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Latest Posts by trd12345 - Page 5
Byler quote of the day:
Mike: *To El* Are you deaf? I thought we were friends, you know? But friends tell each other the truth. And they definitely don't lie to each other. You made me think Will was okay, that he was still out there, but he wasn't. He wasn't! Maybe you thought you were helping, but you weren't. You hurt me. Do you understand? What you did sucks. Lucas was right about you. All along.
*A mere few seconds later, after El channeled Will on the radio.*
Mike: Was that... Was it...
El: Will.
(I think people forget how much Mike's opinion about El depended on her ability to find Will in season 1. When he thought Will was dead, he insinuates that they're not friends anymore, and that Lucas was right, they should have left her to get sent back to where ever she came from. He only flipped back when he realized Will was still alive, and that she was still of use to them. His opinion of her is so malleable, even later on in the show, when he actually starts to see her as a person. He flip-flops so much, and when you really start to think about it, there isn't much that El does that he agrees with. They have different interests, and don't respect each other much. The common theme in season 1 is that Mike keeps El around to help Will. And that stays more subtly throughout the rest of the seasons.)
(Also, a little post editing note: I do realize in this scene, he just found out his best friend was dead (to his knowledge). It makes sense that he would lash out on her, because he's grieving. This isn't the only scene where this happens, though, and that's the point I'm trying to make.)
OBSESSED with the way Will is the only one to truly call Mike out on his bullshit. Idk it just seems to me that that means they truly have an intimate relationship.
🤡🎈
yay more magma stuff yayyyyy
i finally watched IT (1990) :P
REDDIE CODED
All this news about Welcome to Derry got me going back to my roots…
Race - Alex G
It's funny that not only your posts but other bylers' posts always talk about how much Will does for Mike, how much he loves Mike and how much his actions say that vehemently and I absolutely agree with that. But when it comes to Mike's part, there is absolutely NOTHING to prove that Mike loves him back, where did you guys get that from? Will always sacrificed himself for Mike, always tried his best to protect him, but Mike never did much for him. Yes, I know you will deny this with some passive aggressive response, deep down you know this is true, Mike does not respond to Will's feelings, much less to the same extent. Just as you say El is unhappy with Mike, Will would be too, you should also want someone better for him.
Bestie I wrote a 20 pages document about Mike's thought process and made 300+ power point slides about Mike's character and Byler, I love Mike Wheeler with all my heart and he would be the best boyfriend to Will and he will be 🥰
Mike has been the heart and fought more than anyone else (except maybe his family) to get Will Byers to safety and he loves him with an intensity that you can only have in your dreams because someone that actively spends their time sending annoying asks about a fictional ship can't be a good person in my opinion
YOU are the one that has such a low idea of Mike Wheeler and you still want him with El?
You're not watching the show correctly if you think that Mike is anything else than a boy with the biggest heart and the bravest behaviour on that freaking TV show
Mike Wheeler is the reason why they got Will back in season 1, he never gives up on his friends and wants them all to be happy and he loves and supported Will through his difficult time in season 2 and even in all the other seasons, he's always there for him when he needs him the most and without him Will would be literally dead, Will's speech in the van talking about how Mike inspired him to be brave and keep going was not just Will saying random shit, we have multiple moments between them since season 1 where Mike shows his love for Will
It's not Mike's fault that he doesn't know about Will having feelings for him, it's not Mike's responsibility to make Will feel better for his jealousy or heartbreak and it's not his fault if WILL decides to lie to him about the painting, Will is completely aware of that, you apparently are too stupid to get it
Mike being a dumb teenager a few times in the show doesn't make him enemy number one, all of them have been dumb teens because it's normal that they are while dealing with all of the big feelings they are all experiencing, as is normal that they will all grow up and change and learn how to deal with them in a better way
Believing that Mike doesn't love Will is the real delusion ❤️
Some examples of Mike loving and deeply caring about Will:
I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT WILL to his family after Will goes missing
Fights for him in season 1, convincing the others to go out in the woods just to have Will back with him
After he thinks Will died he goes home and cries to his mother, desperate
Has a whole scene where he's focused on caressing the drawings Will made because he misses him so much
Convinces El to use the radio so that they can find him, bringing her to school just for that reason
Beats up a bully that would have 100% kicked his ass twice harder if it wasn't for Eleven, just because he insulted Will
Is Will's best friend since kindergarten and Will made him stop feeling alone and scared, they found companionship with each other since they were basically infants
In season 2 when Will is showing signs of not feeling well he's the most worried for him and he said so to his friends
Takes care of him when he has the Halloween episode, brings him to his home and they talk and share confidences and Will feels understood by Mike and opens up to him, Mike never judges him for "being crazy" and actively wants to go crazy together with Will, they do this for each other again and again and again during the whole show and during their whole friendship
He listens to him when Will talks about Dart being from the upside down and immediately believes him
When Will is missing from school he's so worried that he decides he has to go to his house to check on him after seeing him have the episode on the school field
Stays with Will and reassured him and gave him courage and strength and made him feel like he has some agency in what's happening to him by telling him that maybe he can spy on the monster and he's not completely powerless
Stays with Will in the hospital to support him through everything.
