#mike doesn't know

[gayofthefae]

Never over this moment of eye contact btw

"Please don't look at me" "Please never look away"

Mike is falling in love while Will is saying goodbye

[brionysea]

sorry can't talk i'm putting a canon typical amount of subtext for my crazy person theories in my season 4 rewrite fic

[mooneggtarts]

Mike will tellthe kid once he's a little older, or once Mike has the mental capacity to explain it

[riickgrimes]

[grandwretch]

i so badly want one of those fic examinations of steve's relationship with joyce and hopper but solely through eddie's pov like hear me out

steve and eddie chat a lot in the upside down (and later in the hospital, when they learn hop is alive). steve has taken charge of filling eddie in on the rest of their of-age crew without the kids butting in. he never mentions his own parents, but he talks about the rest of the party's a lot, especially joyce and hopper. eddie knows what it's like to desperately want someone to be your parent and trying to hide it from his own childhood, when he would try to be cool about wayne dropping him off at his dad's house. steve obviously adores joyce and hopper, thinks the world of them and legitimately looks up to them.

eddie isn't sure what he expects from a cop who came back to life and the world's most determined housewife, but he's excited to meet them as someone steve loves.

cue eddie's horror when he realizes that neither of them really feel much for steve rather than annoyance and vague distrust. that joyce trusts will with eddie, an accused murderer, in a heartbeat and still hesitates to leave him with steve. that hopper brushes off every ounce of steve's hero worship and joy.

he tries to broach the topic with steve, gently, and is heartbroken when steve genuinely has no idea what he's talking about. and not because he's oblivious, but because steve thinks that's what he deserves. he thinks that's the parental love that someone who was an asshole in high school needs, because that's what would make him a good person. he needs people to call him out constantly, obviously, because why else would they keep doing it? why would nancy? at least they're here. at least they're not ignoring him. at least they're not forcing him into a box. they just want him to be better.

like, this is the man who thanked a girl for calling him bullshit and telling him she never loved him. he doesn't Know that's not how you're supposed to handle things. no one ever taught him that.

and now eddie's gotta figure out how he can teach steve how to be loved the right way without outing himself and his huge crush on his love-starved dork of a friend.

[domsaysstuff]

Okay so this idea has been rocking around my empty skull for some time now just we know that Eddie can be a pretty mean DM and a shithead and I've been thinking abt romances in D&D and how it would work in Hellfire

And I had this thought that Eddie would like be "no romances!!" to the Corroded Coffin group (before the kids joined) and they're like why? and Eddie just to tease them says that he doesn't want to pretend to fall for their smelly ugly faces

Which just motivates them to try and seduce like every character that Eddie introduces for a fucking month and it leads to the creation of the rule: Every romance/seduction directed roll must be rolled above 15 to succeed AND if Eddie decides that the attempt is particularly bad the roll is with disadvantage

The Corroed Coffin boys are obviously teasingly like ohhh so we get an advantage if it's good?

"Doubt that would happen boys, but sure, if you make me, Eddie fucking Munson, to blush like a fair maiden then you'll get the advantage on the roll"

They try, they really do, but all the CC boys succeed in doing is killing off all of their party in three sessions and Gareth who is a little shit is actually rolling his third character (because the consequences of a failure are fucking brutal) by the time Jeff and [unnamed freak] give up

After that they know better (except Gareth who still sometimes does that just to annoy Eddie and be a little shit) to try and then the kids join Hellfire and Eddie has even less of an desire to flirt with fucking Wheeler, Henderson and Sinclair (they're baby children!!)

But the kids are a little shits too and they see Gareth being a little shit so they copy

It ends badly for them, they gripe about Eddie being unfair because like "all three of us have girlfriends Eddie and you don't so we clearly know more about romance then you do" Dustin not only gets a flick on the head for that but his character might have ended up being put into situations™ throughout the session that are "totally unfair!"

