there's something really sinister to me about the way byler shippers twist mileven into this horrible, abusive relationship and the way they infantilize el, take away el's agency, and try to erase how important el is to both mike & the show's narrative. i constantly see them say things like mileven is "conformant", that mike groomed el into a romantic relationship, that mike doesn't truly love el, that el's not smart enough to want/have a romantic relationship, that el's not truly a main character of the show, and that el's story/trauma isn't as important as will's. they are so insanely ableist & misogynistic towards el and then have the gall to turn around and accuse mileven shippers of being bigoted just for not agreeing with their view points. it's very awful to mike too, to claim that he's this horrible boyfriend when the show clearly shows the opposite.
el is a neurodivergent abuse victim who grew up being treated like a lab rat, mike has been bullied his whole life & has insecurities due to his parents' strained relationship, and they both defy the stereotypical roles in a m/f romantic relationship; there is nothing conformant or insignificant about them and to insist that there is & try to erase the importance of these details is disgusting, especially on el's part.
it's actually scary to me how much these blatantly false takes on el/mike/mileven have spread and are just constantly regurgitated without a second thought & ppl will double down on them even when they're proven false. i honestly feel like this is an example of how susceptible a lot of ppl are to falling into bigoted echo chambers. you might say i'm overreacting and maybe i am, idk, but tbh i don't feel like i am; everything i see bylers claim about el, mike, and/or mileven is just is ableist, misogynistic, and not at all based in reality with what is said/shown in the show.
el is in love with mike, mike is in love with el, and their romantic relationship is a very sweet, realistic, well written one. it's such a beautiful story of two outcasts finding someone who truly sees & loves the other for who they are and the fact it's been slandered like this is so devastating
and also, i think byler shippers expect this ‘perfect relationship’ out of mileven because it’s the ship that we spend the most time focused on in the show, or any other reason they can think up, and that’s just not realistic. like, at all.
yeah the abused neurodivergent girl who was raised in a lab for literal experimentation and the awkward boy who struggles with words and is raised in a household with parents who don’t love each other and was a social outcast all his life are going to have the perfect relationship and have absolutely no troubles with communication or affection or anything else necessary for the ‘perfect relationship’. that’s absolutely realistic and not at all out of their reach and perfectly logical. girl bye.
