maybe i feel like i lost you or something.

rachel. 23. stranger things.

[narrativelogicofbyler]

i’m going to hold some people’s hands when i say this, because the level of denial required to defend this writing is genuinely wild. mike’s arc wasn’t “confusing” or “complicated.” it was dismantled. they took a character whose emotional, textual, and visual trajectory had been building toward queerness for years and forced him into a shape that doesn’t match the story anymore.

mike loved el, he cared about her, he wanted her safe, he wanted her happy. but he was never in love with her. she was the heteronormative shield, the narrative beard, the convenient “look, he’s normal” distraction because he didn’t know what to do with the feelings he had for will. and the show doesn’t even try to hide it. even when el was dying, literally dying, mike still couldn’t say “i love you.” not in reality. not in his own mind. not even in the fantasy space where characters usually reveal their true feelings. the words simply weren’t there. that’s not romance. that’s not repression. that’s a character whose heart is somewhere else.

and then there’s the van scene, the most blatant confession by proxy ever put on screen. mike only manages to say “i love you” because will hands him the emotional script. will pours out his soul, mike absorbs it, and then he repeats those words to someone else. that’s not subtle. that’s not ambiguous. that’s classic love triangle construction: one character’s longing powering another character’s relationship.

and here’s the part that makes me want to scream: why are all of mike’s emotional beats given to will? why not dustin, lucas, max, literally anyone else? because will and mike’s relationship has always been framed differently. the blocking, the lighting, the shot composition, the way the camera lingers, it’s intimate, charged, deliberate. that’s not an accident. that’s visual storytelling doing the work the script refused to commit to.

and then, at the eleventh hour, the duffers slam the panic button and try to force mike and el into a tragic romance endgame. and it falls apart instantly. there is no chemistry in that final scene. mike doesn’t even touch her. his hands hover awkwardly in the air like he’s physically unsure about making contact. it looks like someone performing the idea of love, not feeling it. because he did love her, but he was never in love with her. the emotional groundwork was never laid with her. it was laid with will.

the text pointed to mike and will. the cinematography pointed to mike and will. the emotional architecture pointed to mike and will. and then they did a last‑minute 180 that snapped the narrative spine, and that’s why mike’s ending feels wrong. because it is wrong. it contradicts everything the story spent years building.

argue with a wall. argue with the lighting. argue with the blocking. argue with the text. you’ll still be wrong.

[you-were-alone-too]

i wish mike and will could have a scene like the "all the things she said" scene in heated rivalry. like mike wheeler interacting with el as THIS. IS. NOT. ENOUGH. plays might actually cure me

[you-were-alone-too]

rick riordan could write stranger things, a show about outcasts and misfits and marginalization, infinitely better than the duffer brothers but the duffer brothers couldn't even come close to percy jackson

[you-were-alone-too]

byler being written so different from the other friendships and not being endgame is so insane like why does mike need to bring will up every 5 fucking seconds if not soulmatism?

[you-were-alone-too]

mike is one of the only people will remembered when he was possessed and you people expect me to believe that's his tammy oh okay!!'

[you-were-alone-too]

byler is so percabeth coded and im tired of pretending its not. like percabeth jumping into tartarus together? easily byler jumping into the UD down. will is a son of hades and mike is a son of athena.....TO FREEDOM!!!!

[you-were-alone-too]

for sale: byler bottles, halfway popped

[you-were-alone-too]

we're to the point where this is either one of the biggest queerbait stunts of all time (unlikely) or we are about to get one of the best endgame ships of all time

[you-were-alone-too]

who's going to tell her 😔

[you-were-alone-too]

volume 2 byler genuinely has me moving like this i won't even lie

[beaulesbian]

STRANGER THINGS 5.06 || "ESCAPE FROM CAMAZOTZ"

Will, I’m here. I need you to show me where you are. Show me where you are.

