I know other people have realized this but the funny thing about byler shippers is they don't even like Mike. The concept of byler is always a focus on Will and his feelings, and Mike as a secondary analysis if only it involves ideas on his sexuality, and how his personality traits aren't valid...unless it pertains to being queer. Mike is sensitive, deflective, emotionally immature, and has difficulty verbalizing his feelings. And these are all super valid, given his own trauma, and especially when you factor in his poor relationship with his dad that's void of emotional (also physical) closeness. When Will has a bad day, acts out, or reacts out of results of his trauma, it's always quickly excused with "he lost his childhood," "he's sensitive to situations amongst his friend group," or feelings he needs to be catered to due to the last few years of circumstance he shouldn't have gone through. ...But the thing is...Mike has also gone through his own trauma brought on by the invention of Hawkin's Lab and events to occur through Will being taken. It's not out of character for a kid with anxiety, ptsd, and who's faced brutal threats both in physical danger and verbalized warnings from human proponents to react out of that trauma. However...
over the seasons, Mike has been criticized for "being a bad friend", daring to make mistakes in his first attempt at being a boyfriend (AT 15), not being observant to everything that's going on with everybody else...and it's mainly from the byler shippers. Gee I wonder why? ...when he's not an individual character catering to Will....an individual character with his own needs, trauma, and feelings... And the fandom commonly echoes Will's thoughts, like in the roller rink fight where he calls him out for not checking in...but it's a fair point to say, gee, Will idk maybe Lucas and Dustin could be held accountable too. People take everything Will says as valid, just because he's crushing on him and is obviously hurt because of that. Mike's been through a lot and it doesn't have to be reliant on anything to do with his sexuality...and people forget Mike's experience and dealing with that trauma (because, i guess, "men's mental health" only matters if it's in conjunction to 'proofing' your gay headcanons for him, not the acknowledgement that he's been repeatedly shot at, witnessed Eleven and his friends be shot at, not to mention her being taken, threatened from the age he was 12, and a lot of other experiences that factors into why he's so focused on Eleven and it's not just reduction to him being a "bad friend").
And a lot of bylers don't even care or factor El into the situation. "Will should have a happy ending of love in season 5." BUT WHAT ABOUT ELEVEN?!!! Will could have a reciprocating, kind love interest in the final season but they wouldn't care, because it's not about Will getting a happy ending; it's about Mike being received as a prize because Will wants him and that fandom thinks he should gain the human he desires for all of his woes. El and Will are such parallels to each other (which the fandom do love to recognize) and Eleven spent her life IN A LAB...but if you ask about her own personal ending, contrarian to Will, the people from that fandom propose that she should go through more heartbreak, because she's "too naive," "too inexperienced," etc. etc. and that she would be fine being single at the end if in some uncanon angle byler were to happen (Eleven wouldn't be fine. Because what about Eleven and Mike's entire journey has given "platonic"?!!)
..and it's all very ridiculous and ventures towards abelist to be blamed on her lack of a normal childhood... because what 12 year old has ever experienced romance to have the knowledge to how it should develop and go? Mike hadn't either! You learn as you go; that's what every irl person goes through. And it's crazy to argue for how's Eleven not 'equal to her own age'.....but Will's still stuck in his 13-year old era of lost time and being trapped in that whole timeframe of his existence.. By that metric, Will's too infantile for dating Mike too! It's very hypocritical, as there's, too, many bylers who say "El's not stupid; she knows what's going on with Will" but then say she's not smart enough to be with Mike right now.
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