#s4 snowball

[simmillercc]

I have upload 3 new projects as part of the Japanese Journeys set, and they're lights!

Early Access releases to public May 28, 2024

SIMS 4 - SNOWBALL CEILING LIGHTS X 2 AND TABLE LAMP BLOCKS

PATREON JAPANESE JOURNEYS COLLECTION https://www.patreon.com/collection/525900

CURSEFORGE MAIN PROJECTS PAGE (approval pending on these 3 projects)

[mikesbasementbeets]

to be real for a second, i think there is a moment in the show where mike has a ~realization~ of sorts about his feelings but hasn't quite put two and two together yet.... and it's this:

this realization of "hey my feelings for will are actually maybe different than my feelings for my other friends, but i'm not sure why" happens at the end of season two. and then mike spends the entirety of season three acting sort of strange and different around will while having his relationship with him constantly juxtaposed with his relationship with el. reaching the end of that season which, despite all the supernatural shit going on, took the time to focus so heavily on those two relationships (and how fundamentally different they are), and having mike have the same realization he had at the end of season two makes no sense because it would mean he accomplished absolutely nothing in his emotional arc during the course season three

especially to claim that he still believes he has feelings for el going into season 4. especially to claim he still believes he has feelings for el by the end of season 4. it's to claim that he has not made any emotional progress in his relationships for at least two full seasons, that he's been going through all of this for it to not have made any conscious impact on him, and the changes in the way he acts from s2-3 and from s3-4 aren't a product of his character developing (growing, changing, to quote hopper's letter) but rather..... ? i don't know actually. just him feeling weird but not understanding himself at all. still. it just doesn't make sense to me. he's one of the main characters of the show, and to keep him emotionally stagnant for 4 out of 5 seasons (especially when we can see that his behavior is changing, that he has not been stagnant at all but rather deeply affected by everything) would be a disservice to his character, first of all, but also a disservice to the narrative which has been showing us his (as well as the other characters') struggle with growing up and growing into himself every season. and it simply doesn't align with what we're being shown

mike is already having realizations by the end of season two. but by the end of season three, he's starting to be really honest with himself about what they mean

[reneray]

[emily-mooon]

GUYS GUYS GUYS!!!!!! (gn)

THERES A NEW JONATHAN FUNKO POP!!!!

The world has been healed.

[wibble-wobbegong]

“mike hasn’t realized his feelings yet”

[galindathrop]

Wait I have a gif idea. But I already have so many lol. The idea is in the tags. 

[randomfoggytiger]

Headcanon accepted.

He is Mulder, after all.

That’s how I like to celebrate, every four years, like dog years.

[bylertruth3r]

Will's pulled four bitches and he only wants one, and he's only 15 like that's crazy, he pulled Jennifer in s1, he pulled the snowball girl in s2, he pulled Mike in s3 and he pulled the native american girl in s4, one person for season

Also I love the genderfluid Mike headcanon so you can also see him as Will's girlfriend (sometimes)

He's like "if you having girl problems i feel bad for you son, i got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one"

[love-byers]

one of the things that makes me so confident in byler is the sheer amount of byler scenes compared to mlvn. and ESPECIALLY the final byler scene

we get like 2 solo mlvn scenes

their fight in el's room

and their talk at surfer boy's pizza

now let's count byler:

rink o mania fight

talk in jonathan's room

talk in will's room

talk on top of the car

talk in the van

talk in the cabin

SIX. COMPARED TO TWO

the last big scene/interaction we see of a character/couple in a season is super important and says a lot about what's to come

like at the end of s1, the last interaction we see nancy have is kissing jonathan on the cheek and going back to steve. she ends the season with steve. HEAVILY foreshadowing that the story is not over between them and there is more to come, there will be a big plot point related to nancy and steve in s2.

in s2 the couples are together by the end, like literally together.

lumax are dancing, mlvn are dancing, nancy and jonathan are both volunteering at the snowball, and hopper and joyce are hugging.

and the last solo interaction we see dustin have is with steve, implying their friendship will continue and be important in what's to come, which it did in s3. 