[crowley-anthony]

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

[loveyazy]

Stranger Things (2016-2025) 5.04 | Sorcerer

[hell-vetica]

“Sometimes people need someone to believe in them. And then they can do amazing things.”

[you-were-alone-too]

a s5 byler fic (aka the outline draft i'll never finish)

i had this idea for a s5 byler fic, and since i'm focused on finishing a different byler fic, i won't get to post this before the show ends, so i thought i'd share with you all. the premise is basically how i think s5 would go with byler as the heart of it. hope you enjoy!

The scene begins with a nightmare that Mike is having; at first, it seems inconspicuous, almost like a normal scene/dream, but things quickly take a bad turn. Still, it might not be obvious at first that the nightmare is from Vecna because they’re all traumatized, so they’re bound to have nightmares. Maybe this first dream comprises of past events, like Will’s body being pulled from the quarry, him jumping off the cliff, El disappearing with the demogorgon, times Mike felt helpless, and then things that haven’t happened (or happened yet) start to flood in, where Mike can do nothing but watch as he fails to save the people around him. 

Mike doesn’t tell anyone because he figures it’s just his mind making shit up, and besides, they’re going into their final battle probably any day now, and he doesn’t want to be sitting on the sidelines like a fucking loser listening to his favorite song on repeat.

Vecna is targeting Mike, but not in the same way as he has with other people in the past; he’s targeting Mike in order to bait Will into doing something, not to open a portal/gate.

Mike and Will are sharing a room/bed; when Mike has the first nightmare, Will either doesn’t wake up, or he’s able to convince Will he wasn’t having a nightmare. 

After the second or third time (I’m thinking the third one will be when they have their argument, but I’ll need to think about what the second dream will be; perhaps the dreams happen in order, beginning with events from season 1, then progressing through Mike’s fears/insecurities through each season) Will wakes up and he’s frustrated that Mike is clearly hiding something and not telling him. 

“Mike, seriously, what’s wrong? You’re hiding something, I can tell.”

Mike probably huffs, annoyed that he’s so easy to read, (or maybe he’s not, maybe it’s just that Will is able to see right through him, able to dissect every ugly, awful thing about him, and yet he doesn’t care. Chooses to stay anyway.) “I’m fine, Will, really. I’m just worried.”

“You can only use that excuse so many times, you know,” Will says, tapping him on the arm. “Come on, Mike, tell me. In case…you know,” he adds, turning away. Yeah. Mike knows.

“Ugh, it’s nothing, seriously. It’s just…I’ve been having these dreams. Or nightmares, I guess I should say.”

Immediately, Will stiffens, rigid with fear. “What do you mean?”

“It’s about normal stuff at first, and then something bad happens, like, I don’t know…,” Mike groans, doesn’t want him to worry. “I’ll see your body being pulled out of the quarry, except this time, it’s for real. And I can’t do anything to save you.”

He’s silent again, head turned to the side, and Mike feels oddly embarrassed, for some reason. “Has your head been hurting at all?”

“Well, maybe a little, but…wait,” he says, realizing what he’s asking. “You don’t think…it’s not him, Will, I swear.”

He sits up, legs crossed as the blankets pool around his legs. “We don’t know that,” he says, and it sounds like he’s getting a little upset. “El thinks the battle is gonna be any day now. It’s just too much of a coincidence.”

“I’m fine, seriously. I mean, think of all the shit we’ve been through over the years. And all the stuff Owens told you, about trauma.”

“Yeah, and look how that turned out,” Will says, and Mike realizes he has a point, but refuses to admit it. 

“Will, really, you don’t need to worry about—” he starts, but pauses mid-sentence when Will reaches out and touches a tentative hand to his face. Mike freezes, breathing caught in his throat, until Will swipes his thumb under Mike’s nose and it pulls away red. 