But fair to say all of Hellfire knows the rules and all of hellfire knows that no matter how well they try and how smooth they are (they really aren't ever smooth) Eddie will not blush or even consider they attempts as "good", the best they got was "tolerable" (Lucas got it and he's still very proud of it, as he deserves okay?), Eddie is impossible to fluster and so it's just is this fun thing they sometimes do when they feel particularly like little shits

And that's it about it

Until Vecna and all the upside down shit and the surprising friendship of Eddie and Steve happens

And suddenly Steve Harrington is not only sitting but playing D&D

Everything is going actually pretty good and Dustin practically vibrates out of his chair at how proud he is of Steve for how well he is doing so far and then

And then Steve tries to flirt with a pretty bard

Dustin deflates, he is ready for the absolute disaster that is going to fall upon Steve, he makes eye contact with Lucas - both of them ready with "it was actually a pretty good line tho!" at the tip of their tongues to defend Steve's decisions, he doesn't know Eddie's special rules after all and it would be funny to see Steve fail, sure, but it's Steve's first game and the kids wanted it to be good for Steve so convincing him to play again would be easier

But now Eddie is going to absolutely rip into him and Steve will never want to play again and-

"Roll with advantage" Dustin gasps, audibly, loudly, the room is silent, except for Steve who's very unaware of the chaos he just created and just rolls the dices, his usual confidence in place

And if someone looked closely - and all of the hellfire is fucking looking - Eddie Munson has indeed a light blush on his face

[solarmorrigan]

Okay, but imagine the absolute shit fit Eddie and Dustin would throw when it’s not either of them that finally manage to convince Steve to play D&D with them. It’s not Lucas, or Will, or even Erica, in all her terrifying, businesslike glory

It’s Mike fuckin’ Wheeler

Mike, who Steve has technically known longer than any of the other kids; who had never made a secret of when he’d thought Steve was a douchebag; who, even after Steve became de facto babysitter to the group and Mike could admit he didn’t entirely dislike him, had never quite warmed up to him the way the others had. Mike

Dustin has been on Steve’s case to join the game since they became friends, and Steve has said no every time. At first because it sounded complicated and boring and he had no interest, but later because he knows none of the other kids like him as much as Dustin does, and that’s fine, but he isn’t going to sit through something complicated and boring while a bunch of other kids glare at him

Sometime later, on one of the few nights neither Joyce nor Jonathan are available to pick Will up, and Steve is driving him home, Will mentions that it would be cool if Steve wanted to join in and play – since he has to schedule his nights around their games sometimes anyway, after all. Steve smiles and tells him thank you but no thank you. Will is kind, and patient to a fault, and Steve has no doubt Will would genuinely try to include him, but he doesn’t want anyone to feel like he should be invited as an obligation. He really doesn’t mind driving

After Steve starts playing basketball with Lucas, Lucas invites Steve in turn to play D&D with The Party. Steve turns him down, saying he’ll stick to what he’s good at. He wonders if maybe Lucas feels like they should do an exchange—Steve has given him some pointers on basketball, so maybe Lucas will give him pointers on D&D—but really, he’s happy spending his time playing with the kid. He doesn’t need to be offered anything else

Steve turns Eddie down flat no matter how much he wheedles, whines, or offers bribes of various favors and orgasms. He knows Eddie’s previous reputation, that he hasn’t been inclined to accept or be entirely patient with novices at the game in the past, so he’ll either sweep along as usual and leave Steve in the dust, or he’s planning to change his entire style to hold Steve’s hand and help him figure it out, probably to the detriment of everyone else’s enjoyment. Neither option is appealing

Erica asks Steve exactly once, telling him that the only way anyone is ever going to shut up about it is if Steve agrees to play. Steve tells her that, unfortunately, she’ll just have to continue putting up with their whining. She doesn’t seem happy, but she’s certainly not going to beg him to play, and that’s that

But then, one night, Mike watches the whole song and dance routine as Steve drops off Dustin, Lucas, and Erica; tells Dustin that no, he’s not going to stay tonight; kisses Eddie hello and also tells Eddie that no, he’s not going to stay tonight. Mike sighs loudly as Steve moves to head up the stairs and out of the basement

“Dude, we both know Eddie and Dustin have made, like, a dozen characters for you. Just pick one and play with us.”

And Steve stops

Because Mike has never pretended to like Steve. Mike has never pretended to like anyone. He’s jealously guarded membership into The Party, denying anyone he isn’t one hundred percent certain about. He’s about as protective over his nerd game as Eddie is (and as protective over his friends as Steve himself). And with no clear reason to, he’s asking Steve to join them

And Steve can’t help but admit that Mike may actually just want him to play – that maybe they all do (and maybe he sincerely does want to join them, even if it still sounds complicated and might still be boring; maybe he’ll just like spending time with them)

So he sits down and asks what the hell he’s supposed to be doing

(He’s never had so many people try to show him how to do something at once)

[royalarchivist]

Mine: Refer to me however you want!

Mike: Yeah, for me too. I think I use all pronouns too.

