Once upon a time me

[the-paris-of-people]

My issue with Mileven in s5 was honestly that a lot of their conversations didn't really make sense for how close we knew they were and how their relationship had progressed in the last several years.

You're telling me Mike was more focused on killing Vecna than with crafting a plan for him and El to run away together? You're telling me he and El hadn't discussed this in detail, despite spending a year and a half planning for the end? You're telling me that Mike didn't know about Kali, and he wouldn't go to El's after picking up Holly to prepare for the crawl and spend time with her after her training session?

Just another example of s5 fridging El and I get more mad every time I think about this season, but whatever

[the-paris-of-people]

The part of the Purple Rain scene that absolutely POSSESSES ME is when El touches Mike's cheek and says "From the day we met" and Mike's face collapses in bittersweet recollection because this is likely his first time hearing that she fell in love with him as instantly as he did with her (even though it was obvious, Mike is just oblivious) and their first meeting is equally as precious, treasured, and special to both of them. Now I'm crying because I swear this line would have been part of El's wedding vows

[angelbabywheeler]

I’m still not over the fact that throughout the entire series, Mike only asked for one thing. One singular thing, and it was El and he couldn’t even have that.

Everyone else has moved on, is getting ready for college, is excited to graduate, is gonna live a full, happy, warm life and Mike isn’t. They don’t even hint at Mike finding someone else (not that I’d want that) or going to search for El. We’re supposed to just be content with him being an author (a notoriously isolating career) and writing about her…that’s it. Like that’s as happy as it gets for Mike who’s done everything he could from the age of 12 for the people around him.

[1mmortanj]

hes basically punished through the narrative for caring about el and being in love with her. at every turn hes been criticised for “being too protective” of her when its a result of being too scared of losing her. this fear is also why he cannot say he loves her, and when he *finally* gathers the courage to say how he feels despite the vulnerability and the fragility of it, when he finally manages to put his own feelings aside and completely trust in el and her abilities, is when el makes the choice to commit suicide. Mike literally begs her not to leave “please dont leave me el”, but el pushes him away and hes stuck where he was in s1 - helpless, 0 control of the situation and in complete agony. He goes through the worst experience of his life all over again and we’re supposed to be satisfied with that? What was the point of all this emotional growth between mike and el and them learning to manage eachother, give them a promise of a nirvana and happily ever after just to snuff it out? So many external forces were tearing them apart yet despite it all they kept coming back to eachother. Mike and el should have been rewarded for their perseverance, their loyalty, their selflessness (the way in which both mike and el rally and support other people before themselves), through them finally reaching safety and security and a forever. Now their story is tainted in tragedy, pointlessness and endless suffering, it reads as if nothing will ever be enough, that forces outside of their control will separate them no matter how much they work against it. I mean, what the fuck? Honestly.

[eschercaine]

What a time to be alive...

[fatechica]

Honestly, I just love how a significant portion of the Stranger Things fandom is coalescing around anger for how El was treated. Regardless of her relationship status, regardless of whether you ship her with Mike or Max or no one at all, so many of us recognize the gross injustice done to her.

In a universe where practically EVERY MAIN CHARACTER gets to have their happy ending, gets to survive and grow and live with their loved ones, the traumatized girl who was born into captivity, treated as a lab rat, as a tool, as an experiment, who had to fight and scrape and claw for every shred of happiness she was able to achieve, is the one who has to give up everything in order for the others to "grow up" and "move on"?

Like what the fuck kind of message is that?

Yes, I know she's a character, I know she's not a real person, but her treatment is emblematic of how women and trauma survivors are treated all the time. They're the ones who have to sacrifice themselves, they're the ones whose histories are rendered as "inconveniences" for others to have to be burdened with and gosh it would just be so much easier if they would just disappear and stop being so inconvenient so we could move on. /s (wish I didn't have to add the sarcasm tag, but this is the internet in the year of our lord 2026)

It's misogynistic and it's ableist and it reveals that the Duffer Brothers care about nothing about actually lifting marginalized and outcast voices. They just want the brownie points for having a "strong" female main character, but didn't want to actually consider how to properly honor her as a character, never mind as a human being in the universe she lives in.