The realization of what’s happening sits between them in a tense, helpless sort of way, neither of them sure where to tread. “Mike…”

“It’s not what you think!” he says, and the words almost surprise him. Deny, deny, deny. “I mean, he hasn’t done this in, like, two years, so why would he start again now? It’s probably just ‘cause the air is fucking toxic, and there’s all those spores floating around, and–”

“Mike,” Will says, voice flat, indicating that he’s not entertaining Mike’s delusions anymore. He looks terrified, standing up and letting the blankets fall to the floor. “Shit. We need to do something, we need to tell El and the others—”

“No,” Mike says, standing up and moving closer to Will in the middle of the room. “Don’t. Seriously, I swear I’m okay. Like you said, the battle’s gonna be any day now, and I don’t want to be sitting on the fucking sidelines listening to _______ on repeat.” 

Under normal circumstances, Mike thinks Will would laugh and roll his eyes, asking Mike if that was really his favorite song? 

But this time, he doesn’t take the bait. “Are you serious? I know you want to feel needed and all, but you could have died! You could still die, I…,” he glances away, swallows hard. “Do you really expect us to just do nothing and let him get to you?” 

“What else are we supposed to do?” Mike says, voice rising, too. 

Will begins pacing around the room. “Something, I mean…come on, Mike, you’re being an idiot! Can’t you see it’s him doing this to you? He’s probably trying to put you in danger to lure El into a trap!”

“Then why would he use me?” Mike asks, and it’s as he’s staring at Will, eyes wide and looking at him like he’s crazy, that he remembers. Him confessing his undying love for El in a pizza kitchen, Will’s hand burning a hole through his shoulder as the words clawed their way out of his throat. “It doesn’t even matter because if he’s going after me, then he’s going to get me regardless, because we still don’t know exactly what the fuck we’re doing. So if he kills me, then I guess he kills me.” 

Will is stopped short, doesn’t know how to respond. “How can you say it like that? Like…like you’re nothing, like it doesn’t even matter!”

Mike is quiet. 

Will probably storms out of their room to sleep somewhere else for the night, leaving Mike alone.

Other ideas for nightmares (probably at least 2 other ones that precede the Max one: Mike being too late, Mike trying to save people and failing, Mike seemingly making everything worse).

This is either here or something that more explicitly hints at Mike’s feelings for Will.

Mike is transported back to the pizza kitchen, except when he looks into the dough freezer, it's Max, lying in the same lifeless, broken way she had in her hospital bed.

Except her eyes shoot open and she says something along the lines of “You lied, I died.”

Maybe she reminds him about the Lois Lane and Clark Kent stuff.

“You're not even Lois Lane,” “You couldn’t even love her in the right way.”

Mike: “Yes, yes, I do!”

Max laughs, cold: “Pathetic. You can’t even say it without him here.”

Mike thinks him and then Max responds to his thought without him ever saying anything because this is Vecna and he’s in Mike’s head. “Yes, him,” Vecna/Max echoes. 

When Mike wakes up, he feels even worse than the other times, for whatever reason. He starts to think back to that day and perhaps some of the implications/realizations about what Vecna was implying about Will start to sink in.

Somewhere in here, switch to Will’s POV; he goes to find El. (Not exactly sure where she’ll be yet—assuming that they will all be taking watch in various parts around town and near the portals, but I think that El is not supposed to be on watch, but is anyway because she wants to help and do everything she can.)

Will is probably used to her doing this, as they've probably kept each other company multiple times on each other’s watches even when they weren't on duty. He gives her the same spiel they always give each other when one of them is up when they shouldn't be, but this time, it's a little more panicked and rushed than usual. 

“Will, what's wrong? Did something happen?” El asks, standing up from her spot.

“It's Mike,” Will explains, and it spills out along with the tears dotting the corners of his eyes. “I think…I’m pretty sure Vecna is targeting him, El. He's been having nightmares, headaches, nosebleeds…”

“But he hasn't…it's been two years since his last attack. Why now?” El asks, worried and puzzled.

Will hesitates because as dumb as it is, the words take a bitter shape in his mouth. “I think he's trying to lure you to him. By using Mike. You know, since you guys…,” he trails off, not even sure how to define their relationship at this point (or lack thereof) and not really wanting to either.

