here is the thing

the season scene with the bikes where mike and el talk is the DIRECT INVERSE of the season four fight scene.

“i understand” vs “what do i not understand?”

the deliberate use of mouthbreathers

them being on the same level vs different levels (physically)

PLATONIC FRIENDS VS ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED

the show wants you to notice a difference

spending that much time together just kissing is unnatural, just like hopper says it is. but it’s all either of them know to do! because mike has no desire to be in this relationship, and has no clue how to act so he gets all his pointers from the people around him but still misconstrues it and they both end up miserable. el just got out of the lab and doesn’t even know what it means to like someone and she is already in a relationship

it’s just not healthy. that’s the facts, i fear.

my love for michael wheeler grows every time i watch this freaking show

"Mike didn't love El at first sight. He treated her terribly."

"Well, he had just met her/didn't know her yet/was upset about Will!"

The analysis I'm working on is really opening my eyes...

Good old fashioned lover boy is one of my favorite Queen songs aaaand I think it suits them

food for thought....

So Finn's new st playlist (for s5) is really interesting.. Mike is gay, "it's a passing phase" "give it a hundred years, it won't go away' "I don't want to be the one whose coming out first" Mike wants Will to come out first and to confess first, the songs are really gay btw and "angst in my pants" is about being gay and.. frustrated

Will is what Mike needs, they need each other

Mike tried to lie to himself and pretend that he could love El but he can't (because he's gay and in love with Will)

Mike and El are gonna break up

Mike is down bad for Will

NEW LEAK:

supposedly this is where byler gets married

There are entire scenes written in the show that cannot really be explained logically without them being about setting up byler FROM Mike's perspective, whether he knows why he feels different or not it's not important what's important is that those scenes are there so that once byler happens and people rewatch the show they say "holy moly Mike here was catching feelings for Will! It makes sense!"

if Will's arc was only about unrequited love then so many scenes that MIKE has wouldn't be there... and also they wouldn't have set up the love triangle with the painting/mistaken feelings situation in the first place

I can understand not believing in it if you only watch until S3, you can dismiss some things, but in season 4 they continued and that's why people while watching started to ask themselves if someone else had seen the gay subtext scene like the airport not-hug and got online to find out and ended up shipping them... It's intentional 🥲

Between season 3-4 byler angst

Still not over this

I REALLY WANT MORE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN JOYCE AND MIKE. ITS GOING TO BE INCREDIBLY COOL. imagine them cooking together, or how Joyce accepts Mike as her family when he starts dating her son !!!

Low quality Mike pictures, you're welcome

*wakes up in a cold sweat after almost two years of hibernation* Stranger Things season 5. A random girls flirt with Mike. Enters Jealous Will Byers. A heart-to-heart. A confession. Byler's first kiss. Yes, I see the vision. Byler Nation, please accept this humble offering:

Almost as if Netflix Nordic wanted everyone to say Mleven… 🤔👀

And they did:

Now I don’t love the unnecessary Mike hate but for sure after their breakup people will better see Mike as who he really is and start liking him again :)

I always think about that “damn bro he’s not going anywhere” joke every time I see this pic but then I remember that Will has gone somewhere and almost didn’t come back and Mike is terrified of that happening again and then nothing is funny anymore