#if their plan is for byler to be unrequited then what they would do is have will open up to robin and he would get advice to move on

[paladinsbrainrot]

can’t help but wonder if all these leak accounts saying will confesses but mike rejects him are actually right but missing context — what if it’s actually a vecna vision? it’s easy for someone to hear of that scene and take it out of context lol

[teambyler]

The most heartbreaking way Byler can culminate (and how I predict it will)

(pic from 80smayfieldz)

Just cry me with today, okay? :')

We all know that when Mike and Will confess their love it has to be EPIC. Like, extreme circumstances need to happen to make these gay boys in an 80s small town confess their love. It's the only way a romance with THIS much build-up over years should pay off.

Bylers need to watch this scene from the Season 1 finale of Agents of SHIELD (Warning: spoilery if you plan to watch this old show... and you will cry!) It's two LONG-TIME BEST FRIENDS but only one can make it out alive. A secretly loves B and has avoided confessing his love because he thinks it's unrequited. He finally admits it, to explain why he's making the ultimate sacrifice.

Now think of Mike and Will on a dangerous mission that is KEY to saving Hawkins. Maybe they're in the church that Noah and Finn are shooting a scene in. Will realizes only one of them can make it out alive, and decides it'll be Mike:

Mike: "There's got to be another way, that's RIDICULOUS! You can't do this, you're my best friend!" Will: "You're more than that, Mike (can't believe he said it, fights back tears) ... Now, PLEASE..."

This is my best prediction of how it'll go. WILL confessing to MIKE makes more sense writing-wise. Mike probably figures out the Painting Lie early in s5, but how he feels for Will remains a mystery. So how MIKE responds to a love confession is uncertain.

This is a season where the Duffers have hinted they'll highlight Will's courage. So he can finish his coming-out arc by telling the person he loves. The Duffers have said Will, always the protected one, the rescued one, will come into his own in s5. I think this means he gets to be the hero this time. It will be a poetic way for Will to finally thank Mike for everything he did for him in s1 and s2; it gives symmetry to their relationship. And it would be a heroic send-off for Will.

(And NO I don't think Will will die. We gays have already had our Reddie and Destiel tragedies. Will dying would go against how the Duffers have set this show up.)

What will Mike do, when confronted with losing Will forever?

We know how he felt once before...

Mike offers himself instead, but for the mission it needs to be Will. This is the last time he'll see Will alive.

Does Mike tell Will he loves him? We know the boy struggles with saying how he feels.

Mike begs Will not to die. He can't lose him AGAIN. He couldn't live if he did. When Will doesn't believe it, MIKE KISSES HIM.

Actions, not words. ("I didn't say it." "You didn't have to.")

Mike insists on staying. Will tries to make him leave, but he refuses.

"You've always been an idiot, Mike." Will doesn't know to laugh or cry. He's sad... not about dying, but regrets the years they lost not being together.

They kiss again and hold each other tightly... And we again hear Peter Gabriel, as the church walls fall and the world is about to end:

And we kissed as though nothing could fall And the shame The shame was on the other side And we can be heroes just for one day.

-teambyler

[isitisitearlymichael]

I think there’s a mentality in the Stranger Things fandom, or certainly outside of Byler spaces, that Byler is just another m/m ship.

What do I mean by “just another” m/m ship?

We all know there’s a long history of shipping male characters together when the show they were in clearly had no intentional romantic subplot.

M/m shipping has existed since the days of Star Trek - and it’s existed for many different reasons. But over time, it’s developed a bad reputation because fans of those ships were reading into things way too much and had so much hope that something might happen to those characters, only for them to end up incredibly upset and frustrated by the end.

There has also been a lot of accusations of fetishisation.

Some of this is also because especially in the early 2000s/ 2010s, these shows used to play on those hopes and have a lot of fun exploring “bromances”, where the writing would be intentionally stirring the pot, but not crossing the line enough for there to be any real plan to take things further.

What’s really important here is that Byler are NOT that kind of ship.

There would never be this much animosity if Will was Mike’s female best friend from childhood.

Yes, there would be a Byler vs. Milkvan war. That would never change - but the excuses as to why Byler have no possible chance of being together would be entirely different. Because yes, their arguments can currently include that Mike’s in a long term relationship, or that the 1980s environment would make it difficult for them to be together, but that’s about as realistic as the arguments have been.

Compare the circumstances to other canonical unrequited love stories

Take away all of the analysis about why Mike might be gay or Bi or even interested in Will in the first place, and just look at the plot in its bare bones state.

Will is canonically in love with Will, and Mike is canonically unaware of this and in a relationship with El.

There are SO MANY examples of this sort of love triangle in fiction, and most importantly there are more scenarios than there aren’t of this love becoming requited. It’s so normal for an audience to see a scenario like this and wonder if this is going to be one of those stories.

What’s happening instead is a lot of heteronormativity.

And that’s either down to the environment that Stranger Things fans find themselves in (people still live very unexposed lives) or they are just generally ignorant about anything that isn’t really in their face or what they want to see.

So there’s a heck of a lot of fans who didn’t even recognise that Will is gay, or just disregarded their assumptions and played up the “slow to grow up” narrative because they were more comfortable with that kind of story, or could relate to it more.

And so from their point of view, because they didn’t see anything, it couldn’t possibly exist. Bylers were seeing things and making them up. Now, after the Duffers and Noah confirmed things, they’re finding a lot of comfort in instead taking some of this fandoms bigger reaches (don’t mean to offend here, sorry) and using them as ammunition instead, e.g. Finn glancing at Noah’s lips for a millisecond during a take.

But the main point I’m getting at is that people who are dismissing Byler are not recognising that this is a traditional love triangle premise.

Now compare the canonical story to previous m/m ships

So because there are some similar activities happening in this fandom to what has been seen in those previous famous m/m ship fandoms, many Stranger Things fans are dismissing Byler as an imagined ship.

But how many of those old ships were able to boast about actual confirmed feelings, albeit one sided, with time left to explore things further?

There is absolutely no reason why the Byler ship resembles any of those “bromances” or queer baiting storylines in previous franchises and fiction.

This isn’t me saying that Byler will 100% become a couple

What I’m saying is that if nothing happens between them in season 5, that doesn’t undo the fact that Byler are a legitimate ship. It doesn’t undo the fact that Will’s feelings for Mike are canonical and that their storyline follows the premise of a traditional love triangle story.

There are people out there who are already trying to make Bylers feel stupid or ashamed for even exploring the potential of the ship, and all they’re doing is showing us how incredibly ignorant they are.