“But Mike and I…I dumped his ass. A long time ago. It just doesn't make sense,” El says, shaking her head.

Will starts getting frustrated. “Well, that doesn't change the fact that he's got him. And if Vecna’s been taking this time to get stronger, who knows how much time Mike has? We have to do something.”

“How is Mike?”

Will crosses his arms. “That's the thing! He’s just worried that we’re gonna put him on the sidelines. Like it doesn't even matter, like he might not…fuck, El,” Will says, head in his hands. “There has to be something we can do. We can't just put a Band-Aid on this. I mean, look what happened to Max…,” he says, then bites his lip. “Sorry, I know I shouldn’t…”

El puts her hand on his. “Will, I understand,” she says, face full of that steely determination, as if she had been thinking the same thing. Not again. “We're going to stop him. I will walk right into his trap if that's what it takes.”

“No,” Will says. “What if…what if I go instead? I mean, he won't be expecting me, but I still have a connection with him, right? So it should be me, not you.”

El shakes her head. “No. You can't.”

Will puts his hands on her shoulders. “Look, I know you're used to being the one to sacrifice yourself, but…we need you, El. And this way, we won't be doing what he wants. Maybe we can still catch him off guard.”

Either because someone wakes him, or he wakes up and goes to look for Will, Mike realizes Will's gone.

Will is missing again, but this time, he chose to be. 

This is where they find him somehow, they think he's dead, but Vecna has him in his mind lair.

And that's when Vecna starts directing all these monsters to try and attack them, Mike throws himself into danger, ready to die because will risked his life to save him and he's gone and he has nothing left to live for.

When Will is in Vecna's lair space Vecna shows him Mike, who is throwing himself in the face of danger with reckless abandon, not caring anymore if he dies because he thinks Will is gone

Will is screaming trying to get out of Vecna's mind lair, but nothing works

Will says to Vecna "You're lying, this isn't real" about Mike fighting all these monsters because he knows about the visions and how he uses them to trap and manipulate his victims

Even though Vecna's plan for Will is different

Maybe he shows Will the vision hoping it will trigger the same level of emotion in him

Vecna tells him "Why would I need to lie when the truth is often so much more painful?"

Will's emotions are so strong that he's able to snap himself out of vecna's lair

He wakes up, lying on the ground, a little out of the way of danger because people thought he was fucking dead, maybe Joyce or Jonathan or whoever is next to him and they're like HE'S ALIVE but he doesn't even notice because he's focused on MIKE

He can see Mike across the field or wherever they're at (cause they're in Hawkins but it's being overrun by the upside down merging there and monsters are running loose, and they're trying to stop Vecna's attacks while El tries to stop Vecna like their usual plans idk)

He can see Mike, trying to fight some of these demo monsters off, recklessly putting himself in harm's way, because if Will's dead then who cares if he dies too?

Will screams across the field "MIKE!!!"

Mike turns around, completely distracted by hearing Will who he thought was dead and the demogorgon monster whatever attacks him while his back is turned, like Joyce and Bob in s2 where he pauses to look at her, and then the claws sink into his face and shoulders

I imagine Will just completely letting out an ear-ringing scream

and time just fucking stops

Which HE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW HE COULD DO BC Vecna didn't really explain WHY he wanted Will, just that he was special, they were both considered different, together we can make the world our own, a place for people like us

But will just doesn't understand, figures he's being considered different in the same ways he always has been

But he can't stop to think about it for too long because he's running to Mike's side, throwing the demogorgon's body off of Mike, and it's just him and Mike that are unfrozen

Mike is on the ground, blood oozing from the cuts in his face and his shoulders and chest

He's on the ground, and will pulls him into his lap

Mike is dazed, both from the loss of blood and the pain and sheer shock that Will is there in front of him

"This is real, right? I'm not being haunted in purgatory or some shit, am I?"

