75. Percabeth -64
Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase, the Percy Jackson universe
76. Hucklerobby
Dennis 'Huckleberry' Whitaker & Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch, The Pitt
77. Bunnydoll
Jax & Ragatha, The Amazing Digital Circus
78. Wangxian -25
Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian, Mo Dao Zu Shi
79. Shadowpeach -19
Sun Wukong & the Six-Eared Macaque, Lego Monkie Kid
80. Eternalberry
Hollyberry Cookie & Eternal Sugar Cookie, the Cookie Run franchise
81. Odypen
Odysseus & Penelope, EPIC: The Musical
82. Mizisua
Mizi & Sua, Alien Stage
83. Sterek
Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale, Teen Wolf
84. Shadowvanilla
Pure Vanilla & Shadow Milk, the Cookie Run franchise
85. Moshang
Mobei-Jun & Shang Qinghua, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
86. Spideypool
Spider-Man & Deadpool, the Marvel universe
87. Davekat 0
Dave Strider & Karkat Vantas, Homestuck
88. Heavymedic
Heavy Weapons Guy & Medic, Team Fortress 2
89. Lumax
Lucas Sinclair & Max Mayfield, Stranger Things
90. Sonamy
Sonic the Hedgehog & Amy Rose, Sonic the Hedgehog
91. Rookanis
Rook & Lucanis Dellamorte, Dragon Age: The Veilguard
92. Zoeystery
Zoey & Mystery, KPop Demon Hunters
93. Poolverine -90
Wade Wilson & Logan Howlett, the Marvel universe
94. Everlark -12
Katniss Everdeen & Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games
95. Clois
Clark Kent & Lois Lane, Superman
96. Johnlock
John Watson & Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock
97. Agathario -21
Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal, the Marvel universe
98. Stolitz -64
Stolas & Blitzo, Helluva Boss
99. Devil's Minion
Armand & Daniel Molloy, Interview with the Vampire & The Vampire Chronicles
100. Skystar
Skyfire & Starscream, Transformers
The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from 2024. Bolded ships werenāt on the list last year.
*And, it turnes out we love pure vanilla xĀ shadow milk so much, our data actually pulled it twice. Woops! We hope you enjoy nonetheless, and thank you for understandingā£ļø
How did your ships fare this week? Did your faves make the cut? Any surprises? Tag your posts and commentary with #ships week 2026 to keep this party going. Thanks for joining us. Now, go forth and keep doin what you're doin tumblr <3
"My emotions shift very quickly, and I often experience extreme sadness, anger, and anxiety."
"Iām constantly afraid that the people I care about will abandon me or leave me."
"I would describe most of my intimate and close relationships as intense, but unstable."
"The way I feel about the people in my life can dramatically change from one moment to the nextāand I donāt always understand why."
"I often do things that I know are dangerous or unhealthy, such as driving recklessly, having unsafe sex, binge drinking, using drugs, or going on spending sprees."
"Iāve attempted to hurt myself, engaged in self-harm behaviors such as cutting, or threatened suicide."
"When Iām feeling insecure in a relationship, I tend to lash out or make impulsive gestures to keep the other person close."
This line of questioning is used in determining whether one has borderline personality disorder.
Let us establish that Mike is simultaneously painfully aware of his flaws and shames while also showing an extreme pride and sense of ego. This is a pretty standard BPD experience, dualism of self value. Both self aggrandized and self loathing.
Mike knows he's an asshole when he is, and it makes him value himself even less, which in turn can stifle his growth without healthy support. When he's a dick to Will especially, he takes responsibility (notably more so with Will than anyone else, I'll come back to this). He knows he fucks up, and when he does it crushes him. This is exactly why Mike "needs to feel needed".
He needs to be told he has value because telling himself doesn't work. He doesn't Believe Himself. To someone with BPD, your own good traits can disappear when you feel you've harmed someone you love or have caused yourself to lose them. This is also why his relationship with El WILL fail. She doesn't Need him, even if she does want his company. This is established. She is an independent agent and this makes them deeply incompatible as a romantic pair. Their relationship was healthiest in a platonic state.
