Byler

Byler is the slash ship between Mike Wheeler and Will Byers from the Stranger Things fandom.

Canon
Mike and Will have been best friends since kindergarten, where Mike had found Will on the swing set all alone and decided to approach him and ask if he wanted to be friends. Will said yes, and Mike told him it was ‘the best thing he's ever done’.

Season 1
Will goes missing after he’s captured by the Demogorgon. Since he's gone for most of the season, there aren’t much moments between the two- Mike stops at nothing to rescue his best friend from the upside-down. After Will is presumed dead, Mike rushes home and hides away in his basement, looking through drawings that Will had drawn before he went missing, blaming Eleven for misleading him.​ In​ the​ very​ last​ episode, Mike​ is​ shown to​ be​ the​ only​ person,​ who's ​apart​ of​ the​ A.V. club, who​ stayed​ awake​​ in​ the​ hospital​ to​ not​ miss​ a​ chance​ to​ talk​ to​ Will.

Season 2
When Will has flashbacks of The Upside Down, Mike comes out to check on him. The two walk back into the arcade with arms wrapped around each other. Will also has flashbacks In Season 2 Episode 2, "Trick Or Treat, Freak", where Will is escorted home by Mike after. The episode then goes on to have one of the most loved Byler scenes, "Crazy Together" which still holds a very special place in people's hearts. Throughout this season, Mike is overprotective of him. When Will goes home early for no explained reason, Mike is visibly concerned for his friend, and even makes a call to his house to make sure he's okay. After not getting any answer, he tells his other friends that he’s going to visit him to make sure Will is doing okay. After discovering Will’s possession by The Mind Flayer, he helps him through it by holding his hand, and reassuring he’ll be okay. Mike expresses deep concern after Will uses his ‘true sight’. Mike comes to the hospital with Will and stays by his side.

Season​ 3
Mike​ is​ still​ shown to​ be​ concerned​ for​ Will​ in​ Episode 1,​ asking​ if​ Will​ was​ okay.​ Soon​ after​ Dustin gets​ back​ from​ camp, it​ is​ shown that​ Will​ think​s​ that​ Mike's relationship with​ Eleven was​ gross. ​Mike​ and​ Will ended​ up​ having​ a​ fight in Mike's house,​ because​ Mike​ and​ Lucas only showed interest in girls, rather than playing D&D with Will. The​ fight​ concluded with​ Will​ biking away​ in​ the​ rain, after Mike makes the comment “It‘s not my fault you don’t like girls!”. Not long​ after,​ Mike​ is​ shown to​ be​ at​ Will's house with​ Lucas to​ apologize. In Episode 6, we see Mike finally confessing his love for Eleven. Will can be seen looking down sadly. In the last episode, there is a scene between Will and Mike, and Will acknowledges that he will never leave their group.

Season 4
Will recently moved to California with his family and Eleven, and students are getting ready for Spring Break. Eleven is bullied by her classmates, but chooses not to tell Mike. Will does not receive many letters or calls from Mike, and instead paints. However, Eleven receives many letters and calls. Mike goes down from Hawkins to meet with Eleven and Will, and after Mike hugs Eleven, Will and Mike have quite an awkward hug, leaving Will upset. Later in the day, they decide to go to the Rink-O-Mania where Will is a third wheel and miserably watches the happy couple skate, whilst hearing the lies about Eleven's bully, Angela, being Eleven's friend. Angela happens to have shown up, and pulls an awful prank on Eleven causing Mike and Will to get into a fight about how Mike wouldn't contact Will, and that Mike should have reached out more. Mike blames Will for not reaching out instead, asking why Will couldn't reach out in the first place. Mike sighs, and says that they should just go look for Eleven. After hiding and watching Angela from the rink's staff room, Eleven comes out and hits Angela's head with a rubber skate. Eleven is presumably sent to a juvenile detention center for her behavior at the rink.

While Will and Mike are getting prepared to get Eleven, they talk with each other. They made up, and a lighthearted scene followed. While packing, The Military shows up, and raids the Byers' house, to search for Eleven, who is currently being taken away. Argyle shows up, and is yelled at to drive away, and does so hastily, as bullets are shot towards them, barely escaping. While Argyle and Johnathan are searching for The Nina Project, Mike doubts his relationship with Eleven. So Will shows Mike the painting he has been working on. The painting shows Will and his friends fighting a dragon, with Mike being at the front. Mike asks Will if he had made it, and Will says "Eleven basically commissioned it". Will tells Mike that he is the heart of the party, referencing the painting. Will begins to tell Mike his true feelings about him, but in Elevens point of view. Mike doesn't catch on, and sorrowful music plays as Will quietly cries to himself. After rescuing Eleven they end up in another Surfer Bros Pizza to get a salt bath to help Eleven's powers to kill Vecna from Max's mind. While in Max's mind, Eleven is caught by Vecna, and Will tells Mike to say he loves Eleven. Mike keeps encouraging Eleven as Will watches and tells Mike to keep going. After the fight, and after Vecna is presumed dead, they go back to Hawkins, and arrive at Hopper's cabin. Will asks if Mike and Eleven are talking, and Mike responds with "Not much." Mike proceeds to talk about Eleven. Will turns the conversation around, denying what Dr. Martin Brenner said. They start to talk about how they hope Henry, AKA Vecna, is dead. Will responds with tears in his eyes, saying "He's not. Now that... I'm here, In Hawkins. I can feel him. And he's hurt. He's hurting. But he's still alive. Its strange knowing now who it was this whole time but... I can still remember what he thinks, and how he thinks, and he is not going to stop. We have to kill him." Mike responds with "And we will. We will.", and places his hand on Will's shoulder, comforting him.

Quotes
"Will! Will, I'm sorry, man, alright? I was being a total asshole. Please, can you just come outside and we'll talk?"

- Mike knocking on Will's door after their argument. 3x3, 'The Case of the Missing Lifeguard'

"I’m the only one who cares about Will!"

- Mike.

"Will! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

- Mike to Will.

Behind the Scenes
In an interview with Variety, Noah Schnapp, who portrays Will Byers, stated that he believes that it is "100% clear" and a "very real, obvious thing" that Will is gay and is in love with Mike.

Fanon
Usually, this ship was initially looked down upon, as Mileven is the canon ship of the series. Despite this, Byler is a pretty popular theme throughout and most people had shipped it even before season 2 came out, and is a very popular theme in fanfiction. When seasons 2 and 3 were released, Byler's popularity started to grow, although still was still overshadowed by Mileven. After the season 4 premiere in which confirms that Will is gay and has feelings for Mike, Byler's popularity grew considerably to the point that on August 1, 2022, Byler officially surpassed Mileven on AO3 with more fanfics.

Most of fanfiction is based around Mike expressing feelings for Will after realizing Eleven wasn't for him or Will confessing to Mike that he has a crush on him. On AO3, Byler is the most written ship for both Mike Wheeler/Will Byers and the ship is also the third most written ship under the Stranger Things (TV 2016) tag, only coming second after Harringrove and Steddie.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Will/Mike tag on FanFiction.net
 * Will/Mike tag on FanFiction.net

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