no, they can’t stop holding hands
i keep seeing a lot of milevens saying “they spent so much time building up mileven why would they just knock it right down after all that time??? 🥺🥺🥺” like ok first of all, i do believe he had feelings for her in s1-s2, but i’m also sure he had some feelings for will and didn’t know how to deal with them (also he lost will for a bit) and so he maybe wanted to repress those feelings with someone else (also straight heteronormative shit. it’s the 80’s. you think he was gonna try to rizz up lucas or dustin??? no!) so he chose el. she took a bit of interest in him and so he probably took that as a sign to say “oh yeah. she’ll be a good distraction for me” but in s3 when they broke up, they should’ve stayed broken up. el looked WAY happier when she was away from mike. he was controlling. like HOPPER. who was also FAMILY to her. but also their “make up” (if you even call it that) was literally her just kissing him. his ass did NOT have his eyes closed or look like her was enjoying it. he was like “wait what..??? like bitch what..??? 🤨???” like he was confused. he also kinda had the mike wheeler grimace™️. and in s4 they didn’t communicate properly. they just sent letters back and forth to each other and didn’t even talk about their relationship problems. let’s not forget that she directly compared him to DR BRENNER. THE GUY WHO TRAUMATIZED HER. you think that’s romantic??? also in the end she was standing on the hill/field thing on her own. (independent queen el we love you 💅🏼) meanwhile mikes gayass was paired with will.
so i guess your precious ship isn’t that much romantic at all, is it?
Shut up everyone with "Byler kiss in the Upside Down" "Byler rain kiss" "Byler kiss–" BRO WHAT ABOUT A BYLER KISS ON THE SWINGS????
Will & Missing Left Hand Imagery
I’m not actually too confident on the possibility of this happening, but there a couple interesting points that points to Will possibly losing his left hand.
There is this screenshot from 2x02 where Will’s sleeve covers his left hand:
And this image where granted it is a bit unclear, but Will’s left hand also seems to be covered by his sleeve.
Potential Parallels
Jonathan has an Evil Dead poster in his room. In Evil Dead II, Ash Williams saws off his hand with a chainsaw after it has been taken over by an evil spirit.
Lately @bylrndgm and I have been exploring some parallels between this show and Twin Peaks. In TP there is a man named Mike who is missing his left arm. He cut his arm off in order to free himself from an evil spirit.
(RIP Al Strobel)
The Left Hand of Vecna
The Left Hand of Vecna is an item in DnD that is, quite literally is the severed left hand of Vecna. Eddie even mentions in his campaign that Vecna is missing his left eye and left hand. Granted this could easily just be foreshadowing for Vecna’s fucked up Freddy Krueger hand.
According to the Forgotten Realms Wiki, “The Hand was a desiccated, mummified left hand. In order to use its powers, the wielder needed to cut off his or her own left hand at the wrist and press the Hand of Vecna against the remainder of the arm. The artifact then magically grafted itself onto its wearer and became a functioning limb.”
Honestly, I’m not super confident in this theory nor do I necessarily think that it will happen, I just found it interesting that there was so much supporting evidence and wanted to line it all up here.
So I’m not saying Will is going to cut off his left hand. I’m also not not saying that he’s going to cut off his left hand.
Prev tags thanks for reminding me that Mike has this imagery associated with him too!!
So not only is there the character named Mike from TP who has a missing arm, during the DnD game from s3 this happens:
Remembered one from the season 4 DNA board! The Fly!! He melts off the guys LEFT HAND
A dutchie is a joint in a cigar tube, so I believe the song was referencing the rolled up painting Will passes with his left hand. It could be a nod to him getting Vecna’d, but it’s kind of interesting that there’s so much of this imagery with him!
idk whats happening to me tonight but its like 3 am and i just cranked out a byler fic.... im on like a creativity high so if anyone reads this i hope you enjoy!! <3
Will startles awake, his breath coming in painful gasps. Another nightmare. He can’t do anything but lay, frozen, on his back, trying to catch his breath and see what's real. He can still only see the bloody red color of Vecna’s mindspace. Someone grabs his arm and he flinches.
“Shh… It’s okay, Will. It’s just me. It’s just us here. You’re safe.”
Mike is rubbing Will’s shoulder and whispering comforting things in his ear. Will’s muscles start to relax, his breathing coming easier and easier by the second until he is completely calmed down.
“Okay?” Mike asks, his face a worried knot of emotions.
Will turns on his side to look into Mike’s eyes. God, they’ve always been so pretty. A beautiful chocolatey shade of brown that will always make Will’s heart melt when he sees them. He nods, trying to keep the blush out of his cheeks.
“Can you tell me five things you can see right now?”
