July 6, 1985. Dear diary. Do people actually write that?
This is so stupid.
Nancy does this everyday? how does she sit down and write stuff about her dates or school and feelings?
I normally like writing. But the way you can lose yourself in a fantasy world, not about stupid feelings. I write, so we have cool campaigns, it's not real, just made up stuff. At least it used to be, before demogorgons showed up and messed with everything. How dare they take Will, how dare the mind flayer possess and use Will as a spy. It should have been me who was taken that night, not Will, never Will.
Nancy says, no she insisted that a diary can fix 'my moody teenage brain.' Our Mom agreed with her. She always does that. Perfect Nancy, would they also think that, if they knew she kept guns in her room and have been fighting monsters? Probably she would still be perfect because Nancy can do no wrong.
Maybe I lashed out a bit when Nancy gifted me the diary, but that's because dad was giving this look that screams 'there's something wrong with you' and mom keeps saying, she thinks I have been getting more angry lately, I'm not angry, I just, everything is so confusing.
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Byler and Mike's weird wording during the rain fight.
Sure the fight technically starts in the basement as Mike answers how they will finish the campaign.
This obviously pisses Will off and Mike notices trying to smooth it over by saying.
"Will I was just messing around" and "hey let's finish for real, how long is the campaign?" only to be yelled at in response (not judging Will)
"just forget it Mike!" you truly can't blame the boy, he just wants to hang out with his friends. Of course Mike again try and smooth over the situation "No we wanna keep playing right?" he looks at Lucas for help when saying it. Sure it's a lie because they were bored before, yet Mike doesn't want to hurt Will. Funny he didn't seem that concerned when El broke up with him.
But in true Mike fashion, he messes up by saying " we'll just call the girls afterwards "not understanding why Will is upset and hurt in this moment.
Let's then go to the actual fight.
"you're destroying everything and for what? so you can swap spit with some stupid girl?"
"El's not stupid! It's not my fault you don't like girls!"
Mike's response is so strange if you take it at face value, why exactly say thoes words in response to being told, you're ruining your party, because you can't tell where Dustin is and you only care about kissing your girlfriend?
He's being called out for messing with the friendship dynamics. Sure you can take Mike's words as saying "it's not my fault, you can't seem to find a girlfriend." or "you wouldn't find it stupid if you could kiss a girl."
Mike hates change and it was shown in season 2 doing Halloween or just because of Max in general. It's also strange to lash out at Will this way "it's not my fault?" like Will isn't saying anything that could indicate this. Mike also knows how bullies call Will slurs and thinks his's gay. So again why that specific wording Mike?
In a lot of shows it probably would have sounded like "you're just jealous" yet Mike goes for "it's not my fault you don't like girls."
I don't have answers, I just find it funny and a strange choice for Mike to yell in anger thoes words. If Byler wasn't the plan in some some way. I can't help but see a boy, who is getting defensive about his own insecurities and lashes out a little close to home. Mike's projecting on to Will and regrets it the second the words leaves his mouth.
Will and Mike was searching for their friends after getting separated from them in the upside down after fight and running away from demogorgons. Soon they find themselves right in front of the church and since Mike injured his leg they decids to take shelter.
They have a soft moment as Will cleans Mike's wound and as Will tells him his's crazy from trying to protect them by kicking a demogorgon.
Mike stares wide eyed at Will only to burst out in laughter, it's too funny... Not only does this remind him of that summer he was a dick, the word crazy sparks clarity on something he once said
Unfortunately they don't talk much about it, because Will detracts Mike by pointing out a sword hanging.
I don't know how much time passes after, Will finish cleaning Mike's wound, but in the middle of Mike trying to come out to Will a voice just says "confessing your sins Michael?" at first Mike thinks he's the one getting Vecna'd. Soon it's clear that Will is back to being possessed not by the mind flayer, but Vecna.
Mike quickly runs as fast as he can with an injury and grabs the sword for protection. But he can't get himself to harm Will.
As the fight goes on Vecna is taunting Mike saying things like, "you think he would ever love someone like you?" or "vile creatures should burn"
Mike is trying to bring Will back, get him to fight against Vecna.
What brings Will back isn't some confession of love nor is it Mike dying. It's the imagine of his own hands trying to strangle Mike, the blood running down his face from a split eyebrow and the small smile on his face as he whispers.