"No, it's really me," Will says, tears streaming down his face

Because Mike thinks he still hasn't escaped the worst

He thinks he's dead AND that he's gone to hell or whatever AND that one of the worst things that could happen is thinking Will is alive but being actually dead

Mike smacks him on the arm weakly because 1. He’s bleeding and wounded and 2. Cause it’s Mike “Will, I can’t believe you just went off on your own like that, I…,” he reaches up, putting a bloodied hand on will’s face, “I thought I lost you again”

Mike looks around, beginning to notice the way everything has just. Ceased. Spores are caught mid air. The frigid wind of the UD has stopped blowing. They can't hear the shrieks of the monsters or anything. "Will, what happened? Did you...?"

"I don't know," he admits, still crying because he almost lost Mike, and also the cuts don't look great so he's worried he still might. "But don't worry about it, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"

Mike confesses somewhere in here. “Will, there's something I need to tell you, in case…”

Will, crying: “No, Mike. Don't fucking ‘in case’ me right now, you’re…you’re gonna be fine, I promise.”

“Will,” Mike says, and it's like all the tears he’s held back since he was thirteen are shining in his eyes and trailing down his cheeks. “Friends don't lie.”

The tears roll down both their faces as they accept this might be the end; this all started with Will being the one to go missing, and Mike thinking he was going to lose him forever, but Will never thought things would end up in the reverse. Will’s not sure exactly what he’s going to say; he’s only able to get out “Mike…,” before Mike’s bloodied arm moves from his face to the collar of his shirt, yanking him down and kissing him. 

Will’s hardly able to even comprehend what’s happening by the time Mike pulls away, hand moving back to hold Will’s chin and leaving a smear of blood across his upper lip before his eyes flutter closed and his arm falls limp to his side. 

“Mike? Mike!” Will cries out. He glances around, at everyone paused mid-battle, at his friends and family risking their lives, at El, hand outstretched like she’s about to save them all. Will doesn’t know what he’s capable of, but he wonders if, somehow, he’d be able to unfreeze only El—Mike, for whatever reason, wasn’t frozen along with everyone else, and maybe it was because he’d been focused on him when he did…whatever he did in the first place. 

He thinks about El, focuses all his energy toward her, and after a moment, he watches her come back “to life.” It takes her a moment to realize what’s happened, how everything is frozen except them. And then she sees Mike, bloodied and wounded at his feet, and her expression shifts from extreme confusion to horror, crying as she runs to Will and they grab each other by the shoulders. “Will, you’re okay!” she cries, hands flying to hold his face in her hands, like she can’t believe he’s actually there in front of him. “But what’s happening, how are you not…and Mike…,” she says frantically. 

“The demogorgon, it…it got him,” Will says, tears continuing to spill down his face and choking his words. “I think this is why he wants me, El. Somehow, I…I stopped everything.” His shoulders shake, and he doesn’t feel relieved or powerful or anything like that. He feels even more like a freak, like a monster, different. “This is all my fault. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have—”

She grips his shoulder. “No,” she says firmly. “That is what he wants you to think. But without you, Will…we would not have a chance. This is why we haven’t been able to stop him. You are the key.”

Will snorts through the tears. “I wouldn’t give me that much credit, I mean, all I did was freeze everyone. How does that help us? If anything, it just gives Vecna more reasons to come after me and the people I care about.”

Idk how to continue from there so skip to Byler confession

Set from Mike’s POV; it opens on him walking into the field of flowers that we see at the end of S4. Will is sitting in the flowers, the vibrant colors framing him as if he’s the centerpiece of a beautiful painting. Wordlessly, Mike sits down next to him, and Will doesn’t even give him a glance as he says, “I can’t believe everything’s already starting to grow back.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s almost like nothing ever happened,” Mike says, also not looking at Will. 

“Yeah, well, I wish that were true,” Will says. “I just…I just hope that this means it’s actually over. For good, this time.”

“So you haven’t…?”