“Mike,” Will whispers. “I said I’m okay.”
“I know but I can feel how fast your heart is going.”
Will sighs. “Five?”
“Okay fine. Three.”
Will rolls back on to his back, sighs again, and pushes himself into a sitting position, groaning softly. Mike does the same, but without the sighing and groaning.
“I can see the table…”
“Nope, too easy. Try again.”
“Ugh, okay. Umm… I see that vase on the windowsill.”
“Good. Two more.” Mike holds up two fingers.
“Um, okay. I can see… The book Dustin fell asleep reading.”
Mike puts down his middle finger leaving only his index finger up to symbolize only one thing left to find. “Bonus points if you can tell me the name of the book.”
Will giggles softly. “Mike, it’s too dark!”
Mike smiles. “Okay fine. Just one more thing left, then!”
“Uhh… Oh! El’s bracelet.”
“Yay! You win!” Mike whispers in a silly voice, leaning over to grab Will into a hug.
“What do I win exactly?” Will asks, laughing quietly as Mike pulls him into his lap.
“My affection,” Mike says, still using a silly voice but Will can tell he’s being genuine. Mike takes Will’s hand and kisses his knuckles softly. Will nearly melts at the touch. How are Mike’s lips always so goddamn soft?
“That’s a pretty damn good prize, if I do say so myself,” Will mumbles, barely audible.
“Well I’m glad you think so,” Mike whispers in his normal voice, dropping Will’s hand. He moves his fingers to Will’s hair, stroking it and playing with it, brushing it off his forehead and smoothing it back.
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah,” Will sighs, eyes drooping closed. “Much better.”
“Good.”
They stay like that for a while, who knows how long, until Will is definitely asleep again. He is sitting sideways in Mike’s lap and his head is resting on his shoulder, forehead pressed against the crook of his neck. Mike is comfortable like this and doesn’t want to wake his sleepy boyfriend-- he needs more sleep than anyone-- so he leaves him there and tries to go back to sleep too.
Mike is reawoken before the sun is up by Will shivering in his arms. Will has hated being cold ever since the Mind Flayer was in him. He’s never explicitly said this but Mike can just tell. He reaches behind them to the pile of blankets on the sofa and pulls one off the top, carefully draping it over Will so as to not wake him up.
Jesus, Mike thinks. He’s so pretty. He looks so peaceful in his sleep. I wish he could look like this during the day… I wish he could be not-stressed enough to look like this during the day…
Will’s eyebrows furrow and he stirs. Mike suddenly panics and, not being able to think of anything better to do, he leans his head back and pretends to be asleep.
He hears Will sigh and then out of nowhere he kisses Mike’s chin softly. It’s all Mike can do not to shiver. Because that was so close to his mouth what is Will thinking it’s too early for Mike to have a gay heart attack. He feels a hot blush creeping up his neck and prays that Will doesn’t notice.
Will finds one of Mike’s hands under the blanket and holds it close to his heart. “I love you,” he whispers into it.
Mike feels like he’s about to have a heart attack, die, come back to life, get the shit slapped out of him, and then die again.
Will doesn’t let go of Mike’s hand as he snuggles up against the latter’s chest and closes his eyes again.
Oh shit, Mike thinks. I bet he can hear my heartbeat. But after waiting a few seconds, Will either doesn’t notice or isn’t bothered because he doesn’t say or do anything. Mike is relieved.
Once Will’s breath evens out with sleep again, Mike presses his lips to the side of his lover’s head and whispers, “I love you, too.” into his hair.
Anonymous asked:
What I really find concerning is that many people romanticise Milkvan as a co-dependnt relationship (with takes like if one of them were to d*e the other one would immediately unalive themself - somebody literally said this on Reddit and of course received tons of upvotes). Now there are certainly people who find co-dependency very romantic but actually it is highly unhealthy since it makes growth and individual development impossible. And therefore to romanticise co-dependency is anti-growth.
Many Milkvans whine "Oh these evil Bylers just want El to be forever miserable under the accuse that a break-up with Mike is apparently female independence and growth. But true female independence is that she chooses to be with Mike." But so far Milkvan's relationship only seems to promote co-dependency: Mike feels indebted to El because she saved his life numerous times. El feels indebted to Mike because he was the first person to treat her with kindness and showed her that he genuinely cared about her as a person.
And I feel like due to this indebtedness both characters refuse to contemplate whether their feelings for each other may only be platonic or romantic. Nobody ever really tells El and Mike their relationship is wrong: Even the instance with Hopper is played off as a dad who refuses to see his daughter date at all. So nothing about El "choosing" Mike is romantic at the moment because ever since she met him she never really knew there was a choice at all. And she only starts learning it at the end of Season 4 so we have barely scraped the beginning of the storyline where El (and later also Mike) get to choose
Anon, you nailed this!
