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BYLER ESSAY WOOO

Welcome to my byler essay! This essay will be split into three different sections; why mileven doesn't make sense, why byler does make sense and the importance of it, and the last being why byler WILL be endgame in season five of Stranger Things! A quick warning that although I am a byler shipper, I do love Eleven, so no Eleven slander! ( If byler does happen but Eleven is heart-broken by it, I will not be happy).I would love to hear your guys’ opinion on this essay so please don't hesitate to comment on it! I haven’t mentioned any of the byler gates as there are so many they don’t really go into depth of why byler is canon.

I also recommend checking these channels out, they have such good vids of byler!

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Now the essay!

Mileven Doesn’t Make Sense:

Okay so mileven makes zero sense in Stranger Things. In the show, Eleven is introduced in the very first episode and at first glance in the eyes of Mike Wheeler, she is a boy. She has shaved hair, has a shirt that is clearly too big for her and she doesn’t even know proper English. His first thought when he sees El isn’t ‘woah she’s pretty’. He feels bad for her, yes, but him feeling any romantic feelings? No. Now of course you don't just have a crush on someone at first glance, but you would think that if they wanted mileven to be endgame, they’d at least add a subtle hint. He lets El sleep in his basement overnight and when he proposes the idea to Lucas and Dustin– they shut it off, claiming that she’s a girl and it’d be weird. And yet, Mike doesn't see it as weird at all. If he were to have actual romantic feelings for El, he’d be a bit more nervous and not nonchalant to the idea. Him reaching over to El’s tattoo and not scared of the close proximity also proves my point. We know that in the show, their whole friend group doesn't really attract girls that much ( Will attracts the most girls from what we’ve seen). If Mike was ‘sensitive’ to girls and was actually attracted to them, he wouldn't be so eager to touch El’s arm to see her tattoo.

Mike sees El as ‘abnormal’ although he doesn't say it and shows care towards El, hence why she's so dependent on Mike in season one and two, he still only sees El as someone with powers. His obsession with El’s powers isn't because he is romantically attracted to her at all. At the end of the day, Mike is just a young boy and has never seen anyone with real powers before. Before he sees a girl, he sees someone who is powerful.

Mike and El obviously get into a relationship in season two I’m pretty sure. It’s something so rushed as in the first season it’s clear that Mike has no feelings for her. In the first couple of episodes you can tell they are just friends and suddenly Mike is attracted to her? As someone who has been watching Stranger Things since 2018, I was so confused seeing Mileven actually become a thing. In the first season, Mike snaps at El. Not because of what El did but because they weren't able to find will. He is still thinking about Will and he is able to shout at the girl he ‘supposedly has a crush on’. If Mike did have feelings for Eleven, he wouldn't have shouted at her like that. He constantly shouts ‘what’s wrong with you’, proving that he only sees El as someone peculiar. It’s definitely something Mike has been thinking for a while now, only he finally said it. He also gets a bit angry at Eleven when she is fiddling with the Walkie Talkie, something that we know he would use to speak to Will. He continues to trash talk her saying things like ‘Lucas was right about you’ and ‘you hurt me’. Now most people would say they hated Mike in this scene and although I agree to some extent, let's not forget that this boy is young and has just lost his best friend. He’s going through puberty and has to deal with a girl who is running away from the government– he isn’t going to be nor supposed to be this ‘happy character’.

Eleven gets into a relationship before even being able to speak proper English. She tries to change in front of Lucas, Mike and Dustin in the second episode, clearly showing that this girl knows nothing about outside life and morals. In season four she is still trying to improve her grammar and spelling. You cannot tell me that being in a relationship is good for her. It’s like having a boyfriend in nursery, you’re like five and you already have a boyfriend when you can’t even recite your abc’s. She clearly has PTSD and is still traumatised from the things that happened in the hospital because when she is changing she doesn't want the door to be closed. She makes sure it’s still slightly open. Putting Eleven in a relationship was definitely forced and rushed. Also following heteronormative beliefs. That every girl and boy duo must have romantic feelings for one another.