"I might be the heart, but you're the soul, you're the soul Will"
I love writing Mike feeling as if he is unimportant, that his existence is insignificant to the point, he would look at each of his friends and thinks everything will be fine as long as they live.
This is exactly why I want Mike to be the one kidnapped, not only does it isolate Mike even further. It also proves his mindset wrong when his friends and family does everything in their power to save him.
Nancy would hug him and kiss the top of his head, something she did when he was little.
Will would also hug Mike and cry into his shoulder out of relief
Why I can't look at Mike Wheeler in season 1 and see, a what? 12 year old? have a crush on the first girl who probably didn't call him gross or boring.
Not only is Mike focused on wanting Will back and sure his best friend is alive, he also technically isn't getting El's attention when he acts his age, trying to show her his toys.
Mike keeps getting told his own feelings, I think Lucas is right partly when he lashes out at Mike, but other moments it feels like Mike is being told he likes El (his momemt with Nancy)
When Mike kisses El it just feels like he is following what he thinks he's supposed to and not a real want to kiss her.
I don't even think Mike understands what a crush is. He probably uses Nancy and his parents as a guideline regarding relationships. Which means he forces himself to do what's expected of him, not what he truly wants.
Maybe I'm biased and sees Mike as a boy fighting against his true feelings and also not understanding himself wheel enough so he follows the norm and does what is expected of him instead of looking inwards.
Stranger things should have told the story of two gay boys navigating their identities in two different ways and still finding their way to each other and I will die on that hill.
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Here's the thing, I love seeing how similar Holly and Mike truly are and how Holly is more judged for her head in clouds thing. Mike seems to be judged on being childish and a nerd more.
It's a good opportunity to explore the Wheeler siblings bond, Mike has apparently been thinking about what DND class Holly is and I think it's super sweet he sees her as a cleric (probably could be due to her artist side) it also probably means he has done the same with Nancy at one point?
My point is more that Holly shouldn't have been the main target for Vecna. I mentioned before how Mike should have been taken. I still stand by this.
I imagine Holly being a target to distract from the real goal. She does get taken by the Demogorgon and is running around the upside down scared and screaming for her family. Mike sees the gate in his house first and almost runs into it but is stopped by El who promises to find Holly, but Mike and Nancy needs to help their parents (Ted is a lost cause)
Somehow Holly gets out of the upside down and she is hurt when Will and Robin finds her a day later, as everyone is frantically looking for her.
Doing all this somehow Mike gets taken being the real target of Vecna's plans.
Nancy will be relieved to have Holly back only to be hit with the realization of Mike being taken instead.
Since I am working on my Byler perspective video I am looking into season 5.
I just noticed something interesting doing the episode The vanishing of Holly Wheeler, Nancy freaking out about not telling their parents the truth and feeling like they are getting punished by Vecna. It doesn't feel like a Nancy respond. It feels like something Mike would have said, they could have acted faster, he could have acted faster. Of course Nancy would feel guilt due to the vision Vecna showed her in season 4, but I still think she would have acted differently trying to see the situation more logical and plan.
Where Mike should be freaking out, because what's happening makes no sense, why take Holly? Why almost kill their parents? He would blame himself, wish he was taken instead, that maybe if he was just a little faster everything would be okay. Maybe even blame Nancy for failing at Killing Vecna.
Nancy should be a detective about it, trying to hide her guilt and shame in not being able to protect her family. While Mike should have a spontaneous breakdown.
Not to say Nancy shouldn't show emotions obviously she would just not in front of Mike, I liked her breaking apart in bathroom washing of her mother's blood.
Mike being mostly emotionless doing this is weird.
What Stranger things did wrong for it's queer audience and outcasts.
To discuss this let me first mention, the movie Little women has a moment that absolutely breaks my heart as Jo wants to publish her writing a man tells her.
"if the main character is a girl, make sure she is married by the end. Or dead"
El might not be the main character, but she is part of the main cast, she unfortunately gets the death ending. It's sickening that her whole character gets thrown away, that she never truly gets to belong. A lot of her writing is strange and she should have had an arc about being independent. Being her own self while finding a family (the Byers and Hopper) not about her romantic relationship with Mike (which should have been handled differently and ended in season 4)
Instead they make her exactly what she didn't wanna be, a weapon, a superhero and a sacrifice. By making Mike tell a story at the end saying she's alive, they take away the last decision she ever made.