I think I saw that comment in Reddit. I think I even replied to it (and got downvoted so badly).
I guess this mindset is because we’ve been taught that Romeo and Juliet is as good as romance gets. And relationships have forever been really toxic because of gender inequality. Now, in same-sex relationships there is none of that imbalance, and it has shown us what it looks like to be in a relationship purely based on love, not looks and expectations.
”I can’t live without you” is not romantic. It’s obsessive, unhealthy, and not true.
”I don’t want to live without you” is romantic. It shows that the person chooses to live with the other person because they love them. Not for any other reason than that.
Thank you for writing this, my English wouldn’t have been good enough to explain this thing but you did it perfectly!
Wow I just found this in my drafts, can’t believe I never posted it…
Imagine if Mike’s monologue to Will in season 2 went like this instead…
(dramatic music in the background)
Joyce: “Mike say something to him!! You’re the only one who can save him!!”
Mike: “Will, can you hear me? Are you in there? I want you to know I’m here… and… befriending you was the best thing I’ve ever done! Will, can you hear me? It was the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve never doubted that, never! And I’m sorry I haven’t said it before! But I’m scared that maybe one day maybe you don’t want to be my friend anymore. And I thought that if I would have said what I felt maybe that day would… hurt more! But the truth is I don’t want to live without you! I felt like my life started that day I found you on the swings! You were wearing that old green jacket. And it was so big it almost swollowed you whole! And I knew right then and there that meeting you was the best thing I’ve ever done! And I have known it ever since! I feel it on your good days, on your bad days, when you’re a super spy and when you’re not. You’re my super spy! And I can’t lose you! Do you hear me? I can’t lose you! You can do anything! You can fly and move mountains, I believe that! I really do! But now you have to break free and fight. Fight, Will! Fight! You need to fight! You have to fight! Fight! Fight! FIGHT!!”
And now, imagine if Mike’s monologue to El in season 4 went like this…
Mike: “Do you remember the night that we met?”
El is listening.
Mike: “It was a cold, rainy night… Will was missing and I was out there looking for him with Lucas and Dustin. I felt so hopeless, so alone, and so scared. But… then… suddenly… I saw you. Right in front of me. Right there in the woods. You were alone too. I just walked right up to you and… I asked. I asked if you wanted to come home with me. You gave me a nod. You gave me a nod. El…. I love you.”
Mike probably realized he was queer in like season three, and he probably thought he had to be a better boyfriend to El so the gay would go away, but then he realized that it's not going to go away, no matter how hard he tries to be straight. And in season four he really starts to fall for Will, but he feels guilty because he has a girlfriend
Steve cries when he sees his first grey hairs. Eddie is trying to console him, telling him that he loves his grey hairs and that hes gorgeous but steve tells him to stop. Steve smiles as he looks at his husband, still crying as he does.
“Do you realize what this means?”
“What?”
“It means i survived.”
read on ao3 originally posted: 10/25/22
really though, think about it.
girls in robin's year would totally still be hung up over steve "the hair" harrington. king steve. the boy they've created in their heads and would kill for a shot to go out with.
so when they see his beemer in the parking lot after school on the first day in 1985, a game of telephone immediately starts. they gossip about how he's there to see a girl, nevermind the fact he'd never go for someone still in high school (unless you're a boy whose repeating his senior year but that isn't relevant just yet), and names start flying. news reaches inside the school building quickly and the halls are filled with whispers.
no one gets close to him. it's almost as if everyone is waiting with baited breath to see who's going to get in the car. they watch and discreetly point and make their predictions until a hush falls over them when they see steve perk up and sit in his seat a little straighter, turning his key in the ignition and starting the car. everyone looks around for the girl he's inevitably taking home, and the building doors slam open with a bang! and robin buckley comes tumbling out onto the sidewalk with all the gracefulness of a newborn foal. they pay her no mind and keep watch for the absolutely beautiful girl that has the honor of sitting in his passenger seat.
and then robin buckley moves in and throws her backpack into his backseat before sitting shotgun. says something that has steve letting out the most ugly cackle they've ever heard, a giant grin on his face.
there's no way.
how did robin buckley manage to capture the former king of hawkins for herself?
they watch as steve backs out of the parking space, still laughing and engrossed in whatever conversation the two of them are having, and drive away.
Destinationless blurb, drunk Stobin, I'm cleaning out my drafts so just ya know, have this:
Eddie’s heart has only just crawled back down his throat at the sight of the two loons (see: perfectly in one peice) in front of him. Chrissy covers her mouth and giggles beside him like she hadn’t been just as pale-faced with worry as he had been.