it's the same at the end of s3. the last 4 solo interactions we see are will and mike, jonathan and nancy, el and mike, and el and joyce. 3 couples, and then the moment that begins hop's letter. all very important.

in s4 we get a solo jancy interaction, a solo byler interaction, and a solo el+ hopper interaction. the final scenes. the jancy scene isn't exactly happy, they're awkward and jonathan is still lying to her about college.

so in the same episode that mike confesses his supposed love to el, the last time we see them in the same room she doesn't even spare him a glance? the final time we see a couple together is important. and they give us nothing. not only do we not know if they're together anymore, it's making us lean towards them not being together at all.

then there's this:

in s2, jonathan and nancy take a big leap from friends to lovers. HUGE leap. but after that, it's not acknowledged at all. things continue as normal. i remember watching 2 for the first time and getting a teensy bit worried that no one was talking about it and more drama would happen.

but then we get that last look, and we know without a sliver of doubt that they are officially together, and in love.

this is more proof that the final scene together between a duo is very important. imagine if they hadn't give us that jancy moment, we would've been so confused and upset. we'd think they were together, i mean they legit smashed....but then they don't acknowledge each other? that would've implied trouble.

it's slightly different for mileven because mikes monolgue wasn't their leap from friends to lovers, it was supposed to be their leap from childish, puppy love to real love.

but it WASNT

after the monologue, we don't see them speak. and this may have been okay if they'd done something. something to let us know they're still together in love.

with jancy, we did see them have moments before the snow ball scene, like nancy comforting jonathan and jonathan seeking out her comfort (a hug) when he saw will unconscious. but the last scene was still so important. they didn't leave us with nothing

with mlvn, we aren't left with nothing, we're left with less than nothing. we get to see them in the same room, and el doesn't even spare him a glance. she even seems annoyed by mike. it leaves mileven unanswered.

the jancy snowball scene is living breathing proof that the writers know how to leave 0 doubt surrounding a couple. they know it doesn't take much. all it would've take. was one look, one smile, to let us know mlvn are okay. and they chose not to.

not only did they choose to have el not acknowledge mike, they chose to have his last scene be with will.

let me repeat that. after mike confessed his supposed undying love for his girlfriend, his last solo scene with another character, the last we'll see of him for years until s5 is him with will, the person who's in love with him.

and it's intimate. it's mike reassuring will during a moment of fear and weakness that they'll kill vecna and save hawkins, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as sunlight cascades down on them.

and the final scene of s4 reinforces everything i've said.

this has always given me the vibe of, 'there'll be petty arguments, drama, little crushes and lies, but when the world is ending, who do you grab despite all of it?'

jonathan and nancy grab each other. joyce and hopper grab each other. mike and will grab each other.

once again i want you to imagine you confessed your supposed love to your girlfriend, and then a week later the apocalypse starts. wouldn't you go to her?? stand by her??

mike didn't. he stuck with will. because mlvn just aren't that kind of relationship. but byler is that kind of relationship.

[dapperapple]

Mike's crush on El does not necessarily contradict him being gay rather than bi

I wanna start off by clarifying that if you see Mike Wheeler as bisexual rather than gay, THAT'S 1000% VALID don't let anyone take that from you babe

this is just my perspective as a lesbian who thought she was definitely straight until the end of 10th grade (age 16, a bit older than Mike and Will are in canon)

I was rewatching a lot of scenes from the show, mainly s2 and s3, to see if I thought that Mike's feelings for El came across as weird/forced or if their relationship felt off

and honestly it left me (a Byler shipper) pretty confused at first

because YES there are a lot of odd things about his feelings and their relationship

BUT ALSO

there are a few moments that are so cute and feel so genuine I didn't know what to do with them for a sec

mainly all the scenes where they're together at the Snowball dance

because that shit seems real to me, it's cute as fuck, that is a Mileven win right there if there ever was one

and honestly, the forehead touch when she and the Byers are about to leave, and again when they reunite in s4

dude that shit is so sweet okay

(Mileven shippers are valid even if I disagree with it for the narrative)

ANYWAYS here's where my personal experience comes in to help out with my confusion over this