Now let's talk about Will because he is faild just as much in this story. (read more below)
Will doesn't fit into bury your gays, yet he is treated horribly, he gets violated (that scene in season 5 did not need to exist) he is possessed by the mind flayer.
He gets pushed down, he has to be hopeless for so much of the story to the point, he sacrifices his own happiness (that's how I see the, he's just my Tammy moment and obviously the van scene)
Will doesn't get a queer joy experience, he is in love with Mike and yet he never is allowed to confess and get closure on it. He isn't given a coming out moment on his own terms and he loses his sister. In the epilogue they don't even give Will a Mike story that focuses on his art, yet they say he finds a boyfriend (that looks like Mike... Probably says more about Mike)
Mike Wheeler, from the start it's never made clear what exactly makes him an outcast, yet a lot of the homophobia spoken about Will is directed at Mike.
Obviously Mike is a nerd and his friend group alone probably is part of the reason he is bullied. Mike gets called frog face so he is also made fun of for his looks. Perhaps Mike doesn't fit a traditional role of a boy his age and that's what makes him an outcast. (would give him and Will a similar struggle from two different angles)
At some point we stop understanding Mike because the story never allows him to explore his own feelings and actions and so the audience is as confused about Mike as any other character. They don't focus on his actions, like jumping into the quarry, protecting Max and having no regards for his own safety.
Mike reads as a queer characters that wasn't allowed to exist a character that was forced into a dynamic he wasn't comfortable in. Aka his relationship with El. A lot of Mike's actions makes no sense for boy who's supposed to be in love.
The rain fight and his break up with El.
He immediately runs to apologize to Will, but has no idea what to do about El so he doesn't do anything unless told too.
The fights in season 4.
With Will he's the one making assumptions (what about us, we're friends) he was paying attention to every little detail about Will being sad or annoyed, yet couldn't tell that El was lying and also putting on a mask?
He can't say "I love you" to El until after he given the painting and hears Will's feelings. Will also has to tell Mike to confess.
There are so many strange moments that does not add up if you read Mike as straight. Even his ending a sad storyteller? I can relate to Mike a lot. I used to hide my true self, to second guess every action I took. And be to scared to speak up.
In the end it seems like stranger things tells a story about outcasts who should throw away their childhood and grow up. Remember don't be different and queer joy doesn't exist.
El wasn't allowed to be a person she became the sacrifice or whimsy a childhood.
Will Byers's using his sas on Eddie is probably the funniest thing ever.
In my fic Will only joined Hellfire to hang out with his friends and because Mike looked happy so maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
As time goes on Eddie and Will slowly starts to have a silent beef. Will is jealous that Mike is adoring Eddie. Also Eddie is an ass, a jerk and Will can't figure him out why talk a big game when you judge just as much?
While Eddie is annoyed about how Will carries himself, the way he seems unapologetically himself something Eddie preaches, yet is insecure about it. Eddie's insecurities makes him a jerk (not an excuse) he acts this way because the world sees a freak show. Yet Will faces as much judgement from their town and he is kind and sweet. Eddie envies Will for his kindness.
Eddie also has a hard time separating both Mike and Will from Nancy and Jonathan (even if he never hung out with either of them.)
I have a whole arc planned for Eddie and Will's relation.
i want to start by saying that i am so deeply sorry for everyone who read and actively supported wheezingwheeler and super soaker. without the things that have recently come out there was no way to know that they had been using AI to write. so many of my friends and mutuals loved this work and its so disheartening to see the disappointment that is circulating.
i’ve made my thoughts on AI abundantly clear (here) many times, but i haven’t really said my piece on AI fan fiction.
i am a firm believer that fan fiction (and most other fan created content) is the purest form of art. no one that writes fan fiction is doing it for any kind of profit or recognition. they do it because they love their fandom and they want to see the characters that they love get the endings and stories they deserve. using AI to create fan fiction takes away the heart and soul that makes it so special.
as a fan fiction author, it’s so discouraging to see a fic written by AI gain so much traction. while i understand that there was no real way to know for certain up until now, it’s still upsetting. to know that an art form that i pour a lot of love and attention into can be made within seconds by a robot and do so well is so sick to me.
i personally never read super soaker (i read the first two chapters a few days ago and something felt off so i didn’t continue) but i’ve seen so much fan art and discussion of it that im pretty familiar with it. there’s no doubt about how big of an impact this fic has had on this fandom.