But that’s not to say that lessons can’t be learned from those previous m/m ship disasters

The one thing you should take from them is that people did get really attached, and so being let down by the show really hurt. It’s fine to speculate about Byler, but please don’t set your heart on them and let it break.

If we start to get legit info or confirmation that the ship won’t be requited, please don’t let yourself fall down the rabbit hole of conspiracy and set yourself up for disappointment.

But we have no legitimate reason to rule out Byler right now

The set up is there, the filming looks positive and the Duffers haven’t said anything to dispute the ship’s potential. Speculation is more than allowed - it’s normal and an inevitable result of season 4. So let’s have as much fun as we can and know that we’re doing nothing “deluded” or wrong.

[id-rather-be-home]

oh no no, I really don't mean to make you feel disheartened nooo. like I said it was only if you're intention was for a switchvers fic because based on your responses lately I can't tell what the future vibe is. I think it's just the nature of the dynamic with the characters chosen! idk maybe it's not stoic... I saw in your other ask you said "will literally makes fun of mike and taunts him" n it reminded me how yeah, domming comes with that darker energy that takes over and so he's not going to be like himself regardless. the switch flip can be jarring in fic but it can happen in real life during sex, even if not to everybody. but the making fun of him is technically degradation not necessarily domming so that becomes a kink preference thing!

as for the disgust thing idk basically I've read the fic with moots and for example one said it was just his discomfort felt strong? but they likened it to how they personally couldn't picture will not liking it, or not feeling good after it, not the writing. i've read top mike bottoming fics and he usually enjoys it but I think that means the author is setting up switchvers (or just mike being a polite guy haha) instead of your fic which has grown to not be what was originally planned (maybe?), and so it's simply a different fic to those others! nothing bad!

and no no definitely not trashing, I know you like it all! it was maybe just some of the dialogue or yeah again his reaction after they finished. but that is your fic and vision, and what you felt best so reiterating I neverrrr want to tell someone how to write, and was just answering what you said in another ask about you wanting to keep in mind having something for everybody in it, which is why I just said as long as all is respected, you're so good! sorry for any panic

i think it's hard for me to tell people definitively what the future vibe of the fic is going to be because i'm not intentionally aiming for anything super specific. i enjoy both bottom mike and bottom will so i'll write them in whatever position i'm vibing with at the time i'm writing the chapter. the main consistency though is going to be a more dominant or assertive will with a submissive mike because i like it more

and when i said "makes fun of him" it isn't supposed to be taken like it's going to be in a super mean way that would require a 'darker energy' from will. will, as a character in the show, teases mike and is a little shit to him in some of the few scenes we get of them not fearing for their lives or battling with internalized homophobia and unrequited love. you could imagine my dom will having the same energy as he has in s3 during the dnd scene where he goes, "is it early, michael?" it's that sort of teasing! he isn't supposed to have some sort of dark energy to make him dominant

and to be honest, i don't know what your moot meant by suggesting will was uncomfortable or didn't like it. i re-read the chapter and will's headspace doesn't come across the way i thought it did when i was writing it - i think i was just not feeling confident as i was writing it. it's clear in the chapter that he's enjoying it and is engaged the whole time; in fact, he's taken by surprise by how sensitive he is and how much he wants from mike in that moment

though i'm really not sure how you wanted him to react at the end when they were finished?? he was tired (and sated, which i do say in the fic specifically) but wasn't a huge fan of the feeling of mike's cum leaking out of him which i think is fair? i could have gone into more of the aftercare stuff post-sex scene but i had lost steam by that point and just wanted to get the chapter posted since it had been literal months since i posted the last one

i think i just don't write bottom will in the way that you perceive him (or your mutuals) which is totally fine. i'm not expecting my fic to appeal to every single person who enjoys spicy byler. but, yeah, i think the future vibe of my fic is going to look a lot like how it looks now

i really hope this doesn't come across as rude! i'm just genuinely kind of baffled by the way will has been interpreted

[findafight]

Byler is sooooo good like childhood best friends?? Would do nearly anything for each other? Extreme pining?? Phenomenal. it makes me crazy. but also. Also. Unrequited Byler. For Mike.

Consider, season four fix it everything is mostly fine back in Hawkins, and Will is finally like "I can't keep doing this to myself. I have to have some self respect!!" And Jonathan and Argyle are like yes!! Yes little man!! Do it! We love you! You do what is best for you!!

So Will starts the slow process of Getting Over Mike. It's hard, because they're friends, and all their friends are friends, but worth it. He's tied so much of himself up into Mike that it hurts to disentangle from him, but he does it. Slowly.

Over the summer of '86, with the upside down actually gone and collapsed, Will gains more confidence in himself, more relaxed and self assured, not second guessing everything he does.

The rest of the party is thrilled to see him, to have him back, and even if he's stiff around Mike, they figure it's because Mike and El broke up (or, well, El broke up with Mike because he couldn't say he loved her, and that he was obviously hurting Will, and a great number of other things) and El is Will's sister. Dustin and Lucas fight over who gets to introduce Will to Eddie and are both beaten by Steve who walks in, Eddie on his heels and goes "hey will! This is Eddie, he's a GN or whatever too." With a smile. (Dustin shrieks to correct him but Will sees the smile Steve has and suspects he knows what he's doing.)

So the summer goes, the boys play dnd and talk about girlfriends or lack thereof, and Will barely squirms when he thinks about how he doesn't want one. Jonathan said it was ok. That he'd love him always and that his friends would too, but it's scary. It's always going to be a bit scary, he thinks.

And Will notices things. He notices how, when Jonathan reassures him it'll be fine, his eyes catch on Argyle smiling and nodding along to something Steve is saying. How Argyle always grins a bit too wide when he spots Jon enter a room, a bit too dopey; how their fingers graze against each other.

He notices how Eddie doesn't really mention girls; how Jeff doesn't talk about anyone really. How Steve will smirk at Robin and gently nudge her sometimes and she'll splutter and laugh; how Eddie and Steve will grin and tease and lean into each other's spaces and lean away again blushing but not awkward.

He refuses to notice Mike.

Of course, everybody notices when something shifts between Eddie and Steve, how they start to slot together easily, less blushing. How, when Dustin is asking Steve why he and Robin still aren't dating, Steve shrugs and says "because I'm dating Eddie."

Will notices how Jonathan's eyes go wide, and he looks like he wants to ask a question but doesn't. Mike, however, does.

"so, like, you were faking the whole time?"