Will touches the back of his neck, almost self-consciously. “No, no, I haven’t felt him since…,” he trails off. “And I don’t know how to explain it, but…I feel different, somehow. That piece of him that was in me, with my now memories, it’s gone. Like, I can still remember, but…not because he’s part of my mind anymore. It’s just regular memories now, I guess.”

Mike nods, listening. “That’s great, Will, I’m…I’m glad you’re back to normal now.”

Will scoffs. “Well, I wouldn’t say normal. I still…,” he glances down at his hands, as if he’s afraid of them now. His powers. “You know.”

“Yeah. Not normal,” he agrees. “Maybe you’re…well, maybe we’re just destined to be crazy freaks for the rest of our lives.”

“As long as it’s crazy together, right?” Will asks, half-smile, as if he almost doesn’t expect Mike to get the joke. But he remembers. Of course he does.

“Yeah,” he smiles, glances away. Clears his throat, feeling the anxiety shoot up in his chest like spikes. “So, Will…about what happened…”

The atmosphere around them seems to shift entirely, like all the familiarity and intimacy between them has been sucked from the air. It reminds Mike of Before, when the air was full of poison and spores, and it hurt to breathe for too long. “Don’t worry, Mike,” he says, staring straight ahead. “I already know. I was there, and El wasn’t, and…”

“Wait, what?” Mike asks. Will just looks at him in confusion, as if Mike is the crazy one for the outburst.

“I know that El was the one you wanted to be with. I mean, we thought the world was about to end, and you wanted to spend your last moments with her, but I was the closest thing you had and…yeah. I get it, so you don’t need to explain. We’re good.” 

Will stands up, ready to walk away from the field and Mike and everything else, and something about the idea of Will leaving in this moment, turning his back to Mike and the field of flowers around them, something about it feels permanent and irreversible. 

Mike pushes himself off the ground in one quick movement. “You’re wrong,” he says. It echoes around him, forcing him to deal with the fact that he’d actually said the words out loud.

“What?” Will asks. 

“You’re wrong,” Mike says again, more boldly. “El wasn’t…she wasn’t the person I wanted to be with. I mean, fuck, Will, the world was ending, and the only thing I could think to do…the only thing I wanted to do, was kiss you. To kiss my best friend, who I was too stupid to realize I had feelings for all this time. Even when it was right in fucking front of me.”

“What are you talking about?” Will asks slowly, disbelieving.

“I know, Will. About the painting, I mean…El didn’t commission that from you, did she?”

Will is silent. He shakes his head, tears in his eyes. “No.”

“Then, if it wasn’t El, it must have…it had to have been…right?” He steps closer to Will, putting his hands on his face. Tentative, afraid. “Please tell me I’m not losing my mind.”

[you-were-alone-too]

the aftermath of eddie's death & what it means for mike's arc in season 5

someone may have already posted a similar theory before, so i apologize if i'm super late to this, but i've had this theory in mind ever since the s5 set pictures of dustin and mike were dropped, and i've been wanting to make a post about it ever since. basically, we're going to take a look at eddie's respective relationships with dustin and mike and how his death will affect them both, but especially mike in s5.

in s4, the show made it super clear that eddie had a close relationship with the boys in the party, more specifically mike and dustin (since lucas is on a quest to be popular and joined the basketball team, we can guess this prevented them from being as close). although we don't get to see much of eddie's relationship with mike, his friendship with dustin is heavily established throughout the entirety of the season. while both mike and dustin value eddie for being a cooler, older high school boy that embraces their shared interests despite the fact that it makes him an outcast, the impact of these relationships, and ultimately, his death, will affect them in completely different ways.

while both mike and dustin value eddie's commitment to embracing his true self/interests, the difference in the impact of their respective relationships is that mike struggles with the fact that he's different whereas dustin is more comfortable in his own identity.