Mike saves his life again in season 2 with his speech btw and he also saves him by having a plan to fight the mind flayer with the fire and also understands that they can't close the gate if Will has that inside him still, he is the first one to think about Will's wellbeing again and worry about him...
In season 3 he's a dumb teenager so yeah, he's distracted by his brand new relationship and hormones, but when Will actually opens up to him about the fact that he's hurting their friendship because of that Mike IMMEDIATELY takes action and changes his behaviour, he takes Will's opinions in such high regards and takes them to heart and acts accordingly
He apologizes to him for being dumb and acting out FIRST thing and then he changes for the rest of the season and goes back to being the best version of himself ( his relationship with El is part of what is making him act like that btw, like Nancy was acting like a dumb teen in season 1 because of Steve and Barb told her but she didn't listen and then Jonathan told her and she did listen, they are kids that's what kids do because of peer pressure and wanting to fit in, it happens since the dawn of time )
When Mike loses Will we have a whole ass scene dedicated to that showing Mike's internal thoughts even if we don't hear him say what he thinks yet he's devastated again
He's suffering as much as Will is.
In season 4 we are given hints that he even tried to call Will and WILL was the one really pulling away, he's not "the bad guy" he was 100% right here. Will is speechless because he is in the wrong here, Will was pulling away and feeling jealous and feeling abandoned because he has feelings for Mike but Mike felt the same exact thing, he felt like he lost Will too, they understand each other on a deep emotional level, they have a bond that El and Mike did not really show on screen imo
Will feels comfortable opening up to Mike and so he is always ready to do the same for him, he sits down and listens to Mike's fears and feelings because he loves him, exactly like Mike listens to Will again and again
They make each other feel loved, all the love Will felt from him in season 2 Will is now giving it back to him in season 4
It's funny that they were still in a supposed fight in this scene lol they are such simps for each other!!!
Mike Wheeler's love for Will is like breathing, he doesn't realize but he's doing it at all times 🥰
There's more reasons and more scenes but I can only put 10 GIFs so I'll stop here, I'm sure you won't even read this because you're just that type of person that doesn't even have the balls of having a real conversation with someone instead of attacking them randomly just because you feel insecure as fuck 🫶
Some core 4 headcanons :)
stranger things 1: this is what happens when people listen to mike
stranger things 2: this is what happens when mike is allowed to be involved
stranger things 3: this is what happens when no one listens to mike and he's not allowed to be involved
stranger things 4: this is what happens when mike is banished to the weed van
stranger things 5: this is what happens when mike is vanished
to anyone in the areas impacted by the wildfire smoke, my #1 biggest piece of advice as someone whos been dealing with wildfire smoke in the NW united states for years, is build yourself a Corsi-Rosenthal Cube
they perform as well as expensive HEPA air cleaners, and are comparatively VERY inexpensive. all you need is a box fan, 4 air filters, a piece of cardboard, and some duct tape!!!!
i think it took us maybe a half hour to put ours together, if that, and we replace the filters every 3 months. it's really made a HUGE difference, both when the air quality is bad, but also with our allergies
My name is Mohammed Ayyad from Gaza. My wife, children and I were displaced quickly since the first days of the war on Gaza, leaving behind all our wealth and dreams. We are forced to leave our home and live in the south of Gaza, Rafah.
A few days after we left the house and went to the south (Rafah) we announce our tactics to our home with ease our beautiful next and destroyed everything we owned. Everything we had went with the wind, we are now working in hell (the tent) suffering one from collecting wood to cook food which is clearly difficult to produce from the water that was spread and is polluted by the cursed war and our work we lose our source of livelihood.