And Steve raises a singular eyebrow and explains that for him, someone's gender was never really part of the equation of whether he liked them or not. He was just kinda slow on the uptake that that isn't the case for everyone. How sometimes for some people it does matter, but they like boys and girls and people not either of those (which Will didn't know you could be, inbetween or outside of boy and girl.) He wasn't faking. He liked Nancy Wheeler and he liked those other girls and he likes Eddie.

Then Will notices Argyle nodding and smiling, Jonathan gaping a little bit, brows scrunched together, Nancy chewing her lip. He decides to leave that.

Nothing actually changes because of the revelation, just that now the Party knows. Or. Nothing changes in regards to Steve and Eddie. Jonathan and Argyle, it seems, do plan on changing. Will comes home one day to find Argyle sitting on the counter holding Jon's face tenderly, pecking kisses around his face. He walks out the door and stomps noisily up the steps to give them a chance.

And slowly Will notices that it doesn't hurt, not anymore, being around Mike. Doesn't make his chest ache with longing or his stomach turn.

He thinks he'll always love Mike, in a special way, in the way Steve once told him he still loved Nancy. That special place a first love that broke your heart burrowed but you wouldn't change it because it was important to you. Helped you grow. Steve said that no love is wasted, even if it didn't last in the way you expected it to. He said it with a smile, that day. That Maybe it ends or maybe it fizzles or maybe it just changes into some other kind of love. And that's good too.

When Steve talks like that, Will wonders when he got so wise, and then wonders when he himself got so wise. A side effect, perhaps, of getting your heart broken by a Wheeler.

Will doesn't think he's actually in love with Mike anymore. And that's good.

He tells Jon first. That he thinks he and Mike can be friends, that he wants them to be friends, that it doesn't really hurt as much anymore, to hear Mike complain about girls. Jon hugs him. Tells him he's proud of him. Tells him he's so strong and brave and is growing up so much.

Will hangs out with the party and just. Sorta tells them one day that he's gay. He never actually said the words before, because Jonathan just knew, but it's a sort of thrilling experience, how he'd imagine skydiving to be. El smiles and holds his hand. Lucas and Dustin smile and clamber to hug him, thanking him for telling them and trusting them and that they're so happy for him. Robin highfives him, welcomes him to the club. Eddie ruffles his hair and smiles. Steve just says "good job figuring yourself out, little man!" And Will laughs.

Mike just stares.

It hurts, but not as much as it would have six, four, or even a month ago. Will shrugs it off as they get on with their plans for the day.

And then, somehow, it's been a year since they beat vecna, and El is happier than she's ever been. Will is too. They can both say they are completely over Mike Wheeler.

Will is glad, because both of them have had too much stress for their whole lives. One day, in the Hopper-Byers livingroom, as they all do their own thing and bask in each other's company, she tells Hopper she thinks she's like Steve. Hop just looks at her blankly, Will and Joyce and Jonathan watching, and she shakes her head, saying "I am not always a girl and not always a boy and not always either. I do not care if the person I like is a boy or a girl or like me. It is nice to just be. To wear fun clothes that are comfy and to like someone who likes me. That is how I am like Steve."

And oh. That makes sense. It makes sense for El and it makes sense for Steve. Will gets why Steve carefully said 'boys and girls and people not either or both' when he came out. It makes something warm bloom in Will's chest that someone would be careful like that, for someone else's sake, even if they weren't sure, if it was just in case. Makes him so happy that El has someone like her, because he knows how lonely it is being different and she has already been different most of her life.

El tells the party the next day, the same exact way. She grins at Steve, who is smiling through tears, and thanks him for explaining it to her. Dustin, once again, nearly tackles her in a hug, stopped only by Max's crutches as she heaves El into a spin, kissing her cheek. Mike thanks her for telling them.

So it goes, sophomore year bleeding into junior year, all the petty dramas of highschool overshadowing what happened in the upsidedown. Robin and Eddie and Steve follow Jonathan and Argyle to Chicago, Nancy meeting them when she's finished school, and tell the Party to call. At the send off, Robin wraps Will in a tight hug, whispering that she gets it, gets knowing without having the words to talk about it. How she's proud of her little buddy and he'd better give her all the gossip about the party, as though Max isn't taking diligent notes to share with her.

Will stands beside Mike, leaning against him, as they watch Dustin and Steve sob into each other's shoulder, and is happy they're friends.

A few weeks after, in October, Mike starts acting really weird

[thranduel]

"it's not queerbaiting since will is confirmed gay and they haven't shown any hints to mike liking him back, so if he’s straight, that’s your fault for making assumptions" actually, it is queerbaiting now and they could’ve easily put a stop to byler before it reached that point but they didn’t.

yes, we know that will is gay, it's confirmed, there is no doubt about that. but they have been teasing and promoting byler specifically and leaving mike's feelings ambiguous in season 4 as well. it's not just will's feelings they've teased. they are literally using their ship name as hashtags and when they talk during conventions. it’s reached the point where it IS queerbaiting if they don’t go through with it (and i’m not saying they necessarily have to be canon in volume 2 but they need to at least have mike and el break up and then heavily imply that mike has feelings for will). they have said that this has been planned from the start and they’re they’re building up byler. not just will’s “unrequited crush”, but byler specifically. you don’t say things like that if a young gay character is going to get his heart broken, because that’s not building up the ship. it’s doing the opposite. it’s setting up pain and heartbreak for a kid who has suffered enough from the very first episode of the show and it’s cruel and unnecessary. there is absolutely no reason to make will have a crush on his best friend for it to be unrequited. none. and using a gay character as a way to “advance the plot” or to “add a bit of drama” is gross. there’s no way they would do that.

now, let’s talk about the actual show itself, not just what the cast has said. they have purposefully left mike’s feelings ambiguous this season. we literally have no idea what’s going on inside his head because they’re not telling us. and it’s not just “oh he has trouble saying he loves her because of his parents” because that’s the most bullshit excuse ever. and even if it were true, they would clarify to that to the AUDIENCE so we are aware, and they would shut down byler immediately instead of leaving us hanging and baiting us for a month, but they didn’t. they purposefully left mike’s feelings ambiguous and showed us that he’s behaving weirdly around both will and eleven. he was awkward with his best friend even though they left on good terms and he can’t say he loves el and doesn’t give any sort of explanation even in a scene where she isn’t around just so the audience at least has some idea of what's going on and why he can't say it. everyone already assumes mike loves her since they’re in a relationship and he’s said it before, so why couldn't they at least have a scene where he says something like "yeah, i love her, i just don't know how to express myself"??????? why are they leaving it so mysterious? even when he's talking to will and she's not around, he can't even say the words because he knows it's not true! why would they include all this drama just to make him say “i love you” a few episodes later in the most forced, boring and predictable way? what was the point in adding this “love triangle” and making will have a crush on mike just for everything to stay the same? that would actually be pathetic and so cruel to will. it’s not okay at all. also, mike and will literally had a heart-to-heart about feelings and how it’s hard to open up because what if the other person doesn’t like the truth, and mike was nodding and agreeing. why would he be agreeing if he knows what el wants to hear and he just needs to say 3 words? why would they making this such a big deal and include will for nothing?