“Barkeep! Another Margarita please!” Steve slurs before pivoting dramatically (see: precariously) in his barstool.
“It’s por favor dingus.” Robin titters beside him sending Chrissy into absolute fits of smothered laughter.
Eddie had gotten a call from a stranger not twenty minutes before he arrived informing him that ‘a dude with good hair gave this number’ and ‘you gotta come scrape these guys out of their seats’. Truth be told, neither Robin or Steve are particularly heavy drinkers. More often then not, one or both of them will get a few drinks in before they start muttering about Russians and sequester themselves in the nearest bathroom.
Eddie pointed clears his throat. Steve spins in his seat, eyes wide but his smile even wider.
“Eddie!” Steve shouts when his eyes finally focus. Immediately he’s trying to stand but it seems alcohol and gravity are not on Harrington’s side this evening. Steve looks at the floor and flaps an indignant hand at the sticky tile like it had literally anything to do with the Troublesome Twesome’s current state of being. Eddie’s a little disgusted with himself that he finds it so endearing. It’s like being greeted by an oversized puppy.
At Steve’s exclaimation, Robin spins in her seat as well. Soon they’re tumbling out of their stools in a tangle of overexcited limbs.
“Thank God you’re here.” Robin heaves herself forward and sighs deeply. “The drinks here are- they’re- it’s all been-“
“That bartender is a fucking sneak.” Steve hisses with a surprising amount of venomous coherency. “She’s a sneaky little snake and she- she- poison! She poisoned us!”
“Hey!” The woman behind the bar throws up her hands. “It’s Tipple Tuesday dudes. I told you the drinks were strong.” She waves her hand at some promotional sign Eddie doesn’t read fully because before he can root out the cause of his boyfriends inebriation, Steve is wedging himself into Eddie’s arms.
“Help me.” Robin says very plainly to Chrissy. Her face is perfectly pleasant like she hasn’t just said something incredibly alarming given the green tint slowly rising in her cheeks. Apparently Chrissy doesn’t respond quickly enough because Robin promptly turns away from her.
“Steven Basilio Harrington!” Robin barks.
“What the fuck.” Steve whispers in what can only be described as annoyed terror. “Why would you say it like that? Just my whole name in front of- in front of God and everyone.”
“We have to leave!” Robin continues to shout.
“That’s why we’re here, sweetie.” Chrissy starts gently corralling Robin towards the door. It’s not as straightforward as one would hope. Robin keeps vacillating between righteous indignation at the manhandling and exhilaration at Chrissy’s presence. Eddie has the much easier job which is to simply lift Steve up and waddle them both out the door.
Two blocks from their shared apartment, Steve stops in the middle of the sidewalk. He throws a self important hand out to his side. “Robin!” The woman in question looks at him as if any minute now he might reveal the meaning of life or the secret to teleportation. “I’m gonna hurl.” He declares this loudly. Several pedestrians frown in their direction.
“Ugh.” Robin replies with feeling. “Great idea. I’ll go next.”
The pair of them waltz into a nearby alley like- like they’re just waiting in line all patientlike to buy a muffin. Eddie and Chrissy share a look of exhasperation just in time to hear the sounds of violent vomiting down the alley.
When Steve and Robin re-emerge, it’s with them leaning heavily on one another. Both of them have been reduced to heaving sobs.
“I’m just saying.” Steve hiccups. “I would. I so would. As many as you want. Just all of the- all the babies you want. I’ll have them. For you.”
“Oh my god me too. I mean not now. That’s an- it’s just the time. Or it isn’t. Isn’t the time but I will. Cuz our- cuz Chrissy can’t make babies with me but oh my god they would be so pretty.” Robin babbles in return.
“What the fuck?” Chrissy mutters. Eddie nods enthusiastically because what the fuck?
“Yeah. Fuck, Eddie is just- if we could put out hair together you know? I mean obviously I can’t have babies but like- I would- you could have my baby juice.” Steve nods and, wonders never cease, shakes Robin’s hand as if they’ve concluded a business transaction.
Robin bursts into a fresh round of tears. “Oh my god that’s so disgusting thank you so much.”
Confused, bemused, and just a tiny bit concerned about the reproductive plans their partners are apparently making amongst themselves, Eddie and Chrissy just shove the Dickhead Duo into the bathroom when they get home along with a bottle of Tylenol and several glasses of water.
the way mike’s decision to keep up the facade of platonic feelings is making them both miserable because this is mike, right after saying he’s dating el and will is just his friend.
and then this is will believing mike and thinking that they’re never going to be anything more than friends.
it’s the same longing look, a shot taken in the moment of them both thinking that staying away is the best decision they can make, yet unintentionally achieving the opposite and making the other one miserable.