(I'm not even going to get into the racism and gross treatment of queer stories and other bigotries because I'll be here all day and will melt into a pile of rage.)

I said it in a gc and I'll say it again here: the Duffer Brothers are the Joss Whedon of Netflix and we should treat them accordingly.

[the-paris-of-people]

Once Mike figured out El lived and escaped by herself, does he know why El left without him? Does he know it was for his safety, because she couldn't bear to be responsible for his death? Does he ask himself why she didn't take him with her? Does he cry thinking about the alternate reality where they ran away together?

[unrelatablee]

todays mileven buzz

i will be thinking abt this forever like the flirtingggg. the way mike looks at her with so much desire and love and excitement and el looking giddy and blushing,,., EL being the one to break eye contact and melting at his confidence omg and then the promise ring again and her rubbing his arm. Do you know you have 30 minutes!!!!!!

[thedykeparade]

"You're treating her like some kind of machine, when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So, can we please just come up with a new plan? because I love her and I can't lose her again!!"

It will never NOT be insane how in that scene Nancy and Max gaslight Mike into thinking he was being controlling and possessive (when in reality what he was talking about didn't have anything to do with that and he was literally just concerned for her safety) AND the Duffers also gaslit the audience into believing Mike was the one in the wrong, only for the series finale to demonstrate that he has always been right... which wasn't even intentional because apparently the Duffers wholeheartedly believe that El dying was the only solution to everyone else's problems so it's more like "Mike HAS always been right but El's life is less valuable than everyone else's so fuck them both" INSANE.

[lolastung]

#legend has it that he is still holding onto her to this day

[formerlyjannafaye]

(I Believe) El Deserves a Happy Ending

I haven't written any official "fix it" fics post ST5 finale, but here are some fics I wrote post season 2 that feature Mike and El living long lives together, that I hope can help heal the hurt:

Don't Leave Me - God, this one kind of hits different after that void scene in the finale. Its emotional but I think in the best way. Featuring mileven as married, as parents, as an elderly couple.

With Daisies in Her Hair - the life El deserved and should have had (and the headcanon I now hold above canon, ugh). Featuring mileven graduating, getting married, being parents, and growing old.

Alive - El as an empowered middle-aged woman heals me.

Everything Has Changed - the first fic I ever wrote based on the only conceivable, possible option for me when it comes to mileven evading the government/lab. A year after I wrote it I drafted a second chapter featuring their new life and the finale has inspired me to write it. Coming as soon as I stop moping and start writing!

[darklinaforever]

It's literally crazy the fact he can feel her, even when he don't see her. It's partly why I believe in his theory about El survived. Yes, he could be in deep denial. But the fact he always canonically feel her during the entire show give me hope. And with that fact in mind, the idea of the Duffer brothers about El & Mike never see each other again if she is alive is bullshit. Because it is precisely partly due to this ability that they have always found their way back to each other. They are like a single being split in two.

[thief-and-dragonfly]

Rereading @fatechica’s love you like a love song and this is canon to me now instead of the bullshit we got because that fic got everything we wanted from the show down pat.

[almostsunday]

Fix-it Fic coming soon..

[0000000000099999999900000000-de]

They’ll reunite. They always do.

[veiledquill]

i just want everyone to know that mike will literally never move on. like. he won't. she will forever haunt his narrative, linger between the lines of his novels, reside in every cracked of his radio station and every corner of his basement. he will dream of her, again, and again, and again, until his very last breath.

[unrelatablee]

todays mileven buzz

i will be thinking abt this forever like the flirtingggg. the way mike looks at her with so much desire and love and excitement and el looking giddy and blushing,,., EL being the one to break eye contact and melting at his confidence omg and then the promise ring again and her rubbing his arm. Do you know you have 30 minutes!!!!!!

[ladysjazz]

Cersei & toddler Myrcella.