a great example of this is when eddie talks about how he remembers the first time that he met dustin and mike; he says dustin was wearing a weird al t-shirt, which he "thought was brave," while mike was wearing "whatever his mommy bought him from the goddamn gap". not to mention mike trying to "dress cool" when he visits el in california, being afraid of seeming childish by playing d&d and liking christmas presents, not to mention:

so what does this have to do with their arcs in s5, particularly mike's?

eddie's character represents one of the show's core themes: non-conformity. right before eddie dies, he makes dustin promise to never change. and when dustin tells wayne that he was with eddie when the earthquake hit, the main thing he emphasizes is that eddie never changed even as he was dying.

one of the first scenes that gaten filmed for s5 shows him wearing his hellfire club t-shirt, which is now faded and full of holes, and his hair is also grown out even longer (possibly to resemble eddie's hair, like mike in s4). in the picture of the party members' hands on top of each other, we can also see he's wearing (presumably) one of eddie's rings.

as for mike, one of the first pictures we see of him on set for s5 shows him with a haircut and outfit that nearly resembles his appearance in s1. after the beginning of s4 showed mike growing out his hair (which was confirmed to be inspired by eddie), playing d&d again, and saying he doesn't want to be popular, we now see him in s5 conforming back to how he used to dress. how his parents want him to look. normal.

in the aftermath of eddie's death, it's clear that as a symbol of non-conformity and self-acceptance, his death has impacted dustin and mike in completely different ways.

for dustin, he sees eddie's untimely death as a legacy he must continue. a vow he made to eddie in his dying breath to never change. and now, he's sticking to his word by embracing all that eddie did and stood for in life, almost as if he's trying to physically emulate eddie to become that symbol for himself and others.

as for mike, he's lost without that symbol. he saw eddie as a symbol of hope, safety, and bravery, a person that made him feel like it's okay to be different, to stand out, to not conform with what society wants him to be. without eddie, he's on the opposite trajectory; now that eddie's gone, that reassurance and safety he felt about standing out is gone too, and now he's regressing into the person that he thinks everyone expects him to be.

it's not that shocking since as soon as he's away from eddie in s4, he goes back to trying to fit in around el. but what's even more interesting is that mike seems to become himself again once it's just him and will in s4; although will carries himself in a much more subtle way than eddie, will also inspires mike to feel confident in himself, to feel like he can be different.

but before there was eddie as a symbol of non-conformity, there was jonathan byers. from the get-go in season 1, we see jonathan encouraging will to be himself, such as telling him "you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to." then we see mike get a similar, louder version of this encouragement in the form of eddie. both mike and will have role models that encourage them to be different. both mike and will feel like they can be themselves around each other in a way they can't with anyone else because they're the same kind of different. "i saw you on the swings, and you were alone too" "maybe i feel like i lost you or something" "hawkins, it's not the same with you." "you make [me] feel like [i'm] not a mistake at all, like [i'm] better for being different" "we'll go crazy together, right?"

even though will does make mike feel like it's okay to be himself, it's not enough to fully pull him out of his shell. eddie had that power as an older male role model that mike could look up to and admire. someone that could give him a look into the future and show him that being different on the outside isn't all that bad. but then, not only does eddie die, but even in death, he's still viewed as satanic and monstrous because he was openly different.

now in s5, mike is going to have to come to grips with eddie's death and the loss he associates with that. how he thinks that eddie being dead is proof that standing out is dangerous, that it's wrong, that it's sinful. he has a lot of fear to work through, but in the end, he's going to get there, and will is going to be there at his side the entire time, reminding him that they make each other feel like they're better for being different, so it must not be so bad after all.

[you-were-alone-too]

if you're on stranger things or byler twitter, please do me a favor and go follow my new twitter account @/bylerpalisades !!

[you-were-alone-too]

i scrolled to the bottom of my blog and my first posts date back to over 6 years ago like WHAT THE FUCK...this blog is so old i used to tag mike/will posts as byler AND "byeler" bc the ship wasn't that popular yet and no one had agreed on a spelling for their ship name yet