Examples of Mike's emotional instability and lashing out, saying regrettable things to loved ones or having feelings for them shift from one extreme to another:
āI thought we were friends, you know? But friends tell each other the truth. And they definitely donāt lie to each other. You made me think that Will was okay; that he was still out there but he wasnāt! He wasnāt. Maybe you thought you were helping but you werenāt. You hurt me, do you understand? What you did sucks.ā - To Eleven/Jane about lying to him
"I'm not trying to be a jerk. But we're not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think? We were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives?" - To Will about his jealousy of Eleven and Max
"It's not my fault you don't like girls!" - To Will after Will left due to Lucas and Mike focusing on their girlfriends more than the Party
"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe we don't want to be popular?" - to Lucas about his joining the basketball team
"Why is this all on me?" - To Will about their lack of contact
Fear of losing loved ones or being abandoned:
"It's day 353. I had a bad day. I don't know, I guess I wish you were here. We all do. If you're out there, just please, give me a sign....Eleven?" - To El
"I felt like I lost you." - To Will
*See the Self Endangerment section below for more on this related to Will.
Unstable yet intense relationships:
Has been dumped by El for his insensitivity
Has had an established pair bond with Will from kindergarten onward despite having occasionally very turbulent bumps in their friendship.
Fights and bickers with his friends, authorities, and loved ones like his parents and sister on a regular basis.
Has a pattern of being insensitive and disrespectful in general.
Develops attachments quickly and strongly, but these attachments can distort or shift easily.
Self Endangerment or Impulsivity:
āI saw you guys laughing over there and I think thatās a real messed-up thing to do.ā - confronting Troy and James
Mike's Suicidality - When Will disappears in the beginning causing Mike and Dustin to have their dangerous encounter with Troy and James, Mike is fully willing to die by throwing himself off the cliff. In the exact same place he fears Will has died. Were it not for El, he'd have killed himself at 12 years old because he lost his favorite person in the world. Remember that when you discuss him and his behaviors. He needs character development, but he's a traumatized, mentally ill teen.
A common part of having BPD is the formation of an attachment to a "favorite person" or FP, Mike's FP is Will, and has been for years.
Evidence:
āI asked if you wanted to be my friend. And you said yes. You said yes. It was the best thing Iāve ever done.ā - To Will
In LotL (not typing the full book name bc I'm not clogging the Lucas book tag with a Mike essay) Mike is established as having crashed into an intense self isolating depressive episode when Will left. He shut himself in the basement substituting his absence with hollow video game binges while ignoring everyone and neglecting all other relationships. This of course is parallel to him asking Will if he "expected them to play games in his basement forever", to which Will had replied. "I really did."
This is also why he can't say I love you to El without being pressured/coerced.
When visiting Lenora Hills, Mike doesn't focus on El despite her supposedly being his girlfriend and reason for being there. While El is being bullied and harassed he is distracted, asking why Will hasn't talked to him and has been giving the cold shoulder. He dislikes losing Will's presence and attention. It's uncomfortable and disturbing to his emotional expectations, which triggers his reactivity.
Even though he clearly cares for El deeply, Will takes a priority, and Mike lashes out at him in frustration at their lack of contact because he lacks communication skills and self awareness. (Though to be fair from Mike's POV Will had just blamed Mike for their lack of contact when Mike factually tried countless times to call)
This second loss of Will sets Mike off, just like he was set off when he temporarily lost Will in 1983. Only this time, Mike feels it's his fault in many ways. There's guilt, shame, self pity- but then he starts to fix it upon having his heart-to-hearts with Will, once again establishing Will as a source of emotional stability for him. Will makes Mike see his flaws and helps him to feel loved and supported while not excusing his actions. Will won't just take the bullshit, but he truly loves Mike unconditionally and unapologetically.
Will is the only person who Mike takes the initiative with in accountability without being nudged. The ONLY person. Intentionally or not, Mike Wheeler is BPD coded. There's no way around this and it can't be removed from his character.
There's a pervasive and frustrating concern I have with the amount of cluster b ableism tossed at him as a character. One doesn't have to like him or enjoy him, but note that real people experience the same regressions of behavior. Real people don't need to see their patterns of mental illness targeted so openly. One can criticize the character without treating him as some irredeemable prick with no good qualities left.
My name is Will Byers.
Iām the same as you guys.
We love getting lost in the woods.
based on this terrifying screenshot from episode 8
I donāt know if his face is actually gone in this scene or if itās just the quality, but in this scene while everybody else is crowded around the railing, will is just standing their, unmoving, like a puppet.
if conformity gate is real I hope they continue to use this faceless/puppet imagery cause itās soooo creepy.
will saying āI donāt like girlsā and then the scene cutting to show mike gulping is diabolical btw. I just know this boy had the rain fight flashing before his eyes.
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