I became a desperate refugee and dug into a very small tent, without water and food life became horrible and sad with the disappearance of the need to survive. It is a struggle for survival.
Because of the continuous bombing and the difficulty of living with the high expectations our life is security our life is peace, we ask generous people to donate to service our planes. Our lives are threatened at any time, and everyone is exposed and death is not. We have never been safely moved to a place until war, and we have never lost our lives at any moment. Every little contribution counts, and your donation, small and big, makes an impact and helps improve safety and compatibility.
@appsa
@vetted @bilal-salah0 vetted #schoolhater
online communities are so strange because people slip away so easily. you can be on here for years, folding people you've never met into the fabric of your daily life, and then they disappear, leaving only ghost posts scattered across tumblr behind. or their blog stays dormant, for weeks, months, years, until you're only still following them because you remember that they love sunflowers or they were kind to you when they didn't have to be or the last thing they posted was sad and raw and you still worry about them sometimes.
and sometimes they come back when you least expect it, years later, even, and there's this sudden rush of relief like there you are, there you are, even though you barely knew each other.
there's a strange kind of love to it. i don't know you and i want to hold your hand across miles and time zones and oceans. i can still see the imprint of you in this community you left. you don't anyone will notice or care when you're gone, but we notice and we care and we wish you well.
i hope you're all okay out there. i hope the sun is shining on your face and you are breathing deeply. i miss you.
a reddit user that actually understands willel's dynamic ??!!
mike wheeler defense squad unite?
ALWAYS AND FOREVER
the funniest thing about the tumblr FYP algorithm is how unsophisticated it is. i'm so used to the tiktik algorithm that is so fine-tuned and subtle it can be a little spooky sometimes that i'm somehow delighted by the tumblr algorithm in that it feels like an overenthusiastic dog that's half trained and doesn't quite understand what you're asking of it.
yesterday I went into my FYP and reblogged one (1) Astarion image so my fyp has been 99% Astarion for 24 hours but ten minutes ago I added Witcher fanart to my queue and now it's like (wags tail) oh??? Witcher fanart??? let me show you all my witcher fanart : ) !!! I have so much of it!!! let me put everything else in a hole. don't need that anymore. witcher fanart!!!!! : ) : ) : ) <3 <3
generally speaking when it comes to mental and physical health, if you're asked "do you struggle with this" and your answer is "no, Because I Have A System," then your answer is actually yes
I know we've all analyzed and waxed tragic-gay about the Byler Rain FightTM to death, but I've never heard anyone acknowledge how devastating it is that Will is still honest to Mike even after his (internalized) homophobic "it's not my fault you don't like girls!" comment.
Like I saw this post about how Will's honesty sets him apart from the other kids in Season 3, but it still absolutely floors me how, in the face of Mike's anger and hurtful words, Will doesn't deny being gay, even though it would be completely understandable for him to automatically protest or get defensive (like a certain cringefail boykisser we know...). Because even then, while experiencing the shock and complete betrayal of Mike's words, Will couldn't lie to Mike. Like that's so sad, actually just end me rn ;-;
Instead, it's his pure, overwhelming love for Mike and his desire to see Mike happy that ultimately pushes him to lie to Mike for the first time, not his betrayal.
This is why I don't buy that Mike knew he was lying during the van confession scene. Mike has always trusted Will implicitly, even more so in that moment because his assumption that Will had been concealing things from him since moving to California (and if he's hiding things from him then who knows what else he's been doing, surely he must be lying to Mike now too!) was dispelled by the painting reveal. If anything, this act of love only affirms that trust even more.
I'm so ready for the "What painting?" moment in S5. I need it magically teleported to my screen right now please!
I completely missed the parallels in s4 between el and max, especially in episode 1
- theyre both struggling with grief and loss of a family member who they had mixed feelings about. billy had been paralleled to max's stepdad, and hopper had been compared to brenner. they're both girls who have grown up in violent and controlling environments, but we see them bond in season 3 as each others' only female friends amongst the nerds. they get to have fun being girls together and el grows massively as a person for it
then in season 4 she's immediately tossed into the deep end as soon as she was trying to find a sense of self. we don't see max's mom, but we hear that she drinks, and we see joyce also having wine and being sad, not that this is ever shown to affect her parenting. but max and el are both incredibly lost at this point in the absence of each others' only true friend, and they both become withdrawn from the people around them in trying to act like everything is fine - el trying not to show will when she's upset, and max trying not to show lucas that she's seeing things, and being defensive to the rest of the party.
