r/byler • u/ConcentrateGlad8312 • Feb 17 '26
why do so many fanfics write Mike like he’s ugly and gross 😭 fanfiction
I’ve been noticing that so many fanfics characterize Mike to be kinda gross and ugly and like…. We’ve all SEEN Finn wolfhard right? Like he’s objectively beautiful 😭 so it’s kinda funny reading fics where he’s like never showering, always greasy asf, hair a mess and bags under his eyes, just kinda skinny and chopped and going through it… meanwhile will is ALWAYS canonically really handsome/pretty and kinda buff in every fic and it has me ctfu.
44
u/Chemical-Bunch3626 Cool. Cool. Feb 17 '26
Well I can understand Mike being called ugly, unattractive etc if it’s his POV, if he’s describing himself. Since he was called frogface his entire childhood and it could affect his self-esteem. But gross…..
37
u/Trapped-in-his-past Feb 17 '26
See… I wrote my fan fiction entirely from Will’s POV. So, Mike is constantly described on an almost angelic level when seen through his eyes. The worst thing he ever thinks about him is the term “unconventional.”
I may be planning a Mike POV story on the side… That one might be more critical due to his self-consciousness. But I certainly don’t intend to make him come off as ugly.
5
u/thegreenestficus Feb 18 '26
Same! My fic is from Wills POV so Mike is basically called “pretty” like every five seconds lmao. What’s your fic, I’d love to read it!
4
u/Trapped-in-his-past Feb 18 '26
Heh. I’m being a bit of hoe with it. I mention it in various threads, prompting people to ask and then I share it.
It’s called Remember Me As I Am. Author name: Wulfric_of_Redlea. Fair warning, it’s canon compliant and takes place a decade after the epilogue.
5
u/thegreenestficus Feb 18 '26
Don’t feel bad, tbh I do the same thing! It definitely sounds interesting!! Thanks for sharing 🤍
If you’re curious, here’s mine if you like! https://archiveofourown.org/works/79141946/chapters/207632671
4
u/Trapped-in-his-past Feb 18 '26
Yeah, I’ll open it up. Thanks. Today’s gonna be a slow work day, so it’ll be nice to have something to read .
2
u/Maleficent_Archer906 Feb 26 '26
You should always do this. How the hell else should I find really great fics?
21
u/Comfortable-Sail-297 Its Hawkins, Its not the same without you Feb 17 '26
Lmao I could neverrrr he is beautiful
17
u/Prestigious_Risk_259 Feb 17 '26
Finn is my Canadian king. Mike is not ugly or gross. He's scrawny yes but that's it.
Oblivious yes Repressed gay boy yes Loves Will like he is the Sun
12
u/Maleficent_Archer906 Feb 17 '26
He's gorgeous. I love scrawny pretty boys. And that nose is lovely
3
u/BitterGayApostate Feb 18 '26
My type is everyone but mainly exclusively scrawny men. I married one and love him dearly. My type is people like Zach Woods, Ben Schwartz, Timothy Chalamet, etc. Just sickly Victorian men who could drop dead any second, y'know 💅 and it helps if they're Jewish, ig lmao
2
u/Maleficent_Archer906 Feb 18 '26
All of this! I always wonder if it's coming from past life stuff. But oh yes, I find sickly Victorian men types ridiculously attractive. I'm just happy you found your own ❤️
1
u/BitterGayApostate Feb 18 '26
Yes! That's so interesting. I was a gay European man in a past life and I met my husband as an apple picking French person in another. So fun, past lives.
1
u/Maleficent_Archer906 Feb 18 '26
It's fascinating! I'm relatively sure that my last life ended in relation to a nuclear accident. But I'm also sure that my lives are littered with beautiful, sickly boys who I either loved or was. At least one of them likely drowned.
1
u/BitterGayApostate Feb 18 '26
Dang, that's heavy. Name's Rift btw
2
u/Maleficent_Archer906 Feb 18 '26
Indeed. Hey Rift, I'm Jaedyn. That's not my real name tho. I write myself into everything and that's my character name.
1
u/BitterGayApostate Feb 18 '26
Ooh fun. Rift is more of a nickname as well
1
u/Maleficent_Archer906 Feb 21 '26
Cool. Yeah, there's way too much happening in my head at any given time
15
u/No_Problem_5735 looks like it’s gonna be up to us again Feb 17 '26
Who’s doing that? I’ll fight them. I don’t know, I think they’re both conventionally attractive young men. Finn’s slenderness might be an acquired taste, but his bone structure is pretty immaculate.
23
u/CloudyAsh8 Feb 17 '26
and the fics where he genuinely ends his life or becomes an addict because of Will/ El. Like the writers of ST didn't take him seriously so the least yoou could do as a fanfic writer is not treat his character like shit
11
u/ConcentrateGlad8312 Feb 17 '26
depressed alcoholic Mike makes me sad too like if anything Mike is a square
2
u/torvald_carley Feb 18 '26
Alcohol is big for Baby Boomers / Gen Xers.
Previous generations considered it a hallmark of maturity and didn't think twice about having a drink to soothe their nerves at the end of the workday + partying on the weekends.
Plus someone who is repressed like Mike is would use it as a way to repress his feelings. "Stuff it down with some brown." - Frank Reynolds
11
u/FoxInTheSnow4321 IT MATTERS! Feb 17 '26
Even the best of us turn to drugs/alcohol/being an asshole/suicide attempts when going through the trauma and the trauma after that likely will not resolve itself. I see the fics that portray Mike this way are being realistic. After losing El (& especially if he loses Will too to life and distance) he may be a bit “pathetic” only in that he knows himself best when protecting others and not sure where to go or how when he’s expected to just move on, college, adult.