Mike in s1 feels the most obviously comp-het to me

because I had a big crush on a boy in kindergarten, another in gr2/3

I didn't even know what gay people were, I knew girls liked boys, so if a boy was my friendly, and nice to me instead of mean, I probably would've liked him or thought I liked him

Mike in seasons 2-4 reminds me of myself in gr7/8

the most intense crush I had on a guy was in gr7/8

I was more used to being friendly with guys at this point but this guy was becoming a close friend of mine

a cute confident guy who was nice, funny, and taking an active interest in me as a person was like wooaahh

I really do believe that Mike unintenionally idolized El, putting her up on this pedestal, with his self esteem all wrapped up in her liking him back

but I also don't think that's his fault, when you're young you don't know any better

the pressure to date starts to increase a bit, and low self esteem is kicking your ass

I did the exact same thing with the guy I liked, I had this whole other version of him in my head and I started liking him less and less the more he didn't act like that ideal

(insert Mike's behavior towards El after she assaulted Angela)

even after I figured out that the kind of person and the kind of connection I wanted in a relationship was something I was far more likely to find with a girl, I still thought I was straight, so it just made me kind of sad

like- I had resigned myself to the fact that I would struggle to find a guy that I TRULY liked

maybe it was lingering internalized homophobia, idk, I had lots of gay friends, but I just hadn't felt that way about any girl at all before, I didn't think I was capable of being attracted to girls

and then there was her

we became very close friends, she was such a kind person, so fucking funny, an incredibly skilled artist, and absolutely gorgeous

and it finally clicked

finally my mind registered the fact that I COULD be attracted to girls

I still consider her my first love

and then there was no turning back

WHICH IS WHY

I wouldn't be surprised AT ALL if it takes Will coming out to Mike/the party in order for him to consider Will romantically

not because he isn't already in love with him subconsciously

but because I don't think he has registered it as a possibility for EITHER of them

moral of the story:

COMPULSIVE HETEROSEXUALITY IS REAL GUYS AND IT CAN FEEL MORE REAL THAN YOU'D EXPECT

especially since when you're young, the differences between boys and girls (both physically and how we're socialized) are much less apparent

MIKE WHEELER I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE (because me too!!)

[dukeofdelirium]

“it wouldn’t make sense for Mike to suddenly love Will”

that’s because Mike never ‘suddenly’ fell for Will. he’s been in love with him since before the first episode of the show. we have been shown over and over that their relationship is different from the other boys. Mike cared so much more about Will than anyone else, the entire story hinged on his dedication to finding and saving Will. the entire story was kicked off after we were introduced to their relationship and shown its narrative importance when Will refused to lie to Mike even when Dustin and Lucas told him to.

Mike was always in love with Will. Dustin and Lucas told Mike how he should feel about Eleven, and so he projected his feelings for Will onto her. the way he treated Eleven in s1 is very clearly how he treats Will in s2, which is just more proof that he projected in s1. by the time s3 rolls around, Mike can’t juggle both of these relationships because he should have romantic feelings for Eleven but he really has romantic feelings for Will. and he knows it too, that’s why he tries to avoid him and act completely different. it’s projection and repression. that’s why by s4 he can’t tell El he loves her bc he KNOWS he loves Will and he also KNOWS that he cannot change this or repress it…

I think Mike always has known he has feelings for Will that are stronger than ‘friends’ but I don’t think he consciously recognized this as romantic until s2. the scene at the snowball when he’s sitting alone seemed to confirm my suspicions. I think that was the moment he really knew for sure what it was, and that is why he tried so hard to change it in s3

[bylerpoll]

Gif credit to @strangerthingsedits @will80sbyers

[nothoughts-onlywomen]

proof that lumax is NOT bones

ok look, i know we’re all freaking out a bit right now (see here for context), but i feel i have tangible proof that lumax will have a satisfying ending come s5.

1. she was listening to his game

i don’t know if we fully acknowledge how meaningful this is. max doesn’t go to lucas’ game because there’s a big crowd and she’s very depressed. BUT she knew the game meant a lot to him. even earlier in the episode she was the one who explained the tournament to the boys. she doesn’t care for sports (except skateboarding obviously), but she cared for lucas enough to know what was going on. and she cared enough to listen to the game on the radio even after the fact.