if they were planning to force mike and el to stay together, they should’ve NEVER gotten will involved. will should’ve never been confirmed to like mike if it was just going to be unrequited. he’s suffered enough and his personal storyline and love for mike shouldn’t be used for drama just so mike can reject him and run back to a relationship that isn’t even fair or healthy to anyone. the cast, writers, producers and netflix accounts should’ve never mentioned byler and they should've shut down all the theories immediately and put a stop to the shipping instead of teasing and baiting us. the show shouldn’t have included any drama and awkwardness between all 3 characters and left mike’s feelings ambiguous. there was no reason for any of this if they weren’t going to make byler canon. they could’ve easily avoided it, but they chose to do it. it’s not the fans’ fault. byler shippers aren’t just “delusional fans that make things up out of nowhere”. THE SUBTEXT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE FROM THE START. even a lot of casual viewers and people who don’t care about ships thought that mike and will had feelings for each other after volume 1 which says a lot. they knew what they were doing and shawn said that nothing was an accident. if byler wasn’t going to be canon, they should’ve made that clear, but they didn’t.

*by the way, do NOT send hate to anyone, especially the actors!! i shouldn’t even have to say that but please don’t. obviously people have every right to feel upset and angry and devastated after all the teasing and build up and they’re allowed to express that on their accounts or under public posts where feedback is expected, but just don’t directly start hating or attacking anyone especially if it wasn’t their fault

[dirtytransmasc]

you wanna know what's been pissing me off lately. the ending of stranger things, cause listen.

I want the end to break me, I want it to hurt me and make me feel empty so I never want to go back and watch it again. I don't want a happy ending, I want a bittersweet ending. I want everyone to come out scathed, some not coming back at all. I want everyone to only get part of a happy ending. I want closure, but I don't want it to be good closure, I want it to be scarred and ugly.

I want to see characters mourn, I want to see characters die, I want to see characters break. I want the consequences of 4 years of saving the world, only for it to fail, of an apocalypse, of layer and layers of scars and trials bonds to culminate into this absolute disaster; of teens barely able to function or move on cause they're stuck in this anxiety ridden mindset, adults who are numb from watching their kids die, young adults broken by loss. all of them wheels of their past selves.

but I know if the duffers choose to go this route, it's gonna fall flat. it's gonna be cheap and cliche and meaningless. they will find a way to take the dignity from every character, to support a story narrative they lost back in season two. Like here's some examples of what I'd like to see (if done right) and how they'll screw it up;

killing off Steve - it would be a moment to show his bond with robin, solidifying how he was the rock of the group keeping everyone together, and giving him a final heartfelt moment with Dustin and robin since they didn't give him one last season. - the duffers would probably make it about stancy, or they would just let Steve die and make it have little impact on the two that matter in, robin and Dustin would probably be kept away from it since they 'dont matter's to his narrative anymore.

killing off robin - it could serve as a great moment between her and Nancy, having robin sacrifice herself, telling Nancy she's pretty as she dies. or it could be a moment with her and Steve, the moment that breaks him, that makes him feel empty. - let's be honest the duffers would probably bait ronance and then kill robin off last second, it'd be very bury your gays type™ vibes.

killing off Will or El (personally I don't think they can both survive, and I think it's gonna be El. the story started without her, she inadvertently started this, so she has to end it by leaving. I don't like it but I think it makes sense) - it would be a parallel ending, the opposite of the beginning. it could pack some great depth to the story, leaving everyone heartbroken. it would driven by sacrifice, not for love (romantic) but for family. imagine it coming down to the two of them, oke having to sacrifice themselves for everyone. the two hugging one another, both planning to sacrifice themselves, sharing one heartfelt moment (aka forehead touch, holding each other's heads, will crying and El just smiling at him sadly. as it comes down to the wire one of them makes the sacrifice before the other. then it's over, all of it, and who ever survived is just shattered. - the duffers would make it about love, either El doing it for Mike so she could be his 'superhere' undoing any progress shes made, or Will and having it be unrequited byler.

killing off mike - will and El deciding one of them has to sacrifice themselves and Mike wanting to save the love of his life (will) and his best friend (El) decides to do it for them. he has his last moments with both of them (byler kiss? byler forehead touch at the very least + finally breaking it off with El, but in a positive freeing sort of way. closure) and he makes it seem like he's saying goodbye to them, like he's accepted hell lose one or both, but then he takes their place at the last second, a last act of love for the two of them. - the duffers would make it about El, and the only screen time Will would get in this scenario is yet another fo of unrequited byler.

end of the world - they lose, they lose and theres no fixing it. it's this numb huddle of kids, teens, young adults, and actual adults. they've accepted death, they're all so tired of fighting. Steve's holding robin and Dustin, Nancy's clinging to Jonathan and Robin, argyles holding Jonathan's hand. the original kids crew is huddled together. Lucas, Max (I'll come back to her), and El are saying their goodbye. Nathan is hugging his mom. Joyce and hopper are struggling to stay strong. Murray drunk himself half to death, because as crazy as he is, he's scared to die. it's just numb and cold. - the duffers would fuck this up in so many ways. it wouldn't be about family or goodbyes, I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't turn into an end of the world fuck fest to be completely honest.

max waking up or dying - if max wakes up, it would be a fight, El would be at her bedside every days trying to find a way to save her, and she does, she does find a way, but it Ekans sacrificing herself. at that point she's already super close to Lucas, they're best friends (if I'm being self indulgent, they're unofficially in a polycule dynamic) and she tells him she can save max, at the cost of her own life. and Lucas knows El would be happier giving her own life for max, that she's so selfless she would rather die and let max live then to keep sitting there watching her. but at the same time he doesn't want to let her go, he doesn't want to lose either of them. but eventually she convinces him, at least enough that he doesn't try and stop her. she goes through with it, but not before having a moment with Lucas and leaving a note for Max. and when she does sacrifice herself, she gets to see max one last time, and they're both heartbroken (elmax kiss/romantic gesture of some sort? maybe, sue me for wanting healthy romantic moments when they're done right). if she dies, if El can't save her, seeing El and Lucas mourn together, but also accepting she's Ina better place, she's with her brother and her mom. that her suffering is over. having this bittersweet bond - the duffers would use Max for some sort of ableist caricature. El and Lucas wouldn't be allowed to truly bond. whether she lives or dies I doubt the duffers would allow her and max to bond, cause people are shipping them now.

