!!Rant incoming!! Because I truly think I’ve never seen something quite like this thing some people in the tag have with Mike Wheeler!
Mike expresses his insecurities about being worthless and not good at anything and Will builds him back up by telling him that he’s an inspiration to the party, that he’s their leader and therefore essential and important to every mission, that he’s the heart that holds the whole team together. Which is all true! Mike has an extremely distorted perception of himself and Will helps him too see who he actually is!
And what do the people in the fandom do? Make posts left and right about how “Omg Mike is only the heart for Will but Will is actually the heart of the party”, “Will sees Mike as a knight in shining armor while Mike actually holds a candle stick”, “Mike is not a knight, he’s the damsel in distress”, “Mike can’t fight for himself but that’s okay because Will is gonna save him”, “Mike needs to use his brain for once”, “Mike is incompetent”, “Mike wouldn’t be able to use a sword” “Mike wouldn’t be able to use a gun” “Mike can’t win a fight” etc. totally flipping it all around and creating this false narrative were Will is the one with the distorted perception of who Mike actually is!! YOU COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT!!
In all of those polls that get created Mike always ends up being the butt of the joke because “Mike isn’t as muscular as Will so of course Will is better than him at absolutely everything”, “Mike is too dumb to be good at that”, “Mike is super clumsy so he can’t do that”. Or fanfictions where “Mike doesn’t know his way around Hawkins”, “Mike has no common knowledge”, “Will has to do everything for Mike because he can’t do anything on his own”. Which of course goes hand in hand with depicting Will as perfect as well as assigning all the “positive” attributes to Will while assigning the “negative” ones to Mike. And back to the polls, literally the only polls in which Mike wins are the ones where the question is who of the party members is most likely to be, like or do something and it’s either related to falling down or it’s a gay stereotype!! [which is a whole other problem!]
This general perception of the characters that has somehow formed, in which Mike is this total “cringe fail loser” who’s clumsy and stupid and needs everything to be told, who can’t do anything right and gets villainized for his oh so many mistakes, while Will is super over confident and cool, above average at every single thing he does and is always chill and doesn’t do anything wrong, is incredibly bizarre to me. THIS IS NOT AT ALL WHO THESE TWO ARE!!!! And the thing is, one of the many great things about byler is that Mike and Will are equals and treat each other as such!! Turning around and making Will stand above Mike totally ruins a big part of what makes this ship so good!!
And it’s just especially frustrating with Mike, not only because people totally undermine who he is and what he’s capable of, but also because we have this scene of him opening up about feeling useless, worthless and overall like he can’t do anything right! We have this in the show!!! And Will gives him a truly wonderful, emotional, heartbreaking love confession in response to build him back up! The point Will made is: “This is who you are, Mike, and that’s why I love you so much!”, and not: “I love you so much and that’s why I see you this way”!!!! As I said, if you honestly believe that Will is the one with a distorted perception of Mike, and not Mike, then you completely missed the point! And quite literally, you too have a distorted perception of Mike Wheeler as a character!
Again, I’ve truly never seen something quite like this!! Mike expressing that he feels like he’s worthless, Will proving to him that he’s not, and the fandom turning around and going: “Well actually, Mike is worthless and everything Will said about him is only how he sees him.”
And all this while Mike Wheeler is canonically super intelligent and capable, solving problems left and right, coming up with the best plans every season and always ready to fight!!! Everything Will said about Mike is objectively true! He is a an exceptional leader! He is inspiring to everyone in the party! He is getting and holding the whole team together! This is all canon!!!
But I guess some of y’all are watching a different show….
Of course I’m well aware of the fact that everyone interprets and sees characters differently and has their own headcanons. But in this case people are completely disregarding what is explicitly and obviously shown about the character in canon to push a worse fanon version!! People are making the most bizarre and out of character statements about Mike Wheeler and the whole tag will applause them that the takes are so in character, even though they’re clearly not! They quite literally mostly directly contradict with what we know about the character in canon!! And somehow there are still people who think the show is gonna pick up on the made up version!! This widely accepted misinterpretation of Mike’s character is insane to me because people actually think that it’s canon even though it pretty obviously is not! It’s incredibly bizarre, especially because the fanon version is clearly so so so much worse than the real, canon Mike Wheeler!!