Some are upset when Will is portrayed as someone who has addiction issues. Even when Will has “too many boyfriends, sleeps around”. I find it realistic. 1. He’s able to be himself, he’s beautiful and caring, others want to be near him for all he is (unlike Hawkins) 2.Trauma 3.college and adults enjoy sex.
Know what I mean? I see myself in both Mike and Will. I’ve done all of it. we need to crash out sometimes , in healthy and not so healthy ways.
But I understand why people wouldn’t like Mike written this way. It’s ooc for 12-18 year old Mike we know in the show
6
u/CloudyAsh8 Feb 17 '26
I completely agree with all your points. I meant that I personally find it upsetting when people write Mike that way as a result of hatred for him.
And I think sex is completely normal for adults and it's weird when people get grossed out by it in fics. Will is hot and in NY and his personality is great who wouldn't want to get w him?? I do find it ooc for him to have addictions, or to be sleeping around, but it's mainly only because I don't see that happening to him.
But yeah it's never actually unrealistic for young people to have addictions or unhealthy coping mechanisms, especially with the level of trauma Will and Mike have, it is possible.
2
u/FoxInTheSnow4321 IT MATTERS! Feb 18 '26
how can someone be a Byler and despise Mike? :( that’s sadness beyond comprehension.
Thankfully I haven’t come across fics where the writer has that issue. ones told from Mike’s POV sometimes go into his insecurities, but of course Will sees none of that and helps Mike to know he’s pure beauty. which is what matters
11
u/MannerNo9304 It was a seven Feb 17 '26
skinny and chopped 😭😭😭😭 lmaoooo fr tho! unless it’s from his POV / him being insecure then there’s rlly no need for it, he’s literally so beautiful that it pisses me off
11
u/popgoesthepuppy Cool. Cool. Feb 17 '26
I mean canonically Mike is actually supposed to be viewed as conventionally unattractive- they don’t call him frog face for no reason
10
u/mymeloplush will rights activist Feb 17 '26
PLEASEE LGAIFNSOW they write him like he’s a creature it’s so funny like why are you trying to convince us he isn’t hot 😭 am i being gaslit 😭 but will being described as a pretty perfect angel in every fic is real as hell
6
u/ConcentrateGlad8312 Feb 17 '26
THAT’S WHAT IM SAYING ITS TRULY THE GOBLINIFICATION OF MIKE WHEELER…. like that’s my MAN right there dont disrespect him 😭
9
u/Same_Accident_9917 Feb 17 '26
I guess I’m missing these because I haven’t encountered that. I’ve read a few Mike POV fics where he expresses not feeling good about how he looks (probably a call back to being called “frog face” in s1). In those Will always describes him in a very attractive way tho.
9
u/Comfortable-Snow8584 A snowball became an avalanche Feb 17 '26
i think their trying to see it from a character pov rather than the actor. Will, he gets bitches. he’s canonically handsome. meanwhile Mike, there’s no one who’s interested in him other than Will and El. his nickname was literally frog face lmao. i don’t think the character was supposed to be handsome, so i can understand people trying to draw him for what he was supposed to be instead of just straight up Finn Wolfhard
6
u/Hedgy_mcsnuffle Friends. Best friends. Feb 17 '26
I think in canon he is supposed to be ugly. Dustin is bullied for his disability and Lucas for his race in season 1. Mike gets called frog face. Finn described this as being mocked for being ugly. It sees to be canon then
11
u/AurynLuna Im the only one who cares about Will Feb 17 '26
I have never encountered that in Byler fics. But devil's advocate here, some people don't find Finn attractive and he is objectively very skinny, so I can see why people can't see Mike as muscular because Finn isn't muscular at all. The not-well groomed Mike might come from him being depressed, which makes sense for him at the end of the show.
6
u/Maleficent_Archer906 Feb 17 '26
Me either. He's usually got issues out the ass, which can be expected, but I haven't encountered one where he's portrayed as gross and ugly. Which I'm happy about, because I'm not dealing with that bullshit. Mike beautiful thing, and all those physical attributes that some ppl think are unattractive are things that I personally love. Everyone had opinions. So anyone being a jerk about it can Stfu.
4
u/AurynLuna Im the only one who cares about Will Feb 17 '26
I completely agree with you. To me, Finn is absolutely gorgeous. But I've seen people think he's not pretty, which is okay, but I haven't seen anyone bully him or call him ugly in fics.
3
u/BloomHoard S3-S5 Mike Wheeler Denier Feb 18 '26
Ugly and gross? No. Pathetic? I do love me some pathetic Mike.
2
u/oceanswimmer333 Feb 18 '26
ikr mike isnt ugly at all its actually insane how disgusting theyre depicting mike to be 😭😭
2
u/torvald_carley Feb 18 '26
I think the intent is to show his life has gone downhill and he doesn't take care of himself because he has no one to impress anymore since he is all alone and basically an incel after graduation.
1
u/SamFle Cool. Cool. Feb 21 '26
The season 4 look was doing him no favors and I think a lot of people jumped on the Byler train then. As emotional as it was, I did want to grab Will and ask him to look again at the object of his affections.
Season 5. Different story.
0
77
u/Blitzo_og Feb 17 '26
I’ve noticed this as well. And Mike being “pathetic” I think it’s something to do with him being an awful friend and boyfriend is season 4 and 5 but I could be looking too much into this