I could do a million of these.

like I don't want a happy ending, and I don't think we're getting one, but I'm not expecting it to be done well.

[ciarasdiaryy]

Having introduced the Byler storyline is already proof it’s going to be endgame and here’s why.

Something that byler antis forget sometimes is that st is a piece of fiction.

“Will is going to be rejected because Mike is straight” to me is the most ridiculous statement ever (aside from subtext proof that he’s not) simply because stranger things it’s a piece of fiction, the duffers can just write him as not straight whenever they want, while in real life where you can’t change people’s sexuality.

Queer people know too well how it feels to fall for your straight friend and having to accept the fact that they’ll never love you in that way. Queer people know that confessing their love puts the entire friendship at risk so they end up suppressing that feeling and moving on with their life (which is what Will is already planning to do). Now, why would we want to see that in a piece of fiction?

Fiction can be a very powerful form of escapism from reality, so why would they write a show that reminds us that we’re constantly the second choice, the one who gets rejected or the one that needs to suppress the feelings and move on (even if the other person accepts us).

Byler remaining an unrequited love story would not only be unsatisfying for mike and will’s arcs but also for queer viewers. While writing S4 (and outlining S5 at the same time) the duffers KNEW that introducing Will’s crush for Mike would engage queer viewers who were gonna be hoping for a positive outcome. And they wouldn’t willingly set themselves up for failure.

[demadogs]

I like byl*r, but I think y'all are kinda getting your hopes up. I don't say this to be mean, but it's not happening; maybe unrequited byl*r. Don't get me wrong it'd be awesome if it happened, but I really don't think the duffer's are playing 5th dimensional chess here. It's just how most TV shows (and most other media) go. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, end of story. Maybe there's like a 1% chance I'm wrong and the plan was to make byl*er happen and they've been playing their cishet audience the entire time. I doubt it though.

i see where youre coming from and i understand why mainstream media has led you to believe its just not possible. im not gonna reply with a big list of all the evidence that i believe in bc i know you can just scroll through my blog if you wanted to see that BUT i do wanna say that ive noticed most people who dont believe bylers gonna happen still think its possible for will to love mike and it’ll be unrequited and i just wanna point out what i think is actually the biggest evidence that it will be requited: the poster.

the initial hype from when that poster was released in february has died with how much other content we’ve received since then so now no one really gives it much attention anymore but i think its huge that mike is also looking at will. based on what we’ve seen in the previous season’s promotional posters i really think that if will loved mike and mike didnt feel the same way bc hes straight then only will would be looking at him and mike would be looking ahead.

[you-were-alone-too]

the universe we dreamt

a byler big bang project

Author/Artists: @you-were-alone-too @oceanic-sunsets​ @hei-jessi-draws

Rating: Teen

Tags: Road Trip, Internalized Homophobia, Period Typical Homophobia, Set in 1988, Post-Season 5, Gay Mike Wheeler, Gay Will Byers, Mutual Pining, Will/El Siblings, Mike/Eleven Friendship, Heart to Hearts, Denver, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, California, Mixtapes, Letters, The Painting, Best Friends to Lovers, Miscommunication, Not Actually Unrequited Feelings, Angst, Fluff, Mike Wheeler I Know What You Are, And Soon Will Byers Will Too, The Closet is Made of Glass

Summary: It's six months after they defeat Vecna and close the Upside Down for the final time, and along with it comes the spring of 1988. When Mike suggests that he and Will try and recreate their perfect spring break in California, it leads to a road trip towards the west coast that stirs up old memories and, perhaps, something more.

Excerpt:

Will glances up to where the painting is hanging above the couch, eyes raking over every careful detail. He still remembers the day he’d come down to the basement and saw it hanging up for the first time; Mike had rearranged his other posters just to put it there, and something about the proud look on Mike’s face reminded him of the way Will’s mom always liked to hang his artwork on the fridge, no matter how bad Will insisted they were. It’s stayed there ever since, and even now, seeing it still makes Will feel like his heart is a gaping, wide chasm, one that exposes his entire being if anyone decides to look hard enough. 

He’s just glad that Mike hasn’t attempted to, at least. 

“God, that feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?” he asks. 

“Yeah,” Mike agrees. His eyes seem to follow Will’s line of sight to where the painting rests above the couch. “You know, if there’s one bright side to all of this, it’s that we never have to sit in a Surfer Boy Pizza van ever again.”

“Don’t remind me,” Will says, shuddering at the memories. Not even counting the emotional turbulence they suffered throughout that week, it had been awful—between the constant stench of weed, the lack of showers or clean clothes, and the mind-numbing boredom of sitting in a van for hours at a time, it was no wonder that just the reminder of it made their faces twist in disgust. “That was…”

“Easily the worst road trip of all time?” Mike asks. 

“Yes,” Will laughs, although he doubts it even deserves to be in the same category as ‘road trip.’ At the time, it felt more like a getaway car than anything else. “I still can’t hear ‘Pass the Dutchie��� without my ears bleeding.” 

Mike laughs as he collapses against the couch, and Will follows suit, the both of them working in tandem the way they’ve always seemed to. 

“We should do that again. But an actual road trip, you know? Not when we’re one wrong turn away from getting shot by rogue government agents.” Mike’s eyes flicker up at him before his gaze falls back to the fidgeting hands in his lap. “And it would just be us this time. No Argyle and Jonathan getting high and playing their shitty mixtape on repeat.”

Will can’t help but smile at the way he can see Mike’s mind already formulating an idea at a hundred miles an hour, the way it always does when he comes up with a plan and his imagination begins to run away from him. And then the words it would just be us hit the forefront of his thoughts, echoing on a never ending loop the way Jonathan’s cassettes tended to do when the film was old and worn. He tries his best to brush them off, but instead, the words seem to worm their way down to his chest and nestle in the holes. He turns back to Mike, shoving the thoughts down, down, down. “Oh, so this time it’ll be us playing our own shitty mixtape?” he asks. 

