#mike protection squad

[ftmsteveraglan]

"schmelly is the best fnaf movie ship!!" "no, dreamtheory is the best ship!!" mike has two hands, people.

[bylerspookie]

why did no one warn me about the torture that comes with Mike Wheeler being your favourite st character

[milevenstancyendgame]

Mike's Pep Talks & Sense Of Justice

So one thing I really love about Mike is that he always tries to act when he sees one of his friends suffering or injustice going on. It's an astute feeling of what's right and wrong, plus trying to give to others what he didn't receive himself from his parents (reassurance, praise, emotional availability, honesty, etc).

I think the first example we got of this, was in s1 when we first see the boys being bullied in school. The bullies specifically targeted Dustin here and directly after they leave, Mike tells him that he thinks his different anatomy (cleidocranial dysplasia) is like a superpower, that it makes him cool, like Mr Fantastic.

There's a nice reference to this at the other end of the seasons, when Will tells Mike in s4 that he makes him/El feel like they're better for being different.

In a similar vein, Mike tries to see the good in Will getting insight into the Mind-flayer's perception/feelings, calling him a super-spy.

He also is adamant about Lucas, Dustin, and Will being equally his best friends, reassuring Dustin (who wasn't even upset, but just assumed Lucas was Mike's best friend; and he visibly brightens up afterwards).

In s1, he also defends El when Lucas says she's a weirdo and not a superhero ("The X-men are weirdos!"). He tells her several times that she's a/his superhero when she doubts herself, and reassures her about her appearance.

He also tells the others several times not to exploit El's powers and to respect her boundaries ("Stop it, you're freaking her out! She's just scared and cold.", "She's not a dog.", "Stop it, you're scaring her!", "You're treating her like a machine, when she's not a machine.").

After the police questions the boys at school, Mike tells his family at dinner that he wants to go out and help search for Will, saying that they should be doing something. His mother forbids it, Nancy makes a condescending remark about Will, and his father patronises him, making Mike exclaim in righteous anger: "I'm the only one who's normal here! I'm the only one who cares about Will!"

There's a parallel to this in s2, after they escaped from the lab and gather at the Byers' house. Everyone is in a state of shock and feeling hopeless/like there's nothing they can or should do, but Mike talks about how Bob founded the AV Club and that they need to avenge him (because it's the right thing to do).

Of course jumping from the cliff in order to save Dustin from getting maimed is another example of him just finding it unbearable to see his friends suffer. The way he tries to protect El over the course of all seasons is another example (too many to list them all, but random ones are letting her stay at his house, although he knows it gets him into danger; trying to protect her from Brenner and the demogorgon, trying to keep her from over-using her powers in s3, saving her from Billy, etc).

These are all instances I can think of atm, though I'm sure there are more.

[karmaspidr]

[byleriscanon713by]

Will needs to end up with Mike

If he didn’t end up with Mike his entire queer storyline would be based on loving a boy who he doesn’t end up getting. He would’ve been created as a gay character just to advance a straight couples development.

Will has never felt an ounce of happiness throughout the show. Considering he’s one of the only queer characters, this is disgusting. Never giving him a happy ending would be homophobic. Why put him through all this suffering?

He loves Mike at a level Eleven never could. She was in a lab and therefore doesn’t have as much of a grasp of social cues and how the world works. Will does. It would be heartbreaking to see Mike miss out on someone who would truly love him more than El does. It’s not fair to Will either.

There would be tons of queerbaiting allegations against Mike if he never ended up with Will because he is a queercoded character.

Byler has had so many romantic tropes throughout the series and throwing them all out would be bs.

M*leven built over two seasons then diminished over the next two. Byler has been building throughout all four seasons and according to the st4 end it looks like they’re still building.

Will is the main character. Typically main characters don’t end up alone. Just saying.

[byler-alarmist]

This morning, I'm thinking about how Will hasn't experienced homophobia directed at him, to his face, in-show.

This is supposed to be Will's coming of age arc, where he accepts himself for the young man he is becoming, but he's just moved back to literally the most hostile place for him to be openly gay.

