doing a stranger things rewatch with my mom but trying to subtly convert her to the church of bylerism like “wow mike is really worried about will 👀” and “mike and eleven kind of lose their charm after season 1 don’t you think ☺️” and “it’s cool that they’ve been planting seeds for will and mikes relationship since the very beginning 🥰”

When season 5 comes out, I will have to rent a rural Airbnb or something so I can guttural scream and cry while watching byler kiss without disturbing any neighbors. (dead serious)

If I said that Eddie's "I love you" to Dustin in the same episode as Mike's monologue was a reminder that not all love confessions are romantic.....

i love you independent el. i love you bi el. i love you pan el. i love you lesbian el. i love you ace el. i love you elmax. i love you henderhop. i love you hopclair. ….midleven….. i love you aroace el. i love you platonic elmike. i love you willel. i love you jonel. i love you el hopper!!!!!! <3

Antibylers sometimes make good points like "Mike threw away El's letter for the agents to find it later, that's how stories progress"

Absolutely, but Mike could've put it in his pants pocket and it could've fell out during the shooting. That would've actually been the greatest metaphor for their relationship. The letter would symbolize his need to hold on to her and dropping it would represent chaos ensuing around them causing him to lose her. But instead he threw it away with no hesitation lmao

I'm just suggesting there was a reason for that.

“i’M a No. 1 MiLkVaN dEfeNder”

What are u defending them from???? THE TRUTH???!!!

el and mike are only in a relationship bc they both want to feel normal

ok the more I think about it, even byler/gay Mike COMPLETELY aside, it truly does baffle me how so many of the GA looked at a girl who escaped a lab for the first time in her life, didn’t know what privacy or friends were, didn’t know how to figure out her own interests/what she likes, had never known genuine kindness with no strings attached, saw her ask if Mike would be her brother, saw multiple other familial parallels between Mike and El’s family AND between Mike and Brenner, saw El and Mike actively having NO shared interests, saw her getting into a relationship a WEEK after escaping the lab and went “yep! that’s totally normal and cool and will lead to a completely healthy relationship down the line!”

genuinely I worry for the ga sometimes because holy shit. it’s one thing to be like “yeah they’re both kids figuring it out, it’s cute at the time but clearly shouldn’t last for the sake of both their mental health,” vs to think that it’s genuinely a good, normal, healthy ship. it baffles me how much of the ga idolizes milkvan as some great relationship. even looking at the YouTube comments. and it’s not just kids who don’t know any better?? there’s SO many adults who think it’s a completely fine and normal dynamic and compare it to their own relationships?? and I’m like?? babe?? get OUT of that relationship??

interesting how mike starts to get bullied for being queer (via relation to will) and then lucas jokes about him liking el and then he suddenly kisses her at the end of the season. almost seems like mike was suddenly feeling the pressure of being different in a new, more personal way (getting called ugly vs getting called queer) and was presented with the first girl he ever actually cared about and his little 12 year old brain latched onto the idea that he was supposed to like her bc she’s a girl and they cared about each other. it’s almost like they show us this by having mike refer to her as the female species and being unable to understand her while also constantly showing us he’s protective of her and cares about her. it’s almost like he LITERALLY SAYS “I care for you so much.” and she responds “Care. But you don’t love me anymore?” AND HE DOESNT SAY HE LOVES HER

so far EI has lied to Mike about being popular, being good at math / getting good grades, and having finally adapted to her new hometown. I honestly don’t see any other reason for this choice narratively other than to illustrate that midleven just doesn’t work long term.

Since season 1 “friends don’t lie” has been established as a fundamental principle, not only between EI and Mike but also the entire party (Lucas telling Max about it szn2, etc) Yet it seems like EI and Mike are the ones that have the most trouble adhering to it.

To me, it seems midleven is nothing more than one of those middle school puppy crushes that fizzle out as both parties mature and gain a better understanding of themselves as people. Tell me how many people do you know irl that got together at age twelve and stayed together for longer than 3 years?

EI feels as if she has to lie, in order to keep Mike interested in her, in order to be liked by him. Literally try and tell me that’s not a toxic dynamic to have. I think her character arc is about overcoming childhood trauma, finding herself, becoming her own person, and developing healthy relationships with people who truly care about her. Not being the MC’s gf.

You know whose relationship has been shown to be based on trust and honesty ever since the show began? Mike and Will’s. I literally can’t not acknowledge this juxtaposition anymore to me it feels 100% intentional with the number of times they keep chanting the phrase “friends don’t lie”

if I was a guy not in love with my girlfriend, but she was fighting a monster inside of her head and needed one last push to not die, I would simply tell her that I love her

they cut will's "losing you hurts too much" and mike's "she's already starting to realize she doesn't need me"

they said they edited the van scene to be "more subtle"

what exactly are they making more subtle if not byler endgame and milkvan bones?????

Mike literally RUNNING AWAY after their first kiss SENDS ME

El herself looks so confused-- I--

Mike found it harder and harder to date El the more feminine she presented, because it made it harder to lie to himself

🤷‍♂️

what i’m about to say probably won’t make sense but, if your favorite season of st is season two, you’re probably a byler. if your favorite season is season three, you’re probably apart of the GA or a mlvn

The weirdest pro-m!leven argument is wanting El to be with Mike because it would be validating for traumatised women, that they can be loved and if El doesn't end up with Mike, it will take that away from them.

...Joyce? Nancy? Max?

It's just a testiment to entitlement tbh

"yOu'Re MiSoGyNiStiC iF yOu wAnT eL aLoNe?" Sure because every traumatised girl could really use a boyfriend that emotionally neglects her.

People won't see the flaws in m!leven because they don't want to. And in my opinion, it's pure entitlement to a cishet narrative to want m!leven together. They're not compatible in a romantic way, the series keeps showing us that. There are multiple traumatised women who are actively thriving in their personal and romantic relationships so this is just a piss poor excuse to me. Especially since El nor Mike are happy with their relationship. And in my opinion, this blatant disregard for the characters and their needs in addition to some opinions on Will is so telling. People just don't want to see a mlm couple on a popular show because they'd have to face that queers are just as soft and loving as everyone else, and we belong in any narrative. They don't want us to be humanized. They want us alone, killed off, no happy ending.

Feel the need to defend yourself? Argue with the ground.