“Yeah!” Mike says, and the smile on his face reminds him of a younger Mike, one that led the party through countless battles with goblins and the thessalhydra and everything in between. “Well, maybe if I make it, it’ll actually be good.”

Will sits up, angling his body toward Mike with a kick to the shin. “Excuse me? Are you implying that I have bad music taste?” he scoffs. 

Mike wrinkles his nose. “It’s just that you like all that weird stuff, like The Clash.” 

“Wow. At least I don’t just listen to the top hits and think that means I like good music.” 

“They’re the top hits for a reason! Besides, that’s not all I listen to,” he argues, arms folded against his chest. 

Even now, Will can’t help but smile at Mike and the defensive attitude he seems to wield like a plate of armor, rolling his eyes. “Whatever you say.” 

“I’m serious, though,” he says, and when he glances up, Mike’s already staring back at him, brown eyes ploring into hazel. Insistent. “We should do it. For real.”

Will’s breath catches at the way it feels like he can see right through him, and he swallows hard at how sincere he sounds, even if he doubts the idea will ever get off the ground, if he figures that Mike will forget about it in a day or two. “Where would we even go?” Will says, humoring him. 

“California,” Mike answers, like it’s obvious. “We can have the spring break that we never got to have back then. Well, except it would be summer, and we’d probably have to take my mom’s station wagon.”

Oh, something inside him seems to say as his lips part, just the slightest bit. He has so many questions, like why not invite the rest of the party? Or, maybe more pressing, why me? Why now? But with the hopeful smile Mike’s casting his way, radiant like a beacon in the dark, it’s hard to voice any of it, especially when his tongue has transformed into a bed of sandpaper. “It beats a pizza van,” he shrugs with a smile. “Yeah, let’s do it. But only if I get to help make the mixtape.” 

Mike gives him a grin that somehow manages to challenge the one before it, face glowing as bright as Will had ever seen it, and really, that in itself is enough for him to push past the swirling confusion in his chest. “Yeah,” Mike smiles. “It’s a deal.”

[deanismysavior]

The fact that they're so close to writing a very homophobic arc for Will.... Like after everything we've seen, I cannot imagine any different scenario than canon Byler. And I am so nervous because we'll have to wait for 2 years to see the outcome. I really am gonna be so mad if they throw away all of Mike's queercoding out of the window. And yes, Mike is more queercoded than Will. His playlist, his relation to closets, rainbow imagery etc. The only reason ppl argue against Mike's queercoding is that he is 'Elsexual' apparently, lol. These guys want ''realism'' so bad but ignore the realistic effects of heteronormativity, COMPHET, and things like Internalized Homophobia (mildly or not). So, do you guys want to see realism, or just want gays to suffer?

Anyways. I am nervous about all of this but I have to trust the writers that they won't fuck things up.

My thing is this: when the Duffers originally pitched the series to Netflix, they only had s1 fully fleshed out, but Netflix made them write out what they thought the overarching stories would be for the whole 5-year plan of the show. If the queercoding for Mike has been there since day 1, I think both the writers room and Netflix know about the direction of Mike's arc, at least to a degree. I think if they had wanted to end things with a tragic, unrequited love story, they wouldn't have included SO MANY details about Mike's life, actions, and intentions that heavily suggest and support Mike being in the closet. I'd be very frustrated if they decided not to follow through on the arcs they created and carefully set up. Like I've said before, this show isn't Supernatural. There's a tight writers room and the ending, at least in a general sense, has been planned from the beginning. There's a lot more here to suggest the intentionality of the story arcs as a whole and not just rebellious writers imbuing scenes with queer subtext and dialogue, and likely, if Netflix knew their intentions from day 1, I can't see execs getting in the way of them following through on the storyline. I'm not saying that the Duffers' writing is perfect, but I think they've always had a good sense of intentionality that other long-running shows have not.

[sleepy-moron]

I saw some people be like "Will can have a satisfying ending to his personal arc of self acceptance without being in a relationship with Mike" and while that's genuinely something I agree with.......I have a few problems with this. Mostly I think they've accidentally wrote themselves into a corner because basically all of the alternatives have issues.

1)

Assuming that all of the current "canon" ships are endgame (i.e. people who have actually dated in the show not including Steve and Nancy bc Nancy is dating someone else) and going off the idea that there will be no new major characters next season Will and Steve will be the only characters to not get with their love interest....and Steve still got to have parts of his plotline be unrelated to romance in s3 s4. Being sad and gay while pining for Mike was basically Will's major plotline for both seasons. Yes I'm counting his friends ditching him to hang out with their girlfriends as gay induced angst for the sake of this argument. Will has been planned to be gay since the beginning, and unless Robin existing as another gay character has also been planned from the beginning, they were going to have what could have been their only gay character not get a happy ending that includes romance when all the other party members do. Not saying that romance is necessary for happiness but having one of three queer characters in your ensemble show not get a romantic plotline while basically every other major character does is shitty.

2) They should have introduced a love interest for him already if they intend to give him one besides Mike. Vickie was barely in this season but at least she exists and gets some establishing characterization. Since we aren't supposed to get new characters next season that means the new love interest is basically gonna be some cardboard cutout they give Will so people don't accuse them of not giving a gay character a happy ending. Never mind the fact it's blatantly using the new guy as a replacement goldfish for Mike, I just would want one of my main characters to wind up in a relationship with another character that's actually relevant rather than some dude who shows up for 30 seconds. I don't care if it wasn't obvious he was a love interest for Will, I literally just wanted the character to be introduced. Also means that Will actually getting over Mike is more than likely gonna be completely ignored or mentioned like once in the season, or they're going to basically have him still pine for the whole season then have a 180 at the end.

3) Will not getting a happy ending is just straight up shitty writing at this point. The kid has done nothing but suffer for the entire fucking show and for him to just be in unrequited love for the rest of his life, trapped in the upside down forever, or straight up fucking die is not a satisfying conclusion for the character.

At this point assuming byler isn't endgame Will is either going to get a replacement goldfish boyfriend at the last second, be one of like maybe 3 main characters that end the show single, pine for the rest of his life, or wind up dead (or an equivalent depressing ending) they did this to themselves

[will80sbyers]

I think they ''revived'' Stancy to indicate that they are so different from each other and have different goals in love, even though they are for each other. I honestly don't think Stancy is going to be a thing as well. I also didn't like this unresolved feeling on Steve's part because it felt like his character regressed back, sort of.