I am thinking there's no way he doesn't deal with some direct, in-your-face, quite possibly violent homophobia next season

Note: this isn't to say Will hasn't experienced homophobia. What I mean is we the viewers have not experienced him experiencing it for four whole seasons, meanwhile his budding sexuality has become the elephant in the room in small town Hawkins.

[willbyersbff]

mike's trauma is so fucking overlooked what do you mean this kid goes around with memories of being heavily bullied, of his dad simply just not caring about him, of his best friend being missing, of seeing said friend's alleged dead body, of being completely devastated by that, of jumping off a cliff without hesitation because of bullying, of figuring out his best friend had been kidnapped and taken to an alternative dimension, of being friends with a girl that he thinks ends up dying to save him, of missing said friend for almost a year, of being worried about her, of seeing his best friend get hurt and possessed, of again being afraid he would lose will and el, of being depressed after his best friend moved, of not being able to fit in at high school, of not being able to understand or accept his own feelings, of having to hear his girlfriend say that he did not understand what the bullying felt like even though he did and she completely dismissed his feelings, of feeling like he lost his best friend again, of being in the middle of a shooting, of having to bury a dead body, of clearly feeling as if he is not enough for the people he loves, and you're telling me he is OKAY with all of that???? nuh uh somebody check up on him and give him a hug and a safe space to cry right now

[uselessnbee]

every time i venture outside of my little circle here on tumblr where we all love Mike and go like on tiktok or pinterest or something and see all the Mike hate and slander again i just need to come back here and say how much i love and appreciate my boy

everyone say i love you Mike Wheeler you deserve so much better

[eatmehuckass]

i NEED more content on wet cigarette not like having dirty nails reading glasses tiring hair up load of problems sweater internal homophobia wearing freak mike.

I NEED this man to HURT. I NEED him to sob. I NEED him to BREAK.

[runninguplenorahills]

!!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.

[heliumparty]

I have another one. A teeny tiny Will.

My frame has been filled.

[cavinginhisfvce]

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.

[yellowcrowindustry]

Season 5 concept, cause I can’t stop thinking about them 😤

[jazz-penguin]

After today's post of @theonebyler about Mike not being able to say that thing to El I was finally inspired to write my opinion about how Mike feels about his girlfriend.

I believe he fully realized that he was not in love with her between S3 and S4.

Maybe he even realized something about Will too, that would explain his awkward behavior in the airport, but this post is not about it.

I think Mike realized that he is not in love with El and that he was thinking about breaking up with her during spring break.

The first reason why I think so is because of his expression when Ted reminded him about the "sweetie pie". Looks like Mike was not particularly happy about their future meeting.

Look at his face. To me Mike's impression here didn't look like he was just rolling his eyes at Ted. I think he imagined what an unpleasant conversation with El he was going to have.

The second reason why I think he was going to break up with her is his suspicious desire to please El in everything. Like this is your favorite color, these are your favorite flowers, blablabla. Wait, don't kiss me for too long. You're squishing your present. Like he was feeling guilty and therefore was trying to be extremely nice to her. Mike from s3 was different.

After the whole situation with Angela happened Mike was not only disappointed with the fact that El lied to him, but he also realized how unhappy she was and that a possible break up would destroy her. To break up with El while she lived happily in Cali is one thing, but at that moment it just wasn't the right time. Mike didn't lie to her and didn't say "I love you" only to please her anyway.

He has principles, y'know.

Mike indeed is afraid to lose El. What if she doesn't like the truth and doesn't want to be his friend anymore?

That also explains why Mike's smile faded when Will said that El commissioned the painting for him.

And after all that these cruel Duffers still make Mike lie to her only to save her life. I hope El realized he was not telling the truth, otherwise he's screwed. At least until they talk about the painting.

Many people feel sorry for El for not being loved by her boyfriend and for not having enough emotional support from him. And I deeply sympathize with Mike, because he tried to do everything right, tried not to hurt El, not to lie to her. But he had to do this anyway.

[messrsbyler]

mike hunches the way he does because he has to carry all the weight of his unrecognised trauma

[bylerspookie]

Will Byers and Mike Wheeler haters will fall