Remember When Finn Said:

Mike is Will’s protector emotionally

Will is Mike’s protector physically

So basically, they both protect each other in different ways

I want what they have

SPOILERS:

So can we point out how the reason M!leven broke up in S3 was because Mike was lying? And now we have El lying to Mike? Again, another way to show how M!leven is not endgame

If never gonna give you up doesn’t play in S5 what is the point of the show? Like Byler can happen but if never gonna give you up just isn’t in S5 then it’s a 0/10 for me

S4 is Stranger Things’ FNAF: Security Breach story wise. It feels rushed and underwritten, at least Security Breach can fix some things with the new DLC, but a show can’t sadly. So much hype for it, the trailers and interviews made us expect something more, and then nothing. Seriously S4 is the Security Breach of Stranger Things

Oh yeah, it’s all coming together

I know this interview is like a week or so old and I’ve analysed it before, but I just noticed something. Ross Duffer says how episode 7 has the big plot reveal with Vecna, which we all know about in the lab plot. However, he goes on to discuss how there are even bigger plot points and reveals to come. So it wouldn’t surprise me if somehow there’s a big plot reveal about Will and why he went missing on that particular day, correlating to time freezing in the Upside Down. Additionally, why he was the first victim taken and why he is so closely paralleled to Vecna.

It is also important to note how Ross says that there are not only big plot reveals but, also, “character reveals”. Byler? Revealing Mike confessing to El his love for her wouldn’t be a character reveal or a major plot point as that’s been done in season 3.

Based on @dubiousdisco 's post right below

M*leven: a relationship that was never meant to be

I would like to say this is not an attack towards anyone who ships Melvin. I don’t even want it to show up on their tag, but if any of them find this, just know I am doing an analysis and that anyone who attacks me for it is not cool. I also ship byler which could make my point less convincing, but I am not trying to be biased. None of this comes from a bias, just me talking about a relationship that I have grown to highly dislike and show why it has a high chance of breaking up.

With that out of the way, Melvin is a relationship between the characters Mike and El in Stranger Things, and has been canon since season 1. They didn’t really get together until the end of S2 and it has been that way ever since. Many people think that this relationship is cute and yes, it is, but let’s replace the is with was.

Ever since season 3 this relationship has been shown to be quite toxic. I noticed how my opinion on Melvin was positive until season 3 and it’s funny how it’s when they actually became a couple. In fact, I noticed that Melvin became toxic when they got together. This shows that maybe they should not be together at all and that has been Duffers intention.

To show why it’s always been toxic, is how no one in the show has said anything positive about it at all. Ever since season 1, the party thinks Mike has crush on her, but they don’t find this cute or endearing, they mock it. An example would be Lucas teasing Mike about El:

Lucas: El! I love you so much! Would you marry me?

Mike: Shut up Lucas

You could say Lucas approves of the crush, but the way he also went “If you love her so much why don’t you just marry her?” Which is more of a negative thing to say than a positive. I get that this was when the party just met El, and Lucas didn’t trust her at the time. But still, it was intentional. The over exaggeration that Lucas does is, in my interpretation, a way of the Duffers mocking Melvin. Which goes into my next point.

The Duffers show how their relationship doesn’t work romantically. Ever since they have become a couple, they have had problems. S3 is a huge example with them breaking up and both of them not even being sad about it. You’d think that such a strong bond would be sad about their relationship ending at least a little, but it’s not. Even the scene where Mike says he loves her, everyone reacts in such a weird way. Like they think he’s lying.

What makes it better is how humorous their breakup in S3 is. Like the Duffers do not take their romantic relationship seriously. Whenever they are together, they act so out of character to where it doesn’t feel real, which is most likely intentional. Because their romance is a lie.

This also just doesn’t affect the two of them, it also affects everyone else around them. With them ditching their friends when they were going to meet Dustin’s girlfriend and have them all complain about it. Sure, Max says “It’s romantic” but not even an episode later she starts going against their relationship. I feel Max is supposed to represent the audience, most found it romantic or cute in earlier seasons, but after seeing their relationship more clearly, it’s just bullshit and they need to break up.

Let’s not forget the constant Ted and Karen parallels. Which I touched upon here. Especially with the new season’s main messages being about conformity, which is what their relationship is, conformity. These two work better as friends, not as a romantic pairing.

Another example of their romance being a lie is how when they became a couple, they both lie to each other. First it’s Mike in S3, then it’s El in S4. Which actually can be proven with of the most popular phrases in this show “Friends don’t lie.”

Friends don’t lie. El never lied to Mike when they were just friends and vice versa, but when they became a couple, it was all lies. Because their love is a lie. They didn’t actually love each other in a romantic sense.

Now you could say that S4 has taken a more serious tone with their relationship and argument, but the reason it’s serious is because this is where they realize that this isn’t what they actually want. They are taken seriously when they are a friendship. The fact that eulogy played in the background of their argument in S4 shows that their romance is dead. It’s always been. This can also be proven with Mike calling it an “argument you can’t come back from.” What’s something that you can’t come back from? Death. Their romance is dead.

There’s also the whole superhero thing. This has been here since season 1. In the same scene I mentioned with Lucas mocking Mike earlier, Dustin compares El to plenty of superheroes (X-men and green lantern) with Lucas saying “She’s not a superhero. She’s a weirdo.” You’d think Mike would shut both of them down, like with something like “She’s a person.” Or something like that. Usually I find that to be more romantic when it comes to something like this and you have a character who’s supposedly in love. But he does the same thing Dustin does by saying “The X-men were weirdos.”

This to me shows how Mike does not love El, with season 4 proving this even more, but it also shows how this was intended. Mike admires her, of course he cares about her, but it’s not romantic it’s just admiration. And that’s why having Mike tell El he loves her would be more damaging to their relationship because now El has her powers back, so Mike saying he loves her after just proves how he doesn’t actually love her. And you know what? Maybe we should have a scene where Mike tells El he loves her, but she shuts it down and tells him that he doesn’t. Making him realize that maybe they shouldn’t be together, after all, friends don’t lie.

There are plenty of other examples of how their romantic relationship never worked from the start and how they are not endgame, but I am going a bit too long here, and I feel that I might continue this post with more examples, like a part 2 or something. But that’s all for now.

In conclusion, Mike and El were never supposed to work out as a romantic pairing. And they will break up this season as that is the more healthiest and logical conclusion for their romance. Despite this show not exactly being realistic (it involves supernatural beings after all) it is realistic with their relationships. Keep that in mind.

Currently listening to “Something I can never have” by Nine inch nails because that’s how I feel about Byler rn. However, a part of me still has hope and yet I don’t want to. I wanna ship this ship without needing canon cause fuck canon. The fix it fics are fixing it for me. So maybe I’m crazy and I am. But whatever. I just wanna ship Byler now in peace and not consider Vol 2 canon.

(I was a fan of Miraculous Ladybug, I thought I was trained about this outcome?)

Where are my future Byler fics where it’s 2022 and Will and Mike are in their 50s? C’mon I need it

idk how the hell this au would work but uhh byler jopper au? this started out as me wanting to see mike with a sword, every time i saw mike hold smth to fight i was like is anyone gonna get his ass a weapon? and then i didnt wait for an answer