I know the writers can change their minds later on and make new additions to the characters, their relationships, and dynamics (romantic and platonic)... but I think they actually had ''end game'' relationships on their mind from the very start.

Steve was supposed to die in S1. I think they wanted Jonathan and Nancy to be the end game. Or at least, have the main romantic relationship. That doesn't mean the writers could not change the relationship dynamic later on but.... if they were planning on killing Steve in S1, then what was on their minds when it came to Nancy's romance ''arc''?

It's the same with Mlvn. El was supposed to die in S1 and was never meant to return back. Not only that, she was actually gonna be 2 years younger than the group. So, what the Duffers were planning to do with Mike's romance 'arc', if El was never gonna be in the picture in the long run, they must have had something else on their mind. Which is... Byler. I truly think Byler was supposed to be there from the start, and that the duffers didn't just pull stuff out of their asses later on to create some gay unrequited love drama for Will.

I agree for Stancy, I don't think Steve's character has regressed because I feel like they showed that he had still feelings for Nancy in previous seasons too but I think he is idealizing Nancy and focusing too much on finding love... I would love Steve having the realization that he wants to study something and go towards a career too like maybe become a teacher, maybe even the basketball coach... who knows! something that gives him more purpose and self worth because I feel like he thinks he's not good enough because of his grades, not getting into the tech school and his family that I think is at least emotionally abusive! I think that either jancy is endgame or Nancy will be going to college single or they do a big plot twist and kill Nancy instead of one of the guys....

Also agree for byler, I think there are too many hints, if it's not happening it would be absurd at this point.... and it would be awful writing imo

[wontbyers]

Disclaimer, because this is a pretty new blog but if you want to follow you might see I’ll eventually have a tag for both #mileven and #anti mileven which might be confusing: I don’t hate Mileven. I actually think they are cute together and it wasn’t until sometime after volume 2 that I even stopped believing they would be the endgame ship. I only got into the Byler side of things after watching volume 1 and decided I like the ship (I’ve always been a multi-shipper in my fanbases, pairings literally don’t need to be either canon or endgame to simply enjoy them folks!!!) but I still thought Mileven was going to be endgame and I was content with that.

Until how vol.2 handled things with Will’s feelings and his whole plot relevance this season just being used to push Mike/El’s relationship back together—and Mike’s monologue had me feeling torn at first because it was half sweet? Like what I had been waiting for since vol.1, for him to tell her he loves her, but the other half just gave me this awful, sinking feeling….It felt wrong, and maybe because some of what he was saying wasn’t fully genuine, or maybe it’s because Will is my favorite character so it just hurts to see him hurt even if it’s (supposedly) good for El (which is arguable if that monologue was good for her at that point based on analyses.)

But it’s also because, if it turns out that Byler is NOT the end goal, that Mileven does stay together, that means they really used the one gay male character in the show’s pain and heartbreak to solidify the heterosexual pairing. And it’s NOT and will never be a competition of who between Will and El has dealt with more trauma or who “deserves” to be with Mike because love is not about deserving people anyway. It’s not about which ship would be cuter or healthier because they’re not real people, they’re fictional characters. They could easily be written to repair any “toxic” or codependent tendencies in their relationship and be perfectly fine and happy together!

It’s about the fact that LGBT+ people deserve to see stories where people like us are happy and not just “unrequited in love with their straight best friend” or “bury your gays” or anything else harmful. And LGBT+ audiences also deserve not to be toyed with and led on to believe that certain pairings we see suggested in the narrative could actually happen, only to wait years for the final season to come and find out that they were leading us astray to keep us invested just to realize “oh, no, that’s right, gay people don’t get happy endings….silly us, again.”

Rather than that, I choose to believe that the ST writers aren’t planning to do that to us. They’ve written a show about and for the outcasts and the people society shoves down, and I believe they won’t spit on our faces like that with Will’s storyline. I think they’re going to give him his happy ending. I believe in Byler endgame, which necessarily means I believe Mileven isn’t going to be endgame.

So I will reblog posts that point out specific details of the show with analyses that attempt to prove that the narrative we’ve been presented isn’t in favor of casting Mileven’s relationship in a positive light—contrasting them with Byler, and giving El a much-needed independence arc and autonomy she really hasn’t experienced yet in her life—and it isn’t about whether I like them together or not, whether I think Mileven could be healthy or not, whether I think El herself is “ready” for a romantic relationship or not, it’s about the story I want to believe they’re actually writing—which is to say not a homophobic one where Will Byers gets no happiness at the end of the day.

Also, don’t think this is me saying I only ship Byler because it’s gay or because of politics. I have ALWAYS been a fan of friends-to-lovers over love-at-first-sight tropes. Childhood best friends to lovers is actually my FAVORITE, which made it soooo easy for me to immediately love Byler as soon as I realized it was an option. I just wasn’t really aware of the ship in this case before s4 bc I didn’t see any of the hints that there were feelings between them, I just knew that Will was gay from s1 and thought that was about it. Didn’t even notice Mike’s queer-coding until tumblr analysts pointed it out. The Byler fanbase really opened my eyes and it’s impossible to go back now!

Idk if there’s anything else I wanna say on this topic rn, but yeah. I don’t hate Mileven, I just hate homophobia and if Mileven is endgame, the ST writers will literally have written quite a homophobic storyline for Will—because they didn’t need to make him be in love with Mike in the first place if he’s not going to get a happy ending. If they were just going to use his feelings to repair a straight ship. And did they accidentally queer-code Michael Wheeler THAT hard?? for no reason??? Nope. There has to be a reason, so I’m sorry Mileven, I loved you, but you will be a nice non-canon ship for me, because Byler is endgame or else <3

[beepboop358]

Hey! How are you?I hope your well. And if you'd ask me. I'd say im not okay. Sorry now I'm gonna start talking and this is gonna be really long.

Yeah I just watched vol2 and there's a few things im feeling right now. First, of course sadness and there's this anger for 'Suffer brother". I want to ask you few question cuz i really like your analysis. So..:

I don't understand why they made this to Will. If it wasn't mutual, why did they make Will fall in love with Mike? If someone comes along and says no, he's not in love, I swear I'm going crazy. It was clear that he was in love.

And I can't go without saying. In an interview the other day, the Duffer brothers said that Mike's speech on vol2 was his best performance. Dude are you kidding us? Never in my life have I heard such an unemotional "i love you". It was very terrible. Surely Mike is a great actor and no one has the mouth to refuse to against that fact. But that scene was emotionless and deep down I want to believe they did it on purpose. I want to believe it's not just queerbaiting and they're going to make a meaningful slowburn. what are your ideas?