Mike almost feels like he’s being forced into this relationship as it’s clear he doesn't have feelings for Eleven. Lucas literally states , “You’re blind, blind because a girl’s not grossed out by you.” Clearly insinuating that Mike doesn't do well with girls. He’s never once expressed wanting a girlfriend and he obviously gets homophobic comments thrown at him in school by people like Troy. His internalised homophobia is what got him into this relationship because he obviously doesn't feel comfortable coming out, given the period they’re in. When Troy is talking bad about Will, calling him a ‘queer’, Mike says to his friends, ‘Come on, just ignore them.’ When the comment was obviously directed to Mike. Troy definitely bullied Lucas and Dustin but they’d throw racist comments to Lucas and ableist comments to Dustin– not homophobic. It’s also worth mentioning that all the comments directed to Will about him being gay were to Mike, not to anyone else. I believe that if we were to get flashback scenes when all of them were still in school including Will, that there was probably some rumour of them being together.

In season three, when the Byers are about to move, Eleven kisses Mike, yet Mike has his eyes open and they’re literally standing in front of a closet. If that is not enough proof for people still in doubt I don't know what you guys want. Opening your eyes in a kiss usually means that you either aren’t interested in the person or your mind is somewhere else and I’m guessing both for Mike.

Mike and Eleven's relationship is extremely toxic. The whole reason they argue and fight is because Eleven doesn't think Mike loves her. This is strange because in all the other canon relationships like lumax and jancy, none of them argue about the other not loving them in the relationship even though they have never said ‘I love you’ to their face. So why does El need Mike to say it to her so much? This is because Lucas and Max actually show that they love each other, with simple compliments and actions– same with jancy. Mike has never once complimented El on anything other than her powers, only when he threw a wig on her and gave her a dress. It felt forced and just too much. He only compliments her on her powers– seeing her almost as a machine, which Max points out. It’s clear that there’s no love in their relationship, yes they both like each other but only platonically. They are both victims of societal pressure.

Why Byler Makes Sense:

Stranger Things is obviously a show about Will Byers. It’s obvious that Mike is going to care about Will and yet his caring isn’t just something platonic. Other than Joyce, Mike was the only one who still believed that Will was alive (constantly shouting ‘Will is alive, Will is alive!). Will also recognised Mike when he was in the hospital and Mike stayed with Will through his whole journey when the demogorgon was using him. Let’s not forget that Mike slept ON THE FLOOR to make sure Will was safe. When Eleven first slept in Mike's house, he didn’t stay with her even though he knew something was up. Also him recognising Will's voice?

In season two on the Halloween episode, Will and Mike have their own moment when Mike says ‘ I guess we’ll both just go crazy together’, (this was peak content for byler shippers in 2018) this matches with the saying in either season one or two when the lady at the reception says to Nancy , “Only love makes you that crazy”. It’s clear what the Duffer Brothers are trying to say. Mike and Will can both go crazy together. Will struggling with keeping his crush on his best friend a secret and Mike struggling with his sexuality, they’re both meant for each other and it's making them go crazy. Whereas when Mike and Eleven argue, Mike only feels bad because he isn’t in control anymore.

When Mike and Will argue in season three in the rain, Mike says his infamous ‘It’s not my fault you don't like girls.’ It's something that was so irrelevant and also plain rude to say. Their argument started because Mike wasn’t making any time for his friends anymore, Will wasn't saying he was angry at Mike for having a girlfriend, if he was, he would also be arguing with Lucas. And yet he isn't because as mentioned in the show, Lucas found a way to hang out with his girlfriend and also hang out with his friends– maintaining a healthy relationship with both his girlfriend and friends. Mike bringing up Will not liking girls was not needed at all in their conversation/fight. It was almost like Mike was trying to remind himself of something. Like he was trying to tell Will that he wasn't gay. But why would Mike have to clarify that he wasn't gay if it wasn't even what they were talking about? Mike obviously wasn't angry at Will for thinking they would play DND for the rest of their lives, because he goes to join the DND club in season four with Lucas and Dustin. The audacity?

I forgot if this was in season one or two we see this in, but we get a short snippet of the Wheeler House and we see outside, they have a sign with ‘ Ronald Reagen ‘84’-- a very open and homophobic president who joked about aids several times. Of course Mike isn’t going to feel comfortable about his sexuality when his family are conservatives.

After their fight, Mike goes straight to Wills house to apologise, knocking and shouting on his door calling himself an ‘idiot’ for everything he said. Unlike when he and El were arguing, he didn't even bother to show up to Els' house to apologise, nor reach out to her. Clearly showing that he had priorities.

