it's a mad world

hi. i'm kristi. mornings are for coffee & contemplation. president of the mike wheeler defense squad. byler endgame is real… no one can convince me otherwise.

[hawkins-hero]

guidebook | canons | faces | wanted ads | discord

Dying of the Light is an 18+, no word count post-season 4 Stranger Things site that’s currently set in October/November 1986.

After months of recovering within the depths of the Upside Down, Vecna has finally begun to creep back into the minds of his enemies and it's only a matter of time before something breaks.

We’re currently looking for Erica Sinclair and several other show & site canons!

[merrysithmas]

Why Eddie should have had an arc with Mike, not Dustin

I know everyone loves Eddie&Dustin and I'm late to the party but like.... why on earth did they not make Mike & Eddie the duo.

Number 1, Dustin already had his "older male figure"... Steve! His big brother. The adorable bond everyone loved. Literally made zero sense how they had Dustin attach to Eddie in exactly the same way. Narratively useless. Makes me think they just didn't want to kill Steve and had no idea what to do with Dustin.

Even calling Steve a "fake dumb asshole" in his most depressed and angry moment seemed really off base. It made for a powerful scene from two great actors... but Dustin accusing Steve of never caring about him?? Never listening to him? Literally nonsense, lol. I don't believe for one second Dustin would think Steve didn't wholeheartedly love him and the show asking us to believe that is just weird.

Secondly, Mike having that "leader of party" and "leader of the lost sheep" bond with Eddie, an adult who never left behind the magic of childhood, is soooo much more satisfying and actually fleshes out Mike's character A LOT. Mike reveres Eddies as the Dungeon Master he hopes to be. Mike loses Eddie crushingly in a battle in the upside down, squashing his heart and hopes for the future. So that's it then? You stick to your guns as a noble paladin and you get hunted, hated, and killed? His hero Eddie dead? Does that mean Mike's dreams are dead? What did you think we were going to stay in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives?

Not only would Mike cradling Eddie as he died and having that heart to heart moment provide tons of growth for Mike, and give him a non-El-revolved storyline, but it would challenge him - does he give up because Eddie died and being a hero seems hopeless in this dark world? Or does he follow Eddie's last wish? To keep going? Does he rekindle that love of nonconformity, of magic and wonder, the heart, as Will asks him to? (Much better ending with him embracing Hellfire instead of writing in the basement alone...).

Also, Mike being the protege of Eddie would prove a much better foil to Lucas during that season in his journey to join "the jocks" and give Mike's assertion "did you ever think we don't want to be popular?" some fire! And it would harken back to the Mike vs Lucas differences in POV in season 1 which were so endearing. Two Venkmans.

Also, having Dustin go in Mike's place to California would have been so much more entertaining. Dustin would have been able to have one-on-one time with Will (who badly needs screentime with someone who isn't Mike). They could have talked about Will's crush on Mike. Dustin would've been so funny with Argyle and Jonathan, and would have been able to see Suzie in person. El could have interacted with Party Members who aren't Mike.

And we would have been able to see Mike missing Will and El. We could have watched that instead of being told about it. And it would have made it more poignant.

Anyways, they wasted Eddie's narrative purpose by essentially making him Steve 2.0 for Dustin. I liked all the Steve / Eddie / Dustin moments but actually, it would have been more compelling for Steve to have been upset about Eddie's death (not Dustin, if Dustin was in CA).

Steve, former captain of the Hawkins High teams and King Steve, so disturbed by the injustice of Eddie's death and witchhunt by the town he "ruled" - the people he aligned himself with before. And when Dustin comes back something is different about Steve.

Steve "the hero" who suddenly realizes he failed to protect everyone in the group. Steve who realizes where his allegiances truly lie. With the freaks and weirdos. And have Steve, Robin, and Nancy mourning Eddie alongside Mike. (Opportunities for Nancy and Mike bonding and development of Mike being mad at Steve). And that is an opportunity for a Steve and Dustin arc there too as Dustin tries to help him.

Anyways! the Duffers can't write

[mikewheelerisaqueerler]

mike sleept in loads of layers because will needed the room cold for the mind flayer

he could have slept in another room where it was warmer but he chose to stay anyways

[nightnut]

FUCKING SHIT

[miwisclouds]

i love mike like just look at him why is he so sassy like damn sorry i bothered you king

[adampov]

choosing to believe this is post-canon still depressed mike

[lengthofropes]

ST5.05 Mike Wheeler

[ghostengarden]

Rude

[hellostarry]

if people can think the earth is flat or the moon landing was fake then i can think conformitygate is cannon

[hari-writes]

I struggle a lot with feeling like I'm a disappointment to people in my life. From now on, whenever I feel that way, I'm going to remember that I'm not as much of a disappointment as the Duffer brothers are

[crowley-anthony]

Mike Wheeler & Will Byers | Stranger Things Season 5 (Vol. 2)

[wittyy11]

Here's some casual byler that I did before everything went downhill

[dukeofdelirium]

Don’t think for a second that Stranger Things having a whole plot point of women being forced to carry babies to term by the government and then unceremoniously killing every single one of them off along with one of their only poc female characters AND the main female character who were both also abused and treated as nothing more than lab experiments by said government isn’t the Duffers making it clear who they side with in this political climate. It was not an accident and they are not this stupid. Do not give them the benefit of the doubt. What they have written is completely irresponsible and they cannot be allowed to continue having a platform without us resisting it.

[cleradintragedy]

"why don't you like the ending, at least Steve's alive and well" I would genuinely sacrifice Steve for the sake of a single Mike Wheeler POV

[strangeronance]

remember the pure buzz of november 26th. to date. how obvious? protective s2 mike. field scene. flirty shove. totally.. no! you're more like a sorcerer. dick pipe. shared looks. will powers reveal. more than a feeling edits. miwi flashback. we literally had it all

[miwiheroes]

my ass when someone pulls out the same talking point about bylers ambiguous ending basically meaning byler canon bc i can’t get enough validation

[buckleybeat]

One of the main reasons I ship Byler is because Mike Wheeler as a character is at his best, showing all his best qualities, when he’s with Will Byers.

Mike would terrorize the shit out of any other character written as a love interest for him. More than he ever has or ever would terrorize Will, and he’s terrorized Will.

Will would be perfectly fine without Mike, he could find happiness with someone new. Even with his trauma.

Mike, on the other hand, needs Will to shine. He’s a disaster without him.

I do think Will would choose Mike, too, as long Mike were to actually put work in. And if there’s one person who Mike would work to be better for, it’s Will. I’ve seen it on screen.

[tesstheextraterrestrial]

If I was the duffers right now and there isn’t another episode coming I’d be scrambling to get the cast back for a sequel movie or limited series (tsitp style) using the conformitygate ideas because it’s gotta be so embarrassing for them to have so many plot holes that everyone thinks there’s going to be something else explaining it