I don't even know what to do anymore. I waited for this day to be able to continue with my life officially, and that's how it happened. Since the day I found myself being a shipper, I've never had a 'male' gay ship canon in my life and I assure you that I had a lot of gay ships(nearly all of my lesbian/female gay ships became canon, thank God) . I'm tired of sobbing. I don't know, maybe I'm just exaggerating the ship things a bit, but as someone who defines herself as an artist, both my own fictions and the fictions of others make me feel very real and I believe that such things gain importance according to the value people give to them. I say this because even though I hate the Duffer brothers, I will continue to believe in love, and as long as I believe in love, I will believe in Byler. But I want to ask you. Do you think I should believe? Do you think there's still a chance for Byler?Is there any evidence that you can tell me that in season 5 they might be and up together?

I personally love the last scene, all my ships were side by side, Byler,Jancy,Jopper. And beside Byler the others are holding hands. And Eleven was alone. (And I thought this might be a cinematography thing?)I really adore cinematography and the slides you made were amazing. After I read them,I really had believe that there's a whole another plan under all of that.And thought that the Duffer brother have a huge plot setting and it is Byler. But now I think stranger things nothing but a another cliche show. If byler won't happen then this show has nothing. There's nothing special about it. And if Byler became canon. I would probably still don't like a lot of things in the show the brothers have made but I'm going to love the show. Because Byler is really special for me. What are your thoughts about the mistakes the brothers have made or might will make?

I'm gonna wait for your answers. Thank you so much in advance. I appreciate you for your analysis, slides, answers. Stay with health and love! ❤️

hello!

I am not doing great at the moment, I'm sorry you're not either <33 also thank you! and feel free to send me long messages anytime :)

I agree, it's 100% clear Will's in love with Mike, so why write that, if it's going to be unrequited...we don't need more of that. I'm so sick of that trope. It's low-key harmful to just portray gay people as pining over their straight friends, and it's clear that trope is only for the straight people watching, because it hurts the queer people to watch that & this is especially bad because Will is so self-less and so supportive of Mike & El in season 4 and is so reassuring to Mike that he and El will be okay, but if his feelings for Mike are unrequited that's just icky to portray Will like that, because they're just displaying him as a prop/plot device for the straight people, while he's on the sidelines miserable.

I read that interview too, and when the scene happened I was like, "this isn't it right? RIGHT?! Oh wait, oh god, this IS what they were talking about..."

I completely agree with everything you said here, this is beautifully put. Queer love is beautiful, and it does exist, regardless of what the media portrays.

I think there's still a chance we could get byler in season 5, (those ending shots were honestly the most compelling piece of evidence which is sad on its own), but I'm not confident that we will. I thought they had a plan too, I hope they still do. I think the way they handled byler in season 4, making it seem unrequited, if actually isn't, is the biggest mistake they made as far as byler goes. I think they made LOADS of other mistakes in terms of the storylines and the action this season too.

I will continue to hold out hope until the duffer brothers obliterate it (if they do) in season 5. I just updated the slides for season 4, vol. 2, with a few more pieces of evidence!!

Thanks for this message <3 I hope you're doing well! xx <33

[starsarefire824]

Why Eleven is upset with Mike at the end of s4 and why seems like she upset with Will too? How do you perceived that moment? She seems watch Mike but Will too and ignore them both. Do you think she is upset with Mike because she listen that it was Willwho forced Mike to do the monologue or because she understand something is going on beetwen Will and Mike? I think it's weird after the monologue Mileven seems not in good mood. If Mileven is the main couple of the show why they did another beautiful moment beetwen Byler and not them?

Hey there anon. I think this goes back to my other ask where I mentioned the thought bubble imagery used for El in "Piggyback"

This to me is a very intentional shot. It serve two purposes: to show us El's plan to piggyback into Max's mind and then when the view point changes--to show the audience that El is starting to catch onto something. Mike and Will are exceptionally close in this shot. Argyle and Jonathan are exceptionally close as well an they are separated into pairs. Mike's pesky triangle (arrow) is pointing to yours truly and imo the imagery can't be anymore obvious.

We had a scene of El checking in on Hawkins', which makes sense after she was told what was going to happen there, but if I were her, I think that checking in on my boyfriend and my brother would also be high on the priority list. We were not shown that of course, but it could easily be written that way into season 5 as a reveal. I am not like convinced of this theory or anything, but I definitely think it's interesting/fun to think about.

The end of season 4 for me is actually what made me start to really wonder about Mike and El as a couple. When I first watched Vol 2 of season 4 I, like many others one here, had a very visceral reaction the the way things turned out. I took Mike's monologue at face value even though I thought it was cringey and my initial instinct was to say oh what's with the writing?

But then we got the scenes after it, and I marinated on it a bit, and now I've come to the conclusion that there is something not quite right with El's reaction to the monologue. It is just super strange to me that if Mike and El are supposed to be the main romance that drives the story along and ties everything together than why weren't they given the proper attention at the end of this season? Mike said everything El thought she wanted to hear, and he said it pretty emphatically. He finally said the three little words she's been longing to hear. So why, for the love of god, were they not given a scene to wrap that plot line up? If it was going to be something confirmed this season, than why weren't we given a soft, intimate scene between them where they talk about the monologue and both express their feelings in private. Why didn't we get a good kiss scene? Why didn't we get smiles and little touches? If I got any of that, I would have said, it's an unrequited love story on Will's part, full stop. But we didn't.

I personally think that scene in the cabin where El looks at Mike is her sort of stewing on what happened when she was in the freezer. I think she's sort of taking in all the things he said, but I don't think she was ready to confront him about it. I honestly think that at the scene at the table in the pizza place she was going to probably allude to the fact that maybe they are better as friends, but they were interrupted by Argyle. But yeah, I think that El is having a lot of feelings in that moment. I think she is angry at One, I think she is angry that she lost, and that she wasn't able to save Max. I think she is heartbroken over Max and I think she is also finally had the confirmation she needed to come to the conclusion that Mike is not in love with her. Do I think she has all the facts and understands what's going on between Mike and Will completely? No, I don't. Do I think it's going to be something that is dealt with head on in season five. Certainly!

But in that scene, I don't think that El's feelings can be pinpointed as one specific things. It's a combination of everything: Mike, Brenner's death, losing to Vecna, Max's death, the dire situation they are in, the impending doom of Hawkin's, Hopper, and the fact that she's lost for the first time in her life.