When he and Will argue again in season four, it has a similar vibe. Mike pretended not to show that he was angry at Will the whole day and only mentioned it in the fight. Mike was able to spend time with his girlfriend and ‘best friend’ yet he said the day was ruined because Will wasn’t happy. Because he was ‘moping’ and ‘rolling his eyes’. Stating that Mike's day was ruined because Will wasn’t happy, not because his girlfriend was getting bullied or anything.

Also can I just say that Mike not catching on that Angela was clearly bullying Eleven when he had been bullied before was so stupid???

Anyways, Will then says ‘ well what about us?’ followed by Mike to say ‘we’re friends’ repeatedly. Like in their rain argument, Mike is trying to remind himself that Will and him are nothing more than that and that they never will be.

In the van scene when Will shows Mike the painting for him, Will says that Eleven commissioned it for him. Mike knows that Will is lying because El mentioned in her letters that Will has been painting and she doesn't know what it is nor who he is painting for, she also goes on to say that Will might have a crush on a girl. Mike knows that Will was lying yet he is silent. Will having to be the one to remind Mike that El needs him and cares for him shows that Mike cares about what Will has to say more than anyone else. It also takes Will to say ‘you’re the heart’ to Mike to make Mike say he loves El in season four.

Most Byler fans know that Mike has his own ‘Will voice’-- a voice that he does for Will only. It’s softer and reassuring. Mike has shouted at his own mom several times and Eleven. He has never once talked to El in such a reassuring way nor loving way, but he can talk to Will like that?

Byler makes so much more sense than mileven as it shows a deeper side of internalised homophobia, heterocentricity and what the 80s were like.

Another point was in season four when Mike is looking for Nancy. When he opens the door, the scene cuts to him scanning the room and he’s obviously looking at a bunch of guys. Nancy isn’t someone to miss, she was wearing a lavender shirt with curly hair and yet he’s looking in a room full of guys and is deffo checking them out!

Byler Will Be Endgame:

There’s a lot of imagery and parallels for Byler in the whole of Stranger Things from season one to four. Will is looking at Mike and Eleven in season four and Mike is slowly looking back at him. Mirroring Robin looking at Vicky and her boyfriend and Vicky slowly looking back at Robin.

Their costume designs and colour is something that is definitely intentional. Mike has a triangle pointing to Will the whole of season four. The triangle is also a symbol for queer people, initially intended as a badge of shame, later reapropriated as a positive symbol of self-identity. In an interview with one of the costume directors for Stranger Things, she mentions how they added this triangle on Robin's yellow top- a little bit of representation they did on purpose.

Will and Mike’s colour themes being yellow and blue, and suddenly Mike is wearing a bright-yellow shirt and a purple shirt underneath it at the airport. As mentioned in another interview, Mike is trying to be ‘as normal as possible’, trying to fit into ‘Californian’ clothing. Argyle being able to spot that it’s fake proves that this whole act Mike is putting on is a fake and isn’t the real him.

When Byler is endgame, it would be the best slowburn relationship in all fiction, the pining they both have for each other would add to this as well.

In a lot of the Stranger Things teasers, we see mentions of Mike ‘coming around’ and in the last episode of season four, all the canon couples are paired with each other looking out at Hawkins. Nancy and Jonathan. Hopper and Joyce, and finally Mike and Will ( Eleven being by herself). This is obviously done intentionally as they could’ve swapped Jancy and Byler to be Jonathon and Will and Nancy and Mike– so that they’re paired as siblings.

In a short clip of season five, we see Mike and Eleven both sitting down on what seems to be a dock, Mike is looking at Eleven with care– not love. He is looking at her the same way someone who has just shared a deep secret would look at someone. It seems that Mike and El have just broken up but it was a mutual breakup.

We all know that Noah Schnapp (Wills actor) is an avid Byler fan and he is extremely silent on Byler currently. He recently posted on his tiktok, replying to a comment about byler– mentioning how he isn't going to say anything about byler.

And that's it for my essay about byler! This is rushed but I think I got most of my points out there! Although Byler will most definitely be canon in season five, it's still worth knowing that they’re indeed tragic as it would take them twenty-nine years to marry! They’d both be forty-five.

Thank you for reading and like I said, I would love to hear your guys’ opinion!