[They high-five and fist-bump each other]

Mine:

[via @barbmine]

[will80sbyers]

Look he might be bi or gay, I don't know for sure, but one thing I'm sure about Mike Wheeler is that HE doesn't know

[kaiminluu]

"when you slam the door i think you know, that you won't be away too long, you know that i'm not that strong"

hi @campbyler you destroyed me

[williamgayers]

for real now: do you guys think el knows gay people are a thing?

like, did anyone ever explain the concept of homosexuality to her or

[gayofthefae]

What if Mike was finally gonna tell El he loved her and wanted to be her friend in the pizza scene. Think about it. Avoiding the topic clearly wasn't helping him to not lose her, so he had been talking to Will about working up to tell her something hard to hear - that he loves her and wants to be her friend - but he was scared that she only loved him romantically and would leave him. That is, until Will told him that she would never leave him and showed him how much he sees her. That made him feel more secure and like he could tell her how he really felt without her leaving.

Like in my recent post, I misremembered another ElMike moment as more romantic than it was. I thought Mike was smiling when he was about to tell her something in the pizza place and that made me think maybe it was that he loved her. I just rewatched it. He wasn't.

This is not the face of a boy who has been desperately trying to tell El something he knows she wants to hear and finally can. According to him, his fear was admitting it to himself, providing no reason to be scared to tell her as by the time he says it out loud he would have had to admit it to himself already. The face of the boy I just described would be smiling, nervous, but just a little smile like a misremembered - similar to the one he was making a few seconds prior when he said "I missed you too". This is not that boy.

This is face of a boy nervous about how the girl in front of him will react. This the face of a boy still scared shitless that El will leave him, but with just enough confidence gained to do it. He is nervous in this image. He is watching her reaction steadily in anticipation for what he's about to say.

If what he said in his speech was true, he wouldn't be scared of her reaction. He was scared of eventually losing her and having that hurt more because he invested more, not as an immediate consequence of saying I love you. And even if he had been consciously lying, he would not have been scared for her reaction. Hell, the whole argument for him lying in the later scene is that it's the safe choice in terms of how she'll take it!

The image above is of a boy focusing on breathing in and out, watching for El's reaction to what he's about to say. Rewatch that scene. He's nervous. I do think that the van scene gave him the courage and security in his relationship to finally tell her how he really feels. But I don't think that was romantic love like we later heard from him.

And now, just like Will in his lie, he's trapped. Because you can tell someone you trust needs you that you want to be their friend. And he was ready for that much. But what you CAN'T do is tell them you want to be more than their friend knowing it's what they want to hear then take it back. So now he's stuck in this lie again. Because he was ready to tell her. But revoking what he said is an entirely different level to that truth.

And the more I talk, also, (and this isn't required to this interpretation, branch of here if you like), I don't think Mike knows his feelings for Will yet. I think that'll come with the painting reveal. In short, I think his defensiveness comes from an avoidance of the topic that he'll be forced to confront when the painting comes to light.

But this is somewhat a case of Occam's Razor. I don't think they lied that much. Mike's arc was still about not being able to tell El the truth of his feelings before she left so he spent the whole season working up to it and getting over his fear of losing her. I think his focus of this season was El and that Will didn't play into it for him yet, like we saw. "He's oblivious". But unlike we saw, I don't think that he told her that truth. The arc is what we thought it was: Mike working up to telling El the truth, but Mike and Will's arcs this season are parallels in that way: two boys building up to tell someone they love their true feelings, overcoming fear of losing them, only to, when the moment comes, trap themselves in a lie they can't take back so easily.

[love-byers]

he's in love your honor

[scroofy-was-here]

just spoke to my non internet brainrot friend who is a fan of stranger things and has not been exposed to media about ships.

i asked her "opinion on mileven? (mike and eleven)" AND YOU KNOW WHAT SHE SAID???

"🤮🤮🤮I hate them together"

EVEN THE OUTSIDERS CAN SEE IT?!?!?!

in conclusion: byler endgame

[chasedeys]

Steelers' coaches on Burrow and Chase

[stranger-theory]

"Bylers want El depressed."

she already feels this way. she already feels alone and unhappy with Mike. if she feels like this with the guy she's dating, why not assume she'd be happier without that guy? why not assume it would be better for the girl who doesn't know how to work a romantic relationship to just not be in that relationship? why is it us who want to hurt her and not someone who wants her to stay in this relationship?

we have to use our brains, people.