in s4e1 we see el getting mocked in her presentation while max is walking out of the counsellor's, both in positions of vulnerability trying to move very fast and get away from the past which is clearly haunting them (and they're both talking about the past and the specific trauma they're dealing with in the scenes prior) and failing to.
they're also both being pursued by vecna, which i feel is likely intentional on his part because he can read max's mind and knows he can use killing her to break down eleven.
and max is also so relieved when el finally comes to save her, from vecna but also from everything he is bringing up - el's intervention is as a hero but also as emotional support after max has been so isolated and alone in her feelings for so long, and we never really get to see her and el bond over their mutual grief before she moves away, nor exchange letters about feeling each others' absence.
it would be nice if in season 5 we get a reunion from them that explores some of that in their relationship as it develops, if they decide to bring max back.
i also think it's noteworthy that el and will and max and mike are also kind of parallel characters? mike and max have a lot of sassiness & sark and strength in character for standing up for the people they love & their friends, and a lot of their feud comes from being the same kind of defensive bitch (especially of eleven) and bickering cos they're just the same person? and even in terms of like gender nonconformity, max is a masculine girl while mike is not necessarily effeminate but by being the weedy gay autistic phenotype is kind of inherently gnc.
and el and will are both the sensitive, impressionable counterpart who they fight for, who've also both come from violent backgrounds, experienced a load of trauma pertaining to the same one guy, have the same terrible fringe and cry and have ptsd episodes a lot.
which i think is relevant because for both will and mike and el and max, that separation really strains on all of them, and when they come back together they realise just how much they missed each other.
in conclusion elmax byler supremacy
like 32 hours into my drive last month i was talking to my friend about a House MD/NBC Hannibal crossover in which House also figures out Will has encephalitis and he becomes obsessed with Will as a medical problem so now it's House vs. Hannibal bc House refuses to lose when he gets his little claws in a case and House 100% knows for a fact Hannibal is serving human meat at dinner but he first puts it together at a dinner party so he's cornered and he's soooo committed to meeting Hannibal's bluff that he does eat it and Hannibal knows he knows
and he makes an excuse to avoid the next several dinners Hannibal hosts but he doesn't tell ANYONE else so when the entire thing unravels there's a scene where Wilson and Cuddy realizes House knowingly let them all eat people on multiple ocassions and they almost kill him themselves
Mike alternates seasons between El and WIll not just through time spent or who he's fighting to get back to, but in another way I noticed too:
Season 1 Mike and El is about their romance. Season 3 is about their friendship. Season 2 Mike and Will is about their friendship. Season 4 is about their romance.
And this is so important an order for what these stories are, too. El and Mike are the story of two people who date then find that they still really enjoy the time they spend together while broken up and face less conflict as friends. Mike and Will are the classic story of friends who, on that basis of friendship, are able to build a romance.
Milkvan is really just the epitome of "do I love them or do I want to be them?" with El looking at all his family photos and Mike idolizing her ability to save the ones she loves from the start.
Yet again a plotline they know how to write but didn't:
"Mike spends time with El that sparks platonic jealousy of her from a friend of his"
Season 1 Lucas vs Season 4 Will. Lucas is platonically jealous. Will is romantically jealous.
Lucas is jealous because Mike is spending more time with El, which he perceives romantically.
Will is jealous because Mike is spending more time with El, which he perceives romantically.
The romantic nature of the relationship they're jealous isn't what differentiates the nature of the jealousy. Both watch a romantic interaction between them from afar upset - Will in 4x02 at the roller rink and Lucas in 1x03 for the "I understand" scene. So why, then, is Lucas' jealousy platonic but Will's romantic. It isn't. They're identical. Except for one key detail I have strategically omitted.
Mike. Lucas and Will behave near identically. They are sad, gazing from afar, and irritable about the topic, fighting with both Mike and one other friend on the topic (Dustin, El).
But Mike only behaves abnormally in one scenario: Will's. Season 1 is a miscommunication - Lucas thinks Mike is prioritizing El over Will but really, he's just prioritizing Will through El. But season 4 is not that. In season 4, he committedly ignores Will without explanation for a full day before defending that any two friends who didn't see each other for 8 months wouldn't keep in touch during that time.
It isn't romantic of Will to be jealous of El. It wasn't romantic of Lucas and we knew that. Mike is the one who made it out to be romantic because that's the conclusion he jumped to (defend) out of fear. It's just that we, trained by the writers like good little viewers to equate straight relationship to straight, listened to him.