2. her letters

tell me she didn’t write some sentimental shit to him in that letter. we have yet to see what was in it, but my guess is that whatever’s in it, max will get a chance to say some of those things aloud. like if she wrote “i love you” or something to that effect, it’ll show growth for her character to say it aloud to lucas. which brings me to…

3. the cemetery scene

the entire point of this scene was to show that lucas doesn’t only want the good parts of max. he wants ALL of her. even the sides of herself she views as ugly. and even as max is struggling to just TELL lucas how she feels, lucas is letting her know it’s okay. he just wants her to talk to him. all this is the crux of what i believe will be one aspect of max’s arc next season. learning to SAY how she feels. especially to lucas.

4. THIS moment

another reminder that LUCAS IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO MADE MAX SMILE OR LAUGH LAST SEASON. this is another aspect of the lumax arc that i think is important. lucas makes max FEEL things, which is why the whole thing terrifies her. one of max’s reckonings in s5 will be with her own feelings. and if she ends up permanently blind or disabled, those feelings might explode out.

5. “i see you now. i see you.”

apart from the cruel irony we’ll get if max ends up permanently blind, this again echoes the idea that lucas sees max for exactly who she is and loves her completely. even in her darkest moments.

6. rv scene

lucas is the impetus of max’s HAPPIEST MEMORY. i mean writers don’t do that shit on accident. her happiest memory is KISSING HIM. that won’t change overnight.

7. cute as shit notepads

they have mutually agreed to go on a date again. you think the duffers would leave us hanging on that? have they ever let us down before? mike told el in s1 they would go to the snowball, and they held onto that shit until the end of s2.

8. fuck vecna

here’s my prediction for the “going left” that caleb mentions. while i don’t think they’ll break up or not be together in the end, i do think that vecna will possess her and use it to physically attack lucas. like i get the feeling they’re going to pull a mockingjay on us. this scene foreshadows that. she’ll be clawing at him and he’ll just be holding her off looking devastated. cue waterworks

9. i don’t even want to talk about this scene

why would they have max die in lucas’ arms if we WEREN’T getting s5 lumax in some capacity? lucas’ trauma from that will have ripples in s5, leaving him vulnerable to vecna’s attacks. because he now has that something haunting him.

10. and finally…

ok COME ON. the duffers even posted a bts picture with this in it. combine that with the other bts we’ve gotten so far? i'm not worried.

max's arc in s5 will be about connection with her loved ones. namely, her finally being able to break through her own walls to tell them how she feels. and both her and lucas' arc in s4 will lead up to that eventual conclusion. which is why we're getting our damn endgame.

[will80sbyers]

Why we Milevens ship Mike and El:

they love each other canonically from S1, in S2 Mike has called her for 353 days, and she always listened to him and were looking forward to seeing each other (famous and epic scene besides + snowball scene), in S3 Mike says he loves her and does not want to lose her again, he is close to her despite she broke up with him, he also asked advice from Lucas and put aside everything for her, at the end of the season she also says that she loves him back and they come back together, in S4 they were both afraid of losing each other, she wanted to hear him say I love you and he finally said it at the end of the season doing a kilometer monologue with 9 I love you. If this is not love then I do not know what you think.🤷🏼‍♀️

In S5 they seem to be still together

and if El is really dead or gone somewhere, Mike is devastated! Because he loves her!

They kiss and hug in all seasons, even in the 5, literally. She also has a ring on her finger. They are CANON.

Why you Bylers ship Mike and Will:

uhhh they look each other in the eyes for 5 seconds (really? You don’t look someone in the eyes when you talk to them?), Mike looks at Will’s lips for half a second, there are parallels (Oh my god, maybe just coincidences??), Mike would leave El for his brother (sure, you wish), Mike is gay because he talks to Will,

Will likes Mike so Mike also likes him back because unrequited gay love does not exist (LMFAOOO DELULU)

I’m really worried for you when S5 comes out, poor babies.🥺

dear god, you people are so extremely weird

[bylerpining]

mike's "blank makes you crazy" speech

I just got to this scene in my rewatch of s3 and wow, there's a lot to be said about it in terms of parallels/foreshadowing. something I noticed is that everything mike says in this scene is basically describing how he acts and feels toward will in the beginning of s4.

