DnD, despite being the root of the party itself, is specifically tied to these two in an interesting way. They’ve used dnd a few times as text above a more romantic subtext, which I feel like deserves its own post.

(I feel like it’s worth noting that technically they have Art (writing and painting), but Mike’s interest in writing has never been specifically confirmed in the show, so I’m not counting that.)

I’d be really interested in seeing canon byler having an isolated interest in season 5 that goes beyond subtext. Even if it’s still dnd, just isolated.

[lunarqueen]

Against my better judgement I was going through some Reddit threads from the last few months and I saw one of the most ardent Byler bashers say something that would explain why so many of these hardcore Milkvan Redditors are aggressive to Bylers and non-Bylers-but-Milkvan-breakup-truthers. It was something along the lines "I am watching the show for Mike and Milkvan and all the people who say they should break-up make me a bit scared I was wrong about Mike's character and that I wasted my time on this show".

And I think this shows that these hardcore shippers mainly watch the show for Milkvan above all else. And it makes sense why: In Season 1 the Milkvan relationship was one of the biggest parts of the show. Many people, including Bylers, found them really cute and shipped them in Season 1 and Season 2. But the relationship never got more compelling as the show went on. And Season 3 even made most people lose interest in the relationship. Season 4 did nothing to recapture this interest and eventually the only people who really saw the monologue as a "win" were the people who were still passionate about the relationship. I have barely seen anybody say "Oh I lost interest in Milkvan but after that monologue I am a full-on shipper again"

And then we have Byler as a contrast: In Season 2 we truly learn how close they are. Now Season 3 is rather occupied with the "destruction" of Milkvan rather than actual Byler build-up. Then in Season 4 it finally becomes obvious to everyone Will is in love with Mike and it is quite sad and we sympathise with him. And then upon closer observation we notice Mike may very well be in love with Will as well since so many things point towards that.

And that is the difference between Byler shippers and those Milkvan shippers who do not shy away from insulting those who are not equally as passionate about their ship. For Bylers, Byler is one of the many beautiful things about the show. If Byler were somehow not to happen it would of course be very disappointing but it would not ruin the entire show (unless they are really pulling questionable choice after choice in Season 5).

On the other hand, for those kinds of Milkvan shippers the entire show has always been about Milkvan first and everything else second. If the show then suddenly does not end with a Milkvan romance their entire purpose of watching the show is shattered and the entire show is ruined for them, as this Redditor has implied. And they are afraid of that - and right now they try so hard to push this fear away and insult every person who reminds them their fear could become reality.