being apart of the byler fandom, i typically pride myself in knowing that our community is so anti-AI. i do think that this is an exception to that, considering i don’t think that the person behind this was ever really involved or interested in our actual fandom. that doesn’t at all make it okay. it’s insane to me that someone would fake writing a fan fiction over the course of several months.
more than anything, i want the public reception to this situation to show that it is so worth it to create things yourself. it’s very comforting to see that so many people have expressed the fact that they appreciate human-made art.
always remember that true talent, love, and passion can never be replaced. those things are the heart and soul of fan-created content and they are so important. keep creating, keep practicing, and keep trying.
and no matter what, as a fandom, this certainly isn’t the worst thing that’s happened to us.
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After reading about the ai situation regarding super soaker. I want to make it clear, I'm against Ai, I hate it and it should never touch creative spaces (for many reasons)
I'm an artist and a writer. I make everything myself, even when it's hard (due to dyslexia) I enjoy creating and having fun coming up with ideas. I also never outright look at a fic and suspect Ai generated stuff, but if I am reading and something feels off, I simply dnf.
I will never use ai in my own works, Byler or other fandoms (bnha, Naruto, winx club, Voltron) and never in my original stories, my stories comes from my heart and a passion I have had since I was a little kid.
Obviously don't go on a witch hunt now and don't harass people.
Vecna isolate Holly by becoming this nice figure that people think is an imagery friend,and she thinks he protects her from monsters. Not knowing he in fact the monster.
Mike can relate to how Holly is acting the way she pulls away from their parents. So Mike gives her Holly the Heroic a brave cleric (wonder why he chose cleric?) because she can protect Holly.
The night Holly and their parents are attacked she uses a walkie and calls for Mike.
He drops everything to protect his family, only when he arrives his father is nowhere to be seen and he hears screaming from the basement.
Mike does protect Holly and their mother, but they are both hurt anyway and in that moment he is Vecna'd. He hears the voice telling him, it's his fault, they will die if he doesn't do as he told. "be a hero Michael" he is pulled out only so he can walkie Nancy or anyone really, telling them to call an ambulance... And then he screams himself as the demogorgon attacks and drags him away.
Targeting Holly was never about her. It was to pray on Mike's need to be a hero, to be needed and the fears that he will be the death of everyone he loves. Mike gets dragged away before he is even sure his family is gonna make it.
By targeting Holly, you target Mike, by taking out Mike you target the party, Nancy and specially you take Will's heart away.
I just realized that by adding Vickie to my Byler fic (bravery for frightened hearts) as an important character, I have given Mike a mentor who lost her best friend (Chrissy Cunningham) to forced conformity. (part of why she was depressed and struggled with an ed) but I also write Chrissy as a lesbian who forced herself to date Jason.
Showing Chrissy's struggles with losing her childhood best friend, gives her a way to relate to Mike who tries to protect his best friend and never lose Will, but he also forces himself do conform. Vickie probably finds a way to speak to the scared and hidden side of Mike.
Where Eddie is the other mentor but he sucks at giving relationship advice because he never confirmed or tried to hide himself. But Eddie understands the nerdy side of Mike, he admires the boy's bravery.
(I also have a whole arc of Eddie and Will having to learn to get along.)
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Mike Wheeler's mindset can be seen through his hair.
Long haired Mike is the Mike who wants to rebel and stop conforming to his parents / the small town mindset. It's the closest to a Mike who accepts his own feelings we have ever seen (if we don't count season 2. He probably wasn't aware at the time.)
Despite fighting with El and having a whole arc about not being able to say "I love you" Mike still seem more happy in this season. The times he is sad is when he is fighting with Will and when El left a note.
Mike compares his relationship to Superman and Louis Lane but flips the genders. (he did not need to be this specific)
"i'm just lucky superman landed on my doorstep" okay Mike.
In season 5 his hair is short and he looks like a kicked puppy for the majority of his screen time. Excluding a few moments here and there.
I honestly like the idea that Mike prefers to have long hair, but cuts it off because he's sad about Eddie, feels trapped in his relationship with El... And probably due to comments from his dad on how long hair is for girls.
It would explain the horrible side part at the end. He has closed himself off thinking he will never be able to be himself.
The idea of Will embracing Mike and begging him to stop trying to die for everyone else. He would say how much he needs Mike in his life and him dying would accomplishing nothing.