"it's just... being broken up, it's been hard."

in the time between s3 and s4, the show basically treated mike and will's separation as a breakup. they had a weird, unspoken falling out, and didn't keep in contact much, yet both missed each other. their goodbye was ten times more emotional than his was with el--I always found it so telling that when they're driving off and show mike looking back sadly, it doesn't cut to el, but to will crying. because of this, when mike comes home and hugs karen, crying, it's established to the audience that it's will's absence he's crying over. the sad "break up" that's happening here isn't between mike and el, but mike and will. also very interesting that right after he says this line, the walkie talkie's static interrupts him and distracts him momentarily. maybe calling attention to the fact that what he's saying to el isn't entirely true? their breakup in s3 didn't really seem "hard" for him at all; he more so treated it as a minor inconvenience and complained to lucas about it. it was treated as comedic. either way, it seems like it's there to call attention to that line.

"it's just... I was jealous, at first. and angry. and that's why I said all that stupid stuff. and, it's like, I wanted you all to myself."

mike's immediate attempts to distance himself from will, pretending to ignore will when he's around el, lashing out and blaming will for el lying to him, trying to nonchalantly ask about the painting and then acting like he doesn't care... it all screams jealousy and anger over being confused about his feelings. because he does want will all to himself. it's shown to us time and time again: in s2 when max joins the group at halloween and mike feels betrayed that will didn't tell him and seemed fine with it, at the snowball when he stares sadly at will dancing with the girl, and again in s4, when el says in her letter that there's a girl will likes and mike proceeds not to say a thing about it when he sees him, for some reason feeling like it's an affront to their relationship.

"and now I realize how unfair that is, and selfish, and like... I'm sorry."

this is very reminiscent of mike's apology to will in s4 after he realizes how he was treating him. "I was being a total self-pitying idiot," and "I deserved it." "no, no, you didn't deserve anything."

"it's just like, I've never felt like this... you know, with anyone before, and... y'know, they do say it makes you crazy."

this whole speech he does here is meant to tell us that the reason mike was acting like that is because love makes you crazy, whether or not it was particularly true for his feelings toward el. this scene comes at the end of season 3, so it's not far-fetched to believe that it's telling us "hey, remember mike's behaviour here when he acts the way he does next season toward someone else." it's literally spelling it out for us. 

and of course, we have the iconic parallel between this scene where el doesn't get what he's saying at all and s2's "crazy together" which tells us all we need to know.

[light-lanterne]

hmm, i just saw the loveliest gifset of nancy being protective of max and once again got reminded of the fact that she's never shown that amount of concern for mike.

for three seasons straight, she'd even leave him to his own devices when it wasn't the safest. ditching the kids at the gym in s1 regardless of the fact that they were being hunted,,, leaving them with steve in s2 when there were demodogs still at large (and knowing the kids have a proclivity towards getting themselves in danger),,, straight up driving away from starcourt, leaving them with no escape method, as well as russians and a flayed biIly in the premises (even when seeing first hand what happened to the last two flayed men they "killed").

in all three instances, mike's the only constant (which doesn't seem unintentional in the slightest) and it's not just about that. she's worried about will in s2 and s3,,, el in s3,,, max in s4,,, even on lower stake circumstances, she comforts dustin in s2, when he was sad at the snowball (even though mike was also moping at right around that same time).

and yet, for mike, she only showed concern in s1, a little in s3 (but it was mostly about will, seeing as he'd been targetted by the mf before), and a little in s4 after vecna shows her his plan.

idk,,, it just makes me sad to see her being so protective of everyone, pushing herself to be brave even when she's still just a teen girl who shouldn't be dealing with any of this, but always leaving her own brother to the end. almost like an afterthought; the last thing in her mind, only worrying about him when the big bad straight up shows her his death.

and even then, when he returns from cali after days of suspicious lack of contact, she doesn't give him a hug. doesn't ask how he's doing,,, doesn't even talk to him, from what we were shown.

because, after all, there are larger problems at hand than mike.