And it’s so ironic seeing this happen so much in the byler tag specifically because we are supposed to be the ones on Mike’s team! We’re the ones criticizing melvins and the ga for undermining Mike’s character, all while there are some of you who do the exact same thing.
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Little!Billy
Sweet Baby Billy gets the cuddles and affection he deserves.
Flurries of snow fell to the ground as Billy trudged up the walkway to Steve's house, the air was harsh when he breathed in.
He wasn't sure which hurt more, the sting of his steadily bruising ribs, or the cold, sharp intakes of breath. It didn't matter in the end, because everything just hurt, his body was alight with different aches on a good day.
Today wasn't a good day, the aches were replaced by searing pain, an unfortunate side effect of discussions with his father.
Neil was pissed at Billy because Susan gave Max permission to spend the weekend with her nerd squad. Despite having nothing to do with his step-mothers decision, Billy still found himself on the receiving end of Neil's anger. It was better him than her or Max, at least that's what he told himself as his dad rounded on him, swiftly knocking the air out of his body.
He was demanding Billy bring Max back home, however Billy had no intentions of doing so.
It didn't matter if Max came home today, or Sunday, because in the end; it was Billy who would end up bloody and broken, so he opted out of ruining her weekend and subsequently his own any further than Neil already had.
This meant he couldn't go home for the next few days as well, leaving him with nowhere to escape the storm that was rapidly picking up momentum.
There was one place, though. One place he was always welcomed, always safe.
This is what landed him at Steve's front door, his eye was swollen shut, the right side of his face aches and burns from where his father's wedding ring undoubtedly made a gash, if the dried blood on his jacket was any indication. He should've called first, or even texted.
Max and her friends were probably all in Harrington's den, playing that fucking fantasy game that she claimed was stupid, but he had found her learning more about in free time.
Any other time, Billy would've gone anywhere besides where Max was, especially with his face busted. Not to mention her nosy friends, but this time was different. He had nowhere else to go, not that he'd choose to be anywhere else.
When he finally gathered the courage to knock, the door swung open and revealed a smiling Steve Harrington, though said smile quickly dropped as he took in Billy's appearance, his warm hands reaching out to pull the younger boy into the familiar household.
Before the door had fully clicked shut, Billy was letting himself fall into Steve's embrace, a welcomed fog creeping into his mind as the other wrapped his arms around Billy.
"Hey, Sweet Boy...I've got you…" That was all it had taken for Billy to dissolve into a heap of silent tears, his face pressed into the crook of Steve's shoulder, as he breathed in his boyfriend’s comforting scent.
It didn't take a genius to figure out Billy's father hurt him again, Steve could feel the anger shimmering inside of him, but he forced it down in favor of comforting the boy in his arms.
Billy had all but molded their bodies together with a pained whimper, his face pressing into the crook of Steve's neck.
Soft sniffles could be heard as Steve guided the smaller boy to the couch, his body shaking from the cold or maybe something else; Steve couldn't pinpoint.
It had taken Billy a while, but his tears eventually subsided.
He was situated in Steve's lap, wrapped in a fuzzy throw blanket as the elder rubbed soothing circles along his back; burrowing closer, he hid his face in Steve's neck with a small whine.
A whine. Steve knew that meant Billy had dropped, which would explain why the blond was attempting to turn their two bodies into one. It wasn't unusual for Billy in his regular headspace, he just approached cuddling differently. In little space, Billy was quick to manhandle Steve to get the position he wanted, but outside of it, he would just stare at Steve until the elder boy got the hint.
"Hurts, Dada." Another whine left the boy, his fingers painfully curled into the fabric of the latter's shirt. Steve was quick to run a hand up the boy's back, softly cooing as he buried his nose into Billy's curls, "I know, baby. Can Daddy get up to get you some medicine?" Billy immediately shook his head hysterically, a small cry bubbling from his lips, "N-no, Daddy. C-can't leave Billy-Bee!"
Steve would gently shush Billy, his tone soft. "I'm not gonna go anywhere without you, Sweet Boy. You can always come with me." Billy looked up at Steve with watery eyes, his bottom lip wobbling, "B-Billy go wit' Daddy?"