Will acted with Mike exactly like Lucas did and that played as platonic. What happened wasn't that Will behaved differently. What happened was we noticed that something in their relationship was more romantic. We turned to where it was coming from, to see: Mike ..........frantically pointing us to Will.
In season 4 when he defended not keeping in touch, in season 3 when he brought up queerness in defense of an accusation towards Mike and Lucas on Dustin's behalf,
Mike set off our alarm bells. And Mike redirected us. (And ironically, that is what told on him.)
cleric's radio au 18!!!! we are nearing the end, folks...
all other installments here :)
mike is allergic to making successful phone/radio calls, except for the time he called max. max is allergic to reaching out to people, except for the time she randomly radioed mike while they were preparing the sauna test to ask where they were, then proceeded to mutter aloud to herself about her complicated feelings towards billy. when those complicated feelings threaten to kill her a few months later, mike and this unique connection between the two of them is suddenly conveniently out of range
every season there's The Main Character and their emotional support mike. max didn't have her emotional support mike
In Defense of Nancy Wheeler,
a short collection of thoughts concocted by someone who is very used to defending a character that is shitted on and misunderstood by half the fandom and victimized by poor writing choices.
1.) In Defense of her being a bad friend
"she abandoned barb and that's why she died"
principally... a shitty thing to do, but i'd ARGUE it was a lapse of judgement that literally triggers her entire character arc. HEAR ME..
and a weaker, but still valid argument that does not excuse her decision, but is fair nonetheless.. how was she supposed to know barb was going to get swallowed up by an inter dimensional monster in the pool???… just saying. JUST SAYING.
Like I mentioned, it triggered a huge character arc for Nancy. Nancy felt awful that Barb went missing, and she recognized her faults. This guilt and confusion toward the tragedy led her to other realizations, like the state of her relationship, who Steve is as a person, and her own identity. My girl had a lot on her plate and she paid her debts in FULL solving Hawkins mysteries to not only compensate for what happened to Barb, but protect her friends and family!!!!!!
Don’t even get me started on how she felt not being able to tell Barb’s parents once she found out what really happened. Must’ve been awful.
2.) In defense of her shitty love triangle (my biggest point arguably)
everyone who hates her because of the love triangle she's subjected to are (and i’m sorry to say it but not really,) stupid. her character is obviously trying to break out of being central to a love triangle, but the writers can not for the life of them figure out what to do with steve and jonathan past s3 developmentally, which keeps her stuck in that place.
Nancy is so badass and has so much potential.
Someone also pointed out the underlying misogynistic issue of keeping women’s development “at bay,”— whether it be intentional or not!!— by having their entire importance dependent on male characters. That’s a post for another day, though.
and i'd like to point out she's not in a place like el, who is also in a canon love triangle, but also completely able to realize and explore her independence after catalysts (being friends with max, breaking up with mike).
THIS IS BECAUSE SHE HASNT HAD THE CHANCE TO BE AUTHENTICALLY ALONE AND REALIZE THE IMPACT OF HER OWN CATALYSTS (barb incident, solving hawkins mysteries)!
nancy’s character— to me and many others feels like she is given the illusion of choice by the writers. nancy in her love triangle is more like mike in his. she is not given the same opportunity to branch out, and is instead stuck choosing between two people, like mike. el's only choice is mike or herself. despite both being female characters that discover their independence, nancy isn't far enough on the receiving end to have her own arc.
Now logically, Nancy could branch out and be alone, and so could Mike. However, just like Mike is set up to be in love with Will, Nancy is set up to be in love with her male interests. Whereas this is sets a tone of freedom and accomplishment for Mike’s character, this.. to me, sets a tone of imprisonment and stillness for Nancy’s.
Final: There is still hope for Nance in s5
i would really like to see more parallels between these two friendships in season 5. like el and max, robin and nancy didn't start off being best friends!!
nancy was standoffish toward robin like el was with max, and they both reacted that way because of a boy, but then slowly realized they valued their female friendship more than romance.
this friendship helped el escape vecna and the idea that she needs approval from the males in her life.
i think it would be cool if they didsomething like that with robin and nancy instead of keeping her at such a stand still with steve and jonathan in the final season.
FIN🤌🏾
Interesting how the other canon couples have a scene where they finish each others sentences
Including byler
And yet…