Steve would hurriedly nod his head, and scoop Billy into his arms the moment his own feet hit the ground.
Billy's arms wrap around his Caregivers neck as he moves to bury his face in the crook of Steve's neck once more.
It wasn't the easiest task, but eventually Billy was cleaned up, all evidence of a run in with his father washed away by soft kisses to his nose and cheeks, and the sting of antiseptics. Obviously, his eye was still swollen, angry reds and purples covering smooth skin. His lip, while no longer bleeding, posed the all too real threat of opening back up.
It wasn't until he had Billy dressed in a pair of fuzzy pajama pants and an oversized sweater, his pacifier dangling dangerously from his lips, that the kids had finally trailed out the den to find Steve and demand food.
They found him rummaging through the freezer.
When Max's eyes landed on Billy, she immediately gasped and rushed over to him, her hand gently reaching out to cup his bruising cheek. His lack of resistance informed her that her brother had dropped, something she'd only witnessed twice since their parents had married. She didn't have a chance to speak before Billy was clinging to her, mindlessly nuzzling against her shoulder. "H-Hi, Maxie! D-daddy is makin' dinos!" To say Max was confused was an understatement, but she knew better than to let it show, if she'd learned anything about Littles in school, it was that their emotions were often a mess, and any signs of discomfort would weigh heavily on them. "Oh, really? Stevie knows how to make the best nuggets!" This had Billy nodding as he peered up at Max, his blue eyes wide and shining with an innocence she'd never known her abrasive older brother to have.
"N-not Stevie! D-daddy!" He spoke slowly, as if to emphasize that Max had called Steve by the wrong name, but a giggle followed his words. "He's your Daddy, Bubba. He's Stevie to us."
"Uh, what the fuck?" It was Mike who spoke, his confusion clear as day. Immediately Max whipped her head around to glare at him, her fiery locks all but slapping her in the face, "don't curse in front of him, idiot!"
At that, Billy giggled again, a finger pointed at Mike as he spoke, "i-idiot!" His smile after was so big, so warm, that neither Max nor Steve made any move to correct him, both in fact just let out a coo, ignoring the sounds of indignation from Mike.
The kids were all learning about Classification in school, though only Will had ever met a Little. His brother was a Little, but it wasn't often he saw him regressed. He was usually with Nancy.
They were all shocked to learn Billy Hargrove was a Little, but the shock wore off the moment Billy began doling out nicknames for his new 'Fwends".
Mike was Mickey, and when asked why the boy simply declared that he didn't like Mickey Mouse, and he didn't like Mike. Mike was upset, but quickly got over it when Billy gave him one of his nuggets.
Lucas was Lu-Lu. Billy seemed proud of himself for the name, especially when Lucas beamed at him, and reached over to high five him, stating the name fit him perfectly.
Dustin was Bunny, because he looked "'xactly like a Bunny! Jus' a Dust Bunny!" No one had the heart to tell him that dust bunnies didn't look like actual bunnies, especially with the way his blue eyes seemed to shine with something akin to pride.
Will was dubbed Bee-Bee, once Billy had learned they shared the same name and had then decided they needed a similar nickname.
Jane was simply Janey, but she had adored hearing the name from Billy, a lisp to his words when he called out to her.
Naturally, Max had become Maxie, but no one was surprised as he had yelled it upon seeing her.
Instead of returning to their game, everyone spilled into the living room, where Steve put on The Nightmare Before Christmas, and scooped Billy up into his arms, much to the displeasure of Dustin who had been curled up with Billy's head on his lap.
"Get your own Little, this one is mine." He punctuated his words by tightening his arms around Billy's waist.
"Don't be an ass, Steve! You see him this way all the time."
From his place on Steve's lap, Billy peered up at Dustin and gasped, "N-no say that, D-daddy is not ass!"
Steve was torn between scolding the boy for cursing, and praising him for his quick defense. He hadn't needed to do either before Max was ruffling Billy's hair, cooing her own praise, and Jane was gently reminding him he shouldn't use bad words.
Dustin silently apologized to both Steve and the regressed boy, the latter leaning over to hug him in acceptance.
It was clear that Billy was tactile in his headspace, which came as no surprise to The Party as they knew Billy's father wasn't the warmest person.
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